Health News

Reducing resistance to antibiotics via reduction campaigns not always successful

Date: Jul-31-2013
Antibiotic use - and misuse - is the main driver for selection of antibiotic resistant bacteria. This has led many countries to implement interventions designed to reduce overall antibiotic consumption. Now, using methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) as an example, Laura Temime of the Conservatoire National des Arts et Metiers, Paris, and collaborators warn that simply reducing antibiotics consumption does not necessarily reduce resistance. The research is published online ahead of print in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy...

Five genes identified that play major role in Takayasu arteritis

Date: Jul-31-2013
Researchers have uncovered the genetics behind what makes some people susceptible to Takayasu arteritis, a debilitating disease that can lead to poor circulation, easy tiredness in the legs and arms, organ damage and stroke. A study led by the University of Michigan has identified five genes tied to Takayasu arteritis, an inflammation that damages the aorta and can lead to narrowed arteries, aneurysms, high blood pressure, and heart failure. The findings appear in the August issue of The American Journal of Human Genetics...

Job training results in competitive employment for youth with autism

Date: Jul-31-2013
A Virginia Commonwealth University study¹ shows intensive job training benefits youth with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), one of the most challenging disabilities in the world where only 20 percent find employment. Published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, the study demonstrates that nine months of intensive internship training, in conjunction with an engaged hospital, can lead to high levels of competitive employment in areas such as cardiac care, wellness, ambulatory surgery and pediatric intensive care units...

Unintended consequences of prison reform

Date: Jul-31-2013
The burden of improved conditions in state prisons may be borne by welfare recipients, according to new research from Rice University and Louisiana State University. The study, "Intended and Unintended Consequences of Prison Reform" published online this month in the Journal of Law, Economics & Organization, examined the impact of federal court orders condemning prison crowding and the outcomes among states following these orders. The researchers found that court-mandated efforts by the federal government to improve living conditions in state prisons resulted in decreased welfare funding...

Identification of genetic mutation linked to congenital heart disease

Date: Jul-31-2013
A mutation in a gene crucial to normal heart development could play a role in some types of congenital heart disease - the most common birth defect in the U.S. The finding, from a team in The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital, could help narrow the search for genes that contribute to this defect, which affects as many as 40,000 newborns a year. The findings were published in a recent issue of in Human Mutation. Several hundred genes have been implicated in the formation of the heart, and a mutation in any of them could potentially contribute to a cardiac defect...

"Super Mouse" created in the UK may lead to novel treatment strategies for breast cancer

Date: Jul-31-2013
It appears tiny and inconsequential enough, but the "super mouse" - created by researchers at the University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center some six years ago - has spawned plenty of new research into preventing and/or treating many types of cancer.  Back in 2007, cancer researcher Vivek Rangnekar and his team announced that they discovered a gene - known as Par-4 - that specifically kills cancer cells without killing normal cells...

NHS patient information leaflets are "inaccurate, inconsistent and confusing", UK

Date: Jul-31-2013
The NHS's patient information leaflets are "inaccurate, inconsistent, and confusing and effort is duplicated" argues GP Margaret McCartney on bmj.com. In a feature published on 30 July, Dr McCartney says the NHS is "awash" with patient information and with many trusts commissioning leaflets from external companies and others writing their own, it is difficult to know how efficient and effective these leaflets are...

Orphan-drug designation for Nav1.7 blocking pain drug CNV1014802 granted

Date: Jul-31-2013
Convergence Pharmaceuticals Limited, is pleased to announce that its novel sodium channel blocker, CNV1014802 ('802), has been granted orphan-drug designation* by the US Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of trigeminal neuralgia (TN). TN is a very severe form of facial pain that is experienced in short bursts or attacks called paroxysms. The International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) defines TN as sudden, severe, brief, stabbing, recurrent episodes of pain usually on one side of the face and can be provoked by light touch...

Personalized risk calculator for women's cancers

Date: Jul-31-2013
Researchers have discovered a new way of predicting whether a woman is at risk of cancer of the breast, ovaries, or uterus, according to a study published in the journal PLoS Medicine. Researchers from the National Cancer Institute and colleagues from other US medical institutes developed "absolute risk prediction models" that could help women predict their chances of developing breast, ovarian or endometrial cancer. The researchers say that these models could help with clinical decision-making for patients...

Key to acute myeloid leukaemia could be 'sleeping stem cells'

Date: Jul-31-2013
Scientists studying an aggressive form of leukaemia have discovered that rather than displacing healthy stem cells in the bone marrow as previously believed, the cancer is putting them to sleep to prevent them forming new blood cells. The finding offers the potential that these stem cells could somehow be turned back on, offering a new form of treatment for the condition, called Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML). The work was led by scientists at Queen Mary, University of London with the support of Cancer Research UK's London Research Institute...