Study finds that tobacco companies changed design of cigarettes without alerting smokers

As President Obama prepares to sign a bill giving the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) oversight of the tobacco industry, a new study from Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) researchers shows that tobacco manufacturers have continually changed the ingredients and the design of their cigarettes over time, even if those changes have exceeded acceptable product variance guidelines. The result, say the researchers, is that consumers who buy the same brand of product are not made aware of how that product has been altered and what effect those alterations might have on their levels of addiction or harm. more  

Plant communication: sagebrush engage in self-recognition and warn of danger

“To thine own self be true” may take on a new meaning—not with people or animal behavior but with plant behavior. more

New supplement may help slow sight loss in elderly

Queen's University Belfast academics have helped develop an antioxidant supplement which may slow down sight loss in elderly people. more  

Mayo researchers: Dramatic outcomes in prostate cancer study

Two Mayo Clinic patients whose prostate cancer had been considered inoperable are now cancer free thanks in part to an experimental drug therapy that was used in combination with standardized hormone treatment and radiation therapy. The men were participating in a clinical trial of an immunotherapeutic agent called MDX-010 or ipilimumab. In these two cases, physicians say the approach initiated the death of a majority of cancer cells and caused the tumors to shrink dramatically, allowing surgery. In both cases, the aggressive tumors had grown well beyond the prostate into the abdominal areas. more

Green tea may affect prostate cancer progression  

According to results of a study published in Cancer Prevention Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, men with prostate cancer who consumed the active compounds in green tea demonstrated a significant reduction in serum markers predictive of prostate cancer progression. more

Link between light touch and Merkel cells solves 100-year mystery 

Light touch – the sense that lets musicians find the right notes on a keyboard, a seamstress revel in the feel of cool silk, the artisan feel a curve in material and the blind read Braille – truly depends on the activity of Merkel cells usually found in crescent-shaped clusters in the skin, said researchers from Baylor College of Medicine and colleagues in a report that appears in the current issue of the journal Science. more

Genetic clue to rare ovarian cancers found

Canadian researchers have identified a gene mutation that appears to be common in a rare form of ovarian cancer known as granulosa-cell tumors. They discovered the mutation by sequencing RNA from the tumors of four women with the disease, which accounts for up to 5 percent of ovarian cancers. more

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