Health News

How Breast Cancer Cells Acquire Drug Resistance

Date: May-10-2013
A seven-year quest to understand how breast cancer cells resist treatment with the targeted therapy lapatinib has revealed a previously unknown molecular network that regulates cell death. The discovery provides new avenues to overcome drug resistance, according to researchers at Duke Cancer Institute. "We've revealed multiple new signaling pathways that regulate cell death," said Sally Kornbluth, PhD, vice dean of Basic Science and professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology at Duke University School of Medicine...

Sun Exposure Could Benefit Health And Prolong Life

Date: May-10-2013
Exposing skin to sunlight may help to reduce blood pressure, cut the risk of heart attack and stroke - and even prolong life, a study suggests. Researchers have shown that when our skin is exposed to the sun's rays, a compound is released in our blood vessels that helps lower blood pressure. The findings suggest that exposure to sunlight improves health overall, because the benefits of reducing blood pressure far outweigh the risk of developing skin cancer. The study has been carried out by the University of Edinburgh...

Relief From Ragweed Allergy Symptoms Offered By Once-A-Day Pill

Date: May-10-2013
An international team of researchers, led by physician-scientists at Johns Hopkins, reports that a once-daily tablet containing a high dose of a key ragweed pollen protein effectively blocks the runny noses, sneezes, nasal congestion and itchy eyes experienced by ragweed allergy sufferers. Tests showed that treatment with the pill, which contains the protein Ambrosia artemisiifolia major allergen 1, and is placed under the tongue to be absorbed, also reduced the need for anti-allergy drugs to get relief. More than 80 million Americans are allergic to ragweed...

Memory Problems In Some Older Adults May Be Related To Anticholinergic Use

Date: May-10-2013
Research from the Regenstrief Institute, the Indiana University Center for Aging Research and Wishard-Eskenazi Health on medications commonly taken by older adults has found that drugs with strong anticholinergic effects cause cognitive impairment when taken continuously for as few as 60 days. A similar impact can be seen with 90 days of continuous use when taking multiple drugs with weak anticholinergic effect. The study of 3,690 older adults is among the first to explore how length of use of this group of drugs affects the brain...

Diet Linked With Daytime Sleepiness And Alertness In Healthy Adults

Date: May-10-2013
A new study suggests that your level of sleepiness or alertness during the day may be related to the type of food that you eat. Results show that higher fat consumption was associated with increased objective daytime sleepiness, while higher carbohydrate intake was associated with increased alertness. There was no relationship between protein consumption and sleepiness or alertness. These findings were independent of the subjects' gender, age, and body mass index as well as the total amount of sleep they were getting and their total caloric intake...

Postpartum Depression More Likely After Unintended Pregnancy

Date: May-10-2013
Women with unintended pregnancy are four times more likely to suffer from postpartum depression at twelve months postpartum, suggests a new study published in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. The study, conducted at the University of North Carolina prenatal clinics questioned participants about pregnancy intention at 15-19 weeks gestational age, and women were classified as having an intended, mistimed or unwanted pregnancy. There were 433 women (64%) with an intended pregnancy, 207 (30%) with a mistimed pregnancy and 40 (6%) with an unwanted pregnancy...

Serendipitous Scientific Discovery Holds Potential In Destroying Drug-Resistant Bacteria

Date: May-10-2013
Through the serendipity of science, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have discovered a potential treatment for deadly, drug-resistant bacterial infections that uses the same approach that HIV uses to infect cells.  The National Institutes of Health-supported discovery will be described in the June issue of the journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. It is especially promising in the development of a potential treatment for lung infections in people with cystic fibrosis...

Pets May Reduce Risk Of Heart Disease

Date: May-10-2013
Having a pet, especially a dog, may reduce a person's risk of heart disease, according to the American Heart Association. The statement was published in the journal Circulation after experts reviewed past research on the influence of pets. "Pet ownership, particularly dog ownership, is probably associated with a decreased risk of heart disease," said Glenn N. Levine, M.D., professor at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, and chair of the committee...

Children May Be Protected Against Developing Allergy If Parents Clean Pacifiers By Sucking Them

Date: May-10-2013
Swedish researchers at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, report that a simple habit may give significant protection against allergy development, namely, the parental sucking on the baby's pacifier. Allergies are very common in industrialized countries. It has been suggested that exposure to harmless bacteria during infancy may be protective against the development of allergy. However, it has been difficult to pinpoint which bacteria a baby should be exposed to, and at what time and by which route this exposure should ideally occur...

Copper IUD Does Not Increase Period Pain

Date: May-10-2013
Previous scientific studies have suggested that women who use a copper IUD for contraception suffer from worse period pain, but a study at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, that followed 2,100 women over a 30-year period shows that this is not the case. In the study, 19-year-olds born in 1962, 1972 and 1982 were asked questions about their height, weight, pregnancies, children, period pain and contraception...