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In a finding that could lead to a simple blood test to screen for lung cancer, U.S. researchers have identified immune system markers that indicate early-stage lung tumors in people at high risk for lung cancer.

The researchers examined gene expression profiles in blood samples from 137 people with non-small cell lung cancer and a control group of 91 people with non-malignant lung diseases, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, emphysema or benign lung nodules.

They identified a 29-gene “signature” that was 86 percent accurate in identifying those with lung cancer, who had certain genetic changes in immune cells that the others did not.

Blood samples were taken from 18 of those with lung cancer before surgery to remove their tumors and two to five months after surgery. After surgery, 13 of them showed a decrease or disappearance of the tumor gene signature.

The study was published online Dec. 1 in Cancer Research.

The researchers said it might be possible to use the findings to develop a simple blood test to screen for lung cancer.

“People routinely get blood taken at their doctors’ offices for cholesterol levels, diabetes and other standard tests, so why not utilize this method to screen for other conditions such as the risk of developing lung cancer?” Louise C. Showe, a professor in the molecular and cellular oncology and immunology programs and director of the genomics facility at the Wistar Institute in Philadelphia, said in a news release from the institute.

“Such a test could be especially useful for remote areas where, typically, technologies that are used in urban centers are not available,” she said. “In addition, this test could be useful in a clinical setting to help to decide whether a small tumor detected on an X-ray is likely to be malignant.”

A growing number of children in the United States are being born with Down syndrome, federal researchers say.

The overriding reason, experts add, is that more older women are having babies.

Data from 10 regional registries of birth defects show that the incidence of Down syndrome among U.S. children increased by 31 percent between 1979 and 2003, from 9.0 to 11.8 per 100,000 live births.

The survey of U.S. children with Down syndrome provides a benchmark for determining whether adequate health services for them are being provided, the researchers say.

“In the past we have focused on the prevalence at birth,” said Dr. Adolfo Correa, a supervisory medical officer with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and lead author of the report, published online Nov. 30 in Pediatrics. “The survival of children with Down syndrome has improved over the years, so we were interested in knowing the prevalence among children.”

The growing incidence, however, could paint a false picture, said Dr. Siobhan Dolan, an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology and women’s health at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center in New York City and a consultant to the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation.

The increase simply reflects the fact that more American women are having babies later in life, and “there is a strong epidemiological association between Down syndrome and maternal age,” Dolan said.

Down syndrome occurs when a child has an extra chromosome, number 21 of the 23 that determine genetic characteristics. Though most people think of the syndrome as a cause of mental retardation, some children with Down do not need special schools, Dolan said. But the extra chromosome is associated with a number of major physical problems, including life-threatening heart abnormalities.

The numbers in the new study “allow us to plan for Down syndrome, to see what is working for the children, including cardiac surgery to extend the life span,” she said.

Correo said the findings will help determine “whether the availability of specialty services will be enough to meet the needs of the Down syndrome population.”

The increased number of people with Down syndrome reflects “an accomplishment in our health system that should be noted,” Dolan said. “The care for Down syndrome individuals is probably improving, so that life expectancy is improving.”

Studies of the relationship between maternal age and the incidence of Down syndrome are continuing, she said. “That is the subject of very active research — what causes chromosomes to divide abnormally at certain ages. The genetics is really interesting.”

Tests to detect chromosomal abnormalities during pregnancy now are widely available, Dolan said. Such tests “can allow us to plan for health care, to plan for delivery, having a cardiology team there to care for the child,” she said.

A number of organizations provide advice and services for families with children who have Down syndrome, she said. “Getting educated from other families and support groups is an important asset,” she said.

Dolan also noted, however, that the data in the federal study now are now nine years old. “It is not 2009 data, and this is a continually changing field,” she said. “It is going to be interesting to see what happened between 2003 and 2009.”

Exclusive breast feeding for up to 6 months, though beneficial for an infants’ immunity and mothers’ weight, may not alter children’s health risks over the long term, study findings hint.

Dr. Michael S. Kramer, at The Montreal Children’s Hospital in Quebec, Canada, and colleagues assessed children through age 6.5 years for a number of outcomes according to whether they were exclusively breast fed for 6 months, or for 3 months followed by 3 months of combined breast and formula feedings.

Their findings, in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, hint that long-term advantages for children exclusively breast fed for 6 instead of 3 months “do not include lower risks of obesity, asthma, allergy, or dental caries,” Kramer noted in an email to Reuters Health.

He and colleagues also observed no differences in intelligence, behavior, or blood pressure measures between the 524 children exclusively breast fed for 6 months and the 2,427 fed in this manner for the shorter period.

The healthy-borne children, about half male, and their mothers had been enrolled in a breast feeding intervention study, conducted in the Republic of Belarus, which tallied feeding data through the children’s first year.

In previous analysis of this group, Kramer’s team showed exclusive breast feeding for 6 months tied to significantly lower incidence of gastrointestinal infections from 3 to 6 month of age.

In the current study, which assessed the children’s outcomes through the age of 6.5 years as reported by their pediatricians, mothers, and teachers, the only observed between-group differences were slightly higher measures of body mass, hip circumference, and thickness of the skin at the upper arm - all indicators of greater overall body fat.

However, these associations “seem unlikely to represent” exclusive breast feeding for 6 months as a cause for increased body fat during childhood, the investigators note.

Rather, Kramer and his co-investigators suspect these indicators may be tied to a mother’s confidence “to continue breast feeding if her baby is gaining weight well,” he said.

Kramer’s team plans continued follow up of this group of children through the age of 11 to 12 years to investigate any ties between breast feeding and risk indicators for heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

Benefits of Muscle-Strengthening Activities

As people age, they lose muscle. Muscle-strengthening activities can build muscle tissue and help slow the rate of age-related muscle loss. In addition, strengthening activities can maintain the strength of your bones and improve your balance, coordination, and mobility. Older adults who participate in moderate-intensity muscle-strengthening and balance activities are less likely to have falls.
When to Check with Your Doctor

Doing activity that requires moderate effort is safe for most people, regardless of age. However, if you have a health condition such as heart disease, arthritis, or diabetes be sure to talk with your doctor about the types and amounts of physical activity that are right for you.
Tips for Getting Started
Choose activities that work all seven major muscle groups of your body (legs, hips, back, chest, abdomen, shoulders, and arms), such as lifting weights, working with resistance bands, doing exercises that use your body weight for resistance (such as push-ups and sit-ups), or yoga.
Try to do 8–12 repetitions per strengthening activity. A repetition is one complete movement of an activity, like lifting a weight or doing one sit-up. To develop muscle strength and endurance, the number of strengthening activities needs to be done to the point where it’s hard for you to do another repetition without help.
Strive to increase the weight that you currently lift when it becomes too easy. Muscles are strengthened by progressively increasing the weight you lift over time. When you can lift the weight 8–12 times easily, it may be time to increase the amount of weight at your next session.
You can do muscle-strengthening activities in a number of settings, including your home or a gym. For examples of activities you may want to try, visit Growing Stronger – Strength Training for Older Adults: Exercises, Muscle Strengthening at Home, and Muscle Strengthening at the Gym.
Staying Safe and Avoiding Injury

Muscle strengthening is generally safe for everyone. Here are some things you can do to stay safe while strengthening your muscles:
If you haven’t been active in a while, start slowly and build up.
Choose muscle-strengthening activities that are appropriate for your fitness level.
Maintain good posture when performing all activities.
When picking weights up from the floor (or putting them down), use your legs—not your back.
See a health care provider if you have a health condition.

Muscle-strengthening activities can provide numerous health benefits, particularly as you grow older. There are many ways you can strengthen your muscles, whether it’s at home or the gym. The activities you choose should work all the major muscle groups of your body (legs, hips, back, chest, abdomen, shoulders, and arms).

No matter your age, regular physical activity is one of the most important things you can do for your health. And if you’re an older adult (65 years of age or older), regular physical activity is essential for healthy aging. To get the health benefits of physical activity, not only do you need to do aerobic activities that make you breathe harder and your heart beat faster, but you also need to do strengthening activities to make your muscles stronger.

According to the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, older adults gain substantial health benefits from 2 hours and 30 minutes (150 minutes) a week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity (i.e., brisk walking), in combination with muscle-strengthening activities on 2 or more days a week that work all seven major muscle groups—your legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders, and arms.

A new technique that transforms embryonic and adult stem cells into six types of mature white blood cells could produce blood cells with specific defects for use by researchers studying the development and treatment of disease.

The method, devised by University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers, could also be used to grow specific types of immune cells to target specific infections or tumors, or to test the safety of new drugs, they said.

The researchers exposed two types of stem cells to a variety of compounds and eventually found a “recipe” that caused the stem cells to turn into different types of adult cells. Their study appears in the Aug. 10 online edition of the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

“While we now can make almost all types of blood cells from embryonic and adult pluripotent stem cells, the next major challenge is to produce blood stem cells (called hematopoetic stem cells) that might be used in a bone marrow transplant,” study leader Igor Slukvin, an assistant professor in the department of pathology and laboratory medicine, said in a university news release.

Bone marrow transplants can save the lives of patients with blood cancer, but more than one-third of patients can’t find a well-matched bone marrow donor. These patients are at risk for graft-versus-host disease, a sometimes fatal attack on the patient by the transferred immune system. Using blood-forming stem cells created from a patient’s own stem cells should eliminate bone marrow compatibility problems, Slukvin said.