Health News

The naked mole-rat's secret to staying cancer free

Date: Aug-02-2013
Mice and rats have long since been a standard animal model for cancer research, mainly due to their short lifespan of four years on average and high incidence of cancer. Naked mole rats however, are a mystery among mammals. This social tiny African subterranean rodent has a maximum lifespan exceeding 30 years and most surprisingly, is cancer-resistant. The fact that so far, not a single incident of cancer has been detected makes the naked mole rat a fitting model for finding novel ways to fight cancer...

Lupin receives tentative FDA approvals for generic Nuvigil tablets and generic Oracea capsules

Date: Aug-02-2013
elsPharma Major Lupin Limited has announced that its U.S. subsidiary, Lupin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (LPI) has received tentative approval for its Armodafinil Tablets, 50 mg, 100 mg, 150 mg, 200 mg and 250 mg strengths as well as another tentative approval for its Doxycycline Capsules, 40 mg (30 mg Immediate-release and 10 mg Delayed-release) from the United States Food and Drugs Administration (FDA). Lupin's Armodafinil Tablets are the AB-rated generic equivalent of Cephalon Inc's Nuvigil(R) tablets 50 mg, 100 mg, 150 mg, 200 mg and 250 mg strengths...

Oxytocin affects men and women differently in social contexts

Date: Aug-02-2013
"The Love Hormone", Oxytocin affects men and women differently in social contexts- in men it improves the ability to identify competitive relationships whereas in women it facilitates the ability to identify kinship. "These findings are in agreement with previous studies on the social differences between the sexes: women tend to be more communal and familial in their behavior, whereas men are more inclined to be competitive and striving to improve their social status", said Prof. Simone Shamay-Tsoory from the Dept. of Psychology at the University of Haifa who led the research...

8 in 10 'physically inactive' in England

Date: Aug-02-2013
A new study released this week that examines data on over 1 million adults in England suggests lack of physical activity affects the vast majority of adults and is storing up a big public health problem. Funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and led by the University of Bristol, the research shows nearly 8 in 10 adults do not hit government physical activity targets of moderate exercise at least 12 times in a 4-week period...

Anemia link: iron-rich foods may ward off dementia

Date: Aug-02-2013
Researchers have discovered that low iron levels in blood and anemia could be linked to increased risks for dementia, according to a study published in the journal Neurology. Anemia occurs when the number of red blood cells or concentrations of hemoglobin, a protein inside red blood cells, are low. Researchers from the University of California, San Francisco and the American Academy of Neurology analyzed 2,552 adults between the ages of 70 and 79 who were participating in a Health, Aging and Body Composition study...

Stem cell researchers produce new model of leukemia development

Date: Aug-02-2013
Eight years ago, two former Stanford University postdoctoral fellows, one of them still in California and the other at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) in Cambridge, began exchanging theories about why patients with leukemia stop producing healthy blood cells...

Rituximab therapy for severe vasculitis shows long-term effectiveness

Date: Aug-02-2013
Administering the drug rituximab once weekly for one month provides the same benefits as 18 months of daily immunosuppressive therapy in people with severe forms of vasculitis, or inflammation of the blood vessels, a study has found. Researchers from the Immune Tolerance Network (ITN), an international clinical trials group funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), found that rituximab is as effective as the standard therapy at inducing and maintaining disease remission...

Fertility therapy not associated with long-term cardiovascular disease

Date: Aug-02-2013
Women who gave birth following fertility treatment had no long-term increased risk of death or major cardiovascular events compared to women who gave birth without fertility therapy, according to new research by the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) and Women's College Hospital. The findings, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, are the first to show fertility medications, which can cause short-term pregnancy complications, are not associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease later in life...

Friendships reduce risky sexual behaviors in homeless youth

Date: Aug-02-2013
Homeless young women may be at greater risk for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) than homeless young men because of the structure of their social groups and friendships, according to new research from UC San Francisco. The findings underscore how the social networks of homeless youth can be highly influential, affecting their participation in risky and protective behaviors. The study examined the relationship between STI rates and the characteristics of the social networks of 258 homeless young people ages 15 to 24 in San Francisco...

Taste preference changes in different life stages of rats

Date: Aug-02-2013
Research to be presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior (SSIB), the foremost society for research into all aspects of eating and drinking behavior, found that aging elicits changes in taste preferences and that such changes appear to be independent of taste nerve activity. In humans and animals aging decreases dietary and energy requirements and it is generally believed that reduced consumption is related to alterations in taste preference. However, the mechanisms underlying an age-induced shift in taste preference remain unclear...