Health News

Study Confirms That VEGF Is Not A Path Forward To Tackling Advanced Prostate Cancer

Date: May-01-2013
The well-studied protein VEGF does not appear to have any prognostic or predictive value for men with locally advanced prostate cancer, researchers from the Department of Radiation Oncology at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and other institutions found in a retrospective study published online in the journal BMC Radiation Oncology. VEGF, or vascular endothelial growth factor, induces blood vessel growth, a process known as angiogenesis, which is a key element in solid tumor growth and metastasis...

Patients With Inflammatory Diseases Often Prescribed Biologic Agents Which May Cause Acute Liver Injury

Date: May-01-2013
A commonly used class of biologic response modifying drugs can cause acute liver injury with elevated liver enzymes, according to a new study in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, the official clinical practice journal of the American Gastroenterological Association. Patients with inflammatory diseases such as Chron's disease or ulcerative colitis often are prescribed tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) antagonists, which modify the body's response to infection. Patients with inflammatory arthropathies and selected dermatological diseases are also candidates to receive such compounds...

Abnormal Brain Networks And Body Dysmorphic Disorder

Date: May-01-2013
Body dysmorphic disorder is a disabling but often misunderstood psychiatric condition in which people perceive themselves to be disfigured and ugly, even though they look normal to others. New research at UCLA shows that these individuals have abnormalities in the underlying connections in their brains. Dr. Jamie Feusner, the study's senior author and a UCLA associate professor of psychiatry, and his colleagues report that individuals with BDD have, in essence, global "bad wiring" in their brains - that is, there are abnormal network-wiring patterns across the brain as a whole...

Defective Protein Largely Responsible For Rare, Lethal Childhood Disease Protein

Date: May-01-2013
A team of international researchers led by Northwestern Medicine scientists has identified how a defective protein plays a central role in a rare, lethal childhood disease known as Giant Axonal Neuropathy, or GAN. The finding is reported in the May 2013 Journal of Clinical Investigation. GAN is an extremely rare and untreatable genetic disorder that strikes the central and peripheral nervous systems of young children. Those affected show no symptoms at birth; typically around age three the first signs of muscle weakness appear and progress slowly but steadily...

Scientists Discover How A Protein Finds Its Way

Date: May-01-2013
Proteins, the workhorses of the body, can have more than one function, but they often need to be very specific in their action or they create cellular havoc, possibly leading to disease. Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have uncovered how an enzyme co-factor can bestow specificity on a class of proteins with otherwise nonspecific biochemical activity. The protein in question helps in the assembly of ribosomes, large macromolecular machines that are critical to protein production and cell growth...

High Celiac Disease Antibodies During Pregnancy Increase Risk For Low Birth Weight Babies

Date: May-01-2013
Pregnant women with mid to high levels of antibodies common in patients with celiac disease are at risk for having babies with reduced fetal weight and birth weight, according to a new study in Gastroenterology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association. The antibody tissue transglutaminase (anti-tTG) is most commonly found in patients with celiac disease...

Exploring Astrocyte Effects On Brain Function

Date: May-01-2013
A study in The Journal of General Physiology presents new methods to evaluate how astrocytes contribute to brain function, paving the way for future exploration of these important brain cells at unprecedented levels of detail. Astrocytes - the most abundant cell type in the human brain - play crucial roles in brain physiology, which may include modulating synaptic activity and regulating local blood flow. Existing research tools can be used to monitor calcium signals associated with interactions between astrocytes and neurons or blood vessels...

Medicare Already Means-Tested, Retirement Expert Says

Date: May-01-2013
The Obama administration's controversial proposal to "means-test" Medicare recipients is ostensibly aimed at generating more cash for the government from those who can afford it - or squeezing more money out of upper-income seniors, depending upon one's point of view. But according to a University of Illinois expert on retirement benefits, the Medicare program is already means-tested. Law professor Richard L. Kaplan says whenever the issue of cutting Medicare emerges, one of the first ideas to "fix" the program is to make its upper-income beneficiaries pay more...

Discovery Of Markers Related To Ovarian Cancer Survival And Recurrence

Date: May-01-2013
Researchers at the University of Illinois have identified biomarkers that can be used to determine ovarian cancer survival and recurrence, and have shown how these biomarkers interact with each other to affect these outcomes. Their findings appear in the journal PLOS ONE. Researchers try to find molecules called biomarkers that help determine a person's likelihood of getting a disease or, if they have already been diagnosed, how far the disease has advanced...

Antidepressant Therapy Prior To Bypass Surgery May Aid Recovery

Date: May-01-2013
Treatment appears to speed mental health recovery and reduce postoperative pain in some patients Antidepressant therapy that begins 2 to 3 weeks before coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery and continues until 6 months post-surgery may help some patients recover their mental health more quickly and reduce postoperative pain, according to a study published in the May 2013 issue of The Annals of Thoracic Surgery...