Health News

Potential New Inhaled Treatment For Lung Cancer

Date: May-26-2013
Researchers have developed a new drug delivery system that allows inhalation of chemotherapeutic drugs to help treat lung cancer, and in laboratory and animal tests it appears to reduce the systemic damage done to other organs while significantly improving the treatment of lung tumors. This advance in nanomedicine combines the extraordinarily small size of nanoparticles, existing cancer drugs, and small interfering RNA (siRNA) that shut down the ability of cancer cells to resist attack...

Insomnia May Cause Dysfunction In Emotional Brain Circuitry

Date: May-26-2013
A new study provides neurobiological evidence for dysfunction in the neural circuitry underlying emotion regulation in people with insomnia, which may have implications for the risk relationship between insomnia and depression. "Insomnia has been consistently identified as a risk factor for depression," said lead author Peter Franzen, PhD, an assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine...

Anti-Cancer Drug Reverses Alzheimer's Disease In Mice

Date: May-25-2013
An anti-cancer drug may reverse memory problems in an Alzheimer's Disease mouse model, according to new research carried out at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. The study, published in the journal Science, examined previously published outcomes on the drug bexarotene - which is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use in cutaneous T cell lymphoma...

40 Percent Of 9-18 Year Olds Use Calorie Information In Fast Food Restaurants When Making Food Choices

Date: May-25-2013
A new study published online in the Journal of Public Health has found that of young people who visited fast food or chain restaurants in the U.S. in 2010, girls and youth who were obese were more likely to use calorie information given in the restaurants to inform their food choices. It also found that young people eating at fast food or chain restaurants twice a week or more were half as likely to use calorie information as those eating there once a week or less. Childhood obesity has tripled in recent decades...

The Genetic Basis Of Six Autoimmune Diseases Investigated By Researchers

Date: May-25-2013
Researchers from Queen Mary, University of London have led the largest sequencing study of human disease to date, investigating the genetic basis of six autoimmune diseases. The exact cause of these diseases - autoimmune thyroid disease, coeliac disease, Crohn's disease, psoriasis, multiple sclerosis and type 1 diabetes - is unknown, but is believed to be a complex combination of genetic and environmental factors. In each disease only a proportion of the heritability is explained by the identified genetic variants...

Swine Flu, Bird Flu And Pandemic Vaccination

Date: May-25-2013
As the world prepares for what may be the next pandemic strain of influenza virus, in the H7N9 bird flu, a new UC Irvine study reveals that the 2009 H1N1 swine flu pandemic was deadliest for people under the age of 65, while those 65 and over had greater immunity due to previous exposure to similar viruses. Deaths from flu pandemics tend to skew younger than those from seasonal flu because of "antigenic recycling," or the fact that some parts of flu viruses have already made the rounds...

Link Between Calcium Supplements And Longer Lifespans In Women

Date: May-25-2013
Taking a calcium supplement of up to 1,000 mg per day can help women live longer, according to a recent study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM). Calcium, an essential nutrient for bone health, is commonly found in dairy products as well as vitamins. Although calcium is an essential nutrient for bone health, past studies have linked calcium supplements to heart disease risk...

Avoiding Type 2 Diabetes With The Help Of Fish Oil Supplements

Date: May-25-2013
Widely-used fish oil supplements modestly increase amounts of a hormone that is associated with lower risk of diabetes and heart disease, according to a study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM). Fish oil supplements, also called omega 3 fatty acid capsules, raise levels of adiponectin in the bloodstream. Adiponectin is an important hormone that has beneficial effects on metabolic processes like glucose regulation and the modulation of inflammation...

Mortality Risk Among Heart Failure Patients Increased By Mild Hypothyroidism

Date: May-25-2013
Patients with underlying heart failure are more likely to experience adverse outcomes from mild hypothyroidism, according to a recent study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM). Hypothyroidism occurs when an underactive thyroid does not produce enough hormones. More than 9.5 million people nationwide have hypothyroidism. People who have thyroid function at the low end of the normal range have subclinical hypothyroidism, also called mild hypothyroidism...

Stroke Costs Predicted To More Than Double In The Next 20 Years

Date: May-25-2013
Costs to treat stroke are projected to more than double and the number of people having strokes may increase 20 percent by 2030, according to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association. In a statement published in Stroke, an American Heart Association journal, the association cites the aging U.S. population as the main reason for the increases and predicts that by 2030:   Almost 4 percent of U.S. adults - nearly one in 25 - will have a stroke. This translates into an additional 3.4 million people with stroke in 2030.   Costs to treat stroke may increase from $71...