Role Of Brain Serotonin In Animal Models Of Schizophrenia
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$175,550.00
Summary
There is increasing evidence that deficiencies in the release of a brain chemical called serotonin play an important role in the development of schizophrenia. Post-mortem studies have shown changes in the levels of 'receptors' (keyholes for messenger chemicals in the brain) for serotonin in schizophrenia. In addition, in the treatment of schizophrenia, the more recently introduced 'atypical' antipsychotic drugs are superior to the more traditional 'typical' antipsychotics in terms of efficacy an ....There is increasing evidence that deficiencies in the release of a brain chemical called serotonin play an important role in the development of schizophrenia. Post-mortem studies have shown changes in the levels of 'receptors' (keyholes for messenger chemicals in the brain) for serotonin in schizophrenia. In addition, in the treatment of schizophrenia, the more recently introduced 'atypical' antipsychotic drugs are superior to the more traditional 'typical' antipsychotics in terms of efficacy and side-effect profile. Typical antipsychotic drugs act mainly through blockade of receptors for a brain chemical called dopamine. Atypical drugs appear to have additional actions, in particular blocking the effect of serotonin in the brain. This evidence is mostly circumstancial, relying to a large extent on biochemical analysis of brain regions and 'receptors' on which antipsychotics MAY act. It is currently unclear exactly how and where in the brain changes in serotonin activity influence behavioural processes causing schizophrenia. It is also unclear how and where typical and atypical antipsychotic drugs interact with the role of serotonin in schizophrenia. In this project we intend to inactivate specific parts of the serotonin system of otherwise intact, freely moving rats. Using behavioural observation methods relevant for schizophrenia, we will analyze if and how these interventions influence the behaviour of these rats. The results can have important implications for our fundamental understanding of the involvement of serotonin in the brain in schizophrenia.Read moreRead less
Risk Factors For Serious Farm-work Related Injury Among Adult Males
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$665,930.00
Summary
This study addresses occupational injury among male adult farm workers. The health and safety performance of agricultural industries is among the worst in Australia. A recently published study of work-related fatalities from 1989 to 1992 found that rural industries ranked third, with a fatality rate 3-4 times that for all industries. The rural industries accounted for 80 deaths annually. Best estimates place the cost of farm injury between $0.5 and $1.29 billion per year. This study is designed ....This study addresses occupational injury among male adult farm workers. The health and safety performance of agricultural industries is among the worst in Australia. A recently published study of work-related fatalities from 1989 to 1992 found that rural industries ranked third, with a fatality rate 3-4 times that for all industries. The rural industries accounted for 80 deaths annually. Best estimates place the cost of farm injury between $0.5 and $1.29 billion per year. This study is designed to contribute to farm injury prevention by: (1) identifying factors associated with a higher risk of serious injury among adult farm workers and (2) determining the proportions of the farm workforce who are exposed to various injury risks. The study will recruit 300 seriously injured or killed farm workers from regional Victoria and collect information about themselves, their working life and the property on which they work. This information will be compared with 600 randomly selected farm workers who are not seriously injured to determine which personal, work and environmental factors place farm workers at higher risk of injury. The study will lead to the development of new or more refined prevention strategies and programs. A study of this kind has not been conducted before in Australia and would contribute to a continuing scientific basis for selection of interventions for farm injury and targeting of prevention programs, at a time of increasing momentum in agricultural health and safety.Read moreRead less
Improved Ways To Study The Effect Of Transient Exposures On The Risk Of An Illness, With Application To Flying And DVT
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$212,250.00
Summary
Improved methods of analysis will be developed to estimate the extent to which certain short-term activities trigger a particular illness and to determine who is most at risk. The new methods of analysis have many potential applications, including study of the effect of periods of intense exercise or intense alcohol consumption on the risk of a heart attack. Here we apply them to study the effect of air travel on illness due to blood clots in a vein (deep vein thrombosis, DVT), and the factors t ....Improved methods of analysis will be developed to estimate the extent to which certain short-term activities trigger a particular illness and to determine who is most at risk. The new methods of analysis have many potential applications, including study of the effect of periods of intense exercise or intense alcohol consumption on the risk of a heart attack. Here we apply them to study the effect of air travel on illness due to blood clots in a vein (deep vein thrombosis, DVT), and the factors that put individuals at greatest risk. The extra understanding that our improved analysis of the data provides will accelerate research into ways to minimise the risk of flight-induced DVT and implementation of preventative measures in the travel industry. This has the potential to prevent many cases, and deaths, because the number of flights taken, globally, by individuals in a year is now in the billions. Specifically, dependence of flight-induced DVT on age, sex, being pregnant, recent fractures and having certain cancers will identify individuals at greatest risk, while dependence on the duration of the flight will identify flights that present greater risk. The development of these new methods of analysis will make a lasting contribution to public health research, because they can be used to study many short-term-activity - illnesses combinations. The methods will see increasing applications because the type of data they rely on, namely the complete history of exposures over time periods, will increasingly become available as electronic recording of activities becomes more common place. For example, electronic records of flights are now almost universal and bookings at squash courts and other sporting venues are increasingly recorded electronically. The computer software to apply the new methods of analysis will be made available to other researchers, to promote studies of this type.Read moreRead less
Certain Death In Uncertain Time: A Qualitative Study Of The Experience Of Advanced Ovarian Cancer.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$221,755.00
Summary
Modern medicine aims to find effective treatments for life-threatening diseases. Cures are seldom found, however. More typically, rapidly fatal diseases gradually become less rapidly fatal. Consequently, there is a category of patients who are certain they will die from their disease or a related factor, but who are equally uncertain as to whether they have weeks or years left to live. It is difficult to discuss this predicament because we do not even have a name for it, let alone a useful termi ....Modern medicine aims to find effective treatments for life-threatening diseases. Cures are seldom found, however. More typically, rapidly fatal diseases gradually become less rapidly fatal. Consequently, there is a category of patients who are certain they will die from their disease or a related factor, but who are equally uncertain as to whether they have weeks or years left to live. It is difficult to discuss this predicament because we do not even have a name for it, let alone a useful terminology to describe it. The absence of discussion exacerbates patients' social isolation. Also, the quality of their remaining life, and the quality of the care they get, depends heavily on the quality of understanding and communication within the social systems that support them. A growing proportion of patients in developed countries fall into this category, including the 1200 Australian women who are diagnosed each year with advanced ovarian cancer. This study aims to increase our understanding of the experience of certain death in uncertain time by recruiting a group of 20 women with advanced ovarian cancer, and interviewing them every few months over three years. The study will explore all aspects of the experience of having advanced ovarian cancer, and generate a terminology for it - one that grows out of the women's own language. The study will inform the organisation and delivery of clinical care and services to women with ovarian cancer. It will also inform patient education programs, and help to tune medical education to the particular needs and perceptions of patients who are experiencing the certainty of death in uncertain time. Finally, the researchers will also explore the implications of the findings for medical ethics and health law, and for communication, information and decision-making in cancer medicine.Read moreRead less
Physiological Mechanisms Of Efficacy Of Cervical Flexor Muscle Retraining
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$264,750.00
Summary
Neck pain is a significant problem in society and its frequency is beginning to match the proportions of back pain, probably reflecting our increasingly sedentary lifestyles. Several problems have been identified in the muscle system in persons who suffer from neck pain. Therapeutic exercise has been found to have benefit in preventing and relieving pain and improving the neck function. Currently there are several, quite different methods of exercise and there is controversy regarding how therap ....Neck pain is a significant problem in society and its frequency is beginning to match the proportions of back pain, probably reflecting our increasingly sedentary lifestyles. Several problems have been identified in the muscle system in persons who suffer from neck pain. Therapeutic exercise has been found to have benefit in preventing and relieving pain and improving the neck function. Currently there are several, quite different methods of exercise and there is controversy regarding how therapeutic exercise works. It has been argued that parameters such as changes in muscle strength, endurance, joint position sense or muscle coordination may be responsible for the clinical efficacy. It is difficult to disentangle the effective component of exercise strategies and thus prescribe the most effective exercise strategies. This series of experiments will evaluate the physiological factors that change with a specific exercise intervention and to compare different exercise modalities in order to identify the most effective means to induce these changes. Cervical muscle training, using a proven exercise intervention strategy for chronic neck pain and headache, has been chosen as the model to investigate these questions. This exercise strategy has been chosen not only because it has been shown to be effective, but also because it does not conform to contemporary rationales for strength or endurance training. Thus while effective in relieving pain, it is unlikely to produce changes in these parameters. Thus other mechanisms are likely to be responsible for the clinical change. This research stands to make a significant contribution to exercise therapeutics by identifying the effective components of different exercise methods and investigating the pain relieving effects of the specific exercise. This knowledge will lead to the construction of a research based exercise program for neck pain patients, rather than have the current situation of often arbitrary choice of exercise.Read moreRead less
Changing Heat: Direct Impacts Of Temperature On Health And Productivity - Current Risks And Climate Change Projections
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$277,915.00
Summary
We know that heatwaves kill people - some 50,000 died in the 2003 European heatwave - but little is known of the details. This project will discover those details, in three important dimensions: WHO is at risk, and where do they live; HOW are people at risk, e.g. from kidney failure; and just WHAT is it about heat that is most dangerous? We will then build mathematical models of the future risks, and explore what public health measures will best protect Australians in a warming climate.
Expression profiling of many cancers has revealed a common signature, including upregulation of SPARC and other extracellular matrix proteins (the SPARC cluster), which correlates with poor prognosis. This signature is similar to the wound healing gene expression profile after infection by the parasite, Leishmania. Moreover, genomic regions important for differences in the wound healing response in mice have been defined that may define novel genes important for regulating SPARC cluster gene exp ....Expression profiling of many cancers has revealed a common signature, including upregulation of SPARC and other extracellular matrix proteins (the SPARC cluster), which correlates with poor prognosis. This signature is similar to the wound healing gene expression profile after infection by the parasite, Leishmania. Moreover, genomic regions important for differences in the wound healing response in mice have been defined that may define novel genes important for regulating SPARC cluster gene expression. However, these regions contain 1000s of genes , and thus to define the critical genes other approaches are neccesary. The genetically manipulable animal model, Drosophila (vinegar fly), represents a ideal system to detect SPARC interacting genes that should help define the critical genes that regulate SPARC cluster genes. These regulators that trigger SPARC cluster gene expression are likely to define novel cancer causing genes.Read moreRead less