Health News

Study Reveals How Diabetes Drug Delays Ageing In Worms

Date: Apr-01-2013
A widely prescribed type 2 diabetes drug slows down the ageing process by mimicking the effects of dieting, according to a stud using worms to investigate how the drug works. Following a calorie-restricted diet has been shown to improve health in later life and extend lifespan in a number of animals, ranging from the simple worm to rhesus monkeys. The type 2 diabetes drug metformin has been found to have similar effects in animals but until now it was not clear exactly how the drug delays the ageing process...

Evidence Provides New Model System For Studying The Complex Interaction Between Diet, Gene Expression, Physiological Response And Human Disease

Date: Apr-01-2013
Sometimes you just can't resist a tiny piece of chocolate cake. Even the most health-conscious eaters find themselves indulging in junk foods from time to time. New research by scientists at the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) raises the striking possibility that even small amounts of these occasional indulgences may produce significant changes in gene expression that could negatively impact physiology and health. A pair of papers published in Cell by A.J...

Preventing Sports-Related Brain Injury In Youngsters

Date: Apr-01-2013
Ice hockey accounts for nearly half of all traumatic brain injuries among children and youth participating in organized sports who required a trip to an emergency department in Canada, according to a new study out of St. Michael's Hospital. The results are part of a first-of-its-kind study led by Dr. Michael Cusimano that looked at causes of sports-related brain injuries in Canadian youth and also uncovered some prevention tactics that could be immediately implemented to make sports safer for kids...

HIV And Other Fast-Mutating Viruses Targeted By New Vaccine-Design Approach

Date: Apr-01-2013
A team led by scientists from The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) has unveiled a new technique for vaccine design that could be particularly useful against HIV and other fast-changing viruses. The report, which appears in Science Express, the early online edition of the journal Science, offers a step toward solving what has been one of the central problems of modern vaccine design: how to stimulate the immune system to produce the right kind of antibody response to protect against a wide range of viral strains...

How To Avoid Scalding Of Young And Elderly At Home

Date: Apr-01-2013
Home hot water heater temperatures are too high, warns a team of researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Despite the adoption of voluntary standards by manufacturers to preset hot water heater temperature settings below the recommended safety standard of 120°F, temperatures remain dangerously high for a significant proportion of homes, presenting a scald hazard for young children and the elderly. The report is published in the March 2013 issue of Journal Of Burn Care Research. In the U.S...

Training In Schools Could Reduce Sudden Cardiac Arrest Fatalities

Date: Apr-01-2013
One of the leading causes of death in the United States is sudden cardiac arrest, which claims the lives of more than 325,000 people each year. In a study published in the April issue of the journal Resuscitation, Beaumont doctors found that cardiac arrests in K-12 schools are extremely rare, less than 0.2 percent, but out of 47 people who experienced cardiac arrest over a six-year period at K-12 schools, only 15 survived...

Animal Studies Suggest Fewer Children Means Longer Life

Date: Apr-01-2013
New research into ageing processes, based on modern genetic techniques, confirms theoretical expectations about the correlation between reproduction and lifespan. Studies of birds reveal that those that have offspring later in life and have fewer broods live longer. And the decisive factor is telomeres, shows research from The University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Telomeres are the protective caps at the end of chromosomes. The length of telomeres influences how long an individual lives...

Ice Hockey Causes 44.3% Of All Traumatic Brain Injuries Among Canadian Kids

Date: Apr-01-2013
Nearly half of all traumatic brain injuries among children in Canada who needed to be taken to an emergency department are caused by ice hockey, researchers from St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, reported in the journal PLOS ONE. Dr. Michael Cusimano and team, who claim that their study is the first-of-its-kind, gathered and examined data on the causes of sports-related brain injuries among Canadian children. They also identified which preventive measures could be implemented straight away to make children's sports safer. Lead author, Dr...

Popular Diabetes Drugs May Harm The Pancreas

Date: Apr-01-2013
Type 2 diabetes patients who are on incretin therapy have a higher risk of developing abnormalities in their pancreas compared to their counterparts on other types of diabetes therapies, researchers from the Larry L. Hillblom Islet Research Center at UCLA and the Diabetes Center at the University of Florida reported in the journal Diabetes. The scientists explained that patients on incretin therapy were more likely to have rapid multiplication of pancreatic cells that may be associated with a higher risk of neuroendocrine tumors...

DNA-Damaging Toxins Discovered In Common Plant-Based Foods - Liquid Smoke, Black And Green Teas And Coffee

Date: Apr-01-2013
In a laboratory study pairing food chemistry and cancer biology, scientists at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center tested the potentially harmful effect of foods and flavorings on the DNA of cells. They found that liquid smoke flavoring, black and green teas and coffee activated the highest levels of a well-known, cancer-linked gene called p53. The p53 gene becomes activated when DNA is damaged. Its gene product makes repair proteins that mend DNA. The higher the level of DNA damage, the more p53 becomes activated...