Viral link found in prostate
Scientists are unraveling the secrets of a virus found in prostate cancer patients that might spur the disease.
A U.S. team of researchers says the virus appears to be an infectious retrovirus with the ability to hijack body cells. Retroviruses are a family of viruses that includes HIV. There’s no indication yet that the virus could cause prostate cancer, but the study authors are intrigued by the prospect.
“We have a long way to prove that it’s a cause-and-effect, but it’s a possibility,” said study co-author Robert H. Silverman, a professor and researcher at the Cleveland Clinic.
Discovery of a virus that causes cancer could lead to antiviral medications, such as those that treat HIV, and even a vaccine, Silverman said.
Gene produces early risers
Early to bed and early to rise might make you healthy, wealthy and wise, but it’s likely the result of a gene mutation, researchers report.
Scientists led by Dr. Louis J. Ptacek, a professor of neurology at the University of California at San Francisco, have been studying several families with a unique sleep problem. These “morning larks” have a condition known as familial advanced sleep phase syndrome, or FASPS. People with this condition have a gene mutation that causes them to go to sleep, in the most extreme cases, at 4 or 5 in the afternoon and wake up at 1 in the morning, he said.
Ptacek’s team found that the mutant version of the Period 2 (Per2) clock gene, which is needed to reset the body’s central clock in response to light, cannot be chemically changed by an enzyme that controls it. This leads to a reduction in the number of copies of the Per2 gene, and the shift in sleep patterns, the researchers said.
Ptacek thinks these findings may eventually lead to ways to reset humans’ internal clocks.
Aspirin seems to block asthma
Can taking an aspirin each day stop asthma from developing in adults?
Maybe, suggests new research showing that adult-onset asthma risk was reduced by 22 percent in men who were already taking a daily aspirin for heart-disease prevention.
“Our findings suggest that low-dose aspirin may have beneficial effects on asthma,” said study co-author Dr. Tobias Kurth, an assistant professor of medicine and an associate epidemiologist in the division of aging at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
But, Kurth added, it’s too soon to recommend that anyone start using daily aspirin solely for asthma prevention.
Kurth said the researchers weren’t able to study why aspirin might have this effect but theorizes that anti-inflammatory effects might play a role. He does caution, however, that for people who already have asthma, aspirin can be an irritant that can trigger symptoms.
