Health News

Odor memory: The nose and the brain make quite a team... in disconnection

Date: Aug-14-2013
Alan Carleton's team from the Neuroscience Department at the University of Geneva (UNIGE) Faculty of Medicine has just shown that the representation of an odor evolves after the first breath, and that an olfactory retentivity persists at the central level. The phenomenon is comparable to what occurs in other sensory systems, such as vision or hearing. These movements undoubtedly enable the identification of new odors in complex environments or participate in the process of odor memorization...

Diagnosis of toddlers with autism spectrum disorder supported by changes to symptom structure in DSM-5

Date: Aug-14-2013
A study published in the August 2013 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry demonstrates support for the changes in autism symptom structure for toddlers with autism spectrum disorder (ASD found in the newly released Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5). Using a sample of 237 toddlers (aged 12-30 months) diagnosed with ASD by expert clinicians, a group of researchers from Florida State University (FSU), the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), and Weill Cornell Medical College, led by Ms...

Cancer cells change while moving throughout body

Date: Aug-14-2013
For the majority of cancer patients, it's not the primary tumor that is deadly, but the spread or "metastasis" of cancer cells from the primary tumor to secondary locations throughout the body that is the problem. That's why a major focus of contemporary cancer research is how to stop or fight metastasis. Previous lab studies suggest that metastasizing cancer cells undergo a major molecular change when they leave the primary tumor - a process called epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). As the cells travel from one site to another, they pick up new characteristics...

Ovarian reserve affects early menopause after cancer treatment and young, female cancer survivors' quality of life long after treatment

Date: Aug-14-2013
A new study led by a University of Colorado Cancer Center member recently published in the journal reveals that in young, female cancer survivors, quality of life is significantly impaired long after treatment. The study compared 59 cancer survivors to 66 healthy controls and found that, as expected, cancer survivors showed higher stress and anxiety than the general population. Of note, survivors reported particular stress around the issues of sexual problems, physical pain and fatigue...

Few Physicians have adequate training to treat chronic pain patients effectively

Date: Aug-14-2013
An estimated 100 million people in the United States are living with chronic pain, which accounts for up to $635 billion annually in health care costs and lost productivity. A 2011 study found that for every medical specialist, there are more than 28,500 patients with chronic pain. Consequently, pain management typically falls to primary care physicians, many of whom lack the skills to effectively treat pain. A recent study of 117 U.S. and Canadian medical schools found that only four U.S. medical schools offered a required course on pain management...

Seeking a clinical test for breast cancer

Date: Aug-14-2013
An international scientific collaborative led by the Harvard Stem Cell Institute's Kornelia Polyak, MD, PhD, has discovered why women who give birth in their early twenties are less likely to eventually develop breast cancer than women who don't, triggering a search for a way to confer this protective state on all women...

Colposcopy at sexual health clinics improves cancer screening rates

Date: Aug-14-2013
Women who had a colposcopy at a sexual health clinic that provided extra support and counselling were 34 per cent more likely to undergo the cancer screening procedure compared to women who were referred to a hospital or doctor's office, according to a new study by Women's College Hospital's Dr. Sheila Dunn. Although colposcopy is an important component of cervical cancer screening, some women, particularly those who are disadvantaged, fail to attend colposcopy appointments...

Having siblings reduces likelihood of divorce in later life

Date: Aug-14-2013
Growing up with siblings may provide some protection against divorce as an adult, a new nationwide study reveals. And the more siblings, the better: Each additional sibling a person has (up to about seven) reduces the likelihood of divorce by 2 percent. The practical difference between having no siblings and having one or two isn't that much in terms of divorce, said Doug Downey, co-author of the study and professor of sociology at The Ohio State University...

Is change in BMI a good measure of success of child obesity interventions?

Date: Aug-14-2013
Body mass index (BMI) or a change in BMI is often the sole measure used to evaluate whether an intervention intended to combat childhood obesity is effective. But a new study clearly shows that an intervention can have beneficial effects on other health outcomes, such as cardiovascular fitness, regardless of its effect on BMI. Focusing on a single factor like the degree of BMI change is restrictive and can overlook other important outcomes, according to an article published in Childhood Obesity, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers...

Origin of MRSA strain in humans discovered in cattle

Date: Aug-14-2013
A strain of bacteria that causes skin and soft tissue infections in humans originally came from cattle, according to a study to be published in mBio®, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology. The researchers who conducted the genetic analysis of strains of Staphylococcus aureus known as CC97 say these strains developed resistance to methicillin after they crossed over into humans around forty years ago. Today, methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) strain CC97 is an emerging human pathogen in Europe, North and South America, Africa, and Asia...