Health News

New-found signalling role for carbon dioxide could be applied to blood flow, birth and deafness

Date: Nov-15-2013
New research reveals exactly how the body measures carbon dioxide and suggests that far from being a metabolic waste product, it could play a key role as a biological signalling molecule.Researchers led by Professor Nick Dale in the School of Life Sciences at the University of Warwick have shown that the body senses carbon dioxide directly through the protein Connexin 26, which acts as a receptor for the gas. Connexin 26 is better known as forming a direct channel of communication between cells.

Helping school children choose healthy options

Date: Nov-15-2013
When schools adopt healthful nutrition policies and practices, kids' diets improve.According to new research led by Michigan State University and published in the current issue of Childhood Obesity, when schools offered snacks in lunchtime a la carte or vending that were mostly or entirely healthful, students responded with improvements in their diets, said Katherine Alaimo, MSU associate professor of food, science and human nutrition."When healthful food options are offered, students will select them, eat them and improve their diet," she said.

Putting research into practice on firearms and domestic violence

Date: Nov-15-2013
The Crime Victims' Institute (CVI) at Sam Houston State University initiated a new series of reports to help victim advocates translate the latest research in the field into practical services and resources for victims, beginning with a study on firearms and intimate partner violence.The report provides a summary of laws and policies that can be used to better protect victims of domestic violence.In 2012, 114 women were killed by current or former intimate partners in Texas.

Improving detection of radioactive material in nuclear waste water

Date: Nov-15-2013
As the Fukushima crisis continues to remind the world of the potential dangers of nuclear disposal and unforeseen accidents, scientists are reporting progress toward a new way to detect the radioactive materials uranium and plutonium in waste water. Their report on the design of a highly sensitive nanosensor appears in ACS' The Journal of Physical Chemistry C.Jorge M. Seminario and Narendra Kumar note that it is highly likely that radioactive uranium and plutonium have leaked into the soil and groundwater near nuclear facilities.

Engineered veggies target intestinal lipids, improve cholesterol

Date: Nov-15-2013
UCLA researchers report that tiny amounts of a specific type of lipid in the small intestine may play a greater role than previously thought in generating the high cholesterol levels and inflammation that lead to clogged arteries.The team also found they could reduce the negative effects of these lipids in mice by feeding the animals a new genetically engineered tomato being developed at UCLA that is designed to mimic HDL ("good") cholesterol.

Adding probiotics to fruit juices to improve functionality

Date: Nov-15-2013
Probiotics are often added to products in order provide additional nutritional benefits to the consumer, thus making them "functional foods." A new study in the Journal of Food Science, published by the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), found that fruit juices could potentially be good carriers for two different kinds of probiotics. The study found that certain strains of probiotics are stable in a fruit juice, namely a mix of red-fruits, and doesn't affect the sensory score.

Decrease in Sepsis Mortality Rates

Date: Nov-15-2013
A recent study from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and Boston Medical Center (BMC) shows a significant decrease in severe sepsis mortality rates over the past 20 years. Looking at data from patients with severe sepsis enrolled in clinical trials, researchers found that in-hospital mortality rates decreased from 47 percent between 1991 and 1995 to 29 percent between 2006 and 2009, a time period when no new pharmacological treatments were developed for severe sepsis.

U.S. adults spend most; forgo care due to costs, struggle to pay medical bills, and contend with insurance complexity at highest rates, survey shows

Date: Nov-15-2013
A new 11-country survey from The Commonwealth Fund finds that adults in the United States are far more likely than those in 10 other high-income industrialized nations to go without health care because of costs, have difficulty paying medical bills, and encounter time-consuming health insurance paperwork or disputes, including claims that were unexpectedly not paid.More than one-third (37%) of U.S. adults went without recommended care, did not see a doctor when sick, or failed to fill prescriptions because of costs, compared to as few as 4 percent to 6 percent in the U.K.

Paxman announces multi centre FDA trial for the prevention of chemotherapy induced alopecia

Date: Nov-15-2013
Paxman, the leading global expert and supplier in scalp cooling for cancer chemotherapy patients, has been granted Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) Approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration FDA ahead of a multi-centre, randomized trial of the patented Paxman scalp cooling system for the prevention of chemotherapy induced alopecia.The trial, which was recently approved by the FDA, is the final phase of approval in the United States and paves the way for FDA market approval of the Paxman scalp cooler device, which is already widely used around the world.

New study shows that womb cancer can be detected early using easily accessible body fluids

Date: Nov-15-2013
A new study, funded by The Eve Appeal and published this week in the open access journal PLOS Medicine[i], has the potential to change the cancer landscape by being able to accurately identify individuals with early stage womb cancer using easily accessible body fluids.By collecting swabs from the entrance to the womb - a similar technique to that used in cervical screening - genetic material can be easily analysed for pre-cancer/cancer without the need for an invasive womb biopsy.How does this work?