Health News

Energy drinks and alcohol: researchers supported by industry may be downplaying harms

Date: Sep-13-2013
Some researchers are drawing 'no harm' conclusions about mixing alcohol with energy drinks even though their research does not reflect real world levels of usACe, and research funded by a major producer of energy drinks may be confusing the evidence base, suggests a doctor in a personal view published on bmj.com. Mixing alcohol with energy drinks has become popular, but with what risk, asks Peter Miller, Associate Professor of Psychology at Deakin University in Australia...

Feasibility and effectiveness of a low cost campaign on antibiotic prescribing in Italy: community level, controlled, non-randomised trial

Date: Sep-13-2013
A local low-cost information campaign mainly targeted at citizens and involving doctors and pharmacists can significantly decrease total antibiotic prescribing, finds a paper published on bmj.com. The excessive use of antibiotics is associated with resistance to these drugs and an increasing threat to global health. Antibiotics are also often unnecessarily and inappropriately prescribed. This is an issue that has been frequently addressed by health information campaigns...

Bronchial thermoplasty data published demonstrating sustained reduction in severe asthma attacks over five years

Date: Sep-13-2013
A breakthrough Boston Scientific technology for the treatment of severe asthma has been shown to be safe and effective over at least five years, according to data published online in a key medical journal...

Titan Spine surface technology creates enhanced environment for bone growth

Date: Sep-13-2013
Titan Spine, a medical device surface technology company focused on developing innovative spinal interbody fusion implants, has announced that a study has shown the unique combination of textures provided by the Company's implant surface technology promotes superior production of angiogenic growth factors as compared with PEEK (poly-ether-ether-ketone) and smooth titanium alloy materials...

'Healthy' obese women who've had a baby before are at less risk than first-time mums of normal weight

Date: Sep-13-2013
Obesity raises the chances of complications and medical interventions in childbirth. But a new study by Oxford University shows the risks are not the same for all obese women. For otherwise healthy women, the increase in risk with obesity may not be as great as previously suspected...

Stress protein expression in early phase spinal cord ischemia/reperfusion injury

Date: Sep-13-2013
Spinal cord ischemia/reperfusion injury is a stress injury to the spinal cord. Therefore, research on the expression of stress-related protein in neurons could be of great significance for the pathological mechanism and control measures for spinal cord ischemia/reperfusion injury. Previous studies from Dr. Shanyong Zhang and colleagues from China-Japan Friendship Hospital of Jilin University identified 21 differentially expressed proteins in rabbits with spinal cord ischemia/reperfusion injury using differential proteomics...

Edible coatings for ready-to-eat fresh fruits and vegetables

Date: Sep-13-2013
The scientist who turned fresh-cut apple slices into a popular convenience food, available ready-to-eat in grocery stores, school cafeterias and fast-food restaurants, today described advances in keeping other foods fresh, flavorful and safe for longer periods of time through the use of invisible, colorless, odorless, tasteless coatings. The overview of these edible films was part of the 246th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world's largest scientific society...

MRI may predict heart attack and stroke risk in people with diabetes

Date: Sep-13-2013
Whole-body MRI may serve as a valuable noninvasive tool for assessing the risk of heart attack and stroke in diabetic patients, according to a new study published online in the journal Radiology. Diabetes is a metabolic disease characterized by an increased concentration of glucose in the blood. There are 347 million diabetic patients worldwide, and the World Health Organization projects that diabetes will be the seventh leading cause of death by 2030...

Experts take on challenge of breast density notification laws

Date: Sep-13-2013
A team of California-based breast imagers and breast cancer risk specialists have developed a website to help navigate the new challenges posed by breast density notification laws, according to a special report published online in the journal Radiology. While mammography is considered the best single modality for population-based screening, its sensitivity is diminished by up to 20 percent in patients with dense breasts (breasts with a higher ratio of fibroglandular tissue to fat)...

Positive emotion influences a depressive-to-happy state and increases life satisfaction

Date: Sep-13-2013
By combining the experience of self-reported positive and negative emotions among 1,400 US-residents, researchers created four affective profiles which they then used to discern differences in happiness, depression, life satisfaction and happiness-increasing strategies. The differences between these profiles suggested that promoting positive emotions can positively influence a depressive-to-happy state (defined as increasing levels of happiness and decreasing levels of depression across the affective profile model), as well as increasing life satisfaction...