http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. (HealthDay)—Variants of insulin receptor substrate 1 (IRS1) are associated with insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome, but only under particular dietary conditions, according to a study published online April 17 in Diabetes Care. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-gene-variants-link-insulin-resistance.html Diabetes Sun, 28 Apr 2013 07:10:01 EST news286347931 In the largest ever genome-wide association study on myopia, 23andMe, the leading personal genetics company, identified 20 new genetic associations for myopia, or nearsightedness. The company also replicated two known associations in the study, which was specific to individuals of European ancestry. The study included an analysis of genetic data and survey responses from more than 50,000 23andMe customers and demonstrates that the genetic basis of myopia is complex and affected by multiple genes. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-multiple-genetic-factors-impacting-nearsightedness.html Genetics Thu, 14 Mar 2013 09:40:16 EST news282472806 For the first time, scientists have discovered that five major psychiatric disorders—autism, attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder and schizophrenia—share several common genetic risk factors. In particular, variations in two genes involved in the balance of calcium in brain cells are implicated in several of these disorders and could be a target for new treatments. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-largest-reveals-major-psychiatric-disorders.html Psychology & Psychiatry Wed, 27 Feb 2013 18:30:01 EST news281206769 Low birth weights are more prevalent among Brazilians with African ancestry and may be attributed to less use of prenatal care facilities and where those ethnic groups live, according to a new study. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-african-ancestry-babies-prenatal-brazil.html Health Tue, 26 Feb 2013 16:20:28 EST news281118022 Atrial fibrillation is the most common type of abnormal heart rhythm, affecting 2.5 million Americans. If left undetected or untreated, atrial fibrillation can lead to stroke. Determining who is at increased risk for atrial fibrillation has been difficult, especially among individuals without established heart disease. But now, researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital have devised and tested a simple atrial fibrillation risk prediction model, based on six easily obtained factors: a woman's age, height, weight, blood pressure, alcohol consumption and smoking history. The model is published in the online edition of the European Heart Journal on February 26, 2013. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-simple-method-atrial-fibrillation-women.html Cardiology Tue, 26 Feb 2013 14:00:02 EST news281105202 (Medical Xpress)—More than 45,000 people of European and Asian ancestry have taken part in a big study to gain a better understanding of the genetics behind the world's most common eye disorder. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-clear-sighted-genes-eye-problems.html Genetics Thu, 21 Feb 2013 06:18:11 EST news280649885 A large international study has identified three new gene variants associated with body mass index (BMI) levels in adults. The scientific consortium, numbering approximately 200 researchers, performed a meta-analysis of 46 studies, covering gene data from nearly 109,000 adults, spanning four ethnic groups. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-genes-adult-bmi.html Genetics Thu, 25 Oct 2012 16:27:01 EST news270401008 In the largest-ever genetic study of cholesterol and other blood lipids, an international consortium has identified 21 new gene variants associated with risks of heart disease and metabolic disorders. The findings expand the list of potential targets for drugs and other treatments for lipid-related cardiovascular disease, a leading global cause of death and disability. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-large-international-genes-tied-cholesterol.html Genetics Thu, 11 Oct 2012 12:27:11 EST news269177220 (Medical Xpress)—Researchers from Harvard School of Public Health have found that greater consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) is linked with a greater genetic susceptibility to high body mass index (BMI) and increased risk of obesity. The study reinforces the view that environmental and genetic factors may act together to shape obesity risk. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-regular-consumption-sugary-beverages-linked.html Overweight and Obesity Fri, 21 Sep 2012 16:00:02 EST news267431630 (Medical Xpress)—Genetic investigation of a Malaysian tribe may tell scientists why East Asians have light skin but lower skin cancer rates than Europeans, according to a team of international researchers. Understanding the differences could lead to a better way to protect people from skin cancer. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-tribe-east-asian-skin-genes.html Genetics Tue, 28 Aug 2012 12:38:56 EST news265376246 Using data from its unique online research platform, 23andMe, a leading personal genetics company, has identified seven single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) significantly associated with breast size, including three SNPs also correlated with breast cancer in a genome-wide association study (GWAS) now published online in BMC Medical Genetics. These findings make the first concrete genetic link between breast size and breast cancer risks. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-23andme-genetic-breast-size-cancer.html Genetics Tue, 03 Jul 2012 13:07:10 EST news260539503 A study published Online First by the Lancet reports the successful validation and clinical application of the first point-of-care genetic test in medicine. The test successfully identifies the CYP2C19*2 allele: a common genetic variant associated with increased rates of major adverse events in individuals given clopidogrel after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), thus avoiding complications in those patients. The Article is by Dr Derek Y F So, University of Ottawa Heart Institute, Ottawa, Canada, and colleagues. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-validation-point-of-care-genetic-medicine-antiplatelet.html Cardiology Wed, 28 Mar 2012 18:30:01 EST news252152189 Durland Fish has researched ticks and their associated diseases for decades. A professor in the Division of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases at the Yale School of Public Health, he has, among other things, contributed to the discovery that the bacterium that causes Lyme disease has European ancestry and that the disease, once nearly eradicated in North America, roared back with reforestation. More recently he helped develop a Lyme disease “app” for the iPhone and other Apple devices that provides users with detailed information about tick populations in any given area in the United States and even comes with a video on how to safely remove a tick. He has also worked on mosquito-borne West Nile virus and dengue fever. Students selected Fish as the school’s mentor of the year in 2010. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-what-makes-ticks-tick.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 07 Mar 2012 08:40:03 EST news250331390 A recent large and comprehensive analysis of 50,000 genetic variants across 2,000 genes linked to cardiovascular and metabolic function has identified four genes associated with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and six independent disease-associated variants at previously known loci. The findings, which provide valuable insight into the genetic risk for T2D across multiple ethnicities, add to the growing list of genetic variants that affect the risk of developing T2D and could pave the way for identification of valuable drug targets. The research will be published by Cell Press on February 9th in The American Journal of Human Genetics, the official journal of the American Society of Human Genetics. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-genetic-diabetes-span-multiple-ethnicities.html Diabetes Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:00:01 EST news248007170 Broad, population-based investigations known as genome-wide association studies (GWAS) are now a standard tool for helping scientists to pinpoint genetic variations that can contribute to disease risk or pathology. However, most of the studies performed to date have focused predominantly on populations of European ancestry, and therefore ignore or overlook risk markers that specifically predominate among other ethnic groups. A recent GWAS from a large team of scientists based in Korea and Japan, including Yukinori Okada of the RIKEN Center for Genomic Medicine in Yokohama, has addressed this inequity by specifically seeking out factors that might contribute to metabolic disease in East Asians (Fig. 1). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-large-scale-east-asian-individuals-reveals.html Genetics Fri, 27 Jan 2012 10:00:02 EST news246879047 Singapore and China scientists, headed by Dr Liu Jianjun, Senior Group Leader and Associate Director of Human Genetics at the Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS) and Dr Gu Jieruo, a rheumatologist at the 3rd Affiliated Hospital of the Sun Yat-Sen University, have identified new genes that are associated with the spine disease ankylosing spondylitis (AS). This discovery, reported in the advanced online issue of Nature Genetics on 4 December 2011, brings scientists closer to understanding the disease and work towards its cure. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-scientists-asian-genome-wide-association-spine.html Genetics Mon, 05 Dec 2011 09:40:24 EST news242300385 A new international report from scientists around the world finds that common variants in 28 regions of DNA are associated with blood pressure in human patients. Of the identified regions, most were completely unsuspected, although some harbor genes suspected of influencing blood pressure based on animal studies. In the study receiving advance online publication in Nature, members of the International Consortium for Blood Pressure Genome-Wide Association Studies (ICBP-GWAS) analyzed genetic data from over 275,000 individuals from around the world. They also identified for the first time the involvement of an important physiologic pathway in blood pressure control, potentially leading to a totally new class of hypertension drugs. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-international-gene-hypertension-treatment.html Genetics Sun, 11 Sep 2011 13:00:58 EST news234964755 A consortium led by scientists at the University of Oxford and Harvard Medical School has constructed the world's most detailed genetic map. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-world-advanced-genetic.html Genetics Wed, 20 Jul 2011 13:00:06 EST news230384389 Researchers from Boston University's Slone Epidemiology Center have found four new genetic variants in the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) that confer a higher risk of systemic lupus erythemathosus ("lupus") in African American women. The study, which currently appears on-line in Human Genetics, is believed to be the first to comprehensively assess the association between genetic variants in the MHC region and risk of lupus in African American women. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-genetic-factors-lupus-african-american-women.html Genetics Fri, 24 Jun 2011 11:24:32 EST news228133447