Pulse points: 2020
Research can be a powerful motivator for change; it can expose health risks in communities or lead to new treatment standards for illnesses. These summaries, linked by the power of research to inspire change, highlight studies that reveal health risks associated with e-cigarette use and permanent hair dye and chemical hair straighteners, efforts to better understand aging in both dogs and people and a life-saving recommendation for treating children with relapsed B-acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
Do age research with your dog
With the help of tens of thousands of dogs and their owners, researchers are embarking on a study about how genes, lifestyle, and environment influence aging. The , supported by a grant from the National Institute on Aging, is in the first phase of its project journey. Dog lovers based in the U.S. are invited to nominate their pet for the project. They’ll become citizen scientists by reporting back to researchers about their dog’s health. Researchers hope that dogs will provide insights about how to address challenges of aging for both pets and people.
Study: E-cigarettes are a risk factor for respiratory disease
A study by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education concluded that “use of e-cigarettes is an independent risk factor for respiratory disease,” defined as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic bronchitis, emphysema or asthma. In the study, recently published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, researchers conducted a . The study followed adults who did not have any reported lung disease and reviewed their subsequent e-cigarette use for two years (baseline plus two years of follow-up), Jason Alvarez at UCSF explained in a press release. “Though current and former e-cigarette users were 1.3 times more likely to develop chronic lung disease, tobacco smokers increased their risk by a factor of 2.6”, he said. Researchers also found that people who followed the most common pattern of use, continuing to smoke combusted tobacco products while using e-cigarettes, had an even higher risk of developing a respiratory disease than those who used either product alone. For more on e-cigarettes, see below.
NIH: Permanent hair dye and straighteners may increase breast cancer risk
According to from the NIH, a found that women who use permanent hair dye and chemical hair straighteners have an increased risk of developing breast cancer. The paper’s abstract states: “We observed a higher breast cancer risk associated with any straightener use and personal use of permanent dye, especially among black women.” The researchers reported that “permanent dye use was associated with 45% higher breast cancer risk in black women … and 7% higher risk in white women.” The study used data collected by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences’ , which tracks the health of more than 50,000 women from the U.S. and Puerto Rico with a sister who had breast cancer.
Immunotherapy drug improves survival in children with relapsed B-ALL
, acute lymphoblastic leukemia is the most common cancer diagnosed in children. At the American Society of Hematology, or ASH, annual meeting, researchers reported that blinatumomab, an immunotherapy drug, yielded such positive results during a clinical trial that it supports blinatumomab as a new standard of care in the course of treating children who are diagnosed with relapsed B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, known as B-ALL. A explains that during the clinical trial, which was led by the Children’s Oncology Group, part of the National Cancer Institute, pediatric patients who received two months of blinatumomab therapy following one month of standard chemotherapy treatment showed a significantly higher rate of disease-free survival and ability to proceed to a bone marrow transplant than those who received two additional months of chemotherapy.
Report: High school, middle school students most likely to use e-cigarettes
The , or NYTS, which is conducted annually by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, showed that in the past 30 days. According to the CDC, this is the sixth year in a row that e-cigarettes were reported in the NYTS. One of the components measured by the NYTS is knowledge and attitudes regarding tobacco use. The 2019 survey found that students who reported trying e-cigarettes cited these as the three top reasons for use: “‘I was curious about them’ (55.3%), ‘friend or family member used them’ (30.8%), and ‘they are available in flavors, such as mint, candy, fruit, or chocolate’ (22.4%). In December, . Less than two weeks later, that stops companies from producing and selling flavored, cartridge-based e-cigarettes that appeal to minors. Flavors such as fruit and mint will be prohibited, but tobacco and menthol flavored e-cigarettes will still be available. Cartridge-based e-cigarettes are just one type of system, or ENDS. The Jan. 2 FDA press release announcing the enforcement policy stated that the FDA will not be prioritizing enforcement against other flavored ENDS products.
Enjoy reading 91亚色传媒 Today?
Become a member to receive the print edition four times a year and the digital edition monthly.
Learn moreGet the latest from 91亚色传媒 Today
Enter your email address, and we鈥檒l send you a weekly email with recent articles, interviews and more.
Latest in Science
Science highlights or most popular articles
Targeting toxins to treat whooping cough
Scientists find that liver protein inhibits of pertussis toxin, offering a potential new treatment for bacterial respiratory disease. Read more about this recent study from the Journal of Biological Chemistry.
Elusive zebrafish enzyme in lipid secretion
Scientists discover that triacylglycerol synthesis enzyme drives lipoproteins secretion rather than lipid droplet storage. Read more about this recent study from the Journal of Biological Chemistry.
Scientists identify pan-cancer biomarkers
Researchers analyze protein and RNA data across 13 cancer types to find similarities that could improve cancer staging, prognosis and treatment strategies. Read about this recent article published in Molecular & Cellular Proteomics.
New mass spectrometry tool accurately identifies bacteria
Scientists develop a software tool to categorize microbe species and antibiotic resistance markers to aid clinical and environmental research. Read about this recent article published in Molecular & Cellular Proteomics.
New tool matches microbial and metabolic metaproteomic data
Scientists develop a bioinformatics program that maps omics data to metabolic pathways. Read about this recent article published in Molecular & Cellular Proteomics
Meet Paul Shapiro
Learn how the JBC associate editor went from milking cows on a dairy farm to analyzing kinases in the lab.