The Causes of Common Diseases are Not Genetic Concludes a New Analysis

  • Author: Health Informer
  • Filed under: Health News
  • Date: Dec 7,2010

Since sequencing the human genome, genetic r esea r chers have sea r ched intensively but unearthed little evidence to suggest that inherited genes cause common diseases.

For such diseases, which include heart disease, st r oke, cancers, diabetes, and diso r ders such as autism, ADHD and dementia, as well as mental illnesses such as schizoph r enia and dep r ession, significant genetic causation can now be ruled out with a high deg r ee of confidence.

The case for a substantial role of genes in susceptibility to the major human diseases is now scientifically refuted argues a groundbreaking new analysis published by the public interest science organization, The Bioscience Resource Project.

The analysis stems from the repeated failure of a new and comprehensive genome scanning method (called Genome-Wide Association studies, GWA studies) to find important human disease genes. It notes that more than 700 GWA studies by researchers from all over the world, covering over 80 different diseases and at a cost of many billions of dollars, have yielded essentially the same result. Of the approximately 1,000 genes identified that confer susceptibility to disease only a tiny handful are of even limited importance. The remainder are so weak in their effects as to be of negligible significance to human health (1).

“Geneticists are repeatedly finding only genes with trivial effects, but since they have a strong incentive not to declare this search over, they are left invoking unlikely hiding places for the important disease genes they have always predicted,” says Jonathan Latham, Executive Director of the Bioscience Resource Project (2). Read the rest of this entry »


Monthly blood transfusions combined with daily medication to remove the resulting excess iron remains the best approach for reducing the risk of recurrent strokes in young patients with sickle cell anemia, according to a preliminary analysis of a multicenter trial that includes St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

The study compared the efficacy of two treatments for the potentially life-threatening problem of iron overload caused by chronic transfusion therapy. The transfusions are used to guard against additional strokes in young sickle cell anemia patients. The trial, known as SWiTCH or Stroke with Transfusion Changing to Hydroxyurea, was halted in May after an interim safety review determined the alternative therapy was not significantly better than the standard treatment at reducing iron buildup and was associated with an increased stroke risk.

Russell Ware, M.D., Ph.D., chair of the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Department of Hematology and principal investigator of SWiTCH, discussed the results at the 52nd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology. The meeting is being held December 4 -7 in Orlando, Fla.

Jonathan Flanagan, Ph.D., a staff scientist at St. Jude, presented results of another study that provide the first independent validation of an association between five common genetic variations and stroke risk in young sickle cell patients.

Between 70,000 and 100,000 individuals in the U.S. have sickle cell anemia. They make an abnormal hemoglobin molecule that sometimes takes on a twisted or sickle shape, disrupting blood flow and oxygen delivery throughout the body. Patients are vulnerable to a variety of problems, including organ damage, episodes of acute pain and stroke. Five to 10 percent of patients will suffer strokes before their 20th birthday. Up to 90 percent of patients will experience a recurrence. Read the rest of this entry »


Early Support Reduces Health Costs in old age

  • Author: Health Informer
  • Filed under: Health News
  • Date: Dec 3,2010

Winners of the Klaus J. Jacobs Research Prize Present a Surprising Theory at the Award Ceremony in Zurich

The risk of age-related illnesses can be reduced and the associated increase in health costs mitigated with the aid of professional care and support in early childhood, said the winners of the Klaus J. Jacobs research prize, Terrie Moffitt and Avshalom Caspi, at the award ceremony in Zurich on Friday. The Anglo-American scientists were awarded one million Swiss francs by the Jacobs Foundation for their research into child and youth development.

Moffitt and Caspi, professors of neuropsychology at Duke University, North Carolina, USA, and King’s College, London, have until recently concentrated their studies on the long-term impact of childhood experiences. Now they intend to focus on the effects on health, Terrie Moffitt announced in her acceptance speech. She explained that initial investigations had shown that stress and traumatic experiences in childhood increase the risk of developing immunodeficiency disorders, heart and circulatory problems, as well as age-related dementia.

According to Terrie Moffitt, care and support during early childhood would become a key to solving the problems of ageing societies, if the connection between stress-free childhood and health in old age proved to be conclusive: the onset of age-related illnesses would be postponed, and there would be fewer problems in old age. The bottom line was that it would be possible to curb the increase in health costs, which is to a large extent fuelled by increased life expectancy.

‘The research findings of Moffitt and Caspi make me confident that intervention programs for youth development are meaningful and necessary, particularly for children and youth at risk. This will encourage all the non-profit-organization members who have dedicated their workforce to improving the state of the disadvantaged around the world”, said an enthusiastic Dr. Auma Obama at the award ceremony. The half sister of US President Barack Obama who was elected as a new member of the board of trustees of the Jacobs Foundation during the current year, pursues a full-time career in youth development projects in Africa.

Early support is a focal point of the development work carried out by the Jacobs Foundation. With the Klaus J. Jacobs Best Practice Award, worth 200,000 Swiss francs, the foundation fittingly paid tribute to an early play and development program – the models developed by the Opstapje association in Germany and the a:primo association in Switzerland. These models provide care, support and education for parents of children from the age of two on the basis of home visits. The support program is now active in over sixty German and Swiss towns.


Simplexa is first molecular test kit that does not require additional testing to confirm flu A, flu B or respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection

Quest Diagnostics announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued 510(k) clearance to the Focus Diagnostics Simplexa Flu A/B & RSV test on the 3M Integrated Cycler. The Simplexa test, developed and manufactured by Quest Diagnostics’ Focus Diagnostics business, is intended as an aid in the detection and discrimination of influenza A, influenza B and RSV virus infections.

It is the first molecular test cleared by the FDA for detecting flu viruses and RSV that does not require confirmation of test results by other time-consuming methods, such as culture. In addition, the time to perform the Simplexa test following RNA extraction from a specimen takes only about an hour, with results expected to be reported in less than three hours following receipt of a specimen.

“Influenza and RSV are two leading causes of respiratory tract infections in the U.S. and globally, infecting many millions of patients each year. These viruses sometimes cause severe illness and even death, particularly in infants and young children, older adults and people with underlying health problems,” said Jay M. Lieberman, M.D., medical director, infectious diseases, Quest Diagnostics and Focus Diagnostics. “Infection with these viruses can be challenging to diagnose because their signs and symptoms often mimic infection by other respiratory viruses. Our highly sensitive Simplexa test will help physicians quickly and reliably diagnose respiratory illness due to influenza or RSV, to help them better manage their patients.” Read the rest of this entry »


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