Health News

Adult Stem Cells Isolated From Human Intestinal Tissue For The First Time

Date: Apr-08-2013
For the first time, researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have isolated adult stem cells from human intestinal tissue. The accomplishment provides a much-needed resource for scientists eager to uncover the true mechanisms of human stem cell biology. It also enables them to explore new tactics to treat inflammatory bowel disease or to ameliorate the side effects of chemotherapy and radiation, which often damage the gut. "Not having these cells to study has been a significant roadblock to research," said senior study author Scott T...

Differences In Body Representation Between Children And Adults

Date: Apr-08-2013
Children's sense of having and owning a body differs from that of adults, indicating that our sense of physical self develops over time, according to a new study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. Many of our senses - vision, touch, and body orientation - come together to inform our perception of having and owning a body. Psychological scientist Dorothy Cowie of Goldsmiths, University of London and colleagues hypothesized that there might be age differences in how these processes come together...

Migrants' Happiness Not Affected By Xenophobia

Date: Apr-08-2013
Employment and health problems rather than the xenophobia in their new country, are the biggest reasons that migrants feel less happy than average, a new study says. The British Sociological Association's annual conference in London heard that economic factors such as unemployment and low income, and their own health problems were the most powerful causes of a lowered wellbeing. Professor Andreas Hadjar and Susanne Backes analysed data from the European Social Survey on 32,000 first or second generation migrants and 164,700 non-migrants in 30 European countries, including the UK...

Chemotherapy Found To Work In An Unexpected Way

Date: Apr-07-2013
It's generally thought that anticancer chemotherapies work like antibiotics do, by directly killing off what's harmful. But new research published online in the Cell Press journal Immunity shows that effective chemotherapies actually work by mobilizing the body's own immune cells to fight cancer. Researchers found that chemo-treated dying tumors secrete a factor that attracts certain immune cells, which then ingest tumor proteins and present them on their surfaces as alert signals that an invader is present...

Despite Menopause-Like Side Effects, Continuous Hormone Treatment For Prostate Cancer Is Superior To Intermittent Therapy

Date: Apr-07-2013
A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine recommends a dramatic shift in the way doctors treat metastatic prostate cancer. "These results have changed the way I treat patients," said Ian M. Thompson Jr., M.D., director of the Cancer Therapy & Research Center at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and senior author on the international study...

Lessons Can Be Learned By Other States From Vermont's Health Care Reform

Date: Apr-07-2013
Vermont's aggressive health care reform initiatives can serve as a roadmap for other states, according to a Master of Public Health candidate at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth). The paper, "Lessons from Vermont's Health Care Reform," will appear tomorrow in the New England Journal of Medicine. The study's author, Laura Grubb, M.D., of The University of Texas School of Public Health, part of UTHealth, wrote that Vermont is well ahead of most other states in implementing federal and state health care reforms...

Reducing Pain And Anxiety Among Pediatric Patients Using Robot Therapy

Date: Apr-07-2013
Pet therapy can help patients cope with the pain, stress, and emotional effects of a serious illness, but access to a companion animal is not always possible. Robotic animals may offer the same benefits, as explored in a fascinating study presented in Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free online on the Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking website...

Foetal Exposure To Excessive Stress Hormones In The Womb Linked To Adult Mood Disorders

Date: Apr-07-2013
Exposure of the developing foetus to excessive levels of stress hormones in the womb can cause mood disorders in later life and now, for the first time, researchers have found a mechanism that may underpin this process, according to research presented today (Sunday) at the British Neuroscience Association Festival of Neuroscience (BNA2013), in London...

Laser Lights Could Be The Future Of Addiction Therapy

Date: Apr-07-2013
Researchers at UC San Francisco have managed to use laser lights as a means of eradicating addictive behaviors in rats. They targeted light in the prelimbic region of the brain in rats who were addicted to cocaine. They found that after exposure to the laser lights the rats demonstrated a significant reduction in addictive behavior...

Kidney Disease In Older Age Linked To Overweight Starting In Early Adulthood

Date: Apr-07-2013
Being overweight starting in young adulthood may significantly increase individuals' risks of developing kidney disease by the time they become seniors, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN). The findings emphasize the importance of excess weight as a risk factor for chronic kidney disease (CKD)...