Health News

Psychiatric services not meeting demand - reform needed across the WHO European Region

Date: Sep-21-2013
Across the WHO European Region, about 30% of years lived with disability can be attributed to mental disorders, but fewer than 50% of people with a mental disorder have ever received any kind of treatment and even fewer (10%) receive adequate care. This massive unmet need for treatment - the treatment gap - is the result of a combination of the stigma of mental health and mental health services, lack of accessibility and, when services are available, poor quality...

Brain abnormality 'predictor of chronic pain'

Date: Sep-21-2013
Scientists say that people who have a certain abnormality in their brain structure are more likely to develop chronic pain following a lower back injury, according to a study published in the journal Pain. Researchers from the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine say their findings may initiate changes to the way physicians treat patients for pain. In their study, the researchers were able to identify a "specific irregularity" or "marker" in the axons of the brain...

Gene that triggers 'memory extinction' discovered

Date: Sep-21-2013
Many of us are the bearers of "bad" memories that, to this day, continue to affect our lives. Now, scientists say they have discovered a gene essential for "memory extinction," the process by which our brain replaces older memories with new experiences. Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) say the discovery could help people suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) by replacing "fearful" memories with more positive associations...

All family members affected by parental stress of caring for a chronically ill child

Date: Sep-21-2013
The extra demands on parents of chronically ill children cause stress that affects the whole family, according to a systematic review conducted by Case Western Reserve University researchers that also explored what factors in the child's care most contribute to the added strain. The findings, reported in the August issue of the Journal of Pediatric Psychology article, "Parenting Stress Among Caregivers of Children With Chronic Illness: A Systematic Review," were based on an assessment of 96 peer-reviewed studies in 12 countries between 1980 and 2012...

Exploiting an Achilles' heel in TB bacterium

Date: Sep-21-2013
Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacterium that causes tuberculosis may have an Achilles' heel: It needs a particular enzyme to survive. Inhibiting that enzyme's function, researchers have shown, will kill the bacteria, pointing toward a design strategy for new TB drugs. To stay ahead in the race against drug-resistant infections, scientists constantly search for and exploit vulnerabilities in deadly bacteria. Now, researchers from Brown and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have used a novel compound to exploit an Achilles' heel in the bacterium that causes tuberculosis...

Microsphere treatment reverses suppression of immunity and circumvents antibiotic resistance in gonorrhea

Date: Sep-21-2013
A new gonorrhea treatment, based on an anti-cancer therapy developed by a Buffalo startup company, has successfully eliminated gonococcal infection from female mice and prevented reinfection, according to research published by University at Buffalo scientists in the Journal of Infectious Diseases. Through TherapyX Inc., an early stage biotech company in Buffalo, the UB researchers have a $300,000 Small Business Innovation Research grant to develop the technology to treat and prevent gonorrhea infection...

Shocking experience for boys camping in their garden

Date: Sep-20-2013
Eight-year-old twin boys, camping in a backyard tent, received penetrating blast injuries when a bolt of lightning struck a transformer near their tent, sending them to the emergency department for treatment. The extremely rare case study was published online in Annals of Emergency Medicine. "One of the boys had a missile trajectory through the lung - very much like injuries caused by improvised explosive devices (IEDs) - which we could have missed because on the outside he had only a tiny puncture wound to the chest," said lead study author Lt. Col. O.J.F...

FDA and NIH put $53 million toward tobacco research

Date: Sep-20-2013
As part of an interagency partnership, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have put significant funds toward tobacco-related research, creating 14 Tobacco Centers of Regulatory Science (TCORS). The science and research programs that will be established as a result of the support are being designed to increase understanding and awareness of the risks accompanying tobacco use, as well as to inform tobacco regulation...

New rapid test could distinguish viral infections

Date: Sep-20-2013
A new blood test shows promise as a rapid way to help doctors determine whether a respiratory infection is viral or bacterial and thus reduce inappropriate use of antibiotics, which only work against bacteria. The study is published in the journal Science Translational Medicine. Study co-author Geoffrey Ginsburg, a professor at Duke University School of Medicine, says: "Current tests require knowledge of the pathogen to confirm infection, because they are strain-specific. But our test could be used right away when a new, unknown pathogen emerges...

HIV spread may be prevented with discovery of new gene

Date: Sep-20-2013
Scientists have discovered a new gene that may have the ability to prevent human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) from spreading once it enters the body, according to a study published in the journal Nature. Researchers from King's College London in the UK say the gene, called MX2, could lead to new effective and less toxic treatment against HIV - the virus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). For the study, the researchers conducted experiments on human cells, in which they introduced the HIV virus to two different cell lines...