Demand for artificial joints expected to soar in future
— As Americans live longer, exercise more and become increasingly obese, the number of artificial joints that will be needed to replace damaged knees will jump 673 percent by 2030 to 3.48 million a year, according to a new study.

The need for artificial hips will climb 174 percent over the same period to 572,000 a year, said Steven M. Kurtz of Exponent Inc., a Philadelphia engineering and scientific consulting firm. The study is to be presented today at the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons annual meeting in Chicago.

Discovery About Protein Sorting in Pigment Cells Sheds Light on Melanoma, Alzheimer’s Disease: "Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have discovered how a protein called Pmel17 is sorted by pigment cells in the skin and eye to make a fiber matrix that eventually sequesters melanin, the dark pigment found in skin, hair, and eyes. Understanding the molecular steps prior to fiber formation - and when this process goes awry - may lead to a better understanding of melanoma and Alzheimer's disease. Pmel17 is a major target within the immune system in current anti-melanoma immunotherapies. Michael S. Marks, PhD, Associate Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, and colleagues published their findings in the March issue of Developmenta"

Discovery About Protein Sorting in Pigment Cells Sheds Light on Melanoma, Alzheimer’s Diseasea>
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have discovered how a protein called Pmel17 is sorted by pigment cells in the skin and eye to make a fiber matrix that eventually sequesters melanin, the dark pigment found in skin, hair, and eyes. Understanding the molecular steps prior to fiber formation - and when this process goes awry - may lead to a better understanding of melanoma and Alzheimer's disease. Pmel17 is a major target within the immune system in current anti-melanoma immunotherapies. Michael S. Marks, PhD, Associate Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, and colleagues published their findings in the March issue of Developmenta

Companies woo women with new pink knee implantThe top orthopedic device manufacturers, gearing up for a new marketing brawl, are planning to woo women with a newly designed female knee implant.

Zimmer Holdings Inc. said it expects to win U.S. regulatory approval for its new knee implant designed specifically for women in May. Zimmer, the leading maker of knee and hip implants with about one third of the market, featured the new implant prominently in a pink booth at the annual American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons in Chicago this week.

The implant is smaller and has a different shape than others on the market. Zimmer Chairman and Chief Executive Raymond Elliott said.

Women receive about 60 percent of all knee implants. Because women tend to live longer and have a greater likelihood of becoming obese than men, they are expected to continue to drive the implant business.

After a first stroke, patients are nearly twice as likely to die from heart disease than from another stroke
, according to a study published in the medical journal Neurology. However, in the long-term, they are more likely to have another non-fatal stroke than to have a cardiac event.

"Few population-based studies with long-term follow-up have compared risk of recurrent stroke and cardiac events after first ischemic stroke," Dr. M. S. V. Elkind and colleagues from Columbia University, New York, write. "The relative risk of these two outcomes may inform treatment decisions."

Forget the Marlboro man -- new research shows that smoking, often marketed as a symbol of virility, increases the risk of impotence.

"Men who smoke are up to 40 percent more likely to suffer from impotence than those who don't," said Dr. Christopher Millett, of Imperial College London, who worked on the research.

He added that the more cigarettes smoked, the greater the risk of suffering from a sexual performance problem. But even men who smoked less than 20 cigarettes a day had a 24 percent raised risk of impotence.

"It is not just older men who suffer from impotence, younger men are also affected as well," Millett added in an interview.

The Impact of Emerging Technologies: A One-Two Punch for Alzheimer's,,,,,MORE: "An enzyme has been identified that can target both major markers of Alzheimer's, providing a new venue for drug development."

The Impact of Emerging Technologies: A One-Two Punch for Alzheimer's - Technology Review: "An enzyme has been identified that can target both major markers of Alzheimer's, providing a new venue for drug development."

Insulin May Hold Key To Alzheimer's Cure: "Researchers are getting closer to better treatments and more targeted treatments that could eventually lead to a cure for Alzheimer's disease."

Drug Appears Effective for Severe Alzheimer's Cases... READ MORE: "Aricept, which is typically used to treat mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease, seems to reverse some cognitive and functional deterioration in patients with severe forms of the disease, Swedish researchers report"

High blood pressure: Early treatment may offer protection - MayoClinic.com...Read More: "What happened? A new study has found that treating above-normal blood pressure (prehypertension) with medication and lifestyle changes can reduce the risk of eventually developing high blood pressure (hypertension).
Normal blood pressure is below 120/80 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg). Higher readings are classified as:

Prehypertension 120/80 to 139/89
Stage 1 hypertension 140/90 to 159/99
Stage 2 hypertension 160/100 or higher

As your blood pressure rises, so does your risk of cardiovascular disease."

VIDEO: -Avoiding Life-Threatening Falls - CBS News: "One in four people suffering a hip fracture dies within a year of the fall"

Stigma, denial delay Alzheimer's diagnosis: survey : "Concern over stigma and denial can delay diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease for years, meaning patients do not receive treatment that could slow its progress, according to a survey released on Tuesday."

MOREOlder adults with depressive symptoms are more likely than those without depression to develop mild cognitive impairment (MCI) within six years, according to a study conducted by researchers at the San Francisco VA Medical Center and the University of California, San Francisco.

The greater the degree of depression, the more likely the impairment, the researchers found.

"This is important, because mild cognitive impairment often precedes dementia," notes lead author Deborah Barnes, PhD, MPH, a mental health researcher at SFVAMC. Approximately 50 percent of patients diagnosed with MCI go on to develop dementia within three years, according to the study authors.

The study also found no correlation between depression and vascular disease – a significant finding, say the authors, because other researchers have hypothesized that vascular disease might lead to both depression and cognitive impairment by causing inadequate blood flow to different brain structures. "We found no evidence to support that hypothesis," reports Barnes, who is also an assistant professor of psychiatry at UCSF.

Read More: "Using magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), researchers have been able to identify metabolic abnormalities in the brains of individuals with a near-100% risk of developing Alzheimer's disease (AD) in the future."

MORE - Forbes.com: "Could Oprah and General Hospital be bad for your brain?

New research suggests that elderly women who watch daytime soap operas and talk shows are more likely to suffer from cognitive impairment than women who abstain from such fare.

Researchers stress that it's not clear if watching these TV shows leads to weaker brainpower, or vice-versa."

MOREStroke patients who partake in a therapeutic exercise program may experience a reduction in depressive symptoms, according to the results of a study published the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

Along with physical disability, depression is common in stroke patients, Dr. Sue-Min Lai, of the University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, and colleagues point out. Previous studies have found that physical exercise can reduce symptoms in depressed patients, but the effect of exercise on stroke patients is unknown.

moreThe women who would benefit the most from a screening test for osteoporosis are the least likely to get it, a new study shows.

Forty percent of white women aged 50 and older will fracture their hip, wrist or spine due to the bone-thinning disease at some point in their lives, Dr. Joan M. Neuner of the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee and colleagues write in the Journal of the American Geriatric Society.

They note that a hip fracture can be particularly disabling, with more than half of sufferers never fully recovering. Twenty percent of women who fracture a hip will wind up in a nursing home.

The risk of osteoporosis and fracture rises as women get older, Neuner and her team add; while less than one-fifth of women aged 65 to 74 have osteoporosis, more than half of women older than 85 do.