Health News

Cold environment makes cancer grow and spread faster

Date: Nov-23-2013
A cold environment, which is known to induce suppression of the anti-tumor immune response, was found to encourage cancer growth in an animal study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)1.When it gets cold, the human body gradually goes into survival mode, blood vessels narrow in order to maintain body heat and our extremities start to suffer. Our metabolism speeds up and we shiver. When it is very cold the body focuses on just keeping the brain, heart and other vital organs functioning at a cost to the rest of the body.Kathleen M.

Sleep drugs 'awake' brain damaged patients with 'signature' activity

Date: Nov-23-2013
Scientists have discovered a "signature" in brain activity that could explain why some severely brain injured patients awake from a minimally conscious state as result of sleep aid drugs and other medication. This is according to a study published in the journal eLife.The research team led by investigators from Weill Cornell Medical College in New York, say their findings could help predict whether other patients suffering from "similarly harbor reserve capacity" may respond to sleep drugs or other approaches.

Quality of life and symptom results in EORTC head & neck cancer trial

Date: Nov-23-2013
In Europe in 2012, there were an estimated 39,900 new cases of laryngeal cancer and 99,600 new cases of oral cavity and pharyngeal cancers (Feraly et al.). The estimated number of deaths from laryngeal and oral cavity and pharyngeal cancers were 19,800 and 43,700, respectively. These types of cancers can negatively affect the health related quality of life (HRQOL), because they induce symptoms that may interfere with daily life.

Human body height may be predicted using DNA

Date: Nov-23-2013
Predicting adult body height from genetic data is helpful in several areas such as pediatric endocrinology and forensic investigations. However, despite large international efforts to catalogue the genes that influence the stature of humans, knowledge on genetic determinants of adult body height is still incomplete. Now DNA-based prediction of taller-than-average body height is feasible, as reported by researchers from the Netherlands and Sweden in an article published in Springer's journal Human Genetics.In the study led by Prof.

Why men's noses are bigger than women's

Date: Nov-23-2013
It has long been hypothesized that compared with women, men naturally have bigger noses. Now, a new study from researchers at the University of Iowa confirms that this is true - stating than on average, men's noses are 10% larger than women's noses.According to the investigators, who analyzed nose size in European populations, the size difference is a result of different body build between both sexes, alongside different energy demands.

Wellbeing increased by higher levels of control and support in UK workplaces

Date: Nov-23-2013
The Whitehall II study*, published in the journal PLOS ONE, was conducted amongst 5,182 London based civil servants and is one of very few longitudinal studies examining the positive effects on people at work.

Breast cancer risk factors and disease origins linked

Date: Nov-23-2013
Researchers from the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth have found that epigenetic changes to DNA are associated with aging in disease-free breast tissues and are further altered in breast tumors. Epigenetic changes describe heritable alterations caused by mechanisms other than by changes in DNA sequence. The discovery, published in the February 2014 issue of Epigenetics, illustrates how cancer and aging are tightly interconnected processes by identifying epigenetic alterations present in the normal aging breast that may increase disease risk in cancer-free individuals.

Investments in aging biology research will pay longevity dividend, scientists say

Date: Nov-22-2013
Finding a way to slow the biological processes of aging will do more to extend the period of healthy life in humans than attacking individual diseases alone, according to some of the nation's top gerontologists writing in the latest issue of Public Policy & Aging Report (PP&AR), titled "The Longevity Dividend: Geroscience Meets Geropolitics." The authors showcase work in the emerging interdisciplinary field of geroscience, which is based on the knowledge that aging itself is the major risk factor for most chronic diseases prevalent in the older population.

Brain imaging reveals how chronic pain drug works

Date: Nov-22-2013
New research from the University of Michigan has explored the use of brain imaging in order to track the clinical action of a drug used to treat chronic pain. This is according to a study published in the journal Anesthesiology.Using three different brain imaging procedures, the investigators were able to track the actions of pregabalin - a drug commonly used to treat patients suffering from fibromyalgia and neuropathic pain.

Eating nuts every day may prolong life

Date: Nov-22-2013
The largest study of its kind, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, finds that people who eat a handful of nuts every day live longer than those who do not eat them at all.Scientists from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and the Harvard School of Public Health came to this conclusion after analyzing data on nearly 120,000 people collected over 30 years.The analysis also showed that regular nut eaters tended to be slimmer than those who ate no nuts, putting to rest the notion that eating nuts leads to weight gain.