Study suggests male pattern baldness may be an indicator of prostate cancer

Researchers find that men with male pattern baldness may be at higher risk for developing aggressive prostate cancer compared with men who are not bald or balding.

by John Tyburski

Copyright © Daily Digest News, KPR Media, LLC. All rights reserved.

First published at Daily Digest News on September 16, 2014

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, prostate cancer is the most common type of cancer for men of all races in the United States and occurs at a rate of about 128 cases per 100,000 at-risk males. That is nearly twice the rate of male lung cancer and three times the rate of colorectal cancer in men.

Although black men tend to have somewhat higher incident cases, risk factors and indicators of prostate cancer have otherwise remained elusive. A new study suggests that male pattern baldness may in fact turn out to be a predictor of an aggressive form of prostate cancer. The report that describes the study was published in the September 15 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Michael Cook, an epidemiologist in the National Cancer Institute’s Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, and his colleagues explored whether men who took part in the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Trial exhibited an association between male pattern baldness and prostate cancer, as the two conditions “appear to share common pathophysiologic mechanisms,” according to the report.

Cook and coworkers included just over 39,000 men in the PLCO cohort between the ages of 55 and 74 who recalled their hair-loss patterns. The men had no cancer diagnoses when they enrolled, and their hair-loss recall was for their 45^th year of life. Approximately 18 percent of the men recalled having male pattern baldness at 45. Over 1,100 men were eventually diagnosed with prostate cancer, and nearly 600 of these cases involved aggressive prostate cancer.

Compared with no baldness, baldness on the front and moderate crown baldness were associated with increased risk of aggressive prostate cancer later in life. The risk for men with baldness at 45 to develop aggressive prostate cancer was about 39 percent higher than for men with little or no balding. When considering all types of prostate cancer together or only nonaggressive prostate cancer, however, the associations were insignificant.

“It is conceivable that, in the future, male pattern baldness may play a small role in estimating risk of prostate cancer and may contribute to discussions between doctors and patients about prostate cancer screening,” said Cook.

Rare respiratory illness spreads to two new states

A rare and sometimes severe viral respiratory illness continues to spread as confirmed cases are reported in two new states, bringing the total number of states with confirmed cases to ten.

by John Tyburski

Copyright © Daily Digest News, KPR Media, LLC. All rights reserved.

First published at Daily Digest News on September 15, 2014

A rare but serious viral infection continues to send children to hospitals across the U.S., and the number of states with confirmed cases is growing. Officials in both Alabama and New York announced recently that they have received confirmation that suspected cases of enterovirus D68 are authentic.

Four of six specimens tested in Alabama were positive, according to an announcement on Monday by the state’s Department of Public Health. Last Friday, The New York State Department of Health stated that more than a dozen children in two separate parts of the state have confirmed enterovirus D68 illnesses.

The confirmation of cases in Alabama brings the total number of states with enterovirus D68 infections to ten. Connecticut and several other additional states that rely on specimen-testing provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are awaiting confirmation of suspected cases. New York is one of the few states that have the capacity to test for the virus within its borders.

Enterovirus D68 is one particularly rare members of the many non-polio enteroviruses, some of which cause illnesses with cold-like symptoms. Enterovirus D68 was first isolated in 1962 in California and has only occasionally caused noticeable outbreaks to date. The virus causes mild to severe respiratory illness and symptoms such as coughing, sneezing, and in some cases, difficulty in breathing.

So far, enterovirus D68 has only caused respiratory illness in children. Experts say that nearly all adults have been exposed to the viral strain at some earlier point in their lives. Therefore, they have already established immunities to this particular strain. The children who are becoming ill, however, have not experienced this virus before and do not have established immunity against it.

Last week, health officials in the Denver, Colorado, area reported hundreds of new cases. There are no specific treatments or vaccines against enterovirus D68.

24-year old woman living in China has no cerebellum

Doctors in China discover a woman who has lived her entire life with no cerebellum and presents with only mild to moderate impairments.

by John Tyburski

Copyright © Daily Digest News, KPR Media, LLC. All rights reserved.

First published at Daily Digest News on September 11, 2014

The human brain continues to mystify. Small injuries can be lethal, yet some people manage surprisingly well with large portions of their brains missing. An extraordinarily rare case of a woman with a missing cerebellum was presented last month in the journal Brain.

The 24-year old woman was only recently diagnosed as having congenital cerebellar agenesis, or no cerebellum from birth. Her condition is only the ninth documented case in the world. It is not impossible for individuals to survive partial loss of the cerebellum as a result of some injury or disease, but living and functioning without ever having one is extraordinary.

The term “cerebellum” means “little brain.” It is located on the back of the brain stem, just under the rear-most lobes of the cerebrum, or “big brain.” The cerebellum is responsible for fine motor control, balance, posture, motor learning of activities such as walking, and the motor aspects of speech. It comprises only about ten percent of the total human brain volume but houses nearly half of all brain neurons.

Doctors discovered the missing cerebellum in the young married mother of one child after the woman sought medical consultation for persistent nausea and vertigo. Imagining revealed a fluid-filled space where the woman’s cerebellum should have been. The woman has had life-long difficulty walking without support and producing speech.

The physicians were surprised at how the woman’s deficits were not more severe. Researchers have identified approximately 30 mutations associated with cerebellum structural disruption. However, no one knows what leads to complete failure of a cerebellum to form during development.

Biologists learn how to increase the lifespan of fruit flies by thirty percent

Researchers turned on a gene in the gut of fruit flies called AMPK, a genetic change that resulted in the flies living eight weeks instead of their normal six weeks.

by John Tyburski

Copyright © Daily Digest News, KPR Media, LLC. All rights reserved.

First published at Daily Digest News on September 11, 2014

Is the prospect of extending the human lifespan a matter of turning up the dial on a single gene? Researchers at the University of California in Los Angeles show that it might be.

The scientists, headed up by associate professor David Walker, tweeked the amount of a protein called AMPK in the intestines of fruit flies by turning on the gene that encodes the protein. The result was that the flies with more AMPK in their intestines lived longer.

“We have shown that when we activate the gene in the intestine or the nervous system, we see the aging process is slowed beyond the organ system in which the gene is activated,” Walker said in a statement.

Humans also possess the gene that encodes for AMPK, but it normally operates at a low level. Walker said that identifying a target gene for extending longevity in a relatively accessible tissue or organ is paramount.

“Instead of studying the diseases of aging — Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, stroke, cardiovascular disease, diabetes — one by one, we believe it may be possible to intervene in the aging process and delay the onset of many of these diseases,” said Walker, a member of UCLA’s Molecular Biology Institute. “We are not there yet, and it could, of course, take many years, but that is our goal and we think it is realistic.

The protein AMPK has been previously shown to activate a cellular process called “autophagy,” which is a means for cells to dispose of cellular and molecular “garbage.” Doctoral student and lead author Matthew Ulgherait set out to determine whether activation of AMPK in the flies increased the rate at which autophagy proceeded. It did, even in distant tissues such as the brain.

“Matt moved beyond correlation and established causality,” said Walker. “He showed that the activation of autophagy was both necessary to see the anti-aging effects and sufficient; that he could bypass AMPK and directly target autophagy.”

According to Walker, the drug metformin used to treat Type 2 diabetes activates AMPK.

Respiratory illness still sending Colorado children to hospitals

A recent outbreak of respiratory illness caused by enterovirus D68 is proving stubborn as it continues to send large numbers of Denver-area children to hospital emergency rooms.

by John Tyburski

Copyright © Daily Digest News, KPR Media, LLC. All rights reserved.

First published at Daily Digest News on September 10, 2014

The recent outbreak of enterovirus D68 infections has public health officials and physicians scrambling to manage the spread and treatment of the rare but serious respiratory illness caused by the virus. Children in the Denver, Colorado, area are flocking to hospital emergency rooms with the illness.

Since August 18, Children’s Hospital Colorado has treated over 1,750 children for severe respiratory illness in its urgent-care locations throughout the Denver area as well as in its emergency room.

Over 150 children have been admitted to the hospital for follow-up care. Just in the past week, over 800 new cases have been reported. Hospital spokeswoman Elizabeth Whitehead said that the outbreak is not showing any signs of letting up. Between Tuesday morning and Wednesday afternoon, nearly 200 new cases were reported.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the virus has infected many children in at least 11 states. The culprit is enterovirus D68, one of many non-polio enteroviruses that causes fewer and less-frequent infections than a number of other enteroviruses. Enterovirus D68 was first discovered in California back in 1962 and has caused few outbreaks in the years since it was identified.

Enterovirus D68 causes mild to severe respiratory illness; the full spectrum of symptoms is not well characterized. Although the way in which enterovirus D68 is transmitted is not known, experts speculate that the virus likely spreads from person to person when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or contaminates surfaces.

There is no specific treatment for enterovirus D68. Severe cases require intensive supportive therapy.