Health News

Having children lowers mortality in people with type 1 diabetes, but for women more than men

Date: Sep-26-2013
New research published at this week's annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Barcelona, Spain, shows that having children lowers mortality in people with type 1 diabetes, but for women more than men. The research is by Dr Lena Sjöberg, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland, and National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland, and colleagues.  Previous research has shown that type 1 diabetes is associated with increased mortality compared with the general population, from both acute and long-term diabetic complications...

Study shows social deprivation a key factor in mortality in type 1 diabetes

Date: Sep-26-2013
Levels of social deprivation, as well as how well a patient controls their blood sugar, is an independent risk factor for mortality in people with type 1 diabetes. These are the findings of new research presented at this year's annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes in Barcelona, Spain. The research is by the Diabetes Clinical Academic Group at King's Healthcare Partners, UK, and presented by Dr Stephen Thomas, Dept of Diabetes and Endocrinology, Guy's and St Thomas' Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (GSTT), London...

Study shows improvements in life expectancy in type 1 diabetes which should now be reflected in life insurance and other relevant policies

Date: Sep-26-2013
A study from the UK reveals that, in the population of Scotland, UK, life expectancy for people with type 1 diabetes has improved substantially, and this improvement should now be reflected in life insurance and other relevant policies for those with the condition. The research is by, Professor Helen Colhoun and Shona Livingstone, University of Dundee, UK, and colleagues on behalf of the Scottish Diabetes Research Network, and is presented at this year's annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Barcelona, Spain...

Merck Serono announces decision to continue the development of tecemotide in Stage III non-small cell lung cancer

Date: Sep-26-2013
Merck Serono, the biopharmaceutical division of Merck, has announced the decision to continue clinical development of its investigational MUC1 antigen-specific cancer immunotherapy tecemotide (also known as L-BLP25) under a new Phase III trial called START2 for patients with unresectable, locally advanced Stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This announcement is based on the outcome of the START trial. The START trial did not meet the primary endpoint of improving overall survival (OS) in the overall patient population...

New anaesthetics research could improve the welfare of fish

Date: Sep-26-2013
New research could improve the welfare standards of millions of fish used by scientists around the world. The study, published in PLOS ONE, is one of the first to formally assess the welfare implications of anaesthetics on fish. Researchers use fish to study the developmental origins of health and disease. The work, carried out in collaboration between the University of Bristol's School of Veterinary Sciences and AstraZeneca Brixham Environmental Laboratory, investigated whether scientists are using the right anaesthetics and if current best practice for fish could be improved...

Improved asthma diagnosis using two tests in combination

Date: Sep-26-2013
It was previously thought that the two test methods signalled the same type of asthma. But a new study, led by researchers at Uppsala University, Sweden, shows that the methods actually signal two different inflammatory processes. With the tests used in combination, the chances are probably greater for the patient to receive just the right treatment. The study is being published in the October issue of Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology...

Hip fracture affected by fat and obesity gene

Date: Sep-26-2013
Australian researchers have demonstrated a strong association between the FTO (fat and obesity) gene and hip fracture in women. While the gene is already well known to affect diabetes and body fat, this is the first study to show that its high-risk variant can increase the risk of hip fracture by as much as 82%...

Potential to predict lung-cancer spread via MicroRNA-31

Date: Sep-26-2013
Determining whether a patient's lung cancer has spread to nearby lymph nodes is critical for identifying the most effective therapy, but it usually requires surgery. A new study suggests, however, that measuring levels of a particular molecule in a sample of tumor tissue might accurately answer the question.  Researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J...

'Microbial clock' may help determine time of death

Date: Sep-26-2013
An intriguing study led by the University of Colorado Boulder may provide a powerful new tool in the quiver of forensic scientists attempting to determine the time of death in cases involving human corpses: a microbial clock. The clock is essentially the lock-step succession of bacterial changes that occur postmortem as bodies move through the decay process...

New test could revolutionise suicide prevention

Date: Sep-26-2013
A simple measurement of the sweat gland activity of a depressed person can determine if he or she is suicidal - with 97 per cent accuracy. Now another large clinical study confirms the correlation. Blood pressure, blood circulation and activity in the sweat glands of the fingers can reveal if a person is suicidal. "The results are so strong that I'm astonished", says Lars-Håkan Thorell, associate professor in experimental psychiatry at Linköping University, one of the researchers behind the study...