Health News

Weather Conditions Do Not Affect Fibromyalgia Pain Or Fatigue

Date: Jun-04-2013
Individual Patients May Experience Some Weather Sensitivity Dutch researchers report that weather conditions including temperature, sunshine, and precipitation have no impact on fibromyalgia symptoms in female patients. Results published in published in Arthritis Care & Research, a journal of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR), suggest that individual patients may be sensitive to some changes in the weather. Medical evidence shows that fibromyalgia affects 2% of the world population with a greater prevalence among women. In the U.S...

Statin Use May Be Linked To Musculoskeletal Conditions And Injuries

Date: Jun-04-2013
The usage of statins, drugs to treat high cholesterol, may be linked to musculoskeletal conditions, joint diseases (arthropathies) and injuries, researchers from VA North Texas Health Care System, Dallas, reported in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine. The authors explained that statins reduce the incidence and severity of cardiovascular illness and death. However, nobody yet knows the full spectrum of statin musculoskeletal adverse events. Adverse events linked to stain usage have been mentioned in several studies, which report on muscle cramps, tendinous diseases and muscle weakness...

Computer-Based ADHD Assessment Being Trialled In UK Prisons For The First Time

Date: Jun-04-2013
Researchers hope that more accurate diagnosis and assessment can lead to improved inmate behavior and reduce offences A new ADHD tool is being investigated in the UK prison population for the first time. Researchers from the Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College London are using the computer-based QbTest; an objective test to assist in the accurate diagnosis of ADHD in young adult inmates. QbTest is the first system that has been cleared by both the FDA and European authorities to be used in children and adults...

News From The Journal Of Clinical Investigation: June 3, 2013

Date: Jun-04-2013
A potential gene therapy for Mucopolysaccharidosis Type IIIA Mucopolysaccharidosis Type IIIA (MPSIIIA) is a metabolic disorder in which the body is missing an enzyme that is required to break down long chains of sugars known as glycosaminoglycans. Over time, the glycosaminoglycans collect in the body and cause damage, particularly in the brain. In this issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, F�tima Bosch and colleagues at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona in Spain developed a form of gene therapy to replace the enzyme that is missing in MPSIIIA...

Inostics' Blood-Based Mutation Testing Receives CLIA Certification

Date: Jun-04-2013
Inostics, a molecular diagnostics company that provides blood-based mutation testing, received CLIA (Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments) licensure for its clinical laboratory located in Baltimore, MD. This marks a critical milestone for the clinical adoption of this non-invasive molecular approach for the analysis of tumor biomarkers. "Due to the non-invasiveness and real-time reflection of tumor genetics, the OncoBEAM blood test represents a valuable tool to complement clinical decision making...

Researchers Identify Novel Approach To Create Red Blood Cells, Platelets In Vitro

Date: Jun-04-2013
Finding could reduce need for blood donations, speed up research on therapies to treat diseases A study led by Boston University School of Medicine has identified a novel approach to create an unlimited number of human red blood cells and platelets in vitro. In collaboration with Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) and Boston Medical Center (BMC), the researchers differentiated induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells into these cell types, which are typically obtained through blood donations...

Researchers Discover New Weapon In Fight Against Cervical Cancer

Date: Jun-04-2013
Scientists at the University of Leeds have found a way to target and destroy a key protein associated with the development of cervical and other cancers. The E7 protein is produced early in the lifecycle of the human papillomavirus (HPV) and blocks the body's natural defences against the uncontrolled division of cells that can lead to cancer...

Kidney Expert Warns People Are 'In Denial' About Dehydration

Date: Jun-04-2013
A leading surgeon is warning many people in the UK are "in denial" about the consequences of dehydration - resulting in thousands of new cases of kidney stones every year. Mr Bhaskar Somani, a consultant urological surgeon at Southampton General Hospital, said a lack of awareness around regular daily fluid intake was responsible for an annual increase in renal stone admissions...

Experts Call For International Consensus On Determination Of Death

Date: Jun-04-2013
The criteria used to diagnose both circulatory and brain death in a patient are subject to variability and as such can be controversial. Anaesthesiologists play an important role in procedures related to the determination of death, so should have specific knowledge about medical, ethical and legal criteria of brain death definition. Experts will call for international consensus in a presentation at Euroanaesthesia 2013, the annual congress of the European Society of Anaesthesiology (ESA)...

Relationship Between Shift Work, Sleep And Health Amongst Shift Workers

Date: Jun-04-2013
The study indicates that it isn't only the shift system itself, but rather long working days over a two-week period in the North Sea that affect sleep, says Siri Waage. During a typical 14-day work period in the North Sea, the workers will work twelve hours a day whether doing night or day shift. Although offshore work influences the sleep pattern, there were no differences in subjective health complaints between the groups at the end of a work period than at the beginning, she says...