Health News

Study Supports Current Screening Practices And Recommendations For Colonoscopy

Date: Mar-07-2013
A new study led by a researcher at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania adds support to current medical recommendations stating that screening colonoscopy substantially reduces an average-risk adult's likelihood of being diagnosed with advanced colorectal cancer (CRC) in either the right or left side of the colon. In recent years, colonoscopy has begun to rapidly replace sigmoidoscopy - a procedure used to detect abnormalities in the rectum and left side of the colon - despite initially limited evidence of its efficacy and higher cost...

Familial Parkinson's: Improper Protein Digestion In Neurons Identified As A Cause

Date: Mar-07-2013
Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC), with collaborators at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, have discovered how the most common genetic mutations in familial Parkinson's disease damage brain cells. The mutations block an intracellular system that normally prevents a protein called alpha-synuclein from reaching toxic levels in dopamine-producing neurons. The findings suggest that interventions aimed at enhancing this digestive system, or preventing its disruption, may prove valuable in the prevention or treatment of Parkinson's...

Imroved Understanding Of Peripheral Neuropathy

Date: Mar-07-2013
One in 25,000 people worldwide is affected by neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2), a condition where the loss of a tumour suppressor called Merlin results in multiple tumours in the brain and nervous system. Sufferers may experience 20 to 30 tumours at any one time and such numbers often lead to hearing loss, disability and eventually death. Those with NF2 may also experience peripheral neuropathy, which is when the nerves carrying messages to and from the brain and spinal column to the rest of the body do not work...

Improved Emotional Well-Being Reported By Seniors Who Play Video Games

Date: Mar-07-2013
New research from North Carolina State University finds that older adults who play video games report higher levels of emotional well-being. Researchers asked 140 people aged 63 and older how often they played video games, if at all. The study participants then took a battery of tests to assess their emotional and social well-being. 61 percent of study participants played video games at least occasionally, with 35 percent of participants saying they played at least once per week...

Gene Deletion In Mice Eliminates Obesity, Could Work For Humans

Date: Mar-07-2013
Researchers have discovered that deleting a specific gene in mice prevents them from becoming obese even on a high fat diet, a finding they believe may be replicated in humans. "When fed a diet that induces obesity these mice don't get fat," said Prof. James McManaman, Ph.D., lead author of the study and vice-chairman of research for Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. "It may be possible to duplicate this in humans using existing technology that targets this specific gene." The two-year study, funded by the National Institutes of Health and the U...

Inhibiting Protein Prevents Metastasis To Lungs In Mouse Model Of Melanoma

Date: Mar-07-2013
Researchers have identified a critical protein role in the metastasis of melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer. Inhibition of the protein known as adenosine diphosphate ribosylation factor 6 (ARF6) reduces the spread of melanoma to the lungs in mice, according to a study published in thejournal Science Signaling online, suggesting that targeting ARF6 may be an effective approach to preventing melanoma metastasis. Melanoma is the sixth most common cancer in the United States...

Decrease In User Satisfaction With Electronic Health Records Revealed By Survey Of Clinicians

Date: Mar-07-2013
Survey results just released indicate that satisfaction and usability ratings for certified electronic health records (EHRs) have decreased since 2010 among clinicians across a range of indicators. Overall, user satisfaction fell 12 percent from 2010 to 2012. Users who are "very dissatisfied" increased 10 percent during the same time period. The American College of Physicians (ACP) and AmericanEHR Partners revealed the findings in a presentation, "Challenges with Meaningful Use: EHR Satisfaction & Usability Diminishing," at the 2013 HIMSS Conference & Exhibition...

Researchers Improve Ultrasound Imaging

Date: Mar-07-2013
Ultrasound technology could soon experience a significant upgrade that would enable it to produce high-quality, high-resolution images, thanks to the development of a new key material by a team of researchers that includes a professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Texas A&M University...

Wide Variation In Cesarean Delivery Rates Found Among US Hospitals

Date: Mar-07-2013
Cesarean delivery is the most common surgery in the United States, performed on 1.67 million American women annually. Yet hospital cesarean rates vary widely according to new research from the University of Minnesota's School of Public Health. The latest study, appearing in Health Affairs, shows that cesarean delivery rates varied tenfold across U.S. hospitals, from 7.1 percent to 69.9 percent. To arrive at their results, School of Public Health researchers examined hospital discharge data from a representative sample of 593 hospitals with at least 100 births in 2009...

First Successful Blocking Of Tumor Development In A Genetic Mouse Model Of An Incurable Human Cancer

Date: Mar-07-2013
"To my knowledge, this is the first time that a mouse model of a genetically defined malignant human cancer has been generated in which the formation of the tumor from beginning to end can be monitored and in which blocking the pathway cures the mouse of the tumor," said Dr. Luis Parada, chair of the department of developmental biology at UT Southwestern and senior author of the study published in Cell and online. The study's first author is Dr. Wei Mo, a postdoctoral researcher in the department...