Health News

New imaging technique could cut down on false positives in breast cancer screening

Date: Oct-01-2013
A joint BYU-Utah research team is developing a new breast cancer screening technique that has the potential to reduce false positives, and, possibly, minimize the need for invasive biopsies. Led by BYU electrical engineer Neal Bangerter and University of Utah collaborators Rock Hadley and Joshua Kaggie, the group has created an MRI device that could improve both the process and accuracy of breast cancer screening by scanning for sodium levels in the breast...

'Accelerator on a chip' could lead to new generations of smaller, less expensive devices for science, medicine

Date: Oct-01-2013
In an advance that could dramatically shrink particle accelerators for science and medicine, researchers used a laser to accelerate electrons at a rate 10 times higher than conventional technology in a nanostructured glass chip smaller than a grain of rice. The achievement was reported in Nature by a team including scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University...

American Thoracic Society and the European Respiratory Society publish policy statement on disparities in respiratory health

Date: Oct-01-2013
To address the global phenomenon of disparities in respiratory health, the American Thoracic Society and the European Respiratory Society have released an official policy statement in which each pledges its commitment to reducing health disparities between the lowest and highest socioeconomic groups by continuing or initiating work with leaders from governments, academia, and other organizations to promote scientific inquiry and training, disseminate medical information and best practices, and monitor and advocate for public respiratory health...

Improved survival in breast cancer through early treatment of chest lymph nodes

Date: Oct-01-2013
Giving radiation therapy to the lymph nodes located behind the breast bone and above the collar bone to patients with early breast cancer improves overall survival without increasing side effects. This new finding ends the uncertainty about whether the beneficial effect of radiation therapy in such patients was simply the result of irradiation of the breast area, or whether it treated cancer cells in the local lymph nodes as well, the 2013 European Cancer Congress (ECC2013) [1] heard...

Deadly form of lung cancer may be treatable with FDA-approved antidepressant

Date: Oct-01-2013
A little-used class of antidepressants appears potentially effective in combating a particularly deadly form of lung cancer, according to a new study from researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. And because the drugs have already been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use in humans, the researchers have been able to quickly launch a clinical trial to test their theory in patients. The phase-2 trial is now recruiting participants with small-cell lung cancer and other, similar conditions like aggressive gastrointestinal neuroendocrine cancers...

Scientists erase brain tumor cells in mice

Date: Oct-01-2013
Scientists have discovered that a repurposed drug approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is capable of erasing brain tumor cells in mice. This is according to a study published in the journal Oncotarget. Researchers from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine used a drug called 5-azacytidine - used to treat a pre-leukemia condition called myelodysplastic syndrome - to target a mutation in a gene previously identified in human brain tumors (gliomas) called isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1)...

Multiple health risks in adulthood can stem from abuse, lack of parental warmth in childhood

Date: Oct-01-2013
The effects of childhood abuse and lack of parental affection can last a lifetime, taking a toll both emotionally and physically. There are many reports assessing the psychological damage resulting from childhood abuse, and the effects on physical health have also been well documented. For instance, this "toxic" stress has been linked to elevated cholesterol, cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome and other physical conditions posing a significant health risk. The research into the physical effects of abuse, however, has focused on separate, individual systems...

Canada should screen baby boomers for hepatitis C

Date: Sep-30-2013
Canada should begin screening baby boomers for hepatitis C (HCV), a curable disease that is usually asymptomatic until liver damage is severe, argue several liver specialists in an analysis in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). "Unlike most chronic viral infections, HCV infection is curable," write Drs. Hemant Shah, Jenny Heathcote and Jordon Feld from the Toronto Centre for Liver Disease, University Health Network, Toronto, Ont. "Successful treatment leads to viral eradication, halting the progression of liver disease and decreasing all-cause mortality...

Retired people less likely to take medications for hypertension and diabetes

Date: Sep-30-2013
Men and women with hypertension and men with diabetes were 1.3 times to 2.4 times less likely to take their prescription medications after retirement, according to a study in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). Poor adherence to prescription medication is common and can affect the ability to manage hypertension and diabetes, two illnesses linked with heart disease and death...

Ontarians more likely to survive 1 year after hospitalization: study

Date: Sep-30-2013
More people in Ontario are living longer after hospitalization than in 1994, with a 22% decrease in the risk of death after 1 year from admission, found an article in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). Hospitals deliver a substantial proportion of health care, from treating acute illness to performing surgery, offering specialist medicine and care for people from birth to death. They are large consumers of health care costs world-wide, and it is important to understand how they are performing as part of the health care system...