Are you a woman who works shifts? You may be eligible to participate in a program that could improve your quality of life, and help reduce the risk of breast cancer.
The Cancer Prevention Centre at the University of British Columbia is looking for female shift workers for a new study.
Research has shown that women who are exposed to light at night are at increased risk for breast cancer, according to the centre.
The study will take place over a one-year period and will include an assessment at the beginning, middle and end of the year.
An assessment will involve online questionnaires, blood and saliva samples, telephone interviews, and wearing an activity-sleep device. There will also be a mammogram required at the end of the year.
Eligible participants are women between the ages of 40 and 65 who work rotating shifts or permanent nights at least three times per month for at least the past two years, who have had a mammogram within the past three years (or are willing to get one), and who are currently living or working in the Greater Vancouver area.
For their time, each participant will receive an honorarium for each assessment.
To register, or for more information, call Carola Muñoz at 604-822-1315, or email [email protected].
More information is available at www.cancerprevent.spph.ubc.ca/ research/shiftworkers.
No sugar high?
New research out of Simon Fraser University's chemistry department shows promise for people with Type 2 diabetes.
The study, co-led by a team at SFU, has found the intestinal enzymes responsible for processing starchy foods can be turned on and off.
The process, called "toggling," was discovered in the lab of chemist Mario Pinto, who has designed inhibitors capable of regulating each of the four starch-digest-
ing enzymes known as alpha-glucosi-dases.
In some people, one or more of these enzymes is missing, which affects how glucose is created, said Pinto.
"We wanted to determine whether we could control the release of glucose when starch is broken down in the body," said Pinto, whose work included characterizing each of the four enzymes.
By selectively inhibiting the different types of enzymes, the researchers believe they have found a way to regulate and direct the release of glucose in the body.
This means it could be possible to restore missing enzymes or develop new starches that can be easily digested by those who are missing the enzymes.
"This is a powerful piece of knowledge," said Pinto, noting that in the future it may be possible to control the exact delivery of glucose at different points in the small intestine.
Along with David Rose from the University of Waterloo, Pinto received funding for the research from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
Their findings have been published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.
Have an item for the Medical File, or a health-related story idea? Send it to reporter Marelle Reid at [email protected], by mail to 201A-3430 Brighton Ave., Burnaby, B.C., V5A 3H4, or by fax to 604-444-3460.
