ScienceDaily Health Headlines
for Monday, October 20, 2008
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Promising Gene Target For Neuroblastoma Therapy Identified (October 20, 2008) -- Researchers have identified a set of previously unknown mutations in a single gene in 8 percent of neuroblastomas, tumors of the nervous system that occur in young children and account for approximately 15 percent of all childhood cancer deaths. The discovery is intriguing because a small "targeted" molecule inhibitor caused neuroblastoma cell lines carrying two of the mutations to die when treated in the laboratory. ... > full story
Vitamin K Does Not Stem Bone Mineral Density Decline In Postmenopausal Women With Osteopenia, Study Shows (October 20, 2008) -- In a randomized controlled trial called the "Evaluate the Clinical use of vitamin K Supplementation in Postmenopausal Women with Osteopenia" trial, Angela Cheung and colleagues at the University of Toronto found that a high dose daily vitamin K1 supplement did not protect against age-related bone mineral density decline. ... > full story
Providing Toilets, Safe Water Is Top Route To Reducing World Poverty (October 20, 2008) -- Simply installing toilets where needed throughout the world and ensuring safe water supplies would do more to end crippling poverty and improve world health than any other possible measure, according to an analysis released by the United Nations University. ... > full story
Surgeons Evaluate Treatment Options For Traumatic Aortic Injury, Including Minimally Invasive Technique (October 20, 2008) -- A blunt traumatic injury to the aorta is one of the leading causes of death following a vehicle crash. University of Maryland Medical Center surgeons have published a review of treatments for this devastating injury in the the New England Journal of Medicine. The physicians have had success with a minimally invasive technique, which spares patients the trauma of a traditional operation, which involves a large incision in the chest. ... > full story
Genetic-based Human Diseases Are An Ancient Evolutionary Legacy, Research Suggests (October 19, 2008) -- Evolutionary geneticists reveal that disease genes emerged very early in evolutionary history. They have systematically analyzed the time of emergence for a large number of genes -- genes which can also initiate diseases. ... > full story
Nicotine Linked To Breast Cancer Growth And Spread, Study Suggests (October 19, 2008) -- A new study suggests a possible role for nicotine in breast tumor development and metastases. ... > full story
Chicken Soup May Help Fight High Blood Pressure (October 19, 2008) -- Chicken soup, that popular home remedy for the common cold sometimes known as "Grandma's Penicillin," may have a new role alongside medication and other medical measures in fighting high blood pressure, scientists in Japan are reporting. ... > full story
Fructose -- Found In High-fructose Corn Syrup, Sugar -- Sets Table For Weight Gain Without Warning (October 19, 2008) -- Table sugar and high-fructose corn syrup are about 50% fructose and these ingredients have become increasingly common in many foods and beverages. Eating too much fructose can induce leptin resistance, a condition that can easily lead to becoming overweight when combined with a high-fat, high-calorie diet, according to a new study with rats. This is the first study to show that leptin resistance can develop as a result of high fructose consumption and that leptin resistance can develop silently, that is, with little indication that it is happening. ... > full story
Human Protein Atlas Will Help Pinpoint Disease (October 19, 2008) -- Researchers in Sweden are compiling a remarkable "atlas" that pinpoints the location of thousands of individual proteins in the body's tissues and cells which will give scientists important insights into the function of different proteins and how changes in the distribution of proteins could be reflected in diseases such as cancer. ... > full story
Risk And Reward Compete In Brain: Imaging Study Reveals Battle Between Lure Of Reward And Fear Of Failure (October 19, 2008) -- Imaging study follows on previous lesion studies to pinpoint regions of brain involved in risk management: finds that individuals' response to risk and reward can be gauged from activity in two distinct brain regions. ... > full story
Waste From Gut Bacteria Helps Host Control Weight, Researchers Report (October 19, 2008) -- A single molecule in the intestinal wall, activated by the waste products from gut bacteria, plays a large role in controlling whether the host animals are lean or fatty, a research team has found in a mouse study. ... > full story
Antioxidants Could Help Huntington’s Disease Sufferers, Study Suggests (October 19, 2008) -- Therapeutic strategies to strengthen antioxidant defenses could help to prevent the progression of Huntington's Disease. New research shows that oxidative stress and damage to certain macromolecules are involved in the progression of Huntington's Disease (HD), which is characterised by psychiatric and cognitive disturbance, involuntary movements (chorea) and dementia. ... > full story
Polio Could Be Wiped Out In Nigeria With Improved Vaccine, Says Study (October 19, 2008) -- A recently introduced polio vaccine is four times more effective at protecting children than previous vaccines and has the potential to eradicate type 1 polio in Nigeria if it reaches enough children, according to a study in the New England Journal of Medicine. ... > full story
Sensitive Nanowire Disease Detectors Created (October 19, 2008) -- Scientists have created nanowire sensors coupled with simple microprocessor electronics that are both sensitive and specific enough to be used for point-of-care disease detection, according to a new report. ... > full story
Gene Hunt In Dyslexia (October 19, 2008) -- Letters are warped, syllables left out. Scientists seek to spot responsible genes and try to develop a genetic screening test to support affected children at an earlier age. ... > full story
Sunlight Exposure Plus Low Antioxidant Levels May Place Older Adults At Risk For Eye Disease (October 19, 2008) -- People who lack essential antioxidants, and who have high levels of sunlight exposure, have a higher risk of developing advanced macular degeneration (AMD), according to a new study. AMD is a leading cause of poor vision. ... > full story
No Higher Risk Of Leukemia Found For Children Living Near Powerful Radio Or Television Transmitters (October 18, 2008) -- Children living in the vicinity of powerful radio and television transmitters are not significantly more at risk of leukemia than others, according to a new German study. ... > full story
Optics Of Alzheimer’s Disease (October 18, 2008) -- One of the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease is the formation of plaques made of protein aggregates in the brain tissue. There is still considerable debate among scientists as to whether these plaques are the cause of the neuronal death that occurs in Alzheimer’s or just a by-product of the disease, however. ... > full story
Viruses And 'Young Cuckoos' Lead The Way In The Brain (October 18, 2008) -- Harmless viruses and genetic 'young cuckoos' are going to reveal the answers as to how the brain establishes where we are. The understanding of our sense of locality will be the first higher brain function that we understand at a molecular level. ... > full story
Physical Decline Caused By Slow Decay Of Brain's Myelin (October 18, 2008) -- Human's physical and mental abilities slow as we age, caused by the steady decay of myelin, the "insulation" around neuronal axons. ... > full story
Keeping Herpes Infection In Check: Researchers Describe Immune System Strategies (October 18, 2008) -- Herpes simplex virus type I can cause bouts of cold sores, blindness and potentially lethal encephalitis when it reawakens from a quiescent state in the nerve cells it infects. To prevent these consequences, the stealthy virus is kept under constant guard by the immune system, say University of Pittsburgh scientists. Their research challenges the once common notion that latent HSV-1 in sensory neurons is invisible to the immune system. ... > full story
Fine Balance: Class Of Spinal Cord Neurons Makes Sure That Sides Of Body Don't Get Ahead Of One Other (October 18, 2008) -- Once a toddler has mastered the art of walking, it seems to come naturally for the rest of her life. But walking and running require a high degree of coordination between the left and right sides of the body. Now researchers have shown how a class of spinal cord neurons, known as V3 neurons, makes sure that one side of the body doesn't get ahead of the other. ... > full story
Drug Candidate Slows Age-related Macular Degeneration (October 18, 2008) -- Research results show that the progression of age-related macular degeneration is markedly slowed in new laboratory-engineered mice when they received treatments of retinylamine, a trial drug that has been tested in a medical school lab. AMD is a leading cause of vision loss in Americans 60 years of age and older. ... > full story
Wildfires Cause Ozone Pollution To Violate Health Standards, New Study Shows (October 18, 2008) -- Wildfires can boost ozone pollution to levels that violate US health standards. A new study has found that California wildfires in 2007 tripled the number of ozone violations across a broad area. ... > full story
Smell Of Smoke Does Not Trigger Relapse In Quitters, New Research Shows (October 18, 2008) -- Research into tobacco dependence has shown that recent ex-smokers who find exposure to other people's cigarette smoke pleasant are not any more likely to relapse than those who find it unpleasant. ... > full story
Stem Cell Breakthrough: Mass-Production Of 'Embryonic' Stem Cells From A Human Hair (October 18, 2008) -- Researchers have successfully reprogrammed adult human cells called keratinocytes -- attached to a single hair -- into induced pluripotent stem cells, which by all appearances looked and acted like embryonic stem cells. And, the researchers have boosted reprogramming efficiency more than 100-fold, while cutting the time it takes in half. ... > full story
Mechanism For Immune System Suppression Pinpointed; Could Help Treat HIV, Measles, And Tuberculosis (October 18, 2008) -- Diseases such as HIV, tuberculosis, and measles claim countless lives by weakening immune systems in ways that have remained unclear. For the first time, researchers have now pinpointed a clear mechanism for immunosuppression. They have shown how an initial viral infection can block production of critical immune system proteins known as type I interferons, leading to susceptibility to other, potentially deadly infections. ... > full story
Stabilizing Force For Good Communication Between Neurons And Muscle Cells Found (October 18, 2008) -- A neuron sends a message, or neurotransmitter, to a muscle cell to tell it what to do. To get the message, the receiving cell must have a receptor. Oddly, the unstable protein rapsyn is responsible for anchoring the receptor so it's properly positioned to catch the message. Now have found what keeps rapsyn in proper conformation. ... > full story
Steroid Treatment Offers No Benefit In Preemies, Study Suggests (October 18, 2008) -- Results of a new study challenge the longstanding practice of treating premature babies with hydrocortisone, a steroid believed to fight inflammation and prevent lung disease. ... > full story
Evolution Of Virulence Regulation In Staphylococcus Aureus (October 18, 2008) -- Scientists have gained insight into the complex mechanisms that control bacterial pathogenesis and, as a result, have developed new theories about how independent mechanisms may have become intertwined during evolution. The research may lead to strategies for developing more effective therapeutics against the human pathogen responsible for most of the antibiotic-resistant infections contracted in the community. ... > full story
Importance Of Sex-specific Testing Shown In Anxiety Study (October 18, 2008) -- An Australian study has flagged an important truth for the medical research community. Like their human counterparts, male and female mice are not only different, their respective genetic responses can often be the reverse of what you'd expect from pharmacological results. This has important ramifications for laboratory and clinical testing. ... > full story
Emotion And Scent Create Lasting Memories -- Even In A Sleeping Brain (October 17, 2008) -- In a series of experiments with sleeping mice, researchers at the Duke University Medical Center have shown that the part of the brain that processes scents is indeed a key part of forming long-term memories, especially involving other individuals. ... > full story
Border Control: How Proteins Permit Entry To A Cell (October 17, 2008) -- The means by which proteins provide a 'border control' service, allowing cells to take up chemicals and substances from their surroundings, whilst keeping others out, is revealed in unprecedented molecular detail for the first time, in the journal Science. ... > full story
Human Microbiome Consortium To Investigate Role Of Microbes In Human Health And Disease (October 17, 2008) -- Scientists from around the globe have formed the International Human Microbiome Consortium, an effort that will enable researchers to characterize the relationship of the human microbiome in the maintenance of health and in disease. ... > full story
Medical Textbooks Use White, Heterosexual Men As A 'Universal Model' (October 17, 2008) -- Images of white men predominate in western anatomy textbooks, which present them as a "universal model" of the human being. This is the main conclusion of a study that has analysed 16,329 images from 12 manuals currently recommended by 20 of the most prestigious universities in Europe, the United States and Canada. ... > full story
Gene Screen To Identify Causes Of Autism (October 17, 2008) -- A new screening method can be used to detect the chromosomal abnormalities most commonly associated with autism spectrum disorders. By screening for genetic defects associated with various kinds of cognitive impairment, the approach will help clinicians identify the underlying causes of some patients' autism spectrum disorders. ... > full story
Nanotechnology Boosts War On Superbugs (October 17, 2008) -- Scientists are using nanotechnology to investigate the workings of vancomycin, one of the few antibiotics that can be used to combat increasingly resistant infections such as MRSA. The researchers developed ultra-sensitive probes capable of providing new insight into how antibiotics work, paving the way for the development of more effective new drugs. ... > full story
Prostate Cancer Gene Test Provides New Early Detection (October 17, 2008) -- Currently, early detection of prostate cancer depends on an abnormal digital rectal examination and an elevated prostate-specific-antigen (PSA) level requiring a prostate biopsy, often associated with anxiety, discomfort, complications, and heavy expenses. Now researchers have developed a test using a new PCa gene-based marker that can be carried out with a urine sample. ... > full story
Better Beer: College Team Creating Anticancer Brew (October 17, 2008) -- College students often spend their free time thinking about beer, but a group of Rice University students are taking it to the next level. They're using genetic engineering to create beer that contains resveratrol, a chemical in wine that's been shown to reduce cancer and heart disease in lab animals. ... > full story
Bugs In The Gut Trigger Production Of Important Immune Cells, Study Finds (October 17, 2008) -- A new study reveals that specific types of bacteria in the intestine trigger the generation of pro-inflammatory immune cells, a finding that could eventually lead to novel treatments for inflammatory bowel disease and other diseases. ... > full story
Neuroscientist Finds Transplanted Hand-to-brain Mapping 35 Years After Loss Of Limb (October 17, 2008) -- Four months after a successful hand transplant -- 35 years after amputation in an industrial accident at age 19 -- a 54-year-old man's emerging sense of touch is registered in the former "hand area" of the his brain, says a University of Oregon neuroscientist. ... > full story
Disease Leads To Vision Loss More Often In Men (October 17, 2008) -- A new study shows that men are more likely to lose vision as a result of a particular cause of intracranial hypertension, or increased pressure in the brain, than women with the condition. ... > full story
ER Staffs: Gaps Exist In Hospital Preparedness For Dirty Bombs (October 17, 2008) -- Serious challenges remain in radioactivity readiness, according to a new study that finds emergency room doctors and nurses worry that hospitals are not adequately prepared to handle casualties from a radioactive 'dirty bomb.' Among the concerns is whether ER staffers, in a dirty bomb scenario, could protect themselves and give appropriate care, the study authors said. ... > full story
Obesity, Abnormal 'Reward Circuitry' In Brain Linked: Gene Tied To Dopamine Signaling Also Implicated In Overeating (October 17, 2008) -- Using brain imaging and chocolate milkshakes, scientists have found that women with weakened "reward circuitry" in their brains are at increased risk of weight gain over time and potential obesity. The risk increases even more for women who also have a gene associated with compromised dopamine signaling in the brain. ... > full story
Brain Function: Supersensitive Receptor Engineered, Gain Better Understanding Of Dopamine System (October 17, 2008) -- Genetically modifying a receptor found on the neurons that produce the neurotransmitter dopamine has given researchers a unique glimpse into the workings of the brain's dopamine system -- as well as a new target for treating diseases that result from either too much or too little of this critical neurotransmitter. ... > full story
Human Brain Still Awake, Even During Deep Sleep (October 17, 2008) -- Sleep in humans is divided in two main phases: non-REM sleep, which occupies most of our early sleep night, and REM sleep, during which our dreams prevail. Non-REM sleep is usually considered as a compensatory 'resting' state for the brain, following the intense waking brain activity. Now, new research challenges previous brain imaging studies which showed that the brain was less active during periods of non-REM sleep as compared to periods of wakefulness. ... > full story
New Look At Mini-strokes (October 17, 2008) -- Like a burning fire, the brain is in constant need of oxygen, and when a blood vessel is blocked during a stroke, part of the brain becomes starved of oxygen and nutrients. When this happens, neurons in that part of the brain die off, leading to permanent loss of function in the parts of the body those neurons serve. ... > full story
Could Dr. House Be Replaced By A Computer? (October 17, 2008) -- Computer scientists are cracking the code on the metabolism of human diseases. Scientists know that different normal and diseased tissues behave differently. But a method that tells them just how they do so may one day give medical science a new way to fight obesity, hypertension, diabetes and other dangerous disorders of the metabolism. ... > full story
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