Health News

New Research Finds Hernia Surgery Offers Value For Money

Date: May-29-2013
New research suggesting that elective hernia surgery offers value-for-money and improved quality of life for patients has been published by the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. The new analysis is based on patients' own assessments of their health-related quality of life together with costs reported by hospitals. The research also indicates that keyhole surgery may offer more health benefit and value for money than open surgery for hernia operations. Recently it has been suggested that the NHS could save money by reducing access to hernia repair surgery...

Norovirus Dies Rapidly On Copper Surfaces

Date: May-29-2013
New research presented at a conference last week suggests that norovirus, the highly infectious winter vomiting bug, dies rapidly on surfaces made from copper and copper alloys. The finding, when corroborated by further studies, will likely add the sickness virus to a growing list of germs that copper is effective against...

'Clonetegration' - New 1-Step Process For Designer Bacteria

Date: May-29-2013
A simpler and faster way of producing designer bacteria used in biotechnology processes has been developed by University of Adelaide researchers. The researchers have developed a new one-step bacterial genetic engineering process called 'clonetegration', published in the journal ACS Synthetic Biology. Led by Dr Keith Shearwin, in the University's School of Molecular and Biomedical Sciences, the research facilitates faster development of designer bacteria used in therapeutic drug development, such as insulin, and other biotechnology products...

Discovery May Improve Bone Marrow Transplantation

Date: May-29-2013
Blood diseases such as leukemia, multiple myeloma, and myelodysplasia can develop from abnormal bone marrow cells and a dysfunctional bone marrow microenvironment that surrounds these cells. Until now, researchers have been unable to replace the cells that make up the bone marrow microenvironment. Researchers reporting in the Cell Press journal Developmental Cell have found that eliminating a gene in the cells found in this microenvironment causes them to die, therefore enabling donor cells to replace them...

Norovirus Rapidly Destroyed On Copper

Date: May-29-2013
New research from the University of Southampton shows that copper and copper alloys will rapidly destroy norovirus - the highly-infectious sickness bug. The virus can be contracted from contaminated food or water, person-to-person contact, and contact with contaminated surfaces, meaning surfaces made from copper could effectively shut down one avenue of infection. Worldwide, norovirus is responsible for more than 267 million cases of acute gastroenteritis every year...

Positive Data Supporting A New Biomarker Predicting The Efficacy Of Current Hormone Therapies In Early Breast Cancers

Date: May-29-2013
Invivis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical private company focused on the development of oncology therapeutics, have announced new, positive data supporting the development of its biomarkers to be presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2013 Annual Meeting, May 31-June 4, 2013 in Chicago, Illinois. Antiestrogen treatments are key components in breast cancer treatment strategies...

Genetic Marker Identified For Sporadic Breast Cancer

Date: May-29-2013
Medical researchers at the University of Alberta have pinpointed a genetic marker for sporadic breast cancer - one of a handful identified to date in Caucasians. Researchers have identified many genetic markers for familial breast cancers, but not for sporadic breast cancer which accounts for 80 per cent of all cases. Sambasivarao Damaraju, a professor with the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry and a researcher at the Cross Cancer Institute, worked with his team to scan the DNA of about 7,200 Alberta women, including those who have had sporadic breast cancer and those who have not had cancer...

Sexual Health Is The Focus Of Reproductive Health Matters' Latest Themed Issue

Date: May-29-2013
Young people are demanding information and education about their bodies, sex, their sexuality and sexual health, as well as access to services that will support them to stay safe and healthy. Papers published in the latest themed issue of Reproductive Health Matters (RHM) demonstrate that information and services in fact remain unavailable to many young people, and many may grow up without fully understanding things that they are currently experiencing such as menstruation, let alone preparing themselves for future sexual relationships and adulthood...

New Insights Into Protein Disposal

Date: May-29-2013
Cells have a sophisticated system to control and dispose of defective, superfluous proteins and thus to prevent damage to the body. Dr. Katrin Bagola and Professor Thomas Sommer of the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch as well as Professor Michael Glickman and Professor Aaron Ciechanover of Technion, the Technical University of Israel in Haifa, have now discovered a new function of an enzyme that is involved in this vital process...

Immunological Tests Superior In Colon Cancer Screening

Date: May-29-2013
For early detection of colorectal (colon) cancer, statutory health insurance in Germany offers a fecal occult blood test free of charge to all insured persons starting at 50 years of age. In addition, those 55 or older are entitled to an endoscopic examination of the colon (colonoscopy). Colonoscopy identifies precancerous lesions with a high level of exactitude. Nevertheless, only about 20-30 percent of those eligible actually take advantage of the screening examination. "Therefore, fecal occult blood tests are important, because they help us reach more people...