Health News

Researchers unravel part of the mystery of sound's source

Date: Oct-03-2013
As Baby Boomers age, many experience difficulty in hearing and understanding conversations in noisy environments such as restaurants. People who are hearing-impaired and who wear hearing aids or cochlear implants are even more severely impacted. Researchers know that the ability to locate the source of a sound with ease is vital to hear well in these types of situations, but much more information is needed to understand how hearing works to be able to design devices that work better in noisy environment...

For post-tonsillectomy pain, over-the counter painkillers acceptable

Date: Oct-03-2013
You may be able to eat all of the ice cream you want after having your tonsils removed, but researchers at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit say you don't necessarily need a prescription to reduce post-operative pain -- an over-the-counter pain-reliever is just as effective. The study shows over-the-counter ibuprofen manages pain after a tonsillectomy for children and adults as well as the prescription pain medications acetaminophen with hydrocodone and acetaminophen with codeine, which is no longer recommended for use in children...

New class of drugs lowers cholesterol in first human trial

Date: Oct-03-2013
A new class of cholesterol-lowering drugs that target a recently discovered regulator of harmful cholesterol could be an alternative or complementary treatment for the 30 million people who take statins, after the first trial in humans confirms the technique's feasibility and safety.  A single dose of the small interfering ribonucleic acid (siRNA) drug candidate ALN-PCS cut levels of LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol) in healthy volunteers by up to 57%, and 40% on average more than those given a placebo, according to the new research published in The Lancet...

Compound that may prevent stroke in survivors of brain aneurysms

Date: Oct-03-2013
Johns Hopkins researchers, working with mice, say they have identified a chemical compound that reduces the risk of dangerous, potentially stroke-causing blood vessel spasms that often occur after the rupture of a bulging vessel in the brain. They say their findings offer clues about the biological mechanisms that cause vasospasm, or constriction of blood vessels that reduces oxygen flow to the brain, as well as potential means of treating the serious condition in humans...

Scientist sniffs out possible new tick species

Date: Oct-03-2013
In June 2012, Tony Goldberg returned from one of his frequent trips to Kibale National Park, an almost 500-square-mile forest in western Uganda where he studies how infectious diseases spread and evolve in the wild. But he didn't return alone. "When I got back to the U.S., I realized I had a stowaway," says Goldberg, professor of pathobiological sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine and associate director for research in the UW-Madison Global Health Institute...

Novel biomarker linked to stress, resilience unveiled

Date: Oct-03-2013
Concerned about the effect of stress on your health and well-being? If your answer is "yes," then Arizona State University Professor Doug Granger is doing research that could impact you. Granger is pioneering the field of interdisciplinary salivary bioscience using spit. Spit conjures a variety of saying and images for most people, but for Granger and colleagues spit is also serious business...

People become more patient by waiting

Date: Oct-03-2013
Let's face it - no one likes to wait. We're a culture of instant gratification. But what if the very act we dislike can actually help make us more patient and help us make better financial decisions? According to a recent study by Ayelet Fishbach, Jeffrey Breakenridge Keller Professor of Behavioral Science and Marketing at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, waiting actually does make people more patient, which can provide a payoff for consumers by helping them make better decisions...

Rates of 'clot-buster' treatment for stroke increased by telestroke service

Date: Oct-03-2013
A telestroke service increases the rate of effective tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) therapy for patients with acute ischemic stroke treated at community hospitals, according to a report in the October issue of Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health...

Pediatricians should respect parents' rights when dealing with immunization

Date: Oct-03-2013
Controversy about the risks of measles, mumps, and rubella vaccines has been rumbling in the United States for years - and now it's Israel's turn. After finding traces of the polio virus in sewage, Israel's Ministry of Health launched a national vaccination campaign that reached more than half a million children. Surprisingly, dissenting voices flooded social media and the mainstream news, calling for a halt to the campaign. Endorsements by public figures, like Israel's president Shimon Peres, did little to calm the storm...

High-fat, high-calorie diet and pancreatic cancer link

Date: Oct-03-2013
Researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have found that mice made obese by high-calorie, high-fat diets develop abnormally high numbers of lesions known to be precursors to pancreas cancer. This is the first study to show a direct causative link in an animal model between obesity and risk of this deadly cancer. The study, published in the journal Cancer Prevention Research, was led by Dr. Guido Eibl, a member of the Jonsson Cancer Center and a professor in the department of surgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA...