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The number of Russian women who smoke has more than doubled since the collapse of the Soviet Union, according to new research. Following privatization of the tobacco industry, transnational tobacco companies invested heavily in developing the market, promoting smoking as part of the new ‘western lifestyle’ according to a new article.

Scientists have conducted the first genome-wide study to compare the relative importance of factors that contribute to DNA mutations, which are implicated in cancer and over 40 neurological disorders. The findings provide useful new information to researchers who study these diseases, as well as to forensics experts, conservation geneticists and scientists working in other areas of research.

Patients with chronic hepatitis C infection should not use marijuana daily, according to a new study. Researchers found that HCV patients who used cannabis daily were at significantly higher risk of moderate to severe liver fibrosis, or tissue scarring. Additionally, patients with moderate to heavy alcohol use combined with regular cannabis use experienced an even greater risk of liver fibrosis.

The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation has reported that key indicators of health for people with cystic fibrosis -- including lung function and nutritional status -- are rising nationwide across its accredited care center network. In fact, the outlook for people with CF continues to improve steadily each year.

Osteoporosis, a common age-related disease, is being investigated by a group of biomechanical engineers. In the frame of a clinical study, the evolution of vertebral bone density was monitored in patients. The researchers developed a simulation model, and computed the increase in bone strength on the basis of the measured bone density. Looking for the effect of Teriparatide medication, they demonstrated with the help of high-resolution CT images an increase in bone strength of up to 30%.

An estimated one in 20 patients undergoing a common operation to boost blood supply to the heart and to ward off repeat heart attacks may do better if their surgeons also remold the heart to a near normal size, by cutting and suturing together stretched muscle and scar tissue resulting from the initial attack, according to cardiac surgeons at Johns Hopkins.

A gel that could prevent the painful and disfiguring contractions of skin grafts used to treat burns has been developed. When skin is irreparably damaged by burns, skin taken from other areas of the patient's body -- or created by tissue engineering -- is grafted onto the burned area. Although grafts often heal successfully, the skin shrinks significantly in nearly a third of patients. The process is painful and disabling, and particularly common in children.

The American College of Preventive Medicine has found there is insufficient evidence to recommend for or against routine population prostate screening with digital rectal examination or measurement of the serum tumor marker, prostatespecific antigen. ACPM advises that clinicians caring for men, especially African-American men and those with a family history, should provide information about the potential benefits and harms of screening and limits of current evidence to allow for them to make an informed decision about screening.

A stressed-out mouse tends to be a bit timid, tentative, even fearful. For that matter, so does a stressed-out human. Our ability to learn from frightening situations is part of what helps us avoid them in the future. When that learning process goes awry, it can lead to depression and a decreased ability to recognize dangerous situations. Now, research by Rockefeller scientists has pinned down a protein in the hippocampus -- a part of the brain that controls memory, learning and fear -- that's essential for maintaining this stress response.

Dendritic cells are responsible for directing the body's immune response, and they're activated through receptors on their surfaces. Now, in research that may have implications for novel disease therapies, scientists have shown that the balance of two different versions of these Fc³ receptors -- activating versus inhibitory -- appears to affect production of an important set of genes, called interferon-response genes, including one believed to play an important role in autoimmunity and cancer.