“February brings study skills workshops in Florham Park (Florham Park Eagle)” plus 2 more

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• February brings study skills workshops in Florham Park (Florham Park Eagle)
• Obesity And Diabetes Study Weighs Influence Of Genetics, Lifestyle (Medical News Today)
• Armenian surgeons to study in L.A. (The Glendale News-Press)

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

February brings study skills workshops in Florham Park (Florham Park Eagle) Posted: 13 Feb 2010 02:16 PM PST Message from fivefilters.org: If you can, please donate to the full-text RSS service so we can continue developing it.
Obesity And Diabetes Study Weighs Influence Of Genetics, Lifestyle (Medical News Today) Posted: 13 Feb 2010 04:29 AM PST Message from fivefilters.org: If you can, please donate to the full-text RSS service so we can continue developing it. Main Category: Diabetes Also Included In: Obesity / Weight Loss / Fitness;  Preventive Medicine;  Public Health Article Date: 13 Feb 2010 - 1:00 PST email to a friend   printer friendly   view / write opinions A team of Northern Arizona University-led researchers is using nearly $1.3 million in new funding from the National Institutes of Health to continue with the world's longest-running study on obesity and Type 2 diabetes. Obesity and diabetes have been described as the major public health concerns of the 21st century, explains Leslie Schulz, executive dean of NAU's College of Health and Human Services and the study's principal investigator. "This study is taking those necessary steps toward finding a way to protect people against the development of these pervasive diseases," she says. Schulz is being joined by researchers from the National Institutes of Health, the Pennington Biomedical Research Center and Mexico's Center for the Investigation of Nutrition and Development. A related study already has shown that Pima Indians in Arizona who have a diet and lifestyle similar to most Americans have a much higher rate of diabetes than the national average: 38 percent versus 8 percent nationally, giving them the distinction of being the most diabetes-prone group in the world. The Arizona Pima Indians have been genetically linked to a village of Pima Indians living a more traditional lifestyle in a remote, mountainous region of Mexico. A 1995 study of the Mexican Pimas revealed only a rare occurrence of diabetes. Schulz explains that the genetic similarities between the two groups of Pima Indians, along with the contrast in their lifestyles, provides an ideal setting to study the relationship between environmental circumstances and diabetes. The researchers returned in the fall after 15 years to the Mexican village to study the relationship between the Mexican Pima Indians' increasingly "westernized" lifestyle and their genetic predisposition for obesity and diabetes. "Since we were last there, the environmental circumstances of the village have changed," Schulz says, explaining how the electrical supply to the region has increased, cars have become more prevalent and grocery stores have appeared. She points out that this changing environment affects non-Pima Mexicans who also live in the village as much as it does the Mexican Pima Indians living there. "These two groups of people have undergone the same lifestyle changes over the past 15 years but they have different genes," Schulz explains. "Therefore, we hope to separate out the role genes play versus the role lifestyle plays." Schulz says the team of researchers will spend weeks at a time over the next two years living and working in "rustic" conditions in the Mexican village. There they will collect and record data, such as residents' height, weight, diet and physical activity, and determine whether or not the residents have diabetes. "What is exciting is that we will be employing state-of-the-science methodology, the most cutting-edge techniques for looking at metabolic rate and the number of calories people burn, in a setting that is very challenging," she says. Meanwhile, the extensive genetic aspects of the study will take place in the United States. The researchers are attempting to answer why a person who is genetically predisposed to develop diabetes does not develop it. "What is it about their environment or lifestyle that changes that?" asks Schulz. "This study is unique because we can actually measure the changes in lifestyle over the last 15 years." Schulz says that the researchers are expecting to find an increase in Type 2 diabetes and obesity among the Mexican Pimas that parallels the changes in their lifestyle. It's a pattern that has been documented in other countries undergoing dramatic industrial and economic development, like China, where diabetes prevalence has increased threefold over a 10-year period. Similar findings have been recorded in India. While this may seem like bad news for the developing world, Schulz said there is hope in the implication that diabetes can be prevented in populations with a predisposition for the condition. The team of researchers intends to publish its findings from this phase of the study in 2012. Source: Northern Arizona University Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.
Armenian surgeons to study in L.A. (The Glendale News-Press) Posted: 13 Feb 2010 06:15 AM PST Message from fivefilters.org: If you can, please donate to the full-text RSS service so we can continue developing it. GLENDALE — Two Armenian doctors will visit Southern California next month to study pediatric transplant methods at the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center. Sponsored by World Children's Transplant Fund, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit, surgeons Gegham Poghosyan and David Dallakyan will spend six months studying pediatric liver transplant techniques, which they can then apply to their work in Yerevan, Armenia. Each year, Armenian children die because of the lack of qualified physicians and specialized equipment needed to perform successful transplant surgeries, said Valerie McCaffrey, a member of the nonprofit's board of directors. Meanwhile, transporting the children to other countries for the procedures can expose them to other diseases and place undue stress on their already weak bodies, she said. "The goal is to train the doctors so the kids don't have to travel to receive these surgeries, to provide the training and technology and donor awareness in these counties," she said. Once the doctors complete their six-month observation and training, they will return to Armenia, where they can share their techniques with other doctors and continue to spread awareness, she said. McCaffrey, who is of Armenian descent, spearheaded efforts to establish a World Childrens Transplant Fund center in Armenia, where the fund employs a full-time director who provides support to local doctors, as well as conducting awareness and fundraising campaigns. Other centers are in Argentina, Costa Rica and Mexico. The nonprofit has successfully lobbied for laws banning the sale of organs in Armenia, she said. "No one gets a penny from the organ they are going to be donating," she said. "Otherwise, kids will start disappearing off the street." Next, nonprofit officials plan to lobby the government to change laws that limit most organ donations to blood relatives. Harut Sassounian, president of the United Armenian Fund, a coalition of charities that send clothes, medical equipment and other items requested by residents in Armenia, said the doctors would learn valuable information to bring home to Armenia. "The Armenian doctors are very talented and very dedicated to serving their patients; however, they need the exposure to [the West's] latest medical systems and also the latest technology," he said. Tonight, the World Children's Transplant Fund, in conjunction with the Armenian Consulate, will host a cocktail party to gather support and donations for the visiting doctors program. They are expected to arrive next month, at which point another event will be held, organizers said. In addition to financial donations to help support the six-month stay, McCaffrey said she hopes the community will show their moral support. "These two doctors are coming from a foreign country," she said. "We want to integrate their whole experience so that they receive as much help as possible." Get in touch MELANIE HICKEN covers City Hall. She may be reached at (818) 637-3235 or by e-mail at melanie. hicken@latimes.com. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

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