Health News

Age-related macular degeneration may be due to loss of anti-aging gene

Date: Oct-10-2013
A team of researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) has found that loss of an anti-aging gene induces retinal degeneration in mice and might contribute to age-related macular degeneration, the major cause of blindness in the elderly. In the Journal of Neuroscience, the scientists demonstrated a key role for the aging-suppressor gene Klotho in maintaining the health of the mouse and human retina. They say that in their animal studies, loss of Klotho expression leads to characteristics observed in both kinds of macular degeneration - wet and dry - seen in humans...

Two new approaches to lessen postoperative pain

Date: Oct-10-2013
New combinations of postoperative pain treatment decreased both pain and the use of narcotic pain relievers according to two studies presented this week at the 2013 Clinical Congress of the American College of Surgeons. One pain treatment utilized the simple but nonstandard application of ice packs after major abdominal operations in patients, and the other treatment was a prolonged drug delivery method using nanotechnology in animals. Past research has shown that postoperative pain is often undertreated...

Minimally invasive colon cancer surgery leads to improved outcomes for elderly patients

Date: Oct-10-2013
The chance of ending up in a nursing facility appears to be significantly lower for older patients who undergo a laparoscopic procedure than for those who have open surgical resection for colon cancer, according to a study presented during a scientific poster session at the 2013 Clinical Congress of the American College of Surgeons...

An evolutionary perspective provides better understanding of the HIV epidemic

Date: Oct-10-2013
With the abundance of sequencing data, scientists can use ever more powerful evolutionary biology tools to pinpoint the transmission and death rates for epidemics such as HIV, which has remained elusive to a cure. Reconstructed evolutionary trees, called phylogenies, can trace a family of viral mutations over time. When combined with epidemiology, tree construction can allow for great insight into the dynamics of disease transmission and how a pathogen eludes its host to spread infection. Professor Gabriel Leventhal, et. al...

Standardized way to track and report hospital readmission rates needed as a reliable benchmark for surgical quality outcomes

Date: Oct-10-2013
Approximately one in five Medicare patients are rehospitalized within 30 days of discharge.* The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) considers this rate excessive, and began reducing payments to hospitals that have excessive readmission rates in October 2012 under a provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. While the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program penalizes readmission to any hospital, most hospitals are only tracking same-hospital readmissions using administrative data that is recorded for billing purposes...

Protein identified that may predict thyroid cancer recurrence

Date: Oct-10-2013
Researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, MD, have taken the first steps to determine if a protein, called Programmed Death Ligand 1 (PD-L1), can help to predict which thyroid cancer patients will most likely have a recurrence of the disease. Study findings were presented at the 2013 Clinical Congress of the American College of Surgeons. More than 80 percent of patients diagnosed with thyroid cancer have a type called papillary thyroid cancer, which usually grows on only one side of the thyroid gland, according to the American Cancer Society...

Lives saved when 'Guidelines for Management of Severe Traumatic Brain Injury' adhered to

Date: Oct-10-2013
Researchers found a significant reduction in the number of deaths of patients hospitalized in New York State with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) between 2001 and 2009. The Brain Trauma Foundation, in collaboration with the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, published the first edition of the "Guidelines for Management of Severe Traumatic Brain Injury" in 1986...

What is myrrh used for? What are the benefits of myrrh?

Date: Oct-10-2013
Myrrh is a resin that comes from trees belonging to the genus Commiphora - which grow in Northern Africa and the Middle East. The sap like substance, which has a unique sweet and smoky aroma, has a wide range of uses. Myrrh is mainly used: as a fragrance for embalming to flavor food products for its potential therapeutic properties This Medical News Today article provides details on Myrrh's potential health benefits as well as some possible side effects and precautions. The essential oil has been part of medical practice in traditional therapies for millennia...

How epilepsy may harm children's learning

Date: Oct-10-2013
Children with epilepsy sleep badly and as a result often are sleepy during the day. Unremarkably perhaps, they also tend to do badly at school. The two undoubtedly are related, however the link may be more complex than previously thought. According to the UK Charity 'Young Epilepsy' more than one in five people with epilepsy have learning or intellectual difficulties. Poor academic results are common in children with epilepsy. Evidence suggests that up to half of all children with epilepsy underachieve at school...

Brain training may boost memory, but not intelligence

Date: Oct-09-2013
With their promise of improved mental abilities, it is easy to see why brain training games are so popular. But new research shows that the perceived benefits may be limited to memory instead of IQ. Most people would love a boost in brain power. And marketing departments are quick to tap into these desires. But an advertisement promising to improve your intelligence may be too alluring to resist, and probably too good to be true...