Desk-bound jobs double DVT risk
And you thought that desk-bound jobs only expanded your waistline. According to a new study, office workers who sit at a desk for eight hours a day and spend more than three hours without stretching double their risk of developing Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT).

Deep-vein thrombosis is the formation of a blood clot in a deep vein. It commonly affects the leg veins, such as the femoral vein or the popliteal vein or the deep veins of the pelvis.

Researchers in Southampton and New Zealand questioned 200 patients who were admitted to hospital for either blood clots or heart problems and compared how long each group had remained sitting, both in total and in one period without getting up.

Each additional hour spent sitting without getting up increased the likelihood of blood clots by 20 per cent, the study found.

All workers who commonly sit at their computer for most of the day should do the same leg and foot exercises, such as flexing the ankles that are recommended during long-haul flights, it was advised.

They should also take regular breaks away from their desk to walk around, said the researchers.

Cutting arthritis risk
Women who breastfeed for more than a year are less likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis, according to a new study.

Swedish scientists found that simply having children and not breastfeeding did not seem to have a protective effect.

They also discovered that oral contraceptives, which are suspected to protect against the disease because they contain hormones that are raised in pregnancy, did not have the same effect.

The researchers compared 136 women with rheumatoid arthritis with 544 women of a similar age without the disease. They found that those who had breast fed for longer were much less likely to get rheumatoid arthritis.

Body size gene and cancer
A new study by Sunnybrook researchers has found that a gene called glypican-3 (GPC3) plays a major role in regulating body size — a discovery that may have implications for the development of novel therapies for a number of cancers.
Researchers have discovered the mechanism by which the loss of the GPC3 gene triggers overgrowth through certain growth factors such as Sonic Hedgehog, which stimulate cancer growth.

This study may have future implications in the development of novel therapies for a number of breast, lung and ovarian cancers that have lost the expression of GPC3 gene. In the study, the researchers examined the molecular mechanism by which lack of functional GPC3 causes overgrowth in the Simpson-Golabi-Behmel syndrome (SGBS), a rare disorder that predisposes to cancers.

Viagra for dystrophy
Researchers from University of Montreal and Montreal Heart Institute have suggested that Viagra may protect the hearts of patients with muscular dystrophy.

Muscular dystrophy is characterized by weakness and progressive degeneration of the muscles, including the heart muscle. It is caused by a genetic mutation of dystrophin, a protein that acts as the “backbone" of muscular cells.

The study conducted using a mouse model showed that sildenafil protected the heart in mice with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

“This achievement was a true team initiative and is the culmination of sustained efforts on the part of Dr Maya Khairallah, who was a doctoral student at the time, and all of the researchers from participating centres,” said Dr Christine Des Rosiers, lead researcher from the Universite de Montreal and the Montreal Heart Institute.

“I’m pleased that my work has sparked interest in an eventual application for humans,” says Dr Khairallah.

The researchers explain that the choice of sildenafil was based on their previous studies indicating that the hearts of dystrophic mice do not function as effectively and are more susceptible to stress-induced cell death.

Childhood MS affects IQ
Children, who develop multiple sclerosis (MS) at a younger age, are more likely to have low IQ and problems with other thinking skills, than children developing the disease at an older age, says a new study.

Children with MS are at an increased risk of having low IQ scores and problems with memory, attention and thinking skills.

“It’s possible that MS can show an even more dramatic effect on the thinking skills and intelligence in children than in adults, since the disease might affect the brain at a time when it is still developing,” said Dr Maria Pia Amato, study author, of the University of Florence in Italy.