Health News

A Protein Developed To Protect And Restore Nerve Cell Communications

Date: Jun-18-2013
A structure called "the microtubule network" is a crucial part of our nervous system. It acts as a transportation system within nerve cells, carrying essential proteins and enabling cell-to-cell communications. But in neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's, ALS, and Parkinson's, this network breaks down, hindering motor abilities and cognitive function. Now Prof. Illana Gozes of Tel Aviv University's Sackler Faculty of Medicine has developed a new peptide in her lab, called NAP or Davunetide, that has the capacity to both protect and restore microtubule function...

Postmenopausal Women With Depression May Be At Increased Risk For Diabetes And Cardiovascular Disease

Date: Jun-18-2013
Postmenopausal women who use antidepressant medication or suffer from depression might be more likely to have a higher body mass index (BMI), larger waist circumference and inflammation - all associated with increased risk for diabetes and cardiovascular disease, according to a study led by University of Massachusetts Medical School investigator Yunsheng Ma, PhD, MD, MPH, and published in the American Journal of Public Health...

Antidepressant Usage, Stress And High-fat Diet Combo Linked To Long-term Weight Gain

Date: Jun-18-2013
Short-term users of antidepressants who are stressed and consume a high-fat diet might have a higher risk of long-term weight gain, researchers from the Australian National University in Canberra, Australia, explained on Sunday at The Endocrine Society's 95th Annual Meeting in San Francisco, California, USA. Lead author Suhyun Lee, said: "Our study suggests that short-term exposure to stress and antidepressants, rather than a high-calorie, high-fat diet alone, leads to long-term body weight gain, accompanied with increased bone and spleen weights...

In The Spread Of Cancer, A Developmental Protein Plays A Role

Date: Jun-18-2013
A protein used by embryo cells during early development, and recently found in many different types of cancer, apparently serves as a switch regulating the spread of cancer, known as metastasis, report researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center in the journal Cancer Research. Metastasis is responsible for 90 percent of cancer-related deaths. More than 575,000 Americans die of cancer each year, the second leading cause of death in the United States after cardiovascular disease...

Study Reveals Good News For Home Births

Date: Jun-18-2013
Home births have been linked to low rates of caesarean section, postpartum hemorrhage, and third-degree perineal tears in a new study. The research, published in the Medical Journal of Australia, a publication of the Australian Medical Association, also showed that low rates of stillbirth and early neonatal death were recorded. The home births analyzed in the study, led by Dr Christine Catling-Paull, Lecturer in Midwifery and Prof Caroline Homer, Professor of Midwifery, at the University of Technology Sydney, were performed within the public health system in Australia...

Medical Marijuana Should Not Be Given To Teens For Chronic Pain

Date: Jun-18-2013
Mayo Clinic researchers have said that medical marijuana is not recommended for teenagers with chronic pain, despite the fact that the cause of chronic pain can be hard to identify and some medications do not work. The finding was published in the July 2013 issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings. There is limited information regarding the risks of using marijuana to treat pain in adults, let alone among teenagers - when the brain is still developing. Previous research found that among patients with chronic neuropathic pain, smoking marijuana relieved pain and improved their mood...

Long Term Red Meat Raises Type 2 Diabetes Risk

Date: Jun-18-2013
People who consume more red meat over the long term have a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes, researchers from the National University of Singapore reported in JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association). The authors carried out a follow-up of three studies involving approximately 149,000 Americans. As background information, the researchers explained that the consumption of red meat has been linked to an elevated risk of type 2 diabetes in several studies...

Low-Risk Prostate Cancer, Observation Is Safe

Date: Jun-18-2013
"Watchful waiting" is safe, cost-effective, and results in a better quality of life for patients with low-risk, localized prostate cancer, rather than undergoing immediate treatment, says a study carried out at Massachusetts General Hospital and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. The study findings were published in Annals of Internal Medicine. According to the authors, their statistical models demonstrated that for 70% of men with low-risk prostate cancer at diagnosis "observation is a reasonable and, in some situations, cost-saving alternative to initial treatment...

More Restrictive Teen Tobacco Policies May Reduce Adult Smoking

Date: Jun-18-2013
States that want to reduce rates of adult smoking may consider implementing stringent tobacco restrictions on teens, suggests a new study by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The researchers discovered that states with more restrictive limits on teens purchasing tobacco also have lower adult smoking rates, especially among women. And compared with states with less restrictive limits, they also tend to have fewer adult heavy smokers. The study was published online in the American Journal of Public Health...

Blood Thinners To Prevent Clots Not Reaching Some Patients

Date: Jun-18-2013
Researchers at Johns Hopkins report that hospitalized patients do not receive more than one in 10 doses of doctor-ordered blood thinners prescribed to prevent potentially lethal or disabling blood clots, a decision they say may be fueled by misguided concern by patients and their caregivers. Calling the rate of missed doses "unacceptably high," the researchers add that hospitalized patients are at a significantly greater risk of developing venous thromboembolism, or VTE, and that preventive blood thinners can prevent it a majority of the time...