Health News

Possible Link Between High Vitamin D Levels In Expectant Mothers And Increased Infant Allergy Risks

Date: Mar-02-2013
Pregnant women should avoid taking vitamin D supplements. Supplementation appears to raise the risk of children developing a food allergy after birth. This was the conclusion drawn from a new survey carried out by the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research and the Martin Luther University in Halle-Wittenberg in Germany which was published in the medical journal Allergy. Vitamin D has always had a good reputation: it strengthens bones, protects against infections particularly during the cold winter months and aids the nervous and muscular systems...

Factors That Impact Adolescent Mental Health

Date: Mar-02-2013
Research indicates that half of all lifetime cases of mental illness begin by age 14, well before adulthood. Three new studies investigate the cognitive, genetic and environmental factors that may contribute to mental health disorders in adolescence. The studies are published in Psychological Science and Clinical Psychological Science, journals of the Association for Psychological Science. Social-Information-Processing Patterns Mediate the Impact of Preventive Intervention on Adolescent Antisocial Behavior Kenneth A...

Most Patients Found To Have A Successful Second Facelift 10 Years After The First

Date: Mar-02-2013
Performed an average of a decade after initial facelift surgery, a "secondary" facelift can achieve similarly lasting results with a low complication rate, according to a paper in the March issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery®, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS). Dr. Rod J. Rohrich and colleagues of University of Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, report their 20-year experience with secondary facelift surgery, or "rhytidectomy...

Potential Cell Therapy For Bowel Disease

Date: Mar-02-2013
Researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center and colleagues have identified a special population of adult stem cells in bone marrow that have the natural ability to migrate to the intestine and produce intestinal cells, suggesting their potential to restore healthy tissue in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Up to 1 million Americans have IBD, which is characterized by frequent diarrhea and abdominal pain...

New Angle To Combat Malignant Brain Tumors In Children

Date: Mar-02-2013
A medulloblastoma is a malignant brain tumor that occurs primarily in children and is currently untreatable. Peter Carmeliet and his team (VIB-KU Leuven) joined forces with scientists at Massachusetts General Hospital in Harvard to study the role of the placental growth factor (PIGF) in the growth of this brain tumor. They demonstrated that blocking PIGF inhibits the growth and metastasis of this cancer. This creates hope for a new therapy for the treatment of children with a medulloblastoma, with fewer side effects than the current treatments...

Clinical Trial Results Of The Artificial Pancreas Project, Designed To Provide A Real Solution For Patients With Diabetes

Date: Mar-02-2013
The clinical trial was performed in three academic centers: the Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel, the University Children's Hospital in Slovenia and the Kinderkrankenhaus AUF DER BULT in Germany. A publication in the February 28th issue of the New England Journal of Medicine reports results of a clinical study with an automated artificial pancreas performed for the first time outside a hospital during a diabetes camp...

Medtronic Announces CE Mark For Engagertm Transcatheter Valve

Date: Mar-02-2013
New Valve Provides Transapical Option for Physicians Treating Patients with Aortic Stenosis Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT) have announced CE (Conformité Européenne) Mark of the Engager Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI) System with transapical delivery catheter to treat patients with severe aortic stenosis who are at high or extreme risk for surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR). The new valve demonstrated positive clinical outcomes in its European Pivotal Trial...

New Model Could Lead To Improved Treatment For Early Stage Alzheimer's

Date: Mar-02-2013
Researchers at the University of Florida and The Johns Hopkins University have developed a line of genetically altered mice that model the earliest stages of Alzheimer's disease. This model may help scientists identify new therapies to provide relief to patients who are beginning to experience symptoms. The researchers report their findings in the current issue of The Journal of Neuroscience...

Rapid, Point-Of-Care Tests For Syphilis: The Future Of Diagnosis

Date: Mar-02-2013
Syphilis is on the rise worldwide and there is an urgent need for reliable and rapid screening, particularly for people who live in areas where access to health care is limited. An international research team, led by scientists at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC) in Montreal, has demonstrated that rapid and point-of-care tests (POC) for syphilis are as accurate as conventional laboratory tests...

First Lady Michelle Obama Announces Funding Opportunity For Schools To Implement Innovative Programs Targeting Childhood Obesity

Date: Mar-02-2013
NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center's CHALK/Just Move Program Is Among Highlighted Programs NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center's CHALK/Just Move program is one of three programs selected by ChildObesity180, a national organization comprising public, nonprofit, academic, and private-sector leaders, for its Active Schools Acceleration Project (ASAP)...