» 2011 Press Releases

Released December 12, 2011 - Exercising harder, but shorter, may have significant benefits for type 2 diabetes.

Released December 5, 2011 - A review of the accomplishments of the Army Research Institute of Environment Medicine (USARIEM) over the last quarter century is captured in an article in the December 2011 edition of Advances in Physiological Education.

Released November 28, 2011 - Is There a Central Brain Area for Hearing Melodies and Speech Cues? An open question needing further study, Review Says.

Released October 14, 2011 - Is there a link between PCOS and cardiovascular disease?

Released October 13, 2011 - American Physiological Society co-sponsors conference focusing on gender differences in cardiac disease.

Released October 13, 2011 - New study finds obese post-menopausal women outperform normal weigh counterparts in cognitive tasks.

Released October 14, 2011 - New research from the University of California at Merced finds that although obesity does not help teens of either gender, it has a greater impact on girls’ blood pressure than it does on boys’.

Released October 14, 2011 - New study suggests that exercise before conception and in the early stages of pregnancy may protect a mother-to-be by stimulating the expression of two proteins thought to play a role in blood vessel health.

Released October 14, 2011 - Dr. Bairey Merz provides an overview of the latest data about methods and how they can be applied to help clinicians understand gender differences in the pathophysiology of heart disease.

Released September 28, 2011 - Highlights of the upcoming meeting, “Physiology of Cardiovascular Disease: Gender Disparities”.

Released September 22, 2011 - Researchers Tom Kleyman and Ole Skott have independently found that plasmin plays a role in activating the epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) on cells.

Released September 22, 2011 - Expert Bernard Rossier says ENaC’s appearance on eukaryotic family tree coincides with turning point in evolution—the emergence of the first multicellular creatures.

Released September 20, 2011 - UNC Chapel Hill team has a technique for observing the genetic shenanigans of cystic fibrosis in human tissue donated by patients.

Released September 19, 2011 - Research suggests abnormal activation of a protein may help explain the deadly link between high salt intake and obesity.

Released September 19, 2011 - Leading expert reviews data from three prominent studies on the risks and benefits of prescribing aldosterone antagonists for patients who have heart failure.

Released September 19, 2011 - Although scientists do not fully understand how or why this defect occurs, researchers have found a promising clue: a protein called ubiquitin ligase Nedd4L.

Released September 16, 2011 - Researchers have discovered that regular exercise increases mitochondria in brain cells, a potential cause for exercise’s beneficial mental effects.

Released September 14, 2011 - The American Physiological Society (APS) is pleased to announce the establishment of the Dean Franklin Young Investigator Award, sponsored by Data Sciences International (DSI), in recognition of Franklin’s role as a pioneer in noninvasive instrumentation to monitor physiological function in research animals and humans.

Released September 6, 2011 - Selected highlights of the APS conference examining the connection between fluid regulation and hypertension.

Released September 6, 2011 - Researchers find evidence that four genes may relate to obesity. Since humans have their own versions of these genes, the findings could help shed light on obesity in people.

Released August 29, 2011 - A mapping technique sheds new light on the brain’s vast interconnected networks.

Released August 17, 2011 - APS signs agreement with Springer for new publications designed specifically for the research community.

Released August 15, 2011 - When it comes to heart disease, men and women are different. Our October 2011 conference focuses on the role of gender in cardiovascular disease, a disease that kills more women than breast cancer.

Released August 1, 2011 - What’s behind hypertension? The APS September 2011 conference focuses on the impact of the interaction between a key hormone and specific channels of the human kidney.

Released July 27, 2011 - A study in people and rats, published by the APS, suggests that gastric bypass doesn’t just cut calories – it may also cause patients to have an aversion to dietary fat.

Released July 25, 2011 - Think exercise is only good for your body? A new review article based on more than 100 animal and human studies outlines all the ways it’s good for your brain.

Released July 6, 2011 - A new animal study finds that too much or too little salt has an impact, and could lead to a lifetime of high blood pressure.

Released June 16, 2011 - A Canadian study comparing the effects of an intense warm-up with those of a shorter, less strenuous warm-up on the performance of 10 highly trained track cyclists revealed that the shorter warm-up produced less muscle fatigue yet more peak power output. The findings contradict a perceived benefit of longer warm-up periods, post-activation potentiation (PAP), when bouts of strenuous physical activity produce a biochemical change in muscle cells that can enhance muscle contractile response. The muscle contractile response decreased after the shorter and longer warm-ups, with greater fatigue in the latter. Peak power in the shorter warm-up was 5 percent, a significant rate that could make a difference in competitive events.

Released June 13, 2011 - Texas researchers have produced the strongest evidence yet that vulnerability to type 2 diabetes can begin in the womb, providing insight into the mechanisms of the disease that has reached epidemic proportions. Their research reveals that primate mothers, moderately undernourished while pregnant and breastfeeding, have offspring that become pre-diabetic before adolescence. The researchers concluded that predisposition to type 2 diabetes, attributed to moderate nutrient deficiencies, can be exacerbated if the offspring are exposed to other risk factors such as a Western diet and physical inactivity leading to obesity.

Released May 26, 2011 - Although the process by which estrogen induces high blood pressure in females is unclear, Michigan State University (MSU) researchers have found that long-term estrogen exposure generates excessive levels of a compound, superoxide, which causes stress in the body. The build-up of this compound occurs in an area of the brain that is crucial to regulating blood pressure, suggesting that chronic estrogen induces a buildup of superoxide that in turn causes blood pressure to increase. The study also found that the anti-oxidant resveratrol reverses the increase in both superoxide and blood pressure.

Released May 16, 2011 - Medical school courses in physiology, the branch of biology that deals with the functions and activities of life or of living matter (as organs, tissues, or cells) and associated physical and chemical phenomena, have either been discontinued or changed to reflect new disciplines emerging in medicine. Michael J. Joyner, M.D., Professor of Anesthesiology at the Mayo Clinic, in an editorial, “Why Physiology Matters in Medicine,” appearing in Physiology, journal of the American Physiological Society, makes a strong case for why teaching this essential science to tomorrow’s physicians is critical. Dr. Joyner also explains why the teaching of physiology fell out of fashion, explains how physiology research and concepts have contributed to new advances in medicine and clinical care, and argues on behalf of returning this core science to the medical school classroom.

Released April 13, 2011 - Walking on a treadmill for one hour a day may slow the progression of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in obese people with prediabetes by jump-starting their metabolism and slowing the oxidative damage wrought by the condition. These are the findings of a study of 15 obese people with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease that revealed that the daily walks not only increase insulin sensitivity, but improved the liver's polyunsaturated lipid index (PUI), which is thought to be a marker of liver health. Essentially, burning more fat is a positive reaction to exercise, one that can defend against oxidative damage and therefore the damage of fatty liver disease.

Released April 12, 2011 - An animal study conducted at the University of Minnesota and Georgetown University suggests that a mother's nutritional or psychological stress during pregnancy and lactation may create a signature on her child's genes that put the child at increased risk for obesity later in life, especially if the child is female. Although mice are not people, the Minnesota team's research has implications for tackling human obesity because it sheds light on the process by which fat cell volume and the number of fat cells are derived, says study author Dr. Ruijun Han. "Adipocyte number before adolescence is a major determinant [of a person's risk of obesity], so intervention during pregnancy and childhood might be an efficient way to prevent adult obesity."

Released April 12, 2011 - Research conducted at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital's Institute for Exercise and Environmental Medicine in Dallas suggests that it's never too late for women to reap the benefits of moderate aerobic exercise. In a 3-month study of 16 women age 60 and older, brisk walking for 30-50 minutes three or four times per week improved blood flow through to the brain as much as 15%. A steady, healthy flow of blood to the brain achieves bringing oxygen, glucose and other nutrients to the brain, which are vital for the brain's health. Second, the blood washes away brain metabolic wastes such as amyloid-beta protein, associated with Alzheimer’s disease, released into the brain's blood vessels.

Released April 11, 2011 - The American Physiological Society (APS) has selected Roberto Bolli, MD, Chief of the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of Louisville in Louisville, Kentucky, to present the Walter B. Cannon Memorial Lecture at the Experimental Biology 2011 meeting (EB 2011). This lecture is the Society's pre-eminent award lecture and is designed to recognize an outstanding scientist for his or her contributions to the field. Dr. Bolli is conducting the groundbreaking study, "Cardiac Stem Cell Infusion in Patients with Ischemic cardiOmyopathy (SCIPIO)," to perfect a technique for using a patient's own cardiac stem cells to regenerate dead heart muscle after a heart attack.

Released April 11, 2011 - Now new research from the Georgia Prevention Institute at Georgia Health Sciences University in Augusta indicates that supplementation with the Vitamin D, the "sunshine vitamin," may be particularly beneficial for overweight African-American adults, a population at increased risk for both CVD and Vitamin D deficiency. The Georgia team's research suggests that Vitamin D supplementation cut the cardiovascular risk by improving the health and function of vascular endothelial cells, cells that line the inside of blood vessels.

Released April 11, 2011 - Now a study conducted by researchers at the West Texas A&M University in which women's voices were subjected to computerized acoustical analysis contradicts the past research asserting that women's voices change at different times over the menstrual cycle, with the tone rising as ovulation approaches. After assessing 175 samples provided by 35 study participants at various points throughout the menstrual cycles, the researchers say that changes in hormonal status have no significant impact on eight distinct voice parameters.

Released April 10, 2011 - Larissa A. Shimoda, PhD, Associate Professor of Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Md., has dedicated her research to learning the mechanisms that control pulmonary circulation, and she has identified a number of key changes that occur in pulmonary vascular smooth muscle cells that contribute to the development of hypoxic pulmonary hypertension. The American Physiological Society has recognized the importance of Dr. Shimoda's work by awarding her the Henry Pickering Bowditch Award Lecture. This award is given to select scientists younger than 42 whose accomplishments are original and outstanding and is the Society’s second-highest award.

Released April 10, 2011 - Obese individuals typically suffer more medical problems than their leaner counterparts such as insulin resistance, diabetes, increased stress hormones, hypothyroidism, and sleep apnea. Researchers at the Georgia Health Sciences University in Augusta have found, using an animal model, that a master clock gene – which regulates the cardiovascular system – does not fluctuate regularly as it does in non-obese animals. This means that a key gene clock of the cardiovascular system does not work properly when obesity is present.

Released March 14, 2011 - A listing of the tracks at Experimental Biology 2011. The APS tracks for this year’s meeting are: Aging and Sex Differences; Blood Pressure Regulation; Cardiovascular Pathology; Career Development; Cell Signaling; Education; Hypoxia and Oxidative Stress; Inflammation and Immune Responses; Metabolic Diseases; Stem Cell; Synaptic Physiology and Plasticity; Systems Biology and Mathematical Modeling; Translational Physiology and Transporters and Ion Channels. Additional meeting highlights are provided.

Released March 4, 2011 - The American Physiological Society (The-APS.org), has announced updates to its “Living History Project.” The program, initiated in 2005, was designed to create an archival video record of senior members of the APS who have made outstanding contributions to the science of physiology, as well as the profession. The 27 men and women interviewed for the three new videos are identified.

Released March 4, 2011 - Physiologist E. Paul Zehr has written a column in Advances in Physiology Education, a journal of the American Physiological Society, to discuss how he uses Batman to discuss the various components of exercise and physical training and illustrate how the body’s physiological systems respond. His experiences in teaching undergraduate courses in physiology and neurophysiology made him realize that connecting science to popular culture helped students understand the lessons better.

Released February 28, 2011 - An invitation for the media to register for coverage of Experimental Biology with announced changes in access to this event.

Released February 16, 2011 - Identifying key presentations and symposia in Aging and Sex Differences, Cardiovascular Pathology, Inflammation and Immune Responses, Stem Cell, as well as Award Lectures at Experimental Biology 2011. Media registration procedures and press room hours are identified.

Released January 31, 2011 - Outlining the procedures for press access and coverage of Experimental Biology 2011 held in Washington, DC.

Released January 7, 2011 - Physiological Genomics (PG), will make three significant changes to the journal in the new year. The Journal will be published twice per month rather than monthly; be published in on-line only format; and animated images will replace static images on the cover of each edition. Greene’s blog, Physiological Genomics Forum Updates (www.physgenforum.org) will remain.

Released January 3, 2011 - Effective January 1, 2011, William C. Stanley will assume the role of Editor-in-Chief for the American Journal of Physiology-Heart and Circulatory Physiology, published by the American Physiological Society. With Stanley’s editorship, readers and users of the journal will see a revamped Table of Contents, a monthly podcast series consisting of interviews between editors and authors, new features for subscribers, and an increased global view of physiology.