The International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) has welcomed the recently published paper European guidance for the diagnosis and management of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women(1) from the European Society for Clinical and Economic Aspects of Osteoporosis and Osteoarthritis (ESCEO).

Nowhere is the principle of “strength in numbers” more apparent than in the collective power of microbes: despite their simplicity, these one-cell organisms — which number about 5 million trillion trillion strong (no, that is not a typo) on Earth — affect virtually every ecological process, from the decay of organic material to the production of oxygen.

Despite the requirement for prior contact with an allergen for sensitization to occur, the majority of peanut allergic children react to their first known peanut ingestion. Evidence suggests that sensitization may occur by contact with allergen through the skin. Individuals thus sensitized may be predisposed to developing peanut allergy, while tolerance to peanut may be induced by oral exposure. S.M.H.

In many areas of the modern world, molecules play a pivotal role. Everyone needs Vitamin 12 for life, Taxol is used to combat cancer, and aspirin is one of the most versatile and commonly used drugs worldwide. MOLECULES THAT CHANGED THE WORLD (Wiley-Blackwell; March 2008; 385 Pages; Hardcover; 978-3-527-30983-2) is an entertaining and comprehensive guide to not only the synthesis of, but the story and the people behind, more than 30 unique substances.

Myocardial infarction and stroke cause nearly half of all deaths in the Western World, and atherosclerosis is the main cause of myocardial infarction and stroke. Scientists from the Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, have shown with mouse models that the accumulation of the plaque that causes myocardial infarction and stroke can be avoided. You can read about this in the March 14th issue of PLoS Genetic.

The University of Iowa Department of Pediatrics has been awarded a five-year, $2.1 million grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to continue a mentorship project that helps junior faculty members embark on research careers.The grant renews support that has been in place since 1990 and resulted in the training of 26 UI clinician-scientists in pediatrics.

UroToday.com - Many of the 10 million cancer patients in the US are taking nutritional supplements, but an accurate assessment of the frequency is not well appreciated. In the February 1, 2008 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Christine Velicer and Cornelia Ulrich report a systematic review of supplement use among US cancer patients. Prostate cancer patients are among the lowest users of supplements.

UroToday.com - Starting from a well-established cell culture system of normal human urothelial cells (1,2), the epithelial cells that line the bladder, we used retroviral transduction to generate “designer” cell lines with specific molecular alterations. These “paramalignant” human urothelial cell sub-lines were engineered with the loss of p53 and/or p16 tumour suppressor protein function (3), which are key events in the development and progression of early-stage bladder cancer.

UroToday.com - This trial was a validation of IMP3 as marker for the aggressiveness of renal cell carcinoma. It confirmed that IMP3 positivity can predict increased metastasis and decreased survival in renal cell carcinoma patients.Validation studies are not widely performed or reported on biomarkers, but provide valuable insight on the importance of these markers on a larger scale.

UroToday.com - Dr. Kristin Chrouser presented a phenomenal lecture that prompted a standing ovation. She recounted her experience providing care for underprivileged women in Africa with vesicovaginal fistulae (VVF), many of whom were ostracized and destitute due to their condition. Not only was her well-delivered lecture educational, but it was inspirational, both from a medical and a social aspect.