Health News

Exploring certain aspects of the phenomena of rape in war in eastern DRC

Date: Sep-20-2013
Rape in war cannot be addressed in isolation. It is deeply embedded in both the local context and that of global proportions. This is one of the conclusions made in a doctoral thesis about eastern Democratic Republic of Congo presented at Uppsala University, Sweden. The ongoing widespread insecurity and violence targeting civilians as well as warring groups in the resource-rich region of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is the site of intricate conflicts...

Patient-specific cure discovered for dangerous heart rhythm disorder Long QT syndrome 2

Date: Sep-20-2013
The National Heart Centre Singapore (NHCS) research team has successfully and completely reversed the effects of the hERG (human ether-a-go-go-related gene) mutation in long QT syndrome 2 (LQTS 2) in patient-specific heart cells, scoring a world's first. Long QT syndrome 2 is a dangerous heart rhythm disorder that can lead to sudden cardiac death, even in young patients. It is caused by a mutation in a specific gene known as hERG, which helps to control the electrical activity in the heart cells and coordinate its beating rhythm...

Better source for hepatocytes from neonatal livers rather than adult livers

Date: Sep-20-2013
A research team in Spain has developed high-yield preparations of viable hepatocytes (liver cells) isolated for transplantation from cryopreserved (frozen), banked neonatal livers that ranged in age from one day to 23 days. The researchers also assessed cell quality and function and found that neonatal hepatocytes show better thawing recovery than hepatocytes isolated from adult livers. The study appears as an early e-publication for the journal Cell Transplantation, and is now freely available on-line...

Coeliac disease reaches record levels in Scottish children

Date: Sep-20-2013
More children than ever before are living with a debilitating digestive disease, research has shown. Scientists have found that coeliac disease affects six times more children living in Scotland now than it did in 1990. A team from the University of Edinburgh and Queen Margaret University analysed the health records of children from South East Scotland aged under 16 years who were newly diagnosed with the condition between 1990 and 2009...

Promising new muscular dystrophy treatment

Date: Sep-20-2013
A preclinical study led by researchers at Children's National Medical Center has found that a new oral drug shows early promise for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). The results, published in EMBO Molecular Medicine, show that the drug, VBP15, decreases inflammation and protects and strengthens muscle without the harsh side effects linked to current treatments with glucocorticoids such as prednisone. Duchenne muscular dystrophy results in severe muscle degeneration and affects approximately 180,000 patients worldwide, mostly children...

Giving up driving adversely affects aging adults' volunteer and work lives

Date: Sep-20-2013
For many senior drivers, it is only a matter of time before they are forced to give up their car keys due to failing eyesight or other health issues. Now, University of Missouri researchers have studied how aging adults' driving cessation influences their work and social lives. The researchers found that seniors' loss of driving independence negatively affected their ability to work and their volunteerism; the adults' social lives were not instantly affected yet dwindled over time...

Life or death for cells could hinge on a protein

Date: Sep-20-2013
Each cell in an organism has a sensor that measures the health of its "internal" environment. This "alarm" is found in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), which is able to sense cellular stress and trigger either rescue responses or the death of the cell. A team from the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB), in Barcelona, has discovered that the protein Mitofusin 2 (Mfn2) plays a crucial role in correctly measuring stress levels, and also makes sure the pathways of cell repair or cell death are effective...

Diversity of microbial growth strategies in a limited nutrient world

Date: Sep-20-2013
The budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, is a prime organism for studying fundamental cellular processes, with the functions of many proteins important in the cell cycle and signaling networks found in human biology having first been discovered in yeast. Now, scientists from New York University have now developed a sophisticated assay to track cell growth at very low nutrient concentrations. The assay uses time-lapse microscopy to monitor individual yeast cells undergoing a small number of divisions to form microcolonies...

Study finds laser fiber diameter information for urologists is incorrect

Date: Sep-20-2013
Neither the total nor the core diameters of laser fibers correspond to the advertised laser fiber diameter, revealed a new study investigating lasers used for urological surgery. Furthermore, there are serious differences between manufacturers of fibers with a supposedly equal diameter. The new study, conducted by Dr. Peter Kronenberg of Hospital Fernando Fonseca in Amadora, Portugal, and Prof. Olivier Traxer of the Hôpital Tenon in Paris, France, aimed to objectively confirm the diameter between laser fibers of supposed equal thickness by different brands. According to Dr. P...

Genetic disorder 22q could be misdiagnosed as autism

Date: Sep-20-2013
Children who suffer from a genetic disorder called 22q11.2 deletion syndrome may be at risk of being misdiagnosed with autism, according to a study published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. The researchers, from the MIND Institute at the University of California, Davis, say that as children with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q) are frequently believed to have autism, they could be misdiagnosed because the social impairments linked to their developmental delay could "mimic" the features of autism...