Research

Paracetamol protects against kidney failure after muscle injury

The commonly-used painkiller Paracetamol can protect against kidney failure after severe muscle injury, according to researchers at Essex.
 
One of the main causes of kidney failure affecting tens of thousands of people each year is Rhabdomyolysis-Induced Renal Failure. Common causes of this condition include trauma or crushing injuries, drug abuse and intensive exercise.
 
Now, an international team of scientists, including Professor Mike Wilson and Dr Brandon Reeder from the Department of Biological Sciences at Essex, has discovered that Paracetamol reduces the damage caused to kidneys following severe muscle injury.
 
Explained Professor Wilson: ‘It is a very important advance in our research because it offers the possibility of a very effective, very simple, very cheap treatment which can be applied in developed and undeveloped countries.’
 
The team has previously shown that after severe muscle injury, proteins such as myoglobin escape into the bloodstream and are deposited in the kidneys, which generate free-radicals that can damage cells and induce renal failure. The researchers now report findings in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that Paracetamol can mitigate this damage.
 
It is hoped that Paracetamol may be a very cost-effective way to improve patient outcomes following such disasters as earthquakes, such as the recent one in Haiti. 

Breakthrough in understanding stress

Scientists at the University have made a breakthrough in understanding what makes people vulnerable to stress.
 
A team led by Professor Elaine Fox of the Department of Psychology tested 100 people and found that, by measuring their biases towards noticing negative rather than positive images, it was possible to predict future susceptibility to stress.
 
This study, funded by the Wellcome Trust, is the first to show that biases towards negative information make it possible to predict a physiological reaction to stress up to eight months later.
 
Professor Fox said: ‘These biases are likely to be reliable early warning signs for vulnerability to anxiety, and open up possibilities for therapy.’
 
Research published a year ago by Professor Fox’s team identified a gene which is powerfully linked to a tendency to selectively avoid negative images and to pay attention to positive information.
 
Professor Fox, Shanna Cahill and Konstantina Zougkou’s latest findings are published online in the journal Biological Psychiatry.
 
The results of their research suggest that biases towards noticing negative things - especially when they operate subconsciously - might pre-dispose people to anxiety disorders.
 
In another Wellcome Trust-funded project, Professor Fox’s team is now investigating whether computer-based training to actively modify these biases in attention could enhance people’s resilience to traumatic life events.
 

Fittest children cycle to school, claims new research

Children who cycle to school are more physically active and fitter than those who use other modes of transport, according to new research from the University.
 
The findings, published in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, are based on a study of 6,000 10-16-year-olds from the East of England whose cardiorespiratory fitness and travel habits were assessed.
 
Researchers found boys who walked to school were 20 per cent more likely to be fit compared with those using motorised transport and girls who walked were 30 per cent more likely to be fit.
 
Boys who cycled to school were 30 per cent more likely to be fit but there was a dramatic difference among female cyclists, who were seven times more likely to reach the minimum fitness standard than girls who were driven to school.
 
In all cases, children who were driven to school had the lowest levels of physical fitness, being less fit than walkers, cyclists and children who took the bus.
 
Cyclists were also found to be more physically active at other times of day when compared with children using other transport modes.
 
Although cyclists and car users were most different in terms of physical fitness, the distances they travelled to school were about 1.5 miles for cyclists and only about two miles for car users. Half of these car journeys were less than two miles and 15 per cent were less than a mile.
 
This research by Dr Gavin Sandercock and Christine Voss, of the University’s Department for Biological Sciences, backs up previous findings from European countries where cycling is common.
 
Commenting on their findings, Dr Sandercock said: ‘The positive associations between active travel and fitness are so strong that cycling should be encouraged, especially in girls.’

 

Also in the printed February edition of Wyvern:

• Research to help patients have their say
• Carbon dioxide's effect on oceans under spotlight
• Impact of Euro on trade close to zero
• Researchers look for help in understanding why we give