ScienceDaily Health Headlines
for Friday, August 8, 2008
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Researchers Halt Spread Of HIV With RNAi In Animal Model (August 8, 2008) -- Using a novel method to deliver small molecules called siRNAs into T cells, researchers dramatically suppressed HIV in the first-ever animal model that mirrors progression of the disease in humans. The siRNAs knocked down three key genes and kept the infection from spreading in mice containing human immune cells infected with the virus. ... > full story
Comprehensive Treatment Of Extensively Drug-resistant TB Works, Study Finds (August 8, 2008) -- XDR-TB has been reported in 49 countries throughout the world. This study shows that a comprehensive, ambulatory management program can cure more than 60 percent of HIV-negative XDR-TB patients in spite of numerous, prior unsuccessful TB treatments. This ambulatory model could be widely implemented in resource-poor settings. ... > full story
Periodontal Disease Independently Predicts New Onset Diabetes (August 8, 2008) -- Periodontal disease may be an independent predictor of incident type 2 diabetes, according to a new study. While diabetes has long been believed to be a risk factor for periodontal infections, this is the first study exploring whether the reverse might also be true, that is, if periodontal infections can contribute to the development of diabetes. ... > full story
The Schiavo Case: Are Mass Media To Blame? (August 8, 2008) -- In 1990, Theresa Schiavo, an American citizen, had a cardiac arrest that caused irreversible brain damage which led to a persistent vegetative state diagnosis. A few years later, this diagnosis became a source of conflict over the interruption of artificial nutrition. The "Schiavo Case" was widely discussed from a medical, ethical and social standpoint in the United States and elsewhere. ... > full story
Inherited Form Of Hearing Loss Stems From Gene Mutation (August 8, 2008) -- Researchers have pinpointed a gene mutation that accounts for a previously unidentified form of hearing loss. Scientists found the same mutation in two unrelated families, indicating the mutation may be ancient and not particularly rare. Future research may find that it affects others who have an unexplained family history of hearing loss. Genes are likely involved in as many as 50 percent of people with hearing loss. ... > full story
Blocking HIV Multiplication: Structure Elucidation Of 'Kissing Complex' (August 8, 2008) -- Scientists have used innovative techniques to elucidate the specific recognition mechanisms between AIDS virus RNA and a synthetic RNA. These results should provide a basis for the development of new therapies targeting viral RNA sequences. ... > full story
Post-partum Suicide Attempt Risks Studied (August 8, 2008) -- Although maternal suicide after giving birth is a relatively rare occurrence, suicide attempts often have long-lasting effects on the family and the infant. Researchers compared two populations of mothers and found that a history of psychiatric disorders or substance abuse was a strong predictor of post-partum suicide attempts. ... > full story
Medicinal Marijuana Effective For Neuropathic Pain In HIV, Study Finds (August 7, 2008) -- In a double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial to assess the impact of smoked medical cannabis, or marijuana, on the neuropathic pain associated with HIV, researchers have found that reported pain relief was greater with cannabis than with a placebo. ... > full story
Treatment Outcomes Highlight Dangers Of Extensively Drug-resistant Tuberculosis (August 7, 2008) -- In a retrospective study of 174 tuberculosis patients, patients with extensively-drug-resistant tuberculosis were almost eight times as likely to die as patients with multi-drug resistant tuberculosis. The study highlights the need for optimal management of multidrug resistant cases to prevent the progression to XDR-TB. ... > full story
New Decision Model Seeks To Avert Flu Vaccine Mismatch Of 2007-2008 Season (August 7, 2008) -- To avoid producing vaccines that treat the wrong strains during flu season, the FDA should consider deferring some of its selections as well as other changes to the vaccine composition, according to a study by two decision analysts published in a journal of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences. ... > full story
Jeers Of Peers May Affect Adolescent Adjustment (August 7, 2008) -- A researcher suggests that the struggles of adolescence can be particularly painful for children who also struggle with obesity. ... > full story
How Chemo Kills Tumors: Research To Reduce Side Effects (August 7, 2008) -- Researchers are investigating exactly how chemotherapy drugs kill cancerous tumors in a bid to reduce side effects and test the effectiveness of safer new agents. ... > full story
Whom Do We Fear Or Trust? (August 7, 2008) -- Princeton psychology researchers have developed a computer program that allows scientists to analyze better than ever before what it is about certain human faces that makes them look either trustworthy or fearsome. In doing so, they have also found that the program allows them to construct computer-generated faces that display the most trustworthy or dominant faces possible. ... > full story
HIV Expert Says 1 Step Down, 2 More To Go In Quest To Cure AIDS (August 7, 2008) -- A Johns Hopkins expert in HIV and how the AIDS virus hides in the body says antiretroviral drugs have stopped HIV from replicating, the first of three key steps needed to rid people of the virus. ... > full story
Spices May Protect Against Consequences Of High Blood Sugar (August 7, 2008) -- Herbs and spices are rich in antioxidants, and a new study suggests they are also potent inhibitors of tissue damage and inflammation caused by high levels of blood sugar. ... > full story
Researchers Unveil Vital Key To Cancer (August 7, 2008) -- University of Manchester scientists have uncovered the 3-D structure of Mps1 -- a protein that regulates the number of chromosomes during cell division and thus has an essential role in the prevention of cancer -- which will lead to the design of safer and more effective therapies. ... > full story
When Neurons Fire Up: Study Sheds Light On Rhythms Of The Brain (August 7, 2008) -- Neuroscientists have modeled the random synchronization of neuron activation. The findings expand scientists' understanding of brain rhythms, both reoccurring and random, and shed light on the decades-old mystery of how the brain learns temporal patterns. ... > full story
Child Development: Lack Of Time On Tummy Shown To Hinder Achievement (August 7, 2008) -- The American Physical Therapy Association is urging parents and caregivers to ensure that babies get enough "tummy time" throughout the day while they are awake and supervised, in light of a recent survey of therapists who say they've noticed an increase in motor delays in infants who spend too much time on their backs while awake. ... > full story
West Nile's Targets Uncovered (August 7, 2008) -- Screening the entire human genome, scientists have identified several hundred genes that impact West Nile virus infection. ... > full story
Likely Cause Of Postpartum Blues And Depression Identified (August 7, 2008) -- Unique biochemical crosstalk that enables a fetus to get nutrition and oxygen from its mother's blood just may cause common postpartum blues, researchers say. ... > full story
Wheezing After Early-life Antibiotics (August 7, 2008) -- Children who are given antibiotics in their first three months often wheeze at 15 months of age. However, this wheezing is probably more due to the presence of chest infections than to the use of antibiotics. ... > full story
Humans' Response To Risk Can Be Unnecessarily Dangerous (August 7, 2008) -- The traffic light ahead of you is turning yellow. Do you gun the engine and speed through the intersection, trusting that others will wait for their green, or do you slow down and wait your turn? Researchers contend that our ancient instincts don't meet the decision-making needs of a modern world. ... > full story
Stretchable Silicon Camera Next Step To Artificial Retina (August 7, 2008) -- Digital cameras have transformed the world of photography. Now new technology inspired by the human eye could push the photographic image farther forward by producing improved images with a wider field of view. By combining stretchable optoelectronics and biologically inspired design, scientists have created a remarkable imaging device, with a layout based on the human eye. ... > full story
Use Of Cleaning Products During Pregnancy Increases Risk Of Asthma In Young Children (August 7, 2008) -- Chemicals in household cleaning products linked to risk of asthma in young children. This finding may explain why excessive hygiene is linked to increased asthma and allergies. ... > full story
A New Look At How Memory And Spatial Cognition Are Related (August 7, 2008) -- In a study that sheds new light on how memory and spatial cognition are related to each other in the brain, researchers studied memory-impaired patients as they navigated their environment. ... > full story
Measuring Cancer Therapy Success With Oxygen (August 7, 2008) -- Scientists have identified a way to predict very early in the treatment process the outcome of radiation and chemotherapy for cervical cancer patients -- based on oxygen levels within the tumor. ... > full story
Alcohol Consumption Declining, According To Results Of New Study (August 7, 2008) -- Overall alcohol use -- particularly consumption of beer -- is declining in the US, according to a new study. Researchers examined 50 years of data and found several changes in alcohol intake but no change in alcohol use disorders. Americans are drinking significantly less beer and more wine, while hard liquor use has remained fairly constant. More people now report that they are nondrinkers. ... > full story
Remedial Instruction Rewires Dyslexic Brains, Provides Lasting Results, Study Shows (August 7, 2008) -- A new brain imaging study of dyslexic students and other poor readers shows that the brain can rewire itself and overcome reading deficits, if students are given 100 hours of intensive remedial instruction. The study shows that the remedial instruction resulted in a brain activity increase in cortical regions associated with reading, and that neural gains solidified further during the year following instruction. ... > full story
Stent Grafts: A Better Way To Treat Blunt Trauma Injuries (August 7, 2008) -- Endovascular repair -- fixing an injury in a blood vessel from inside that vessel -- is a better option for individuals who receive highly lethal injuries from high-speed collisions or falls (together referred to as blunt trauma) and is shown to save more lives and nearly eliminate paraplegia (the loss of the ability to move and/or feel both legs), a complication of surgical repair for thoracic aortic aneurysms. ... > full story
Breast CT Scanners Promise Painless Alternative To Mammography (August 7, 2008) -- The discomfort of a mammogram can drive some women to avoid the valuable screening, occasionally with dire consequences. Now a new procedure, dedicated breast computed tomography (CT), promises to take the pain out of breast cancer detection. ... > full story
When It Comes To Abstinence Teens, Adults Aren't Speaking The Same Language (August 7, 2008) -- Abstinence can mean different things to adolescents than to adults. That's one reason why abstinence-only programs do not have strong effects in preventing teenage sexual activity, according to new research. ... > full story
Neurobiologists Discover Individuals Who 'Hear' Movement (August 7, 2008) -- Individuals with synesthesia, or cross-activated senses, perceive the world differently from others, with some perceiving numbers or letters as having colors or days of the week as possessing personalities. Now, researchers have discovered a type of synesthesia in which individuals hear sounds when they see things move or flash. The scientists say auditory synesthesia, which had never been identified, may represent an enhanced form of how the brain normally processes visual information. ... > full story
How Bacteria Attach To Human Tissues During Infection Process: New Clues (August 7, 2008) -- Scientists have helped to reveal more about the way bacteria can attach to human tissues. The researchers studied the way a protein found on the surface of the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus binds to a human protein called fibronectin. Their discovery is an important step in understanding how bacteria attach to the surface of blood vessels during infection. ... > full story
Shape, Not Just Size, Impacts Effectiveness Of Emerging Nanomedicine Therapies (August 7, 2008) -- In the budding field of nanotechnology, scientists already know that size does matter. But now, researchers have shown that shape matters even more -- a finding that could lead to new and more effective methods for treating cancer and other diseases, from diabetes and multiple sclerosis to arthritis and obesity. ... > full story
Is There A Connection Between AIDS Epidemic In Africa And Intestinal Worms? (August 7, 2008) -- Scientists are beginning an intensive program in Ethiopia this August to eradicate intestinal worms which affect as much as 50 percent of the population in Africa. These researchers believe there is a possible connection between the AIDS epidemic in Africa and intestinal worms. ... > full story
Metabolic Insight To Illuminate Causes Of Iron Imbalance (August 7, 2008) -- New insight into key players in iron metabolism has yielded a novel tool for distinguishing among root causes of iron overload or deficiency in humans, researchers report. While the body needs iron to produce hemoglobin, a substance in red blood cells that enables them to carry oxygen, too much iron can build up and eventually damage organs. ... > full story
Context And Personality Key In Understanding Responses To Emotional Facial Expressions (August 7, 2008) -- It is well-appreciated that facial expressions play a major role in nonverbal social communication among humans and other primates, because faces provide rapid access to information about the identity and the internal states and intentions of others. New data now suggests that both the social context of a person's facial expression and certain facets of the viewer's personality could affect how our brain interprets the social meaning of someone else's smile or frown. ... > full story
Why Treatment Isn't Effective For HIV (August 7, 2008) -- Researchers have answered a key question as to why antiretroviral therapy isn't effective in restoring immunity in HIV-infected patients. Once a person is infected with the virus, fibrosis, or scarring, occurs in the lymph nodes -- the home of T cells that fight infection. And once fibrosis occurs, T cells can't repopulate the lymph nodes when HIV therapy begins, according to a professor of medicine and principal investigator on the study. ... > full story
Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy Of Similar Benefit For HIV-infected Injection Drug Users (August 7, 2008) -- Contrary to the belief that HIV-infected injection drug users receive less benefit from highly active antiretroviral therapy, new research finds little difference in the survival rate between IDUs and non-IDUs after 4-5 years of receiving HAART, according to a study in the Aug. 6 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on HIV/AIDS. ... > full story
Voluntary Exercise Does Not Appear To Alleviate Anxiety And Depression (August 7, 2008) -- Voluntary physical activity does not appear to cause a reduction in anxiety and depression, but exercise and mood may be associated through a common genetic factor, according to a new article. ... > full story
Olympic Games: Researchers Explore What Makes Better Athletes, The Physiology Of Performance, And More (August 6, 2008) -- The world-record pace for the marathon continues to improve for both men and women. For men, the record pace for the marathon is now about as fast as the record pace for the 10,000-meter run just after World War II. Today, champion athletes are running more than four times farther at speeds of well under five minutes per mile. ... > full story
'Exercise Pill' Is No Replacement For Real Exercise, Expert Cautions (August 6, 2008) -- Recent media reports have described a new substance that potentially eliminates the need for exercise. Now, an expert on the science of inactivity says the "exercise pill" study did not test all of the commonly known benefits of exercise, and taking the pill cannot be considered a replacement for exercise. ... > full story
Male Circumcision Efforts Lag In Africa Despite Evidence Of Dramatic Impact In Preventing HIV (August 6, 2008) -- With millions of lives at stake over the next two decades, researchers and advocates at the AIDS 2008 Conference today called on the global health community to ramp up male circumcision to significantly reduce risk of HIV infection in Africa, and to move quickly to integrate the life-saving procedure into other comprehensive efforts to prevent transmission of the disease in the vulnerable nations of eastern and southern Africa. ... > full story
Keeping Migrant Workers' Children Healthy (August 6, 2008) -- As Ohio and Michigan fruit and vegetable farms yield this year's harvest, they also will provide data about the eating choices of Latino migrant children for a Case Western Reserve University researcher. Information gathered this summer will help migrant families understand why their children are part of the growing national obesity epidemic and contribute to new interventions to combat this serious health issue. ... > full story
Risk Of Unintentional Injury Death Is High For Young Children Living With Unrelated Adults (August 6, 2008) -- In a new study, a University of Missouri professor found that children living in households with unrelated adults are six times more likely to die of maltreatment-related unintentional injuries, compared to children living with two biological parents. The risk of maltreatment death is double for children living with foster or step-parents, or other related adults. However, the risk is not higher for children living in households with a single biological parent and no other adults. ... > full story
Less REM Sleep Associated With Being Overweight Among Children And Teens (August 6, 2008) -- Children and teens who get less sleep, especially those who spend less time in rapid eye movement sleep, may be more likely to be overweight, according to a report in the Archives of General Psychiatry. ... > full story
Researchers Find Differences In Swallowing Mechanism Of Rett Syndrome Patients (August 6, 2008) -- Researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center have found that the reflux and swallowing problems that are common symptoms in patients with Rett syndrome and other neurological impairments, may be caused by a different mechanism than they are in healthy individuals. The finding leaves researchers to wonder if these patients truly benefit from anti-reflux surgery commonly performed in these children. ... > full story
Why The Slow-Paced World Could Make It Difficult To Catch A Ball (August 6, 2008) -- Researchers have uncovered new information about how we perceive fast moving, incoming objects -- such as tennis or cricket balls. The new research studies why the human brain has difficulty perceiving fast moving objects coming from straight ahead; something that should be a key survival skill. This has implications for understanding how sportspeople make decisions about playing a shot but could also be important for improving road safety and for the development of robotic vision systems. ... > full story
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