Health News

Precision StemCell reports encouraging early results of direct injection of umbilical cord matrix stem cells for treatment of ALS

Date: Sep-02-2013
Precision StemCell, an outpatient treatment facility in Colombia, has successfully performed a breakthrough stem cell procedure that may soon improve the lives of everyone with ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease. The new procedure consists of an advanced, image-guided injection of umbilical cord matrix stem cells into the patient's nerve roots at the point where they exit the spinal cord. "At our center in Colombia, we have been able to test far more advanced procedures than in the US," explained Dr. Jason Williams, a board-certified radiologist and founder of Precision StemCell...

Prolacta study published in Journal of Pediatrics demonstrates lower incidence of intestinal disease in preemies fed exclusive human milk diet

Date: Sep-02-2013
Prolacta Bioscience announces that results of the double-blind study published in the Journal of Pediatrics demonstrate that extremely premature infants who are fed an exclusive human milk diet instead of preterm formula have a significantly lower incidence of surgery associated with the intestinal disease necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) and require fewer days of intravenous feedings through total parenteral nutrition (TPN)...

Neurologists use algorithm for early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease

Date: Sep-02-2013
Patients with Alzheimer's disease currently undergo neuropsychological testing to detect signs of the disease. The test results are difficult to interpret and are insufficient for making a definitive diagnosis. But as scientists have already discovered, activity in certain areas of the cerebral cortex is affected even in the early stages of the disease...

Drugs effective at preventing breast cancer metastasis in mouse model

Date: Sep-02-2013
When a cancer cell sloughs off the edge of a tumor in the breast, it faces a tough road to survive. The cell must not only remain physically intact as it rushes through blood vessels, but it also must find a new organ to lodge itself in, take in enough nutrients and oxygen to stay alive, and begin dividing, all while escaping notice by the body's immune system. A team of Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) scientists has discovered that some loose breast cancer cells, have a leg up on survival - the genes they express make them more likely to prosper in bone tissue...

How DNA damage may trigger lupus erythematosus

Date: Sep-02-2013
Summer, sun and the sea - a dream vacation for most - can turn sour for those affected by lupus erythematosus. For them, absorption of the UV-light component in sunlight may cause florid inflammation and redness of the skin. Scientists of the University Hospital Bonn, Germany have now discovered which signaling pathway of the innate immune system promotes autoimmune symptoms following sun-induced DNA damage. The results are now published online in the academic journal Immunity...

Breast cancer prognosis predicted by protein

Date: Sep-02-2013
Researchers have identified a protein that they believe may help predict breast cancer prognosis, potentially relieving thousands of women at low risk from having to undergo painful, oft-debilitating therapies, while insuring the most successful treatments for those at high risk. The research was published ahead of print in the journal Molecular and Cellular Biology. Using bioinformatics techniques, the authors showed that the levels of expression of some 1,200 genes that are directly controlled by the enzyme, EZH2, correlates with the aggressiveness of breast cancer cases...

Better blood glucose monitor for burn care

Date: Sep-02-2013
Glucose monitoring systems with an autocorrect feature that can detect red blood cells (hematocrit), vitamin C and other common interferents in burn patients' blood are better for monitoring care, a pilot study conducted by UC Davis researchers at the School of Medicine and College of Engineering has found. The study was published in the Journal of Burn Care Research. Burn patients are at risk for high blood glucose levels, or hyperglycemia, due to the body's stress response...

Blood test provides tool essential to trials of therapies for Huntington's disease

Date: Sep-02-2013
An assay designed to measure normal and abnormal forms of the huntingtin protein - the mutated form of which causes Huntington's disease (HD) - was successful in detecting levels of the mutant protein in a large multicenter study of individuals at risk for the devastating neurological disorder. The report from a team of Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators - which will appear in the Sept. 24 issue of Neurology and has been released online - also found changes in levels of the mutated protein that might predict when symptoms will appear...

3-D models and custom hardware help make complex facial reconstructions more predictable and streamlined

Date: Sep-02-2013
Virtual surgical planning technologies give surgeons a powerful new tool for their most challenging facial reconstruction cases, reports a paper in the September issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery®, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS). "Use of virtual surgical planning allows for complex maxillofacial reconstruction with multiple simultaneous free flaps to be preformed reliably and successfully," according to the study by Dr. Adam Saad of Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, and colleagues...

Preventing noise-related hearing loss

Date: Sep-02-2013
Your mother was right when she warned you that loud music could damage your hearing, but now scientists have discovered exactly what gets damaged and how. In a research report published in the September 2013 issue of The FASEB Journal, scientists describe exactly what type of damage noise does to the inner ear, and provide insights into a compound that may prevent noise-related damage. "Noise-induced hearing loss, with accompanying tinnitus and sound hypersensitivity is a common condition which leads to communication problems and social isolation," said Xiaorui Shi, M.D., Ph.D...