Health News

Something nasty in the Hudson River

Date: Jul-23-2013
The risk of catching some nasty germ in the Hudson River just started looking nastier. Disease-causing microbes have long been found swimming there, but now researchers have documented antibiotic-resistant strains in specific spots, from the Tappan Zee Bridge to lower Manhattan. The microbes identified are resistant to ampicillin and tetracycline, drugs commonly used to treat ear infections, pneumonia, salmonella and other ailments. The study is published in the current issue of the Journal of Water and Health...

New drug treatment strategy may be effective in the deadliest cancers

Date: Jul-23-2013
UC San Francisco researchers have found a way to knock down cancers caused by a tumor-driving protein called "myc," paving the way for patients with myc-driven cancers to enroll in clinical trials for experimental treatments. Myc acts somewhat like a master switch within cells to foster uncontrolled growth. Until now, it has been impossible to target with drugs...

Children's attachments affected by overnights away from home

Date: Jul-23-2013
Babies have an innate biological need to be attached to caregivers, usually their parents. But what happens when babies spend a night or more per week away from a primary caregiver, as increasingly happens in cases where the parents share custody, but do not live together? In a new national study, University of Virginia researchers found that infants who spent at least one night per week away from their mothers had more insecure attachments to the mother compared to babies who had fewer overnights or saw their fathers only during the day...

Diagnosing hypercortisolism in dogs via their hair

Date: Jul-23-2013
A surprisingly large number of dogs suffer from hyperadrenocorticism. The symptoms are caused by excessive amounts of hormones - glucocorticoids - in the body. Unfortunately, though, diagnosis of the disease is complicated by the fact that glucocorticoid levels naturally fluctuate and most methods for measuring the concentration of the hormones in the blood provide only a snapshot of the current situation...

Missing piece of pediatric cancer puzzle uncovered

Date: Jul-23-2013
Most of the time, it takes decades of accumulating genetic errors for a tumor to develop. While this explains the general occurrence of cancer in adults, it leaves a gap in understanding of the cause of pediatric tumors. In a study published in the July issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers found a missing piece of the pediatric cancer puzzle...

"Artificial bones" successfully generated from umbilical cord stem cells

Date: Jul-23-2013
Scientists in Granada, Spain, have patented a new biomaterial that facilitates generating bone tissue - artificial bones in other words - from umbilical cord stem cells . The material, consisting of an activated carbon cloth support for cells that differentiate giving rise to a product that can promote bone growth, has recently been presented at a press conference at the Biomedical Research Centre, Granada. Although the method has not yet been applied with 'in vivo' models, laboratory results are highly promising...

Discovery of gene mutation in dogs offers clues for neural tube defects in humans

Date: Jul-23-2013
A gene related to neural tube defects in dogs has for the first time been identified by researchers at the University of California, Davis, and University of Iowa. The researchers also found evidence that the gene may be an important risk factor for human neural tube defects, which affect more than 300,000 babies born each year around the world, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Neural tube defects, including anencephaly and spina bifida, are caused by the incomplete closure or development of the spine and skull...

Study highlights hidden dangers during heat waves

Date: Jul-23-2013
During heat waves - when ozone production rises - plants' ozone absorption is curtailed, leaving more pollution in the air, and costing an estimated 460 lives in the UK in the hot summer of 2006. Vegetation plays a crucial role in reducing air pollution, but new research by the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) at the University of York shows that they may not protect us when we need it most: during extreme heat, when ozone formation from traffic fumes, industrial processes and other sources is at its worst...

Measuring neuronal signal conduction reveals haste and waste

Date: Jul-23-2013
Researchers of the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering of ETH Zurich were able to measure the speed of neuronal signal conduction along segments of single axons in neuronal cultures by using a high-resolution electrical method. The bioengineers are now searching for plausible explanations for the large conduction speed variations. To write this little piece of text, the brain sends commands to arms and fingers to tap on the keyboard. Neuronal cells with their cable-like extensions, such as axons, transfer this information as electrical pulses that trigger muscles to move...

The anesthetic Ketamine can adversely affect children's learning and memory ability

Date: Jul-23-2013
Recent studies have found that anesthesia drugs have neurotoxicity on the developing neurons, causing learning and memory disorders and behavioral abnormalities. Ketamine is commonly used in pediatric anesthesia. A clinical retrospective study found that children below 3 years old who receive a long time surgery, or because of surgery require ketamine repeatedly, will exhibit the performance of school-age learning and memory disorders and behavioral abnormalities. A research group speculates that these abnormalities may be related to the potential neurotoxicity of ketamine...