Health News

The Role Played By Processing Bodies In Cell Survival And Protection Against Viral Infection

Date: May-20-2013
As scientists learn more about processing bodies (PBs), granules present within normal cells, they are unraveling the complex role PBs play in maintaining cellular homeostasis by regulating RNA metabolism and cell signaling. Emerging research is revealing how virus infection alters PBs to enhance viral replication and how, in turn, PBs are able respond and limit a virus's ability to reproduce. This novel mechanism allows PBs to contribute to the body's immune defenses, as described in an article in DNA and Cell Biology, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers...

RNA Interference Technology Used To Identify 'Lethal' And 'Rescuer' Genes In Innovative Screening Method

Date: May-20-2013
Lethal and rescuer genes are defined as genes that when inactivated result in cell death or enhanced cell growth, respectively. The ability to identify these genes in large-scale automated screening campaigns could lead to the discovery of valuable new drug targets. A genome-wide lethality screen that relies on RNA interference technology and led to the validation of 239 gene candidates essential for cell survival is described in ASSAY and Drug Development Technologies, a peer-reviewed journal published from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers...

Sensors For Heart Devices, Consumer Electronics, Vulnerable To Certain Security Risks

Date: May-20-2013
The type of sensors that pick up the rhythm of a beating heart in implanted cardiac defibrillators and pacemakers are vulnerable to tampering, according to a new study conducted in controlled laboratory conditions. Implantable defibrillators monitor the heart for irregular beating and, when necessary, administer an electric shock to bring it back into normal rhythm. Pacemakers use electrical pulses to continuously keep the heart in pace...

How The Endothelium Maintains Its Highly Efficient Barrier Function

Date: May-20-2013
The endothelium, the cellular layer lining the body's blood vessels, is extremely resilient. Measuring just a few hundred nanometers in thickness, this super-tenuous structure routinely withstands blood flow, hydrostatic pressure, stretch and tissue compression to create a unique and highly dynamic barrier that maintains the organization necessary to partition tissues from the body's circulatory system. It's also extremely adaptable...

Depressive Symptoms Are Linked To Early Death In Cancer Survivors

Date: May-20-2013
Depressed cancer survivors are twice as likely to die prematurely than those who do not suffer from depression, irrespective of the cancer site. That's according to a new study, by Floortje Mols and colleagues, from Tilburg University in The Netherlands. Their work is published online in Springer's Journal of Cancer Survivorship. The prevalence of cancer is rising, as are the number of individuals who are cured of their cancer or are living with it as a chronic disease. This is partly due to the aging of the population and more effective treatments...

Reporting Incidental Findings In Gene Sequencing: Ethicists Provide Framework Supporting New Recommendations

Date: May-20-2013
In a paper published in Science Express, a group of experts led by bioethicists in the Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy at Baylor College of Medicine provide a framework for the new American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) recommendations on reporting incidental findings in clinical exome and genome sequencing. In March 2013, the ACMG recommended that all laboratories conducting clinical sequencing seek and report pathogenic and expected pathogenic mutations for a short list of carefully chosen genes and conditions. In this paper, Dr...

Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Improves Patient Outcomes

Date: May-20-2013
People with strokes caused by blood clots fared better in hospitals participating in the Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke program according to a study presented at the American Heart Association's Quality of Care and Outcomes Research Scientific Sessions 2013. "We found that stroke patients treated in Get With The Guidelines hospitals were less likely to die or end up back in the hospital than those treated at other closely-matched hospitals not in the program," said Sarah Song, M.D., M.P.H...

Increased Mortality Risk, Likelihood Of Hospital Readmission Following Heart Attack, Heart Failure

Date: May-20-2013
Heart attack or heart failure patients may have a high risk of death or re-admission for a month or longer after leaving the hospital, researchers said at the American Heart Association's Quality of Care and Outcomes Scientific Sessions 2013. "The risks of death and re-hospitalization can extend well beyond 30 days after discharge, the time period used by the federal government for measuring hospital performance," said Kumar Dharmarajan, M.D., M.B.A...

Link Between Depression And A Nearly Doubled Stroke Risk In Middle-Aged Women

Date: May-20-2013
Depressed middle-aged women have almost double the risk of having a stroke, according to research published in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association. In a 12-year Australian study of 10,547 women 47-52 years old, researchers found that depressed women had a 2.4 times increased risk of stroke compared to those who weren't depressed. Even after researchers eliminated several factors that increase stroke risks, depressed women were still 1.9 times more likely to have a stroke...

Progeria Treatment On The Horizon

Date: May-20-2013
"This study is a breakthrough for our research group after years of work. When we reduce the production of the enzyme in mice, the development of all the clinical symptoms of progeria is reduced or blocked. We have also studied cultured cells from children with progeria, and can see that when the enzyme is inhibited, the growth of the cells increases by the same mechanism as in mouse cells," says Martin Bergö, Professor at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg and research director at the Sahlgrenska Cancer Center...