Health News

How heart cells communicate to regulate heart activity

Date: Sep-26-2013
New research from Western University (London, Canada) is leading to a better understanding of what happens during heart failure; knowledge that could lead to better therapeutics or a more accurate predictor of risk. The research led by Robarts Research Institute scientists Robert Gros, PhD, and Marco Prado, PhD, along with graduate student Ashbeel Roy found the heart is regulated not only by nervous systems but also by heart cells sending messages to each other through the release of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine (ACh). The research has been published online by The FASEB Journal...

Improving accuracy of ADHD diagnosis

Date: Sep-26-2013
Asking three questions of parents of 5- to 12-year-olds in the waiting room before a pediatrician visit may make a lifetime of difference for their child, according to a new study from Regenstrief Institute and Indiana University investigators...

Environmental enrichment following traumatic brain injury may counter shrinkage in the brain

Date: Sep-26-2013
For the first time, scientists at Toronto Rehab have found that in people with chronic moderate-severe traumatic brain injury (TBI), atrophy (shrinkage) in the brain may be countered by participating in environmental enrichment - increased physical, social and cognitive stimulation. The paper, entitled "Environmental enrichment may protect against hippocampal atrophy in the chronic stages of traumatic brain injury," was published in the open-access journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. The principal investigator of this study is Dr...

Improving eating habits can mean living better with heart failure

Date: Sep-26-2013
Diet can dramatically lower hypertension and improve heart function in patients with a common type of heart failure, according to research presented at today's Heart Failure Society of America meeting in Orlando, Fla. After 21 days of following a low-sodium Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) eating plan, patients saw a drop in blood pressure similar to taking anti-hypertension medicine...

Maintaining fluid and electrolyte balance in the kidney

Date: Sep-26-2013
Distal renal tubular acidosis (dRTA) develops in response to the loss of acid secretion by α-intercalated cells in the kidney. The inability to remove acid from the body results in low blood potassium levels (hypokalemia), dehydration, and excess calcium in the urine (hypercalcemia), which leads to urinary stone formation. Recently, patients with dRTA have been identified with genetic mutations that lead to the inactivation of proton pumps found in β-intercalated cells, which have been thought to be responsible for base-secretion in the kidney...

Model for implant device reactions tested successfully

Date: Sep-26-2013
A team from the University of Texas at Arlington has used mathematical modeling to develop a computer simulation they hope will one day improve the treatment of dangerous reactions to medical implants such as stents, catheters and artificial joints. The work resulted from a National Institutes of Health-funded collaboration by research groups headed by Liping Tang, professor of bioengineering in the UT Arlington College of Engineering, and Jianzhong Su, chairman and professor in the UT Arlington College of Science's mathematics department...

Why women experience delayed onset of heart disease

Date: Sep-26-2013
A biological ability to compensate for the body's reduced response to insulin may explain why women typically develop heart disease 10 years later than men, according to a recent study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM). Insulin is a hormone that takes glucose from the bloodstream and carries it into cells, where it is used for energy. When the body doesn't use insulin properly, a condition known as insulin resistance, it raises the risk a person will develop diabetes and cardiovascular disease...

Biological risk factor pinpointed in obesity-related cancers

Date: Sep-26-2013
It is estimated that over a third of the new cancer cases expected to occur in the U.S. in 2013 will be related to overweight or obesity, physical inactivity, and poor nutrition. Thanks to the work of one NYU Steinhardt researcher, we may better understand why...

Mortality risks not increased by external beam RT in early-stage breast cancer

Date: Sep-26-2013
Early-stage breast cancer patients who receive external beam therapy (XRT) are not at higher risk for serious long-term side effects in the chest area, including increase in deaths from cardiac disease and secondary malignancies, according to research presented at the American Society for Radiation Oncology's (ASTRO's) 55th Annual Meeting. The study utilized patient information from the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database...

Lack of empathy in psychopaths has a neurological basis

Date: Sep-26-2013
When individuals with psychopathy imagine others in pain, brain areas necessary for feeling empathy and concern for others fail to become active and be connected to other important regions involved in affective processing and decision-making, reports a study published in the open-access journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. Psychopathy is a personality disorder characterized by a lack of empathy and remorse, shallow affect, glibness, manipulation and callousness...