Health News

Higher Than Expected Rates Of Adenoma Detection Reported

Date: Apr-16-2013
Researchers at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, report in a new study that average-risk screening adenoma detection rates (ADR) are significantly higher than current guidelines suggest for both men and women. The study found that the overall average-risk screening ADR was 33.7 percent for both genders combined. Women had a 25.4 percent risk in the study versus a 15 percent risk noted in guidelines; men had a 41.2 percent risk in the study versus a 25 percent risk noted in guidelines. Overall advanced-pathology adenoma detection was 12.2 percent for both genders combined...

Blocking A Key Protein Boosts Body's Ability To Clear Chronic Infections Like HIV, Hepatitis C

Date: Apr-16-2013
UCLA scientists have shown that temporarily blocking a protein critical to immune response actually helps the body clear itself of chronic infection. Published in the journal Science, the finding suggests new approaches to treating persistent viral infections like HIV and hepatitis C. The research team studied type-1 interferons (IFN-1), proteins released by cells in response to disease-causing organisms that enable cells to talk to each other and orchestrate an immune response against infection...

Protein Spheres In The Nucleus Give Wrong Signal For Cell Division, Possibly Leading To Alzheimer's Disease

Date: Apr-16-2013
A new hypothesis has been developed by researchers in Bochum on how Alzheimer's disease could occur. They analysed the interaction of the proteins FE65 and BLM that regulate cell division. In the cell culture model, they discovered spherical structures in the nucleus that contained FE65 and BLM. The interaction of the proteins triggered a wrong signal for cell division. This may explain the degeneration and death of nerve cells in Alzheimer's patients. The team led by Dr. Thorsten Müller and Prof. Dr...

The 'Bystander Effect'

Date: Apr-16-2013
In December of last year the New York Post published images of a man about to be killed by a train while several bystanders did little to help him. Numerous studies have provided evidence that people are less likely to help when in groups, a phenomenon known as the "bystander effect." Those studies examined situations where only one person was needed to take action to help another. A University of Missouri anthropologist recently found that even when multiple individuals can contribute to a common cause, the presence of others reduces an individual's likelihood of helping...

Frequent ER Use By Veterans Due To "Severely Compromised Life Circumstances" Not Lack Of Access To Health Care

Date: Apr-16-2013
Even with health insurance, ready access to preventive, specialty and behavioral health care and comprehensive electronic medical records, nearly 8 percent of patients in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) visit the emergency department two or more times per year, according to a study published online in Annals of Emergency Medicine ("What Drives Frequent Emergency Department Use in an Integrated Health System: National Data from the Veterans Health Administration")*. The study, along with an accompanying editorial ("How Frequent Emergency Department Use by U.S...

Nutrigenomics Offers New Insights Into The Why And How Of Companion Animal Obesity

Date: Apr-16-2013
According to the World Health Organization, more than two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese. And it's not just humans who are packing on the pounds. Our furry companions are plagued by an obesity epidemic of their own. More than 50 percent of the dogs and cats in the United States are overweight or obese. In a new paper on pet obesity in the Journal of Animal Science, University of Illinois professor of animal and nutritional sciences Kelly Swanson and his colleagues describe how nutrients and biological compounds in foods can affect gene expression in animals...

Medications Used To Treat Rheumatoid Arthritis May Affect Abortion Rate In Women

Date: Apr-16-2013
A new study published in the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) journal, Arthritis Care & Research, reveals that women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who were on methotrexate (MTX), a drug commonly used to reduce inflammation caused by RA, had lower rates of induced abortions compared to women with RA who were not exposed to the medication. Findings indicate that women with RA exposed to anti-tumor necrosis factor (anti-TNF) drugs may have increased abortion rates compared to unexposed women. Experts estimate that 1.3 million U.S...

Beetroot Juice Can Help Lower Blood Pressure

Date: Apr-16-2013
A cup of beetroot juice a day can help lower blood pressure in patients with hypertension, according to a new study. The study was conducted by researchers from Queen Mary, University of London and was published in the American Heart Association journal Hypertension. The scientists examined the impact consuming nitrate has on blood pressure in rats and then confirmed their findings in a small study involving 15 patients with high blood pressure...

Gene Print Can Predict Who Will Survive Chemotherapy

Date: Apr-16-2013
An eight gene "signature" or print, can predict the time of relapse-free survival following chemotherapy, a new study suggests in the journal BMC Medicine. A team of investigators from Academia Sinica and the National Taiwan University College of Medicine pinpointed genes that take part in cellular invasion - a property of several cancer cells - by looking at the National Cancer Institute's 60 human cancer cell line panel (NCI-60)...

Novel Approach Identified To Study COPD And Treatment Efficacy

Date: Apr-16-2013
Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have pinpointed a genetic signature for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) from airway cells harvested utilizing a minimally invasive procedure. The findings provide a novel way to study COPD and could lead to new treatments and ways to monitor patient's response to those treatments. The study is published online in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine...