Health News

Therapies designed to target propagation of protein aggregation between cells have potential to treat Alzheimer's disease

Date: Sep-29-2013
Alzheimer's disease is characterized by the accumulation of particular toxic proteins in the brain that are believed to underlie the cognitive decline in patients. A new study conducted in mice suggests that newly identified antibody treatments can prevent the accumulation of one of these of these toxic components, called tau proteins. The findings, online in the Cell Press journal Neuron, suggest that these antibodies may provide a basis for a promising therapy for patients with Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative disorders...

Promising results for IPS cell therapy in Parkinson's disease using autologous transplantation

Date: Sep-29-2013
A research team led by Professor Jun Takahashi and Assistant Professor Asuka Morizane at the Center for iPS Cell Research and Application (CiRA) at Kyoto University, Japan, has carried out a study to compare the impact of immune response in autologous transplantation (transplantation of cells from the subject's own body) and allogeneic transplantation (transplantation of cells from a different individual of the same species). The researchers used cynomolgus monkeys to carry out transplantation into the brain of neural cells derived from iPS cells...

What is the male menopause?

Date: Sep-29-2013
Is the male menopause myth or reality? When men reach their late forties to early fifties, some may experience a reduction in libido (sex drive), erectile dysfunction, weight gain, fatigue, depression, and other emotional symptoms which bear some similarities to the female menopause. However, the female menopause is completely different. In a woman the menopause marks the time when her menstrual periods stop and she is no longer able to become pregnant. Her levels of female hormones - estrogen and progesterone - decline considerably. Among males, the male menopause is much less abrupt...

Bilingualism helps aphasia sufferers relearn primary language

Date: Sep-29-2013
Researchers have found that when a person who speaks two languages experiences brain damage leading to a language condition called aphasia, the second, less dominant language can be used to transfer knowledge to the primary one, helping with rehabilitation. The National Aphasia Association defines aphasia as "an impairment of the ability to use or comprehend words, usually acquired as a result of a stroke or other brain injury." When a bilingual person acquires aphasia, the two languages can be disrupted, making language rehabilitation quite difficult...

Concern that steroids may persist longer in the environment than expected and partially regenerate themselves

Date: Sep-29-2013
Assessing the risk posed to aquatic organisms by the discharge of certain steroids and pharmaceutical products into waterways is often based on a belief that as the compounds degrade, the ecological risks naturally decline. But there's growing sentiment that once in the environment, some of these bioactive organic compounds may transform in a way that makes their presumed impact less certain. A new study led by the University of Iowa and published online in the journal Science found this was the case with the anabolic steroid trenbolone acetate and two other drugs...

Researchers look at health consequences of living kidney donation

Date: Sep-29-2013
The short-term risks associated with kidney donation are relatively modest, but because many donors have additional medical conditions, it is important to evaluate their ongoing health. That's the conclusion of a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (CJASN). In more than a third of kidney transplantations performed in the United States, the transplanted organs come from live donors. Research suggests that there are minimal health consequences for donors, but only a few comprehensive studies have looked at this issue...

People on health related social networking sites more likely to abstain from smoking

Date: Sep-29-2013
Smoking is a major public health problem, killing approximately 443,000 people every year in the United States. Quitting smoking can have a profound effect on a person's health, but it is also one of the hardest addictions to kick. A recent paper published in the Journal of Communication found that people who engage in health specific social networking sites found it easier to quit smoking. Joe Phua, University of Georgia, examined health-based social networking sites that focus on helping members to quit smoking...

Life experience 'offsets age-related cognitive decline'

Date: Sep-29-2013
As we get older, there is no doubt that our brains become slower. But new research suggests that life experience may make up for cognitive decline in old age. Researchers from the School of Business Administration at University of California, Riverside, conducted what they say is the first study to measure a person's decision making over their lifespan through two types of intelligence: fluid and crystalized. Fluid intelligence is the ability to learn and process information, while crystalized intelligence is experience and accumulated knowledge...

Global heart survey: US walks less than other nations

Date: Sep-29-2013
Cardiovascular disease is the biggest killer worldwide, and in the lead up to World Heart Day on September 29th, a global survey was conducted about how much time individuals spend walking each day. Many respondents did not know, and the majority who did know walk less than the recommended daily minimum of 30 minutes. The survey, conducted by the World Heart Federation, focused on walking because, according to the organization, it is one of the simplest things we can do to protect our heart health...

Health impacted when genetic makeup and diet interact with the microbiome

Date: Sep-29-2013
A Mayo Clinic researcher, along with his collaborators, has shown that an individual's genomic makeup and diet interact to determine which microbes exist and how they act in the host intestine. The study was modeled in germ-free knockout mice to mimic a genetic condition that affects 1 in 5 humans and increases the risk for digestive diseases. The findings appear in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "Our data show that factors in the differences in a host's genetic makeup - in this case genes that affect carbohydrates in the gut - interact with the type of food eaten...