Health News

Low Doses Of Vitamin D Linked With Harmful Outcomes During Pregnancy

Date: Mar-27-2013
A link has been found between adverse health outcomes and vitamin D deficiency resulting in complications such as gestational diabetes and preeclampsia in pregnant women and low birth weight in newborns. Vitamin D deficiency has already been linked to several health problems and has been flagged as a public health concern...

Sudden Unexplained Death In Epilepsy

Date: Mar-27-2013
Dravet syndrome (DS) is a form of infantile-onset, treatment-resistant epilepsy that is caused by a mutation in the gene encoding a voltage-gated sodium channel, SCN1A. DS patients have a 30-fold increased risk of dying from sudden unexplained death in epilepsy (SUDEP) compared to patients with other forms of pediatric-onset epilepsy. In this issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Franck Kalume and colleagues at the University of Washington characterized SUDEP in a mouse model of DS...

Obesity May Be Linked To Microorganisms Living In The Gut

Date: Mar-27-2013
How much a person eats may be only one of many factors that determines weight gain. A recent Cedars-Sinai study suggests that a breath test profile of microorganisms inhabiting the gut may be able to tell doctors how susceptible a person is to developing obesity. The study, published online Thursday by The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, shows that people whose breath has high concentrations of both hydrogen and methane gasses are more likely to have a higher body mass index and higher percentage of body fat...

Health Risks Associated With Temporary Tattoos, FDA Warning

Date: Mar-27-2013
Temporary tattoos, also known as "hennas", carry more health risks than most people realize, according to a new report by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. People often believe that because the tattoo is only temporary - from three days to several weeks - that it won't carry long term risks. Linda Katz, M.D., M.P.H., director of FDA's Office of Cosmetics and Colors, noted: "just because a tattoo is temporary it doesn't mean that it is risk free." In contrast to typical tattoos, hennas are only applied to the surface of the skin, as opposed to being injected...

Cholesterol Removal Via Lymphatic Vasculature

Date: Mar-27-2013
Reverse cholesterol transport is a process in which accumulated cholesterol is removed from tissues, including the artery wall, and transported back to the liver for excretion. Little is known about how cholesterol is removed from peripheral tissues, but a better understanding of these mechanisms could help in the development of therapies that treat atherosclerosis and other cholesterol-related disorders. In this issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, researchers led by Gwendalyn Randolph and colleagues at Washington University in St...

MRSA Strains Capable Of Transmission Between Animals And Humans

Date: Mar-27-2013
Researchers have used whole genome sequencing to reveal if drug-resistant bacteria are transmitted from animals to humans in two disease outbreaks that occurred on different farms in Denmark. The results, which are published in EMBO Molecular Medicine, confirm animal-to-human transmission of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a disease-causing bacterium that carries the recently described mecC gene. The mecC gene is responsible for resistance to the penicillin-like antibiotic methicillin...

Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Cells Destroyed By Monoclonal Antibody

Date: Mar-27-2013
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego Moores Cancer Center have identified a humanized monoclonal antibody that targets and directly kills chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) cells. The findings, published in the online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences represent a potential new therapy for treating at least some patients with CLL, the most common type of blood cancer in the United States. CLL cells express high levels of a cell-surface glycoprotein receptor called CD44...

Creating Nontoxic Cassava May Prevent Konzo, 'Bound Legs' Disease

Date: Mar-27-2013
The harm done by konzo - a disease overshadowed by the war and drought it tends to accompany - goes beyond its devastating physical effects to impair children's memory, problem solving and other cognitive functions. Even children without physical symptoms of konzo appear to lose cognitive ability when exposed to the toxin that causes the disease, researchers report in the journal Pediatrics. "That's what's especially alarming," said lead author Michael Boivin, a Michigan State University associate professor of psychiatry and of neurology and ophthalmology...

Carmustine A Powerful Candidate Drug For Treatment And Prevention Of Alzheimer's Disease

Date: Mar-27-2013
Long term treatment by carmustine, a chemical relative of mustard gas and already used to treat some types of brain cancer, can decrease the amount of amyloid β and number of amyloid plaques in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. The research is published in Biomed Central's open access journal BMC Medicine. Alzheimer's disease progressively destroys memory, language, and judgement of affected people. While deaths due to heart disease, stroke and cancer may be decreasing, the number of deaths each year due to Alzheimer's disease is on the increase...

South Africa Recognized As Innovator In Worldwide Effort To Address TB, As Global Concerns Rise Over Drug-Resistant Strains

Date: Mar-27-2013
At a time of growing global concern about the rising level of drug-resistant strains of tuberculosis in South Africa and worldwide, the world's top TB vaccine experts are meeting this week, the first time this scientific forum has been held in Africa, where they will present new research aimed at advancing development of vaccines against the deadly airborne disease...