Attention, chocolate lovers: You may not be able to help yourselves. Swiss and British scientists have linked the widespread love of chocolate to a chemical "signature" that may be programmed into our metabolic systems.
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Bacterium may cause some vision problems
BOSTON, Nov 7, 2005 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Boston scientists have found a bacterium linked to heart disease, in the eyes of five of nine people with "wet," age-related macular degeneration.
The researchers at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary say the bacterium, Chlamydia pneumoniae, is capable of causing chronic inflammation. But it was not found in the eyes of more than 20 individuals without AMD, providing more evidence the disease might be caused by inflammation.
AMD is the leading cause of blindness in Americans over the age of 55. The majority of vision loss is due to neovascular AMD, the advanced form of the disease characterized by the formation of blood vessels in the macula, the center part of the eye's retina. These blood vessels often leak, thus giving neovascular AMD the name "wet" AMD.
The study is described in the November issue of Graefe's Archive for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology.
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