Health News

FDA Approves New Lung Cancer Diagnostic "Cobas EGFR Mutation Test"

Date: May-15-2013
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the cobas EGFR Mutation Test, a companion diagnostic for the cancer drug Tarceva (erlotinib). This is the first FDA-approved companion diagnostic that detects epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene mutations, which are present in approximately 10 percent of non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLC). Patients with such genetic mutations generally benefit from treatment with an anti-EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor, such as Roche's Tarceva (erlotinib)...

In Pancreatic Cancer, Breakthrough In The Understanding Of How The Cancer Cells Ingest Nutrients Points To New Drug Target

Date: May-15-2013
In a landmark cancer study published online in Nature, researchers at NYU School of Medicine have unraveled a longstanding mystery about how pancreatic tumor cells feed themselves, opening up new therapeutic possibilities for a notoriously lethal disease with few treatment options. Pancreatic cancer kills nearly 38,000 Americans annually, making it a leading cause of cancer death. The life expectancy for most people diagnosed with it is less than a year. Now new research reveals a possible chink in the armor of this recalcitrant disease...

Medical Diagnostic Device Employs Wireless Signals To Identify Brain Swelling Or Bleeding

Date: May-15-2013
New technology developed at the University of California, Berkeley, is using wireless signals to provide real-time, non-invasive diagnoses of brain swelling or bleeding. The device analyzes data from low energy, electromagnetic waves, similar to the kind used to transmit radio and mobile signals. The technology, described in the May 14 issue of the journal PLOS ONE, could potentially become a cost-effective tool for medical diagnostics and to triage injuries in areas where access to medical care, especially medical imaging, is limited...

Serotonin And REM Sleep Linked To Depression

Date: May-15-2013
All mammals sleep, as do birds and some insects. However, how this basic function is regulated by the brain remains unclear. According to a new study by researchers from the RIKEN Brain Science Institute, a brain region called the lateral habenula plays a central role in the regulation of REM sleep. In an article published in the Journal of Neuroscience, the team shows that the lateral habenula maintains and regulates REM sleep in rats through regulation of the serotonin system. This study is the first to show a role of the lateral habenula in linking serotonin metabolism and sleep...

The Fishy Origins Of Our Hips

Date: May-15-2013
New research has revealed that the evolution of the complex, weight-bearing hips of walking animals from the basic hips of fish was a much simpler process than previously thought. Tetrapods, or four-legged animals, first stepped onto land about 395 million years ago. This significant change was made possible by strong hipbones and a connection through the spine via an ilium - features that were not present in the fish ancestors of tetrapods...

The IT Industry Can Keep Silver Surfers Productive And Improve Their Overall Quality Of Life

Date: May-15-2013
Hardware and software vendors are foolish to ignore the needs of the growing population of older computer and information technology users, the so-called "silver surfers". US researchers offer convincing evidence in a monograph to be published in the International Journal of Intercultural Information Management that from the business perspective, seniors represent a rapidly growing sector of the market with the most disposable income to spend on these companies' products...

Detrimental Effects In The Brain Of High-Fat Diets May Be Stalled By Fish Oil

Date: May-15-2013
Data from more than 180 research papers suggests fish oils could minimise the effects that junk food can have on the brain, a review by researchers at the University of Liverpool has shown. The team at the University's Institute of Ageing and Chronic Disease reviewed research from around the world to see whether there was sufficient data available to suggest that omega-3s had a role to play in aiding weight loss...

Clues To Tooth Regeneration Provided By Alligator Stem Cell Study

Date: May-15-2013
Alligators may help scientists learn how to stimulate tooth regeneration in people, according to new research led by the Keck School of Medicine of USC. For the first time, a global team of researchers led by USC pathology Professor Cheng-Ming Chuong, M.D., Ph.D., has uncovered unique cellular and molecular mechanisms behind tooth renewal in American alligators. Their study, titled "Specialized stem cell niche enables repetitive renewal of alligator teeth," appears in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the official journal of the United States National Academy of Sciences...

Cancer-Related Cognitive Impairment Improved By Cognitive Training

Date: May-15-2013
Women whose breast cancer had been treated with chemotherapy demonstrated improved executive function, such as cognitive flexibility, verbal fluency and processing speed after using exercises developed by Lumosity, the leading online cognitive training program. The study also found significant improvement in self-reported measures of everyday executive function and observed some transfer to verbal memory. Researchers at Stanford University published the results in the peer-reviewed journal, Clinical Breast Cancer. Dr...

Seeking An Early Biomarker To Fight Atherosclerosis

Date: May-15-2013
The Journal of the American Heart Association has published the conclusive results from a study directed by Dr. Eric Thorin of the Montreal Heart Institute (MHI), which suggests for the first time that a blood protein contributes to the early development of atherosclerosis. Dr. Thorin, his team and his collaborators discovered that the blood levels of angiopoietin-like protein 2 (angptl2) are six times higher in subjects with coronary heart disease than in healthy subjects of the same age...