In recent years, one of the most talked about nutrients has been the B-complex vitamin, folic acid, which helps the body build red blood cells and is essential for normal metabolism. Although folic acid has been mostly recognized for its ability to help prevent neural tube birth defects, recent studies now suggest folic acid may have a range of other potential health benefits, including reducing the risk of heart disease and some types of cancer.
Despite efforts by government agencies and public education initiatives to raise awareness about folic acid and its role in helping to prevent certain birth defects, a national survey of American adults finds that 62% of men and women -- and 58% of women of childbearing age (18-39) -- have never seen, read nor heard about this important B-vitamin. The Centrum Center for Nutrition Science (CCNS)Folic Acid Awareness Survey also finds that 3 out of 4 Americans cannot name a single dietary source of folic acid.
Since December, the nation has been inundated by a series of floods unusual in their scope and severity, with more on the way. Here is a list of experts, related Web sites, and background information on U.S. flood risk from a new report by NCAR political scientist Roger Pielke, Jr.
Many "mom and pop" merchants continue to advertise and sell cigarettes to minors in low-income city neighborhoods despite laws and public health campaigns to stop teen-age smoking, a Johns Hopkins study suggests.
A common antifungal drug may buy precious time for people with three chronic kidney diseases, delaying their need for dialysis or transplantation, a Johns Hopkins study shows.
Four automotive researchers from Sandia National Laboratories have received special recognition from Vice President Al Gore for their work in connection with a multi-player initiative aimed at developing a new generation of fuel-efficient, low-emission vehicles.
Scientists are becoming increasingly concerned about the mysterious decline of coral reefs throughout the world and are recommending more extensive research into the potentially serious problem. Two Johns Hopkins biologists are publishing an overview of the problem of declining coral reef health in an April issue of the Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health.
Researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center have found a lack of conclusive evidence to support previously published studies confirming the safety of pregnancy following breast-cancer treatment. After conducting a critical review of the literature, investigators found limited information regarding the safety of pregnancy and other childbearing issues of concern to young breast-cancer survivors. Embargoed: April 1, 1997 6:00 a.m.
Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center have discovered racial differences in the choice of dialysis method for children with end stage renal disease (ESRD).
What happens when Berkeley faculty in economics, business, engineering, and information systems come together with industry leaders from regional Bell operating companies, long distance phone companies, Internet service providers, computer and cable companies, and the FCC to hash out regulatory issues? A food fight? Far from it. The first conference co-hosted by the Haas School's Center for Telecommunications and Digital Convergence and Berkeley's School of Information Management Systems ended with unexpected areas of accord in an issue that's rife with difficult questions.
Three tips from Los Alamos: 1. Atomic tags give unique signature to industrial processes. 2. High-speed cameras from nuke tests now spotting watermines. 3. New ion beam improves coating, other material processing.
The packaged goods industry's obsession with promotion and competition distracts it from engaging in survival activities and leads to higher prices for consumers, say marketing researchers Dr. Leigh McAlister from the University of Texas at Austin and Barbara E. Kahn from the University of Pennsylvania.
The Year 2000 Problem (or Y2K), as it has been dubbed, is conservatively estimated to cost business and government $600 billion. Failure to solve it will put an estimated one to five percent of organizations out of business. And yet only 35 percent of businesses have begun to address the implications for their organizations.
American Psychiatric Association Publishes First Practice Guideline for the Treatment of Adult Patients With Schizophrenia: Embargoed until 4/1/97. Media opportunities on Friday, 3/28, and Monday, 3/31, to interview the experts on schizophrenia by telephone. EMBARGOED UNTIL APRIL 1, 1997
Press release of issue dated March 29 for New Scientist, the international science and technology weekly newss magazine
APA Online Tipsheet for April '97: 1)Medication More Effective than Psychotherapy for Depressed Patients with Sleep Problems; 2)Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Plus Medication Is Bulimia Treatment of Choice; 3)On-Demand Manic Depression Treatment Saves Money; 4)Managed Care of Chronic Mental Illness Can LImit Patient Stabilization; 5)Study Examines Mental and Physical Needs of the More Than 500,000 Children In Fostercare; 6)APA Annual Meeting, May 17-22, 1997, San Diego; 7)May Is Mental Health Month;8)Free Screenings for Anxiety Disorder: Embargoed for April 1, 1997
SAN DIEGO, March 26, 1997 -- A new class of retinoids, acting as insulin sensitizers, could eventually help more than 15 million Americans with diabetes halt progression of the potentially fatal disease, a study in today's issue of the journal.Nature. concludes.
On March 30, Dr. Anne Schiller, NC State University assistant professor of anthropology, will be featured in Ntional Geographic Explorer's "Borneo Beyond the Grave," a documentary about how the Nagju Dayak people, once legendary head-hunters, prepare the remains of deceased family members for the afterlife in the festive and complex ritual call tiwah. Since 1983 Schiller has been traveling to Central Kalimantan Province in Indonesian Borneo to study tiwah. She has published a book on nine years of research, also to be released on March 30.
Information released today in print and on the Internet will help consumers choose a health care insurance plan that best meets their needs and help them get the most from their plan.
Johns Hopkins scientists have discovered a new protein, called Homer, that becomes active in rat brain cells during exposure to cocaine and during a lab model of long-term memory creation.
Volcano expert Stanley Williams of Arizona State University in Tempe barely survived an eruption that killed several of his colleagues while taking gas samples on the side of a Colombian volcano named Galeras.
Someday you'll be able to get behind the wheel of your car, sit back, and relax for a four-hour trip. "You may be able to go as fast as 200 miles per hour without touching your steering wheel, accelerator or brake pedals," says a professor who is working on intelligent transportation systems (ITS).
Being hired by a large company and working there for a lifetime is no longer a reality for today's workers, says a Purdue University career counselor.
One-paragraph summaries of science news at Sandia National Laboratories, including an instrument sent to collect Artic weather data, the resurrection of order in a local high school, a virtual reality game for cops against hostage-takers, and a new use for Sandia's Prosperity Games.
Weekly Tip Sheet from the Agricultural Research Service, USDA: 1-New Way to Grow Broccoli Cuts Chemicals, Saves Water and Protects Soil; 2- Formulas to Help Microbes Clean Up Toxic Waste; 3- New Technique Extracts Potential Cancer-Fighting Agent From Citrus; and 4- Dumping on House Flies
Economists have designed an experimental market to observe how buyers behave in both forward and spot marketing systems. The project should help to gauge buyer behavior, resulting in a better understanding of how markets operate.
Throughout the United States, insects of different shapes and sizes are preparing for a summertime assault. In milder climates like the Northwest and South, bees, wasps, hornets and fire ants already may be out in force. In the East and Midwest, start looking for these insects in April.
EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 5 p.m., EST, THURSDAY, MARCH 27 HOUSTON -- Researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, in collaboration with Myriad Genetics, Inc. of Salt Lake City, have discovered a gene involved in the progression of a fatal form of brain cancer and a number of other cancers.
In a unique, real-world test of the theory of evolution, a National Science Foundation (NSF)-supported research team has demonstrated that animals can adapt to sudden changes in their environment with surprising speed. ItÃs a finding that challenges current methods of evaluating evolutionary changes through the fossil record.
University of California, San Diego seeks Public Information Representative.
ATHENS, Ga. -- Biochemists at the University of Georgia have for the first time described the crystal structure of an enzyme crucial to an important class of organic chemicals called aldehydes. The discovery will help researchers understand better how aldehydes are metabolized in both plants and animals. EMBARGOED UNTIL MONDAY, MARCH 31 AT 5 P.M. EST The research was published today in the British journal Nature Structural Biology and was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
Using a combination infrared spectrometer and camera designed and built by Cornell University researchers and attached to the 200-inch telescope at Palomar Observatory, Cornell and NASA scientists have made ground-based measurements in an effort to learn what kind of stuff Comet Hale-Bopp is sloughing off as it approaches perihelion, to learn more about the makeup of the celestial visitor and, perhaps, the origins of the solar system.
Cornell scientists have achieved a "Holy Grail" of materials science -- pure, single crystal growth of any film on a semiconductor substrate, a technique that holds promise to revolutionize electronics.
In a tribute to the value od industry/academic research, PhRMA awarded its 1996 Discoverers Award to the team that developed Exosurf Neonatal, a medicine that gives premature babies a substance they need to breathe.
The updated Industry Profile, released today by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), details the research-based pharmaceutical industry's commitment to discovering and developing new medicines, and oulines the major challenges to pharmaceutical research.
Preliminary Results from Study of 12 Ovarian Cancer Patients Offers Clues for New Gene Therapy Treatment.
Eight medical researchers at the University of Alabama-Birmingham Use Gene Therapy to Destroy Malignant Cells Found in Cervical and Ovarian Cancers.
Effort to Enhance the Effectiveness of Chemotherapy for Persistent Ovarian Cancer lead by Robert A. Bayer, MD, from the Loyola University Medical Center, Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center. Study of 100 Women Reveals That Patients with High Dose Chemotherapy with a Bone Marrow or Blood Cell Transplant May Respond Best to Drug Treatments.
Retrospective Analysis of 145 Breast Cancer Survivors from Across the Nation Finds Beneficial Hormone Replacement Therapy Does Not Activate Tumor Growth.
HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala today announced the appointment of John M. Eisenberg, M.D., M.B.A., as Administrator of the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR).
Henry Ford Health System surgeons are offering women with breast cancer a new surgical procedure that not only leaves women with less pain than traditional methods but also helps doctors determine, more accurately, if the breast cancer has spread.
Imagine the effect on scientific literacy if every college teacher could turn at will to a Pulitzer Prize-winning expert on biodiversity and gifted lecturer to explain biology fundamentals to undergraduates.
NEW YORK, NY- Researchers at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, in collaboration with Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, have identified a new tumor suppressor gene, known as P-TEN, involved in a large percentage of brain, breast, and prostate cancers. The newly discovered tumor suppressor gene is one of more than a dozen known to be involved in a large variety of cancers. The discovery could lead to better tests for early detection and more effective treatments. The finding is reported in the March 28 issue of the journal, Science. Embargoed 3-27-97 4 p.m.
A yearlong series of Hubble Space Telescope observations of comet Hale-Bopp has revealed surprising new information about comet structure. The findings will be described in the March 28 issue of "Science." Embargoed until 4 p.m. EST on March 27.
Overweight cats are more likely to suffer diabetes, lameness and non-allergic skin conditions, according to a Cornell University veterinary study that followed obese felines for four years. About 25 percent of 2,000 cats in the study were overweight when the study began, and some didn't survive for the follow-up.
A new material developed at Virginia Tech has the potential to strengthen structures such as airplane wings and fuselage as well as the armor in cars and tanks.
Resources for the Future today releases the first in a series of briefing papers on key issues in the debate over global climate change. As decisionmakers prepare for domestic policy debates and the ongoing international negotiations under the Framework Convention on Climate Change, RFF's briefs provide topical, timely, and non-technical information and analysis.
Long-term exposure to certain metals, such as copper and manganese, as well as certain combinations of metals, may increase the risk of Parkinson's disease, according to a study by researchers at Henry Ford Hospital. The study is published in this month's issue of Neurology.
Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) President John Cordaro today urged a federal advisory board to support a White House Conference on human nutrition research focusing on prevention and consumer education.
The American Psychiatric Association announces the April 1, 1997, release of Practice Guideline for the Treatment of Patients With Schizophrenia, the seventh in the APA series of practice guidelines for mental illnesses and substance use disorders. EMBARGOED UNTIL APRIL 1, 1997
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