According to a new study in Economic Inquiry, an individual’s body weight depends not just on physiology and economic circumstances, but also on average body weight of the population at large. The study is the first to quantitatively model body weight distribution based on the combined outcome of economic, biological and social influences. [click link for full article]

After lung and stomach cancer, liver cancer is the third largest cause of cancer deaths in the world. A new study on the relationship between coffee drinking and the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) confirmed that there is an inverse association between coffee consumption and HCC, although the reasons for this relationship are still unresolved. [click link for full article]

Cognitive impairment is one of the neurological effects in patients with hepatic encephalopathy (abnormal brain function due to severe liver disease). For the first time, a new study showed that treatment with an anti-inflammatory improves cognitive function in rats induced with chronic liver failure.The results of this study appear in the August 2007 issue of Hepatology, the official journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD). [click link for full article]

Nimesulide, a cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitor, delays the progression of precancerous pancreatic lesions in mice, according to researchers at David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. While inflammation has been shown to be a factor in many forms of cancer, the researchers say this is the first study to demonstrate the effect of an anti-inflammatory COX-2 inhibitor on the development of pancreatic cancer. [click link for full article]

New research shows how a particular small molecule blocks the activity of a cancer-suppressing gene, allowing liver-cancer cells to grow and spread.This molecule is a microRNA, a recently discovered class of tiny molecules used by cells to help control the kinds and amounts of proteins they make. More than 250 different microRNAs have been discovered, and several have been linked to cancer. [click link for full article]

UNICEF remains distressed at the impact that violence is having on children in Mogadishu and calls on all parties to the conflict to ensure the safety of civilians, especially children. At least 20 children have died in the past month as a result of ongoing conflict within the Somali capital, while many others are among the hundreds of thousands to have fled the city in recent months. The majority of the displaced are children, women and the elderly. [click link for full article]

UNICEF is concerned that primary school education could become a casualty of the floods that have affected southwest Pakistan in the wake of cyclone Yemyin in late June. The torrential rains have paid a heavy toll on educational facilities. Over 1,400 schools have been affected by the floods in Balochistan and Sindh, the two provinces hit by the disaster, and more than 200 schools have been washed away. [click link for full article]

Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers have identified a key mechanism underlying proteinuria - excess protein in the urine which signifies a breakdown in the kidney’s filtering process. They have discovered that a protein called dynamin is required for the function of a critical filtering structure called a podocyte and that a specific enzyme’s processing of dynamin will cause podocytes to break down, allowing protein to leak out of the bloodstream. [click link for full article]

There’s nothing more natural, nothing more instinctive, and nothing more effective than breastfeeding. Protecting her baby is a mother’s first instinct and a mother’s milk is the most powerful vaccine there is against infectious and non-infectious disease. That is why I am proud of UNICEF’s efforts to raise awareness about the benefits of breast-feeding. [click link for full article]

Across the country, students are preparing to start or return to college. This is an exciting time, though for some it’s overwhelming and stressful. Depression, substance use and eating disorders are increasingly common mental health issues on college campuses. According to a recent survey1, the rate of students reporting ever being diagnosed with depression has increased 56 percent in the last six years, from 10 percent in spring 2000 to 16 percent in spring 2005. [click link for full article]