Health News

Antibiotics May Cure 40% Of Chronic Back Pain Cases

Date: May-08-2013
For nearly half of all chronic back pain sufferers, s simple course of antibiotics may cure about 40% of patients with chronic back pain, researchers from the University of Southern Denmark and the University of Birmingham, England, reported in the European Spine Journal. Neurologists are describing this breakthrough as "the stuff of Nobel Prizes". The scientists demonstrated an association between long-term back pain and infection with Propionibacterium acnes, a bacterium commonly found on human skin that is involved in causing acne...

Fast Food Restaurants Are Only Modestly Improving The Nutritional Quality Of Their Food

Date: May-08-2013
Fast food restaurants are major contributors to the ever-growing heart disease and diabetes epidemic in the U.S.A. Close to a quarter of Americans go to fast food restaurants at least twice a week. Most of their foods are known to be high in fat, sugar, and salt - which all contribute to heart disease. Despite efforts to improve the quality of food in the fast-food industry, there have only been modest nutritional improvements, revealed a new study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine...

Sun Exposure Benefits May Outweigh Risks Say Scientists

Date: May-08-2013
Scientists at the UnIversity of Edinburgh in the UK suggest that the heart-health benefits of sun exposure may outweigh the risk of developing skin cancer. In the landmark study, the researchers found that when sunlight touches our skin, a compound called nitric oxide that helps lower blood pressure, is released into our blood vessels...

Risk Of Death Has Decreased Substantially For Children Initially Treated With Dialysis For End-Stage Kidney Disease

Date: May-08-2013
In a study that included more than 20,000 patients, there was a significant decrease in the United States in mortality rates over time among children and adolescents initiating end-stage kidney disease treatment with dialysis between 1990 and 2010, according to a study in the May 8 issue of JAMA. The study is being released early online to coincide with its presentation at the Pediatric Academic Societies annual meeting. "Individuals with end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) face a significantly shortened life expectancy...

Study Examines Cognitive Impairment In Families With Exceptional Longevity

Date: May-08-2013
JAMA Neurology Study Highlights A study by Stephanie Cosentino, Ph.D., of Columbia University, New York, and colleagues examines the relationship between families with exceptional longevity and cognitive impairment consistent with Alzheimer disease. (Online First) The cross-sectional study included a total of 1,870 individuals (1,510 family members and 360 spouse controls) recruited through the Long Life Family Study. The main outcome measure was the prevalence of cognitive impairment based on a diagnostic algorithm validated using the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center data set...

Study Examines Spiritual Support For Patients With Advanced Cancer

Date: May-08-2013
JAMA Internal Medicine Study Highlights A study by Tracy A. Balboni, M.D., M.P.H., of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, and colleagues suggests that spiritual care and end-of-life (EoL) discussions by the medical team may be associated with reduced aggressive treatment. The study included 343 patients with advanced cancer. EoL care in the final week included hospice, aggressive EoL measures (care in an intensive care unit, resuscitation or ventilation), and ICU death...

Short-Term Food Deprivation Appears Linked To High-Calorie Food Options

Date: May-08-2013
JAMA Internal Medicine Study Highlights A research letter by Brian Wansink, Ph.D., and Aner Tal, Ph.D., of Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., suggests that hungry grocery shoppers tend to buy higher-calorie products. The research included a laboratory study in which 68 paid participants were asked to avoid eating five hours prior to the study, although during some of the sessions some of the participants were given crackers so they would no longer feel hungry...

Gene Test Estimates 5yr Risk Of Recurrence For Breast Cancer Patients, Says Studies

Date: May-08-2013
Positive Results from Two Studies of the PAM50-Based In Vitro Diagnostic Assay will be Presented at the Annual IMPAKT Breast Cancer Conference NanoString Technologies, Inc., a privately held provider of life science tools for translational research and molecular diagnostic products, today announced results from two studies that are featured in oral presentations this week at IMPAKT Breast Cancer Conference...

Major International TEDDY Study Finds No Link Between Virus Infection And Rapidly Developing Type 1 Diabetes In Young Children

Date: May-08-2013
Some of the earliest results from The Environmental Determinants of Diabetes in The Young (TEDDY) study - a major Europe-USA consortium exploring the causes of type 1 diabetes in children - has found no evidence for viral infection as a cause of the rapid-onset form of the condition...

Adult Cells Transformed Into Early-Stage Nerve Cells, Bypassing The Pluripotent Stem Cell Stage

Date: May-08-2013
A University of Wisconsin-Madison research group has converted skin cells from people and monkeys into a cell that can form a wide variety of nervous-system cells - without passing through the do-it-all stage called the induced pluripotent stem cell, or iPSC. Bypassing the ultraflexible iPSC stage was a key advantage, says senior author Su-Chun Zhang, a professor of neuroscience and neurology. "IPSC cells can generate any cell type, which could be a problem for cell-based therapy to repair damage due to disease or injury in the nervous system...