Health News

Twins examined to investigate role of genetics in link between socio-economic status and depression

Date: Aug-08-2013
A new study from the American Journal of Public Health used a large population-based sample of twins to examine why incidents of major depression are more common among those with lower socio-economic status...

MRI-guided brain cancer breakthrough - exclusive interview

Date: Aug-08-2013
Neurosurgeons from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) have conducted the first real-time MRI-guided gene therapy for patients with brain cancer, advancing the clinical trial of new cancer drug, Toca 511. The new treatment, carried out by neurosurgeons at the UCSD School of Medicine and the UCSD Moores Cancer Center, uses real-time magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as a way of guiding the delivery of the new gene therapy directly into brain tumors...

US child obesity rates are dropping, says CDC

Date: Aug-08-2013
The rate of childhood obesity in the US has declined in many states, according to a Vital Signs report from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The report shows that obesity levels among low-income children aged between 2 and 4 years decreased in 19 of 43 states and territories studied in the US. Obesity rates stayed at the same level in 21 states between 2008 and 2011. The report revealed that Florida, Georgia, Missouri, New Jersey, South Dakota, and the US Virgin Islands showed a minimum decrease of 1% in their childhood obesity rates...

Owners' yawns are 'contagious' to dogs

Date: Aug-08-2013
Man's best friend has proven just how loyal he is, as a recent study published in PLOS ONE reveals that the contagious yawns dogs get from their owners are a result of empathy rather than stress, the mechanism researchers previously suspected. We have all been there: four o'clock on a Thursday afternoon, your co-worker yawns and then it spreads around the office. Researchers from the study, which was conducted at the University of Tokyo, note that this type of contagious yawning happens in 45-60% of healthy adults...

People with psoriasis more likely to get other diseases

Date: Aug-08-2013
A major study of medical records from some 100,000 people has found links between psoriasis and other diseases, finding that people with the skin condition are more likely to develop diabetes and cardiovascular disease, among other conditions. The research, from dermatologists at the University of Pennsylvania, and published in JAMA Dermatology, also found that the risk of other diseases got worse the more severe the psoriasis was...

Hot chocolate may prevent memory decline

Date: Aug-08-2013
Scientists at Harvard Medical School suggest drinking two cups of hot chocolate a day may keep the brain healthy and prevent memory decline in older people by preserving blood flow in working areas of the brain. They write about their findings online in the August 7th issue of Neurology. The team was investigating the effect of cocoa consumption on thinking and memory performance, as well as something called neurovascular coupling, where blood flow in the brain changes in response to local brain activity. Farzaneh A...

Frozen sperm as good as fresh for IVF treatment

Date: Aug-08-2013
A recent study published in PLOS ONE finds that frozen sperm retrieved via testicular biopsy is as good as fresh sperm in leading to a successful pregnancy through IVF. The finding should make it easier to organize IVF procedures and increase options for infertile couples. IVF (in vitro fertilization) is a technique that helps couples with fertility problems to have a baby. During the procedure, an egg is removed from the woman's ovaries, fertilized in a lab dish with sperm from the man, and the fertilized egg or embryo is then placed in the woman's womb to grow and develop...

Could a bigger breakfast lead to a smaller waist?

Date: Aug-08-2013
A high-calorie breakfast could help people lose weight and protect against diabetes and high blood pressure, researchers have claimed. Researchers split 93 obese women into two groups. Each group ate 1,400 calories daily for 12 weeks. The first group consumed 700 calories at breakfast, 500 at lunch, and 200 at dinner. The second group ate 200 calories at breakfast, 500 at lunch, and 700 at dinner. By the end of the study, those in the 'big breakfast' group had lost an average of 17.8 pounds each and three inches off their waist, compared to a 7.3 pound and 1...

Low GI diets during pregnancy: A new weapon in the fight against obesity

Date: Aug-08-2013
A new study has found that consuming a low GI diet during pregnancy and breastfeeding could help reduce a child's risk of developing obesity and diabetes in later life. The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Adelaide's FOODplus Research Centre, showed that female offspring born to mothers who were fed on a low GI diet had better glucose tolerance and lower abdominal fat mass compared to those whose mothers were fed a higher GI diet, which had a similar GI to the typical Australian diet...

Trophos completes patient enrolment in a first study of olesoxime in relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis

Date: Aug-08-2013
Trophos SA, a clinical stage pharmaceutical company developing innovative therapeutics from discovery to clinical validation for indications with under-served needs in neurology and cardiology, announces today that they have completed enrollment in the Translate MS-Repair Phase Ib multiple sclerosis (MS) trial.  The trial is a randomized, placebo controlled, Phase Ib study in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients treated with Trophos' olesoxime as an add-on therapy to Interferon beta. In three months, 44 patients have been recruited in three investigational sites in France...