Health News

Researchers Use Of A Type Of Stem Cells From Human Adipose Tissue To Chase Migrating Glioblastoma Cells

Date: Mar-14-2013
In laboratory studies, Johns Hopkins researchers say they have found that stem cells from a patient's own fat may have the potential to deliver new treatments directly into the brain after the surgical removal of a glioblastoma, the most common and aggressive form of brain tumor. The investigators say so-called mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have an unexplained ability to seek out damaged cells, such as those involved in cancer, and may provide clinicians a new tool for accessing difficult-to-reach parts of the brain where cancer cells can hide and proliferate anew...

Immune Cells Share Information Like Bees

Date: Mar-13-2013
When bees come across new information, such as a good new source of honey, they share the news with other bees when they get back to the hive. Now new research from the US suggests the T cells of the immune system behave in a similar way when coordinating responses to disease pathogens and vaccines. Scientists from the University of California - San Francisco (UCSF) write about their discovery in the 10 March online issue of Nature Immunology. Senior author Matthew Krummel, is a professor of pathology at UCSF...

Pathway To Parkinson's Disease Broken Down

Date: Mar-13-2013
The number one telltale sign of Parkinson's disease is the breakdown of movement caused by a decrease in the supply of dopamine to the brain region that deals with controlling movement. Exactly how this loss of dopamine in brain cells is affected by Parkinson's disease is outlined in a new study by MIT. The findings, which are published in the Journal of Neuroscience, detail exact impairments caused by the loss of dopamine and how treatments can be developed to target them...

FDA Warns Antibiotic Zithromax Can Cause Irregular Heart Activity

Date: Mar-13-2013
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued a warning stating that the commonly prescribed antibiotic azithromycin (Zithromax or Zmax) can cause irregular heart activity and result in a fatal heart rhythm.  Zithromax is widely prescribed to treat a series of infections such as pneumonia, bronchitis, wheezing and COPD. Patients with preexisting heart problems or low blood levels of potassium or magnesium are at a particularly high risk of developing this side effect of the medication...

New Coronavirus Kills 9 So Far, WHO Confirms

Date: Mar-13-2013
The World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed that a new case of infection with nCoV (the novel coronavirus) has been reported in Saudi Arabia - the patient has died. So far, reports of human infection have been confirmed in the United Kingdom, Qatar, Germany and Saudi Arabia. The novel coronavirus comes from the same family as SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome), it is less contagious but much more deadly. About 60% of people who get ill with the novel coronavirus die from the infection...

Patient's Own Fat Cells May Help Fight Deadly Brain Cancer

Date: Mar-13-2013
There is a form of stem cell in the human body that can chase cancer cells. Now a new study from the US suggests brain cancer patients' own fat may provide the best source of these mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) for delivering treatments directly into the brain after the surgical removal of glioblastoma, the most common and deadliest type of brain tumor...

People With Dementia In Hospitals Are Dying At A Significantly Higher Rate Than People Without The Condition

Date: Mar-13-2013
People with dementia in hospitals are dying at a significantly higher rate than people without the condition according to a new report released by the Care Quality Commission this week. The CQC's Care Update 2013 finds that the health and social care systems are struggling to care for people with dementia and that the resulting pressure is having an impact on hospital capacity. The report, a themed review into dementia care, showed that the rate of people with dementia dying was higher than all other conditions in 85 per cent of hospital trusts...

Common MS Drugs Taken Together Do Not Reduce Relapse Risk

Date: Mar-13-2013
A recent clinical trial found that interferonβ-1a (INF) and glatiramer acetate (GA), two of the most commonly prescribed drugs for multiple sclerosis (MS), provide no additional clinical benefit when taken together. While findings published today in Annals of Neurology, a journal of the American Neurological Association and Child Neurology Society, suggest that taking both INF and GA together was not superior to GA monotherapy in reducing relapse risk; the combination therapy does appear to reduce new lesion activity and total lesion volume...

Nearly 6,000 Dead Pigs Removed From Huangpu River, China

Date: Mar-13-2013
Nearly 6,000 dead pigs have been removed from the Huangpu River, one of the main tap water supplies of China's largest city, Shanghai. By early evening, Tuesday March 12th, authorities said a total of 5,916 pig carcasses had been found either floating in the river, along its banks, or seemingly thrown into bushes nearby. A total of 233 barges have been searching in the waterway, according to a statement by the Shanghai government. There is growing concern among Shanghainese citizens regarding the quality of their tap water...

New Study By Autism Research Group And CARD Demonstrates That Children With Autism Can Learn To Stand Up To Bullies

Date: Mar-13-2013
Autism Research Group, along with the Center for Autism and Related Disorders, published a study in the current issue of the journal "Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders" on teaching children with autism to detect and respond to lies told by others attempting to bully them. A research study by Autism Research Group (ARG) and Center for Autism and Related Disorders (CARD), "Teaching children with autism to detect and respond to deceptive statements," finds that children with autism can learn to detect when others are lying to them...