ScienceCache
Vol. 199
Sept. 2, 2005
SEIZURE DRUG COOLS CANCER-RELATED HOT FLASHES
Women with breast cancer who suffer hot flashes as a result of their
treatment have a new option: The drug gabapentin at 900 mg daily was
shown to offer significant relief with few side effects, according to
a study published in this week’s Lancet. The gabapentin research
is the latest in a long series of Rochester studies into hot flash relief.
In 2000 a University neurologist treating a menopausal woman for migraines
first observed that the seizure medication seemed to cure her hot flashes.
Since then, a large clinical trial confirmed those results in women suffering
from hot flashes due to menopause. The current study shows that gabapentin
provides control of hot flashes in women with breast cancer who suffer
hot flashes as a result of their cancer treatment. For thousands of breast
cancer patients, gabapentin could improve the quality of life for anyone
undergoing systemic therapy such as Tamoxifen, which induces hot flashes
as a side effect, according to Kishan J. Pandya, professor of medicine
and oncology at the James P. Wilmot Cancer Center and principal investigator
of the study.
Full story
NEW WAY TO FIGHT HIV GROUNDED IN RESILIENT PATIENTS
There’s something special about some people that helps them fight
off HIV, researchers have confirmed in an article in the September issue
of the Journal of Virology. A team led by biochemist Harold Smith confirmed
for the first time the benefit of an innate defense system present in
the few patients who remain healthy after years of infection with HIV
despite receiving no treatment. Scientists found that the 5 percent of
HIV-infected patients referred to as long-term survivors or nonprogressors
have higher amounts of a key enzyme in their white blood cells. Past
research suggested that such patients maintain higher levels of an enzyme
in white blood cells called APOBEC-3G (A3G), and the new study confirmed
it in the first experiments on human cells. Researchers believe that
A3G “edits,” or introduces changes in, the HIV genetic code
every time the virus copies itself. By doing so, A3G corrupts the HIV
gene code and prevents the virus from reproducing. In most people HIV
is able to overcome the hurdle and overwhelm the immune system, but some
patients have higher levels of the enzyme and are able to fight off the
virus. Biotech company OyaGen Inc. is poised to begin preclinical testing
on a drug designed to confer similar protection on most HIV patients. “We
hope to develop the first drug that solves the problem of viral resistance,
where viral strains have changed so quickly that HIV is resistant to
current treatments in 40 percent of new cases,” Smith says. “If
early studies go as planned, OyaGen may be able to offer a treatment
that HIV cannot easily escape.”
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POLITICAL SCIENTISTS SAY THEY CAN REVERSE TRENDS OF CITIZEN DESPAIR
Leading U.S. political scientists, including the University’s Richard
G. Niemi, believe Americans who are disengaged from politics can be reached
by practical remedies that improve the political system. Taking a citizen's
perspective, the political scientists roll out ways to reverse trends
of dissatisfaction with government in a new book, Democracy at Risk. “For
instance, we suggest that there ought to be alternative ways to create
legislative districts rather than have state legislatures do it,” says
Niemi, the Don Alonzo Watson Professor of Political Science. "The
whole process has been done in a way that leads to very little competition
between the political parties, and that, in turn, has negative consequences." For
example, a commission could change the drawing of district lines, which
is under consideration in California. Another change that can increase
people’s participation in elections is restoring the right to vote
for felons who have served their time and completed probation, says Niemi. “That
seems to me to be an obvious, correct thing to do. Still, some states
make it very difficult for felons to ever vote again. It's one of a number
of things that collectively could make a big difference.” The book
is being discussed this week in Washington at the annual meeting of the
American Political Science Association, whose Committee on Civic Education
and Engagement sponsored the book.
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