Health News

Survival Poor For Nursing Home Residents With Advanced Cognitive Impairment Who Undergo Multiple Hospitalizations For Infections Or Dehydration

Date: Jul-17-2013
"Multiple hospitalizations for complications from a terminal illness may be burdensome for elderly patients and reflect poor quality care," write Joan M. Teno, M.D., M.S., of the Warren Alpert School of Medicine of Brown University, Providence, R.I., and colleagues, who conducted a study to examine whether the occurrence of multiple hospitalizations for the complications of infections or dehydration was associated with survival...

Schizophrenics Likely To Benefit From Brain Discovery

Date: Jul-17-2013
The discovery of brain impairment in mice may eventually lead to better therapies for people with schizophrenia and major depression. Studying rodents that have a gene associated with mental illness, Michigan State University neuroscientist Alexander Johnson and colleagues found a link between a specific area of the prefrontal cortex, and learning and behavioral deficits. While much work needs to be done, the discovery is a major step toward better understanding mental illness...

Potential Alternative To Morphine And Other Opioid Pain Medications

Date: Jul-17-2013
A drug targeting a protein complex containing two different types of opioid receptors may be an effective alternative to morphine and other opioid pain medications, without any of the side effects or risk of dependence, according to research led by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. The findings are published in July in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences...

Chemotherapy Drugs And Neurotoxicity

Date: Jul-17-2013
Chemotherapy is one of the primary treatments for cancer. However, one of the most disturbing findings of recent studies of cancer survivors is the apparent prevalence of chemotherapy-associated adverse neurological effects, including vascular complications, seizures, mood disorders, cognitive dysfunctions, and peripheral neuropathies. In addition, chemotherapy triggers changes in ion channels on dorsal root ganglia and dorsal horn neurons that generate secondary changes resulting in neuropathic pains...

How The Heating Effect In Magnetic Hyperthermia Works As A Cancer Treatment

Date: Jul-17-2013
Physicists from the University of York have carried out new research into how the heating effect of an experimental cancer treatment works. Magnetic hyperthermia is viewed as an attractive approach for the treatment of certain cancers as it has no known side effects compared to more conventional therapies such as chemotherapy. It is particularly suitable for the treatment of prostate cancer and brain tumours. However, until now there has been no clear theoretical understanding of how it actually works...

Can Workplace Flexibility Give Parents Time With Their Children?

Date: Jul-17-2013
Parents are increasingly experiencing a 'time squeeze' as they struggle to navigate the pressures of full-time employment and the demands of caring for their children. Research in the Journal of Marriage and Family examines if flexible working schemes are helping or adding to this pressure. The authors examined how the introduction of ROWE (Results Only Work Environment) has impacted parents' perceptions of their time. Under this scheme employees are paid for results, rather than their time...

Multiple Generations Can Inherit Father's Obesity

Date: Jul-17-2013
The sperm of obese fathers could increase the risk of both their children and their grandchildren inheriting obesity, according to new research from University of Adelaide. In laboratory studies, researchers from the University's Robinson Institute have found that molecular signals in the sperm of obese fathers can lead to obesity and diabetes-like symptoms in two generations of offspring, even though the offspring are eating healthily. The results of the research are published online in The FASEB Journal. "A father's diet changes the molecular makeup of the sperm...

Potential Alzheimer's Disease Biomarker: Path Of Plaque Buildup In Brain

Date: Jul-17-2013
The trajectory of amyloid plaque buildup - clumps of abnormal proteins in the brain linked to Alzheimer's disease - may serve as a more powerful biomarker for early detection of cognitive decline rather than using the total amount to gauge risk, researchers from Penn Medicine's Department of Radiology suggest in a new study published online in Neurobiology of Aging. Amyloid plaque that starts to accumulate relatively early in the temporal lobe, compared to other areas and in particular to the frontal lobe, was associated with cognitively declining participants, the study found...

Study Examines Characteristics, Features Of West Nile Virus Outbreaks

Date: Jul-17-2013
An analysis of West Nile virus epidemics in Dallas County in 2012 and previous years finds that the epidemics begin early, after unusually warm winters; are often in similar geographical locations; and are predicted by the mosquito vector index (an estimate of the average number of West Nile virus-infected mosquitoes collected per trap-night), information that may help prevent future outbreaks of West Nile virus-associated illness, according to a study in the July 17 issue of JAMA...

Combination Therapy May Help Improve Rate Of Survival With Favorable Neurological Status Following Cardiac Arrest

Date: Jul-17-2013
Among patients who experienced in-hospital cardiac arrest requiring vasopressors (drugs that increase blood pressure), use of a combination therapy during cardiopulmonary resuscitation resulted in improved survival to hospital discharge with favorable neurological status, according to a study in the July 17 issue of JAMA.  "Neurological outcome after cardiac arrest has been the main end point of several randomized clinical trials (RCTs). Neurologically favorable survival differs from overall survival...