- 2013
- Press releases - 28.10.2013
Major advance in understanding Alzheimer’s disease: 11 new genetic susceptibility factors discovered
The largest international study ever conducted on Alzheimer’s disease, as part of the IGAP (International Genomics of Alzheimer Project) international consortium, coordinated by the joint research unit comprising Inserm, the Pasteur Institute at Lille-University Lille Nord de France ‘Public health and molecular epidemiology of diseases associated with ageing’ and LabEx DISTALZ, directed by Philippe Amouyel, has identified eleven new regions of the genome involved in the appearance of this neuro-degenerative disease. This work provides an overview of the molecular mechanisms at the root of the disease, revealing a better understanding of the physiopathology of this curse.
- What's on? - 25.10.2013
29 October 2013 : World Stroke Day
A stroke or cerebrovascular accident occurs when blood stops flowing in the brain, caused by a burst blood vessel or clotting. When brain tissue has no oxygen, it quickly deteriorates and can lead to irreversible damage and even sudden death. World Stroke Day, co-organised by the French Neurovascular Society, highlights the importance of recognising the […]
- Press releases - 25.10.2013
Obesity: a new appetite-increasing mechanism discovered
Despite their efforts, many morbidly obese people continue to consume too much food (hyperphagia) compared to their reserves and their needs. And yet, the hunger hormone, called ghrelin, is most frequently found at a normal or even lower level in these patients. The Inserm Unit 1073 team “Nutrition, inflammation and dysfunction of the gut-brain axis” (Inserm/University of Rouen) has just explained this mechanism causing this paradoxical hyperphagia. Certain antibodies have a greater affinity for ghrelin in obese patients, leading to extended appetite stimulation.
- Press releases - 23.10.2013
Memory brain systems help resisting temptations
How can some people resist the attraction of immediate pleasures and pursue long-term goals, while others easily succumb and compromise their ultimate expectations? One secret factor might lie in the activity of a deep brain structure: the hippocampus.
- Press releases - 18.10.2013
A better evaluation of the body’s ability to fight tumours
Some individuals are better able to fight cancer for many years compared with others. This ability to fight tumours depends on the immune response, as observed for colorectal cancers by Jérôme Galon, Research Director at Inserm, and his team, the Laboratory of Integrative Cancer Immunology, at the Cordelier Research Centre (Inserm/UPMC/Paris Descartes University). The investigators show that the proportions of immune system cells in and around the tumour change with the stage of progression of the cancer, and demonstrate the importance of an increased concentration of some cell types to the survival of patients, namely, follicular T-helper cells (Tfh) and B lymphocytes.
- Press releases - 18.10.2013
Le profil des consommateurs de produits Bio en France
Le style de vie, les consommations alimentaires, les apports nutritionnels et l’état de santé des consommateurs de produits de l’agriculture biologique (Bio) n’ont fait l’objet que de peu d’études scientifiques au plan international, ainsi qu’en France, malgré l’intérêt et le nombre croissant des consommateurs de produits Bio. Dans ce protocole spécifique réalisé dans le cadre de l’étude NutriNet-Santé, l’attitude et la fréquence de consommation de 18 produits Bio, dont 16 aliments, ont été évalués dans un sous-échantillon de 54 311 nutrinautes adultes.
- What's on? - 17.10.2013
Air pollution classified as carcinogenic
The International Agency for Research on Cancer, a specialised agency of the World Health Organization, announced on Thursday that it classified outdoor air everywhere in the world as carcinogenic. Several experts met in Lyon, France, to analyse studies on thousands of men and women followed over several decades. For the moment, the results have not […]
- What's on? - 16.10.2013
18 October : World Menopause Day
World Menopause Day organised on Friday 18 October by WHO calls on all nations to make post-menopausal health a priority in research and public health. Menopause is defined as the end of a woman’s reproductive period. Menopause causes dramatic changes in the emotional and physical life of women. It usually begins at around fifty. The […]
- Press releases - 15.10.2013
Large European study finds exposure to even low levels of air pollution during pregnancy increases risk of lower birthweight babies
Exposure to common air pollutants and traffic during pregnancy significantly increases the risk of restricted fetal growth, even at levels well below those stipulated in current European Union (EU) air-quality directives, according to one of the largest cohort studies of its kind published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine.
- Press releases - 11.10.2013
Fine-tuning the approach to malaria and toxoplasmosis research
A study carried out by teams from the Institut Pasteur, the Institut Cochin (Inserm, CNRS, Paris Descartes University), and the Wellcome Trust Centre for Molecular Parasitology at the University of Glasgow, may very well redefine current approaches to malaria and toxoplasmosis research in terms of treatment development.