Health News

News From The Annals Of Internal Medicine: Feb. 19, 2013

Date: Feb-20-2013
1. Acupuncture May be an Effective Alternative for Treating Seasonal Allergies Patients receiving acupuncture treatments for seasonal allergic rhinitis reported statistically significant improvements in symptoms and decreased use of medication compared to patients having standard treatment or sham acupuncture, but the clinical significance of the observed improvements is uncertain. Allergic rhinitis (stuffy or runny nose caused by allergies) is an extremely common condition that affects approximately 20 percent of the U.S. population...

Contaminant Levels Recommended By EU Exceeded In Some Cheeses

Date: Feb-20-2013
Researchers at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Spain) have analysed more than 60 brands of cheese commonly available in supermarkets. The concentration of organochloride contaminants in the majority of the samples was lower than levels set by European legislation, but in a few cases it was higher. The scientists recommend that an eye is kept on polychlorinated biphenyls as they are carcinogenic. The majority of these compound concentrations appeared in organic cheeses...

Hepatitis C New Study On Drug Treatment In Vivo And In Vitro

Date: Feb-20-2013
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection affects about 4.1 million in the United States and is the primary cause of liver cirrhosis and liver cancer. Current therapy against HCV is suboptimal. Daclatasvir, a direct acting antiviral (DAA) agent in development for the treatment of HCV, targets one of the HCV proteins (i.e., NS5A) and causes the fastest viral decline (within 12 hours of treatment) ever seen with anti-HCV drugs...

Infant's Skin Barrier Function Not Damaged By Baby Wash

Date: Feb-20-2013
The findings by academics at The University of Manchester, published in the Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic and Neonatal Nursing, compared Johnson's Baby Top-to-Toe wash against plain bath water on 307 newborn babies over a four week period. The findings challenge the current advice from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines, that baby wash should be avoided in the first 6 weeks after birth. Newborn skin is different to adult skin. The skin barrier on newborn babies is less mature and likely to be more vulnerable to environmental threats...

Pollution Linked To Increased Risk Of Death Among Heart Attack Patients

Date: Feb-20-2013
Heart attack survivors who are then exposed to air pollution could be at an increased risk of death, reveals a study published in the European Heart Journal.   The study is the largest of its kind to find an association between exposure to airborne particulate matter (PM) and heightened risk of patient survival following hospital admission due to myocardial infarction. According to the study, death rates among heart attack patients go up as exposure to PM2.5 increases - PM2.5 are small particles that are 2.5 micrometers (μm) in diameter or smaller...

Electronic Eye Implant Gives Hope To The Blind

Date: Feb-20-2013
Promising results have shown that blind patients have regained their sight with a sub-retinal microchip, according to the first part of the second clinical trial for the device taking place in Germany. The patients involved in the study, published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society, were blinded by retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and used the implant in and outside of their homes. Retinitis pigmentosa is one of the most common types of inherited retinal degenerations and affects nearly 1.5 million people around the world...

Length Of Biological Marker Linked To Respiratory Infection

Date: Feb-20-2013
The length of a biological marker is linked to respiratory infection in healthy adults. Individuals were more likely to develop upper respiratory infection who were administered a cold virus and had shorter telomere lengths (a structure at the end of a chromosome) in specific cells than subjects with longer telomeres. The finding came from a new study, led by Sheldon Cohen, Ph.D., of Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, and was published in JAMA. Telomeres become shorter with each cell division, where they function as protective caps to stop erosion of genomic DNA...

Vascular Development May Be An Important New Factor In Normal And Abnormal Brain Development

Date: Feb-20-2013
A new study by Columbia Engineering researchers finds that the infant brain does not control its blood flow in the same way as the adult brain. The paper, which the scientists say could change the way researchers study brain development in infants and children, is published in the February 18 Early Online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)...

Important Evidence Supporting Fibromyalgia As A Spectrum Disorder

Date: Feb-20-2013
Researchers have determined that fibromyalgia prevalence is 2.1% of the general population in Germany. Results appearing in Arthritis Care & Research, a journal published by Wiley on behalf of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR), suggest that fibromyalgia is a spectrum disorder rather than a categorical illness. Additionally, a number of fibromyalgia cases in the general population satisfy proposed criteria for physical symptom disorder - the presence of one or more physical symptoms that impair function, which cannot be explained by another clinical or psychiatric illness...

Marine Microbe Will Likely Benefit Sufferers Of Chronic Sinusitis

Date: Feb-20-2013
A team of scientists and surgeons from Newcastle are developing a new nasal spray from a marine microbe to help clear chronic sinusitis. They are using an enzyme isolated from a marine bacterium Bacillus licheniformis found on the surface of seaweed which the scientists at Newcastle University were originally researching for the purpose of cleaning the hulls of ships. Publishing in PLOS ONE, they describe how in many cases of chronic sinusitis the bacteria form a biofilm, a slimy protective barrier which can protect them from sprays or antibiotics...