Viruses may be linked to lung cancer

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (UPI) -- U.S. and Israeli researchers suggest viruses may have a role in the development of lung cancer.

The researchers all agree smoking is by far the most important risk factor for lung cancer, but Dr. Arash Resazadeh and colleagues from the University of Louisville, Ky., found five out of 22 non-small-cell lung cancer samples tested positive for human papilloma virus.

"We think HPV has a role as a co-carcinogen which increases the risk of cancer in a smoking population," Resasadeh said in a statement.

In another study, Samuel Ariad from Soroka Medical Center in Beer Sheva, Israel, and colleagues found more than half of the 65 patients with non-small-cell lung cancer had evidence of measles virus in tissue samples taken from their cancer.

In his study, Ariad found the "measles virus is a ubiquitous human virus that may be involved in the pathogenesis of lung cancer. Most likely, it acts in modifying the effect of other carcinogens and not as a causative factor by itself."

Both studies have been presented at the First European Lung Cancer Conference in Geneva, Switzerland, jointly organized by the European Society for Medical Oncology and the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International
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Brain disease studied at the atomic level

COLUMBUS, Ohio (UPI) -- U.S. scientists say they have, for the first time, inspected the atomic level of the protein that causes hereditary cerebral amyloid angiopathy.

The disease, thought to cause stroke and dementia, is initiated by certain kinds of proteins called prions that produce degenerative brain diseases such as CAA, mad cow disease and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans. All are incurable and fatal.

The researchers, led by Ohio State University Assistant Professor Christopher Jaroniec, used solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy to inspect a tiny portion of the protein molecule that is key to the formation of plaques in blood vessels in the brain.

"This is a very basic study of the structure of the protein and hopefully it will give other researchers the information they need to perform further studies and improve our understanding of CAA," he said.

The research that included doctoral students Jonathan Helmus and Philippe Naudaud, as well as scientists at Case Western Reserve University, appears in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International
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Migraines' Frequency Influences Heart Attack, Stroke Risk

I read sometimes news on the net. Any important ones I found, I post it in my blogs..I have sometimes bad migraine attacks. The latest worst attack was in March 23, 2008 and Dec. 18, 2007. Any other attacks are not too bad. This news from yahoo just interest me. therefore, I am also sharing it to my dear friends and reader especially to those who have migraines..This is quite scary but it is so.. here it is..hope you got some infos!! wish everyone in advance a very great weekend!!

Migraines' Frequency Influences Heart Attack, Stoke Risk

THURSDAY, April 17 (HealthDay News) -- Women who have weekly migraines are at an increased risk for stroke compared to those with few or no migraines, a new study finds.

On the other hand, those with less frequent migraines may have an increased risk of heart attack, the same team of researchers report.

The findings, to be presented Thursday at the American Academy of Neurology annual meeting in Chicago, point to different mechanisms linking migraines to distinct cardiovascular troubles, experts say.

And even though the average migraine sufferer's absolute risk of a heart attack or stroke is still low, the new study should be viewed in the context of other cardiac risk factors, said Dr. Richard Lipton, vice chairman of neurology at Montefiore Headache Center in New York City.

"Someone with migraine should be sure to manage their other risk factors including high blood pressure, diabetes, smoking, high cholesterol and body weight," said Lipton. He was not involved in the study, which was conducted by a team from Brigham & Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston.

Previous research (much of it by the same group) has found an increased risk of vascular problems in both men and women who experience migraines, especially those who experience migraine with visual symptoms known as aura.

One recent study found that women who suffer from migraines with aura are at higher risk of stroke, especially if they smoke and take oral contraceptives.

What's been missing, however, is data on how the frequency of migraines might affect cardiovascular risk.

This study involved almost 28,000 female health professionals in the United States aged 45 and older, none of whom had cardiovascular disease when the trial started.

During about 12 years of follow-up, and compared to women with no migraines, women with less-than-monthly migraines turned out to be 54 percent more likely to develop cardiovascular disease. Those with weekly migraines were almost twice as likely to develop heart troubles.

Those with fewer-than-monthly migraines had a 45 percent increased risk of having an ischemic stroke (one resulting from constricted blood flow) and a 64 percent increased risk for heart attack, compared to women with no migraines, the Boston team found.

Women who suffered migraines at least weekly had a 49 percent increased risk for heart attack and almost triple the increased risk for stroke, they added.

According to Lipton, repeat migraine attacks may have a direct influence on the risk of stroke. "This is plausible because, during the aura, there are profound changes in the brain which diminish blood flow to the brain," he explained. "Stroke is usually caused by diminished blood flow to the brain."

If this were true, preventing migraines should decrease the risk of stroke, although this hypothesis has not yet been tested.

It's also possible that frequent migraines simply point to an increased risk for stroke, rather than actually causing it, Lipton said.

Either way, there's no reason to panic.

"Even if the relative risk of stroke triples in those with frequent migraine, the absolute risk for most people remains low," Lipton said. "If someone who would otherwise have a stroke risk of 20 per 100,000 has that risk triple due to frequent migraine -- to 60/100,000 -- they are [still] very unlikely to have a stroke."

More information

Find out more about migraines at The National Migraine Association.

By Amanda Gardner
HealthDay Reporter Thu Apr 17, 7:03 PM ET

source: yahoo news