Health News

Early-onset Parkinson's disease linked to genetic deletion

Date: Sep-11-2013
Scientists at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and University Health Network (UHN) have found a new link between early-onset Parkinson's disease and a piece of DNA missing from chromosome 22. The findings help shed new light on the molecular changes that lead to Parkinson's disease. The study appears online in JAMA Neurology...

More research urgently needed on caffeine

Date: Sep-11-2013
Studies have shown that caffeine users can become dependent on or addicted to caffeine and may have difficulty reducing their consumption, as can occur with other drugs of dependence. A comprehensive review of the current evidence on caffeine dependence is presented in an article in Journal of Caffeine Research, a peer-reviewed publication from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available on the Journal of Caffeine Research website...

Bomb-detecting lasers could improve security checkpoints

Date: Sep-11-2013
Michigan State University research has put the possibility of bomb-detecting lasers at security checkpoints within reach. In the current issue of Applied Physics Letters, Marcos Dantus, MSU chemistry professor and founder of BioPhotonic Solutions, has developed a laser that can detect micro traces of explosive chemicals on clothing and luggage. "Since this method uses a single beam and requires no bulky spectrometers, it is quite practical and could scan many people and their belongings quickly," Dantus said...

A tiny channel and a large vessel: A new clue for heart attack

Date: Sep-11-2013
Scientists at The University of Manchester and medical institutes in Italy have identified a gene variant that predisposes people to a special type of heart attack. Their research, published in the International Journal of Cardiology could lead to the development of new drugs to treat the problem. Dr Paolo Tammaro, who led the team, said: "Heart attacks happen when the blood supply to the heart is reduced by the narrowing or blocking of the coronary artery - the vessel that supplies the heart with oxygen and nutrients. Often this is due to fatty deposits which narrow the vessel...

Most statin-intolerant patients can eventually tolerate statins

Date: Sep-11-2013
Most patients who report statin intolerance, including muscle aches and other side effects from the cholesterol-lowering drugs, can actually tolerate drugs from this class on subsequent trials, according to research from Cleveland Clinic recently released online and forthcoming in the September issue of the American Heart Journal. The study is the largest ever to examine the effects of re-challenging statin-intolerant patients...

Synthetic speech system puts a dampener on noisy announcements

Date: Sep-11-2013
Public announcements in noisy places - such as railway stations, airports, or sports venues - could become quieter and clearer in future, thanks to new research. Scientists have developed software that can alter speech before it is broadcast over speakers, making it more audible amid background noise. In a bid to improve current synthetic voice technology, researchers studied how speech was perceived by listeners. They carried out tests to pinpoint the components of speech that are most easily heard by people in a noisy place...

Workshop report explores use of mass collaboration in disaster management

Date: Sep-11-2013
The growing use of social media and other mass collaboration technologies is opening up new opportunities in disaster management efforts, but is also creating new challenges for policymakers looking to incorporate these tools into existing frameworks, according to a new report from the Commons Lab at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars...

STING may take the bite out of autoimmune diseases like arthritis, Type 1 diabetes

Date: Sep-11-2013
A little STING could go a long way in helping treat or even avoid autoimmune diseases such as arthritis, type 1 diabetes and multiple sclerosis, researchers report. With some prompting, the protein STING can turn down the immune response or even block its attack on healthy body constituents like collagen, insulin and the protective covering of neurons, all targets in these debilitating diseases, said Dr. Andrew L. Mellor, immunologist at the Medical College of Georgia at Georgia Regents University...

Cell transplants may be a novel treatment for schizophrenia

Date: Sep-11-2013
Research from the School of Medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio suggests the exciting possibility of using cell transplants to treat schizophrenia. Cells called "interneurons" inhibit activity within brain regions, but this braking or governing function is impaired in schizophrenia. Consequently, a group of nerve cells called the dopamine system go into overdrive. Different branches of the dopamine system are involved in cognition, movement and emotions...

Fish oil could prevent alcohol-related dementia

Date: Sep-11-2013
Omega-3 fish oil could help protect against alcohol-related dementia, according to a study presented at the 14th Congress of the European Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism in Warsaw, Poland. The study, conducted by researchers from Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, analyzed the brain cells of rats who had been exposed to large quantities of alcohol...