Health News

New Mechanism Of Inner-Ear Repair Discovered

Date: Jun-12-2013
A new mechanism of inner-ear repair has been discovered by researchers at the University of Kentucky. The team developed a two-step mechanism which allows molecular structures within the ear to rebuild themselves after being damaged by exposure to extremely loud noises - which can cause hearing loss. The World Health Organization currently estimates that there are over 360 million people in the world living with disabling hearing loss. The latest findings were published in the journal PLOS Biology...

Medicare Spends Too Much On Brand-Name Drugs

Date: Jun-12-2013
If Medicare's drug spending patterns regarding brand-name and generic drugs were the same as the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), it would save over one billion dollars every year, according to a new study published in Annals of Internal Medicine. The authors explained, as background information, that the VA and Medicare Part D use different approaches to managing prescription drug benefits - with huge differences in their drug spending. While the VA administers its own benefit using a national formulary, Medicare relies on private plans with their own formularies. Walid F...

Cytosine Methylation Likely Plays A Key Role In Fueling Pediatric Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Date: Jun-12-2013
Changes in an epigenetic mechanism that turns expression of genes on and off may be as important as genetic alterations in causing pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), according to a study led by scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and published online in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. The results suggest the mechanism called cytosine methylation plays a previously under-appreciated role in the development of leukemia. Cytosine methylation involves adding or removing methyl groups to cytosine, which is a building block of DNA...

Eww! Only 5 Percent Wash Hands Correctly

Date: Jun-12-2013
Remember Mom's advice about washing your hands thoroughly after using the restroom? Apparently not. A new study by Michigan State University researchers found that only 5 percent of people who used the bathroom washed their hands long enough to kill the germs that can cause infections. What's more, 33 percent didn't use soap and 10 percent didn't wash their hands at all. Men were particularly bad at washing their hands correctly. The study, based on observations of 3,749 people in public restrooms, appears in the Journal of Environmental Health...

5-Yearly Universal HIV Testing In India A Cost-Effective Approach

Date: Jun-12-2013
A new study using a sophisticated statistical tool, has determined that providing universal HIV testing for India's billion-plus population every five years would prove to be a cost-effective approach to managing the epidemic, even with more intensive testing for high-risk groups. In India most people who are HIV positive don't know it, yet testing and treatment are relatively cheap and available...

Is The Ability To Extinguish Fear Impaired By Antidepressants?

Date: Jun-12-2013
An interesting new report of animal research published in Biological Psychiatry suggests that common antidepressant medications may impair a form of learning that is important clinically. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, commonly called SSRIs, are a class of antidepressant widely used to treat depression, as well as a range of anxiety disorders, but the effects of these drugs on learning and memory are poorly understood...

Benzophenones Derived From African Medicinal Plants May Be Effective Against Multi-Drug Resistant Cancers

Date: Jun-12-2013
African medicinal plants contain chemicals that may be able to stop the spread of cancer cells. This is the conclusion of researchers following laboratory experiments conducted at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU). The plant materials will now undergo further analysis in order to evaluate their therapeutic potential. "The active substances present in African medicinal plants may be capable of killing off tumor cells that are resistant to more than one drug...

Low Birth-Weight Children With Reduced Brain Volume Often Struggle Academically

Date: Jun-12-2013
An analysis of recent data from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of 97 adolescents who were part of study begun with very low birth weight babies born in 1982-1986 in a Cleveland neonatal intensive care unit has tied smaller brain volumes to poor academic achievement. More than half of the babies that weighed less than 1.66 pounds and more than 30 percent of those less than 3.31 pounds at birth later had academic deficits. (Less than 1.66 pounds is considered extremely low birth weight; less than 3.31 pounds is labeled very low birth weight...

Do Parasites Upset Food Web Theory?

Date: Jun-11-2013
Parasites comprise a large proportion of the diversity of species in every ecosystem. Despite this, they are rarely included in analyses or models of food webs. If parasites play different roles from other predators and prey, however, their inclusion could fundamentally alter our understanding of how food webs are organized...

Morning After Pill Available For All Ages Without Prescription

Date: Jun-11-2013
The Obama administration has finally announced that it will follow a judge's order to allow easier access to the "morning after pill" for girls of any age, without the need for prescriptions. The pill is strictly intended to be used as an emergency contraceptive, in cases where the primary birth control (such as a condom) failed to work. The FDA originally approved the pill, called "Plan B One-Step", in 2009. A previous application was submitted for Plan B One-Step to be available for sale over the counter to women of all ages, but the FDA did not approve it...