ScienceDaily Health Headlines
for Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Welcome to another edition of ScienceDaily's email newsletter. You can change your subscription options or unsubscribe at any time.
Role Of Fatty Acids In Alzheimer's Disease Identified (October 21, 2008) -- Scientists have found that complete or partial removal of an enzyme that regulates fatty acid levels improves cognitive deficits in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. A large-scale analysis of brain lipids identifies a potential therapeutic strategy. ... > full story
Best Treatment Determined For Childhood Eye Problem, Study Suggests (October 21, 2008) -- A nine-site study has helped determine the best of three currently-used treatments for convergence insufficiency in children. Convergence refers to the natural ability of the eyes to focus and align while viewing objects up close. ... > full story
Hypertension Disparity Linked To Environment (October 21, 2008) -- Social environment may play a greater role in the disparity between the numbers of African-Americans living with hypertension compared to non-Hispanic whites with the disease. A new study found that the disparity was substantially reduced when comparing groups of African Americans and non-Hispanic whites living in similar social environments. ... > full story
Scientists Create 'World's Most Relaxing Room' (October 21, 2008) -- Psychologists have designed and constructed a large-scale multi-media space that aims to calm even the most stressed out of minds. ... > full story
New Hope For A Better Treatment For Childhood Cancer (October 21, 2008) -- Children who are diagnosed with cancer could benefit from better diagnosis and treatment in the future, thanks to a new research project. ... > full story
Toxoplasma Parasite's Family Tree Traced (October 21, 2008) -- Scientists are tracing the family tree of Toxoplasma gondii, one of the most widespread parasites of warm-blooded vertebrates. Understanding how T. gondii has evolved and disseminated will help parasitologists and public health officials improve methods for controlling the parasite in humans and animals. ... > full story
Integrating Antiretroviral Therapy With TB Treatment For Co-infections Reduces Mortality By 55% (October 21, 2008) -- A South African treatment study shows that mortality among TB-HIV co-infected patients can be reduced by a remarkable 55 percent, if antiretroviral therapy is provided with TB treatment at the same time. ... > full story
Swamping Bad Cells With Good In ALS Animal Models Helps Sustain Breathing (October 20, 2008) -- In a disease like ALS -- one that's always fatal and that has a long history of research-resistant biology -- finding a proof of principle in animal models is significant. ... > full story
Blood Flow Reversal System Used During Carotid Stenting Is Both Safe And Effective, Study Shows (October 20, 2008) -- Results of a study on an embolic protection system during carotid stenting that uses a novel blood flow reversal system were reported during the 20th annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics scientific symposium. ... > full story
'Junk' DNA May Have Important Role In Gene Regulation (October 20, 2008) -- For about 15 years, scientists have known that certain "junk" DNA -- repetitive DNA segments previously thought to have no function -- could evolve into exons, which are the building blocks for protein-coding genes in higher organisms like animals and plants. Now, there is evidence that a significant number of exons created from junk DNA seem to play a role in gene regulation. The findings increase understanding of how humans differ from other animals. ... > full story
Spinning Natural Proteins Into Fabrics For New Wound-repair Products (October 20, 2008) -- Scientists in Israel are reporting the first successful spinning of a key natural protein into strong nano-sized fibers about 1/50,000th the width of a human hair. The advance could lead to a new generation of stronger, longer-lasting biocompatible sutures and bandages to treat wounds. ... > full story
Enlarged Prostates: Choice Of Treatment Needs Careful Consideration (October 20, 2008) -- In the last few years, the treatment options for prostate problems have expanded. The German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care has assessed new treatments and warns that some new surgical techniques are being heavily promoted without first having been adequately evaluated. ... > full story
Catching Smugglers With Technology To Detect Guilt (October 20, 2008) -- Researchers are looking to increase security at border controls by developing a computer system that can detect guilt. ... > full story
Achilles Heel Of Common Childhood Tumor Identified (October 20, 2008) -- Researchers have, for the first time, found a mechanism for the rapid growth of the benign blood vessel tumor known as infantile hemangiomas, the most common tumor found in children. The findings implicate gene mutations that facilitate the abnormal activity of a hormone called VEGF, and suggest that anti-VEGF therapies -- already approved for other conditions -- may be an effective treatment. ... > full story
LEDs May Help Reduce Skin Wrinkles (October 20, 2008) -- Researchers in Germany are describing a potential alternative to Botox and cosmetic surgery for easing facial wrinkles. Their study reports that high intensity visible light from light emitting diodes (LEDs) applied daily for several weeks resulted in "rejuvenated skin, reduced wrinkle levels, juvenile complexion and lasting resilience." LEDs are the miniature lights used in an array of products, from TV remote controls to traffic lights. ... > full story
Potential Treatment To Prevent Diabetes And Obesity Using Interleukin-6 (October 20, 2008) -- A molecule called interleukin-6 has opened new doors for the creation of new drugs against obesity and diabetes. ... > full story
Kidney Donation Web Sites Raise Ethical Concerns (October 20, 2008) -- Some patients do not have access living donors who are both willing and medically eligible to give them a kidney. As a result, some are now turning to websites that attempt to match people in need of transplantation with those who want to donate a kidney, so-called "Good Samaritan" donors. ... > full story
New Method May Rapidly And Effectively Detect Significant Food-Borne Pathogen (October 20, 2008) -- Researchers from Sweden and Finland have developed a rapid and specific method that may detect the bacterium Yersinia enterocolitica, a common cause of gastric illness, in food. ... > full story
Varying Combinations Of Antiviral Drugs May Effectively Treat Chronic Hepatitis Virus Infection In Woodchucks (October 20, 2008) -- Oral administration of various combined and independent antiviral drug therapies may effectively treat chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in woodchucks, a well-characterized mammalian model for research with human implications, and provide an alternative strategy for managing drug resistance. ... > full story
New Natural Products Act Against Antibiotic-resistant Bacteria (October 20, 2008) -- A group of antibiotic natural products points to a new mode of action against pathogenic bacteria. Isolated from myxobacteria, the substances prevent an enzyme of the pathogens from being able to translate their genetic material. ... > full story
See What I See: Machines With Mental Muscle (October 20, 2008) -- The way we use and interact with machines is undergoing a profound change as computers are programmed to learn from experience and see more how we see. European research into machine learning is pushing back the boundaries of computer capabilities. ... > full story
Gene Mutation Protects Against Obesity And Diabetes (October 20, 2008) -- Scientists have identified a natural mutation in the Tbc1d1 gene that keeps mice lean and also protects against diabetes despite a high-fat diet. The researchers were thus able to gain a deep insight into the function of the gene. Further clarification of its function would provide a basis for developing new approaches for prevention and treatment, as this gene could also be linked to obesity and diabetes in humans. ... > full story
Worms' Nervous System Shown To Alert Immune System (October 20, 2008) -- The nervous system and the immune system have something in common. Each has evolved to react quickly to environmental cues. Because the nervous system is able to detect some of these cues at a distance, it sometimes can sense trouble earlier than the immune system, which has to wait until the pathogen invades the organism. Now, geneticists have shown that, indeed, the two systems talk to one another. ... > full story
Genes That Control Cell Death Fingered In Age-related Hearing Loss (October 20, 2008) -- Several genes that play a role in how our body's cells normally auto-destruct may play a role in age-related hearing loss, according to new research in a journal devoted to the topic of cell suicide, or programmed cell death. ... > full story
Bird Flu Vaccine Protects People And Pets (October 20, 2008) -- A single vaccine could be used to protect chickens, cats and humans against deadly flu pandemics, according to a new article published in the Journal of General Virology. The vaccine protects birds and mammals against different flu strains and can even be given to birds while they are still in their eggs, allowing the mass vaccination of wild birds. ... > full story
Steroids Aid Recovery From Pneumonia, Researchers Say (October 20, 2008) -- Adding corticosteroids to traditional antimicrobial therapy might help people with pneumonia recover more quickly than with antibiotics alone, scientists have found. ... > full story
Single-pixel Camera Has Multiple Futures (October 20, 2008) -- A terahertz version of the single-pixel camera could lead to breakthrough technologies in security, telecom, signal processing and medicine. ... > full story
Aspirin Does Not Prevent Heart Attacks In Patients With Diabetes, Study Suggests (October 20, 2008) -- Taking regular aspirin and antioxidant supplements does not prevent heart attacks even in high risk groups with diabetes and asymptomatic arterial disease, and aspirin should only be given to patients with established heart disease, stroke or limb arterial disease, according to a new study. ... > full story
Alternative Theory Of Information Processing In The Cortex (October 20, 2008) -- With remarkable precision, neurons in the sound-processing part of the brain's cortex fire electrochemical pulses or "spikes" in sync with cues they receive from other neurons. Neuroscientists have demonstrated that "spike timing" in cortical neurons can influence behavior in rats when signals are separated by as little as three milliseconds. This discovery helps make the case for an alternate theory of how neuron-to-neuron messaging is processed in the cortex. ... > full story
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
Copyright 1995-2008 © ScienceDaily LLC. All rights reserved. Terms of use.
|
 To update/change your account click here  |
No comments:
Post a Comment