Friday, July 16, 2010
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Who will live to 100? Genes may tell
July 1, 2010 3:20 p.m. EDT
By Elizabeth Landau, CNN
(CNN) -- If celebrating triple-digit birthdays sounds appealing, scientists may be able to determine if you're likely to live that long.
Researchers from the Boston University Schools of Public Health and Medicine and the Boston Medical Center have identified genes associated with living longer. They also predicted using genetics alone many of those among study participants would be a centenarian. Their results will be published in the journal Science.
"Could these signatures tell a physician and their patient who's going to be at increased risk for a particular disease sooner, and can this lead perhaps to interventions that might help them? I think that's a possibility down the road," said co-author Dr. Thomas Perls of Boston Medical Center, in a press conference.
People who live to 100 are a model of healthy aging, the study said. Previous research shows that about 90 percent of centenarians are disability-free until around age 93, said Perls, founder and director of the New England Centenarian Study, the largest study of centenarians in the world, based in Boston, Massachusetts.
The study looked at 1,055 centenarians and 1,267 controls -- people who weren't 100 yet. As much as possible, researchers matched the genetic backgrounds of controls to those born in 1910 or before.
The centenarians in the Boston group's study were all Caucasian, meaning the results should be replicated with participants of other ethnicities, Perls said. His group is going to be collaborating with a group in Japan to further investigate the issue. It could be that people of different ethnic backgrounds carry distinct genes that help them live to 100, he said.
Scientists identified 150 DNA sequence variations called single nucleotide polymorphisms among those 100 years old and above that may have contributed to their healthy aging. In the control group, 15 percent of participants had longevity-associated genes. That means, in theory, 15 percent of the American population is predisposed to live to be 100.
But there's approximately just one centenarian per 6,000 in the population of developed countries such as the United States; in 2010, there are about 80,000 in the U.S. There's only one "supercentenarian" -- someone over age 110 -- in every 7 million people, Perls said. That's partly because in the era when today's centenarians were born, medicine was not as advanced, and average life expectancy was about 47. In other words, genetics isn't everything; environment and lifestyle also play into living long.
Using their genetic model, researchers found they could predict with 77 percent accuracy who would live to be 100 or higher based on genetics alone in the sample.
"This is very important information that should make anybody aware that if we are going to find genes that are protecting us from aging, it is not an impossible mission," said Dr. Nir Barzilai, director of the Institute for Aging Research at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, New York, who was not involved in the study.
Researchers noted that while 77 percent accuracy is relatively high, that means that there's an additional 23 percent of centenarians who do not have the "right" genetic signatures -- in other words, environmental factors are still relevant.
Few centenarians have a history of smoking, and they tend to not be substantially obese, Perls said. Seventh-day Adventists, the religious group whose members have an average life span of 88 in the U.S., are another example of how lifestyle may impact longevity. Because of their religion, they have a vegetarian diet, exercise regularly, abstain from alcohol and smoking, engage in exercise, and manage stress well -- such factors may help them live well beyond the national average of 78 years.
"It really does speak to the incredible importance of lifestyle factors," Perls said. "To live the extra 10-15 years beyond the 88, our paper is indicating that genetics may play an important role in distinguishing those individuals from the average population."
Some of the genetic signatures identified in the study could are associated with delay in the onset of dementia, heart disease, diabetes or stroke, Perls said. Others are associated with being able to live a long life despite having one or more of those diseases for a long time.
"Understanding better the different pathways of getting to 100 will be very important," he said.
Researchers also found three genetic signatures common among 40 percent of supercentenarians.
Surprisingly, researchers found little difference between centenarians and controls in terms of the number of genetic variants associated with diseases of aging, such as cardiovascular disease, stroke and dementia. That means that perhaps what makes centenarians live longer is not a lack of predisposition to such illnesses; it's the enrichment of genetic variants associated with longevity, said Paola Sebastiani, lead author of the study and professor of biostatistics at Boston University School of Public Health.
These longevity-associated genes may even cancel out the negative effects of variants linked to disease, she said. That suggests current tests for the risks of diseases of aging are incomplete, as they do not take into account these longevity-associated genes that may override that risk.
Previous research in the genetics of healthy aging is already leading to the development of pharmaceuticals to help people live longer, Barzilai said. One such type of drug is called a CETP inhibitor, intended to reduce "bad" cholesterol (LDL) and raise "good" cholesterol (HDL). Merck & Co. is in phase III clinical trials for a CETP inhibitor called anacetrapib; Roche is currently recruiting participants for a phase III trial for another drug of this type called dalcetrapib.
"Our goal is not to make people live to 100; the goal is to have people have good quality of life and [be] free of disease at the end of their life," Barzilai said. "I would say that longevity is a side effect of those drugs."
If genetics research can be used to help people live longer, there's cost-savings across the board, Barzilai said. For someone who dies at age 80, the last two years of life are three times more expensive for medical costs than someone who dies at age 100, he said.
Although companies may try to make tests to see who will live to 100, this information may not be valuable to the individual, as accuracy is only 77 percent and lifestyle factors are still important, Perls said.
But the results do point toward the era of personalized medicine, he said. The methods developed by Sebastiani could be used to find out whether there are genetic signatures for positive or adverse reactions to certain medications, for example, Perls said.
By Elizabeth Landau, CNN
(CNN) -- If celebrating triple-digit birthdays sounds appealing, scientists may be able to determine if you're likely to live that long.
Researchers from the Boston University Schools of Public Health and Medicine and the Boston Medical Center have identified genes associated with living longer. They also predicted using genetics alone many of those among study participants would be a centenarian. Their results will be published in the journal Science.
"Could these signatures tell a physician and their patient who's going to be at increased risk for a particular disease sooner, and can this lead perhaps to interventions that might help them? I think that's a possibility down the road," said co-author Dr. Thomas Perls of Boston Medical Center, in a press conference.
People who live to 100 are a model of healthy aging, the study said. Previous research shows that about 90 percent of centenarians are disability-free until around age 93, said Perls, founder and director of the New England Centenarian Study, the largest study of centenarians in the world, based in Boston, Massachusetts.
The study looked at 1,055 centenarians and 1,267 controls -- people who weren't 100 yet. As much as possible, researchers matched the genetic backgrounds of controls to those born in 1910 or before.
The centenarians in the Boston group's study were all Caucasian, meaning the results should be replicated with participants of other ethnicities, Perls said. His group is going to be collaborating with a group in Japan to further investigate the issue. It could be that people of different ethnic backgrounds carry distinct genes that help them live to 100, he said.
Scientists identified 150 DNA sequence variations called single nucleotide polymorphisms among those 100 years old and above that may have contributed to their healthy aging. In the control group, 15 percent of participants had longevity-associated genes. That means, in theory, 15 percent of the American population is predisposed to live to be 100.
But there's approximately just one centenarian per 6,000 in the population of developed countries such as the United States; in 2010, there are about 80,000 in the U.S. There's only one "supercentenarian" -- someone over age 110 -- in every 7 million people, Perls said. That's partly because in the era when today's centenarians were born, medicine was not as advanced, and average life expectancy was about 47. In other words, genetics isn't everything; environment and lifestyle also play into living long.
Using their genetic model, researchers found they could predict with 77 percent accuracy who would live to be 100 or higher based on genetics alone in the sample.
"This is very important information that should make anybody aware that if we are going to find genes that are protecting us from aging, it is not an impossible mission," said Dr. Nir Barzilai, director of the Institute for Aging Research at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, New York, who was not involved in the study.
Researchers noted that while 77 percent accuracy is relatively high, that means that there's an additional 23 percent of centenarians who do not have the "right" genetic signatures -- in other words, environmental factors are still relevant.
Few centenarians have a history of smoking, and they tend to not be substantially obese, Perls said. Seventh-day Adventists, the religious group whose members have an average life span of 88 in the U.S., are another example of how lifestyle may impact longevity. Because of their religion, they have a vegetarian diet, exercise regularly, abstain from alcohol and smoking, engage in exercise, and manage stress well -- such factors may help them live well beyond the national average of 78 years.
"It really does speak to the incredible importance of lifestyle factors," Perls said. "To live the extra 10-15 years beyond the 88, our paper is indicating that genetics may play an important role in distinguishing those individuals from the average population."
Some of the genetic signatures identified in the study could are associated with delay in the onset of dementia, heart disease, diabetes or stroke, Perls said. Others are associated with being able to live a long life despite having one or more of those diseases for a long time.
"Understanding better the different pathways of getting to 100 will be very important," he said.
Researchers also found three genetic signatures common among 40 percent of supercentenarians.
Surprisingly, researchers found little difference between centenarians and controls in terms of the number of genetic variants associated with diseases of aging, such as cardiovascular disease, stroke and dementia. That means that perhaps what makes centenarians live longer is not a lack of predisposition to such illnesses; it's the enrichment of genetic variants associated with longevity, said Paola Sebastiani, lead author of the study and professor of biostatistics at Boston University School of Public Health.
These longevity-associated genes may even cancel out the negative effects of variants linked to disease, she said. That suggests current tests for the risks of diseases of aging are incomplete, as they do not take into account these longevity-associated genes that may override that risk.
Previous research in the genetics of healthy aging is already leading to the development of pharmaceuticals to help people live longer, Barzilai said. One such type of drug is called a CETP inhibitor, intended to reduce "bad" cholesterol (LDL) and raise "good" cholesterol (HDL). Merck & Co. is in phase III clinical trials for a CETP inhibitor called anacetrapib; Roche is currently recruiting participants for a phase III trial for another drug of this type called dalcetrapib.
"Our goal is not to make people live to 100; the goal is to have people have good quality of life and [be] free of disease at the end of their life," Barzilai said. "I would say that longevity is a side effect of those drugs."
If genetics research can be used to help people live longer, there's cost-savings across the board, Barzilai said. For someone who dies at age 80, the last two years of life are three times more expensive for medical costs than someone who dies at age 100, he said.
Although companies may try to make tests to see who will live to 100, this information may not be valuable to the individual, as accuracy is only 77 percent and lifestyle factors are still important, Perls said.
But the results do point toward the era of personalized medicine, he said. The methods developed by Sebastiani could be used to find out whether there are genetic signatures for positive or adverse reactions to certain medications, for example, Perls said.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Immigration debate: fight brewing between ACLU and Nebraska town
By Amanda Paulson, Staff writer / June 22, 2010
Immigration debate in Fremont, Neb., has made it the latest town to decide to take immigration enforcement into its own hands.
On Monday, 57 percent of voters in the 25,000-person town in eastern Nebraska helped pass a law that would bar businesses from hiring illegal immigrants or landlords from renting to them.
In doing so, it joins Hazelton, Pa.; Riverside, N.J.; Valley Park, Mo.; and at least a few dozen other towns that have passed laws targeting undocumented immigrants. The ordinances have generally faced lawsuits, and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in Nebraska has already declared its intention to fight the Fremont bill.
“An ordinance of this kind is a true indication of the frustration some communities
feel, and I don’t belittle that feeling,” says Laurel Marsh, executive director of ACLU
Nebraska. “That being said, I believe it violates the supremacy clause of the United States.”
Ms. Marsh argues that two main problems exist with the law: that setting immigration policy is solely a federal function, and that the 14th Amendment guarantees due process to all people in the US, not just citizens.
And so far, many cities – including ones like Hazelton and Farmers Branch, Tex., which have tried to restrict landlords' abilities to rent to illegal immigrants – have had laws struck down by federal courts, though they remain on appeal.
Legal costs
The cost of fighting such lawsuits has also caused some communities – like Riverside, N.J. – to drop the measures, and was a major argument of those inFremont who opposed the referendum.
"In a community of 25,000, it's going to be hard to take on the whole country, and it will be costly to do so," Fremont City Councilman Scott Getzschman told the Associated Press.
But such laws continue to crop up in communities around the country – a measure, say many, of the frustration that many Americans feel with the lack of federal immigration enforcement and with the burdens illegal immigration places on their towns.
“The feds aren’t doing their job,” says Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates restricting immigration. “It’s a sign of the public frustration, and you’re going to see more and more of this sort of thing.”
Those on the other side of the immigration debate agree with that basic assessment, and say that they hope that measures like Fremont’s, as well as the law passed in Arizona last month, will spur Congress to again take up the issue.
Page: 1 2 CSMonitor.com
----http://davidsradiotv2000.blogspot.com
Immigration debate in Fremont, Neb., has made it the latest town to decide to take immigration enforcement into its own hands.
On Monday, 57 percent of voters in the 25,000-person town in eastern Nebraska helped pass a law that would bar businesses from hiring illegal immigrants or landlords from renting to them.
In doing so, it joins Hazelton, Pa.; Riverside, N.J.; Valley Park, Mo.; and at least a few dozen other towns that have passed laws targeting undocumented immigrants. The ordinances have generally faced lawsuits, and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in Nebraska has already declared its intention to fight the Fremont bill.
“An ordinance of this kind is a true indication of the frustration some communities
feel, and I don’t belittle that feeling,” says Laurel Marsh, executive director of ACLU
Nebraska. “That being said, I believe it violates the supremacy clause of the United States.”
Ms. Marsh argues that two main problems exist with the law: that setting immigration policy is solely a federal function, and that the 14th Amendment guarantees due process to all people in the US, not just citizens.
And so far, many cities – including ones like Hazelton and Farmers Branch, Tex., which have tried to restrict landlords' abilities to rent to illegal immigrants – have had laws struck down by federal courts, though they remain on appeal.
Legal costs
The cost of fighting such lawsuits has also caused some communities – like Riverside, N.J. – to drop the measures, and was a major argument of those inFremont who opposed the referendum.
"In a community of 25,000, it's going to be hard to take on the whole country, and it will be costly to do so," Fremont City Councilman Scott Getzschman told the Associated Press.
But such laws continue to crop up in communities around the country – a measure, say many, of the frustration that many Americans feel with the lack of federal immigration enforcement and with the burdens illegal immigration places on their towns.
“The feds aren’t doing their job,” says Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates restricting immigration. “It’s a sign of the public frustration, and you’re going to see more and more of this sort of thing.”
Those on the other side of the immigration debate agree with that basic assessment, and say that they hope that measures like Fremont’s, as well as the law passed in Arizona last month, will spur Congress to again take up the issue.
Page: 1 2 CSMonitor.com
----http://davidsradiotv2000.blogspot.com
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
BP to create $20 billion claims fund, suspend dividend
June 16, 2010, 3:46PM
By JENNIFER A. DLOUHY HOUSTON CHRONICLE
WASHINGTON -- Under pressure from President Barack Obama, BP agreed today to set aside $20 billion in a spill recovery escrow account to compensate Gulf Coast fishermen and others who have lost wages and work because of the massive spill from a BP deep-water well.
The company also said it will suspend its quarterly dividend payments to shareholders for the rest of this year and will divert some of that cash to the escrow account, which would be managed by an independent administrator and be funded over three and a half years.
BP also agreed to set aside $100 million to compensate oil industry workers whose jobs disappear because of the government's moratorium on deep-water drilling and a delay of exploration in shallower depths while regulators develop new safety regulations.
BP's concessions are a win for Obama, who has struggled to show he is in control of the crisis in the Gulf of Mexico. The agreements — hammered out in a three-hour meeting with BP executives at the White House - give the president a concrete example of administration efforts to help coastal residents.
Obama called the claims fund "an important step toward making the people of the Gulf Coast whole again."
The escrow account could soothe complaints in coastal communities and Congress that the claims process has been flawed -- a sentiment that has shaken confidence in BP executive's repeated assurances that the company will pay all "legitimate" economic damages.
"We have always met our obligations and responsibilities," said BP Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg, speaking outside the White House. He said the escrow account and revised claim process should assure Americans that "we will look after the people affected, and we will repair the damage to this region."
The spill response fund will be administered by Kenneth Feinberg, a veteran claims administrator who oversaw compensation for victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks.
Obama stressed that the fund would not prevent anyone from pursuing claims in court and does not place a cap on BP's responsibility.
BP will fund the account with initial payments this year of $3 billion in the third quarter and $2 billion in the fourth quarter, followed by quarterly payments of $1.25 billion until the total reaches $20 billion.
BP pledged to set aside $20 billion in U.S. assets as collateral, which will decline as the reserves in the fund build.
Although it will take time to establish the fund and rules governing payouts, White House energy adviser Carol Browner promised a seamless transition from the existing claims process.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., called the decision "a good first step toward compensating victims."
Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., called the fund the "very least BP must do to start making the coastal communities devastated by its recklessness whole again."
But other lawmakers fretted that the $20 billion could be misused. Rep. Pete Olson, R-Sugar Land, said he views the account as a "privately funded, government slush fund that the administration is going to divvy out as they see fit."
BP's decision to suspend its prized quarterly dividends is a blow to pension funds and investment portfolios in the U.S. and overseas that count on the revenue.
The White House meeting was the first time Obama has spoken with BP's corporate chiefs since oil began gushing from the Macondo after an April 20 blowout that also destroyed the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig and killed 11 workers.
Obama said he told the executives about the anxiety among fishermen and shrimpers who are watching their businesses and way of life disappear as the crude encroaches on the coast.
He insisted that the executives keep those people in mind when making decisions about spill recovery and cleanup.
"That's going to be the standard by which I measure BP's responses," Obama said after the meeting. "Throughout this process, as we work to make sure that the Gulf is made whole once again the standard I'm going to be applying is whether or not those individuals I met with, their family members (and) those communities that are vulnerable are uppermost in the minds of all concerned."
jennifer.dlouhy@chron.com
By JENNIFER A. DLOUHY HOUSTON CHRONICLE
WASHINGTON -- Under pressure from President Barack Obama, BP agreed today to set aside $20 billion in a spill recovery escrow account to compensate Gulf Coast fishermen and others who have lost wages and work because of the massive spill from a BP deep-water well.
The company also said it will suspend its quarterly dividend payments to shareholders for the rest of this year and will divert some of that cash to the escrow account, which would be managed by an independent administrator and be funded over three and a half years.
BP also agreed to set aside $100 million to compensate oil industry workers whose jobs disappear because of the government's moratorium on deep-water drilling and a delay of exploration in shallower depths while regulators develop new safety regulations.
BP's concessions are a win for Obama, who has struggled to show he is in control of the crisis in the Gulf of Mexico. The agreements — hammered out in a three-hour meeting with BP executives at the White House - give the president a concrete example of administration efforts to help coastal residents.
Obama called the claims fund "an important step toward making the people of the Gulf Coast whole again."
The escrow account could soothe complaints in coastal communities and Congress that the claims process has been flawed -- a sentiment that has shaken confidence in BP executive's repeated assurances that the company will pay all "legitimate" economic damages.
"We have always met our obligations and responsibilities," said BP Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg, speaking outside the White House. He said the escrow account and revised claim process should assure Americans that "we will look after the people affected, and we will repair the damage to this region."
The spill response fund will be administered by Kenneth Feinberg, a veteran claims administrator who oversaw compensation for victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks.
Obama stressed that the fund would not prevent anyone from pursuing claims in court and does not place a cap on BP's responsibility.
BP will fund the account with initial payments this year of $3 billion in the third quarter and $2 billion in the fourth quarter, followed by quarterly payments of $1.25 billion until the total reaches $20 billion.
BP pledged to set aside $20 billion in U.S. assets as collateral, which will decline as the reserves in the fund build.
Although it will take time to establish the fund and rules governing payouts, White House energy adviser Carol Browner promised a seamless transition from the existing claims process.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., called the decision "a good first step toward compensating victims."
Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., called the fund the "very least BP must do to start making the coastal communities devastated by its recklessness whole again."
But other lawmakers fretted that the $20 billion could be misused. Rep. Pete Olson, R-Sugar Land, said he views the account as a "privately funded, government slush fund that the administration is going to divvy out as they see fit."
BP's decision to suspend its prized quarterly dividends is a blow to pension funds and investment portfolios in the U.S. and overseas that count on the revenue.
The White House meeting was the first time Obama has spoken with BP's corporate chiefs since oil began gushing from the Macondo after an April 20 blowout that also destroyed the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig and killed 11 workers.
Obama said he told the executives about the anxiety among fishermen and shrimpers who are watching their businesses and way of life disappear as the crude encroaches on the coast.
He insisted that the executives keep those people in mind when making decisions about spill recovery and cleanup.
"That's going to be the standard by which I measure BP's responses," Obama said after the meeting. "Throughout this process, as we work to make sure that the Gulf is made whole once again the standard I'm going to be applying is whether or not those individuals I met with, their family members (and) those communities that are vulnerable are uppermost in the minds of all concerned."
jennifer.dlouhy@chron.com
Saturday, June 5, 2010
UPDATE 1-BP will pay legitimate claims "as long as it takes"
June 5 (Reuters) - BP (BP.L) has no specific pre-allocated budget amount to pay damage claims resulting from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, but will pay all those "hurt, harmed or damaged" until all legitimate claims are satisfied, a BP executive said on Saturday.
BP America Vice President of Resources Darryl Willis said the company over the past 30 days had written damages claims checks totaling more than $46 million across the U.S. Gulf region, and he expected that to rise through June to "$84 million plus."
Asked during a conference call how much the British-based energy giant had set aside for economic damage claims, Willis said there was no pre-allocated budget for that.
"We will make these payments for as long as it takes and for as many people who have been hurt, harmed or damaged by this spill," he said, speaking from Orange Beach, Alabama.
"There is no budget, we'll do this until it's finished. We'll stay with it until people are able to return to their normal way of life on the Gulf Coast," Willis added.
BP, whose share price has lost about one-third of its value since the crisis began, has said it has already spent $1 billion on the disaster, which includes the growing cleanup bill.
Willis said 90 percent of the damages or income loss claims paid out so far had gone to individuals -- "primarily fishermen, shrimpers, oyster fishermen and crabbers."
The rest had gone to smaller businesses, and the company was also moving to respond to claims by medium- and large-sized businesses, he added.
"So far, we have not denied any claims," Willis said.
BP faces a U.S. criminal probe, several lawsuits, dwindling investor confidence and growing questions about its credit-worthiness, but Chief Executive Tony Hayward says it has plenty of money to meet its obligations. (Reporting by Pascal Fletcher; Editing by Peter Cooney)
BP America Vice President of Resources Darryl Willis said the company over the past 30 days had written damages claims checks totaling more than $46 million across the U.S. Gulf region, and he expected that to rise through June to "$84 million plus."
Asked during a conference call how much the British-based energy giant had set aside for economic damage claims, Willis said there was no pre-allocated budget for that.
"We will make these payments for as long as it takes and for as many people who have been hurt, harmed or damaged by this spill," he said, speaking from Orange Beach, Alabama.
"There is no budget, we'll do this until it's finished. We'll stay with it until people are able to return to their normal way of life on the Gulf Coast," Willis added.
BP, whose share price has lost about one-third of its value since the crisis began, has said it has already spent $1 billion on the disaster, which includes the growing cleanup bill.
Willis said 90 percent of the damages or income loss claims paid out so far had gone to individuals -- "primarily fishermen, shrimpers, oyster fishermen and crabbers."
The rest had gone to smaller businesses, and the company was also moving to respond to claims by medium- and large-sized businesses, he added.
"So far, we have not denied any claims," Willis said.
BP faces a U.S. criminal probe, several lawsuits, dwindling investor confidence and growing questions about its credit-worthiness, but Chief Executive Tony Hayward says it has plenty of money to meet its obligations. (Reporting by Pascal Fletcher; Editing by Peter Cooney)
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