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Oxygen spikes - a new therapy for heart attack?
Date: Oct-08-2013In a study published in EMBO Molecular Medicine, a Dartmouth researcher found that dying heart cells are kept alive with spikes of oxygen. During a heart attack when the flow of oxygen-rich blood to a section of the heart is interrupted, and not quickly restored, heart muscle begins dying. Deprived of oxygen and other essential nutrients, cell death continues occurring over a period of time leading to progressive loss of heart function and congestive heart failure. Current therapies are not effective at limiting cell loss - they only slow down the progression of congestive heart failure...
Bacteria in aquarium water can lead to infection on arms, hands
Date: Oct-08-2013A skin infection linked to exposure to contaminated water in home aquariums is frequently under-diagnosed, according to a Henry Ford Hospital study. Researchers say diagnosing and managing Mycobacterium marinum infection is difficult because skin lesions don't appear for two to four weeks after incubation, leading to delayed treatment and unnecessary and ineffective use of antifungal and antibacterial agents. During the incubation period, patients also fail to remember the source of the exposure, which is often traced to them cleaning their aquarium...
Researchers engineer stem cells to become targeted drug factories
Date: Oct-08-2013A group of Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Harvard Stem Cell Institute researchers, and collaborators at MIT and Massachusetts General Hospital have found a way to use stem cells as drug delivery vehicles. The researchers inserted modified strands of messenger RNA into connective tissue stem cells - called mesenchymal stem cells - which stimulated the cells to produce adhesive surface proteins and secrete interleukin-10, an anti-inflammatory molecule...
Moderate activity linked to lower breast cancer risk
Date: Oct-08-2013A large new American Cancer Society study adds to increasing evidence that physical activity reduces the risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal women. Researchers say moderate recreational activity was associated with a 14 percent lower risk and high physical activity with a 25 percent lower risk of breast cancer compared to women who were active at the lowest level. The study appears early online in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers, and Prevention...
Chemicals block ability of flu virus to replicate in cells
Date: Oct-08-2013A new way to attack flu viruses is taking shape in laboratories at Rutgers University, where scientists have identified chemical agents that block the virus's ability to replicate itself in cell culture. These novel compounds show promise for a new class of antiviral medicines to fight much-feared pandemic influenzas such as the looming "bird flu" threats caused by the H5N1 influenza A virus and the new H7N9 virus responsible for a 2013 outbreak in China. Timely production of a vaccine is difficult when a pandemic flu strikes. A viable alternative is to treat with drugs...
Little-explored regions of genome reveals dozens of potential cancer triggers
Date: Oct-08-2013A massive data analysis of natural genetic variants in humans and variants in cancer tumors has implicated dozens of mutations in the development of breast and prostate cancer, a Yale-led team has found. The newly discovered mutations are in regions of DNA that do not code for proteins but instead influence activity of other genes. These areas represent an unexplored world that will allow researchers and doctors to gain new insight into the causes and treatment of cancer, said the scientists...
Just five in every 1000 NHS doctors prompt performance concerns each year
Date: Oct-08-2013Just five in every 1000 NHS doctors - less than 1% of the workforce - prompt concerns about their performance every year, sufficient to warrant the need for outside help, indicates an analysis of 11 years of data, published in BMJ Quality & Safety. But doctors in the late stages of their career are six times more likely to be referred for remedial help, the figures show...
Biomarker discovered, offering potential targeted therapy for pancreatic cancer
Date: Oct-08-2013University of Cincinnati (UC) researchers have discovered a biomarker, known as phosphatidylserine (PS), for pancreatic cancer that could be effectively targeted, creating a potential therapy for a condition that has a small survival rate. These findings, published in the online edition of PLOS ONE, also show that the use of a biotherapy consisting of a lysosomal protein, known as saposin C (SapC), and a phospholipid, known as dioleoylphosphatidylserine (DOPS), can be combined into tiny cavities, or nanovesicles, to target and kill pancreatic cancer cells...
New research highlights the negative effect of being overweight on the lifespan of pet dogs
Date: Oct-08-2013Being overweight shortens a dog's life expectancy according to new research by the WALTHAM® Centre for Pet Nutrition. Data on a range of popular dog breeds from across the USA showed that dogs that are overweight in middle age have a shorter life expectancy than ideal weight dogs. Specifically, overweight dogs were found to suffer a reduction in life expectancy of up to ten months compared to ideal weight dogs...
Infectious diseases specialists improve outcomes for hospitalized HIV patients
Date: Oct-08-2013When patients with HIV are hospitalized for other conditions, such as a heart problem, surgery or complications of diabetes, mistakes are often made involving their complicated anti-retroviral therapy (ART) regimens. But those errors are more than twice as likely to be corrected when patients are seen by an infectious diseases (ID) physician, suggests a Cleveland Clinic study presented at IDWeek 2013™...
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