Health News

Women Severely Sexually Traumatized In Childhood Benefit Most From Intervention

Date: Jul-17-2013
A UCLA-led study of HIV-positive women who were sexually abused as children has found that the more severe their past trauma, the greater their improvement in an intervention program designed to ease their psychological suffering. The study, conducted by researchers at UCLA's Collaborative Center for Culture, Trauma and Mental Health Disparities, suggests that such interventions should be tailored to individuals' experience and that a "one size fits all" approach may not be enough to successfully reduce women's depression, post-traumatic stress and anxiety symptoms...

Reducing Infections In Patients From Neurosurgical ICU Via Vitamin D Supplementation

Date: Jul-17-2013
Vitamin D influences many other physiological processes, including muscle function, cardiovascular homeostasis, nerve function, and immune response. Furthermore, accumulated evidence suggests that vitamin D also mediates the immune system response to infection. Infections are very common in patients from neurosurgical intensive care units. A recent study published in the Neural Regeneration Research (Vol. 8, No...

Ischemic Stroke Induced By An Embolic Agent In The Rete Mirabile In Miniature Pigs

Date: Jul-17-2013
Rodents are frequently used as animal models for ischemic stroke studies induced by middle cerebral artery occlusion. However, their anatomic structure is significantly different from humans. Thus, recent studies have focused on developing stroke models in large animals with similar anatomic structure as the human brain. The swine have several properties resembling the human brain, including brain volume and weight, quantity of cortical gyri and the percentage of white matter to gray matter...

Blood Vessel Network Successfully Created From Stem Cells

Date: Jul-17-2013
Scientists have created blood vessels in mice using human stems cells, leading to potential new treatments for cardiovascular disease, according to research published in PNAS Early Edition. The researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) extracted vascular precursor cells derived from human-induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) - reprogrammed adult cells similar to embryonic stem cells - from one group of healthy adults, and from another group with type 1 diabetes (T1D). The iPSCs were then implanted onto the surface of the brains of mice...

Connecting With Parents On Social Media Is Good For Teens

Date: Jul-17-2013
It may be a teen's worst nightmare: discovering that their parents have joined Facebook. But a new study shows that social networking with parents may actually strengthen the parent-child bond, which may in turn lead to more positive results for teens. The study was conducted by researchers from Brigham Young University, led by Dr. Sarah Coyne of the School of Family Life. The team gave questionnaires to 491 adolescents and their parents, who answered queries about social networking use, feelings of connection and behavioral effects...

Findings Offer Alternative Approach To Creating A Universal Influenza Vaccine

Date: Jul-17-2013
A team of scientists, led by researchers at The Wistar Institute, has determined that it might be possible to stimulate the immune system against multiple strains of influenza virus by sequentially vaccinating individuals with distinct influenza strains isolated over the last century. Their results also suggest that world health experts might need to re-evaluate standard tests used for surveillance of novel influenza strains. Their findings are published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, available online now...

Researchers Warn That Computer Systems Are Being Overwhelmed Trying To Solve DNA Puzzles

Date: Jul-17-2013
Imagine millions of jigsaw puzzle pieces scattered across a football field, with too few people and too little time available to assemble the picture. Scientists in the new but fast-growing field of computational genomics are facing a similar dilemma. In recent decades, these researchers have begun to assemble the chemical blueprints of the DNA found in humans, animals, plants and microbes, unlocking a door that will likely lead to better healthcare and greatly expanded life-science knowledge...

What Is Flaxseed? What Are The Benefits Of Flaxseed?

Date: Jul-16-2013
Flaxseeds (also called linseeds) are a rich source of micronutrients, fiber, and the essential fatty acid "alpha-linolenic acid" (ALA). The seeds come from flax, one of the the oldest fiber crops in the world - known to have been cultivated in ancient Egypt and ancient China. There are numerous health benefits associated with the consumption of flaxseed. It's not only a source of "good" fat, antioxidants, and fiber; modern research is beginning to find evidence to suggest that flaxseed can also help lower the risk of diabetes, cancer, and heart disease...

Bias pervades the scientific reporting of animal studies, Improving Systematic Reviews Of Animal Studies Will Help Translational Medicine

Date: Jul-16-2013
Bias pervades the scientific reporting of animal studies A new study published in the open access journal PLOS Biology suggests that the scientific literature could be compromised by substantial bias in the reporting of animal studies, and may be giving a misleading picture of the chances that potential treatments could work in humans. Testing a new therapeutic intervention (such as a drug or surgical procedure) on human subjects is expensive, risky and ethically complex, so the vast majority are first tested on animals...

The Global Burden Of Sickle Cell Anemia In Young Children Is Increasing

Date: Jul-16-2013
The global burden of sickle cell anemia (SCA), a hereditary blood disorder, is increasing, with almost half a million babies estimated to be born with the condition in 2050, according to a study published in this week's PLOS Medicine. The study, conducted by Frédéric Piel and colleagues from the University of Oxford and Imperial College in the United Kingdom, and the KEMRI/Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Kenya, suggests that implementing basic health interventions could significantly reduce death rates in children aged less than 5 years with the condition...