Sleep apnea may worsen liver disease for obese teens : reuters

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Sleep apnea may worsen liver disease for obese teens

Sleep apnea may worsen liver disease for obese teens

(Reuters Health) - For teens with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), breathing disruptions during sleep may worsen scarring in the liver, according to a new study.Researchers found that among obese adolescents with NAFLD, those with the most severe liver disease also had the most severe sleep disordered breathing that caused them to experience periods of low oxygen at night."This really focuses on the role of oxidative stress both systemically and specifically in the liver as a driving factor of fibrosis and liver disease getting worse," said lead investigator Dr. Shikha Sundaram of the Children's Hospital Colorado and the University of Colorado School of Medicine.Sleep apnea also increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, putting extra pressure on the heart to get oxygenated blood to the body, Sundaram told Reuters Health.


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Early treatment of multiple sclerosis may offer long-lasting effect on disease activity

Early treatment of multiple sclerosis may offer long-lasting effect on disease activity

Starting medication for multiple sclerosis (MS) in people who show the beginning signs of the disease is associated with prolonging the time before the disease is definitively diagnosed, according to a long-term study published in the August 10, 2016, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.The study involved people who had a first episode that was suggestive of MS, such as numbness, vision problems or problems with balance, and an MRI that showed signs of possible MS. Up to 85 percent of people in this situation, which is called clinically isolated syndrome, will in time be diagnosed with MS."Not much research has been done on how starting treatment this early affects the long-term course of the disease," said study author Ludwig Kappos, MD, of University Hospital Basel in Basel, Switzerland, and a member of the American Academy of Neurology."Our study adds to the evidence supporting treatment at the earliest sign of the disease and indicates that early treatment has a long-lasting effect on disease activity."The study started with 468 people randomly assigned to receive either early treatment with interferon beta-1b or a placebo.


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Sequencing of fungal disease genomes may help prevent banana armageddon

Sequencing of fungal disease genomes may help prevent banana armageddon

Aerial spraying of fungicides on a banana plantation.Credit: Gert Kema Researchers at the University of California, Davis, and in the Netherlands have discovered how a group of three closely related fungal pathogens have evolved into a lethal threat to the world's bananas, whilst an international consortium led by scientists from Wageningen UR (University & Research Centre) has unravelled the DNA of the fungus that causes black Sigatoka disease in bananas.The findings provide leads for increasing the sustainability of banana cultivation, for instance through the development of a resistant banana plant.Both studies were published in PLOS Genetics on August 11.