Health News

Copper Depletion Therapy Keeps High-Risk Triple-Negative Breast Cancer At Bay

Date: Feb-15-2013
An anti-copper drug compound that disables the ability of bone marrow cells from setting up a "home" in organs to receive and nurture migrating cancer tumor cells has shown surprising benefit in one of the most difficult-to-treat forms of cancer -- high-risk triple-negative breast cancer. The median survival for metastatic triple-negative breast cancer patients is historically nine months...

Methamphetamine Withdrawal May Lead To Brain-Related Concerns For Recovering Addicts

Date: Feb-15-2013
University of Florida researchers have found changes in the behavior and in the brains of mice in withdrawal from methamphetamine addiction. These findings may affect the way physicians treat recovering methamphetamine addicts, the researchers write in the current issue of the journal Synapse. "When people treat drug addicts, they need to know that during withdrawal, people in recovery may experience cognitive consequences," said Habibeh Khoshbouei, Ph.D., an associate professor of neuroscience and psychiatry in the UF College of Medicine. "Their brain chemistry has changed...

Novel Designed Molecules Could Stop Colon Cancer Metastasis

Date: Feb-15-2013
A Basque research consortium has managed to stop the development of colon cancer and its liver metastasis in an experimental model using mice. This breakthrough, which could open new avenues for the future treatment of these pathologies, has been achieved by creating molecules that interfere with the tumour cells adhering to other cells in the body. In this way, these molecules stop both the tumour growth and the spreading of tumour cells to other organs and their subsequent proliferation...

How To Get A Great Night's Sleep: Could Less Mean More?

Date: Feb-15-2013
If you regularly struggle to fall asleep, it might be better to try and restrict rather than extend the amount of time you spend in bed. According to the new Good-Night Guide from The Sleep Council, sleep restriction can help people who only manage limited sleep, to fall asleep faster and wake up fewer times. It's a new approach to helping problem sleepers, the idea being to build a strong association between your bed and sleep...

Bisphosphonate Treatment May Protect Bone From The Negative Effects Of Emerging Cancer Drugs

Date: Feb-15-2013
Cancer drugs should kill tumors, not encourage their spread. But new evidence suggests that an otherwise promising class of drugs may actually increase the risk of tumors spreading to bone, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The drugs, IAP antagonists, block survival signals that many cancer cells rely on to stay alive. Working in mice, the investigators found that targeting the same protein that makes tumors vulnerable to death also overactivates cells called osteoclasts, which are responsible for tearing down bone...

Development Of White Fat Cells Controlled By Long Noncoding RNAs

Date: Feb-15-2013
Whitehead Institute researchers have identified a previously unrecognized layer of genetic regulation that is necessary for the generation of undesirable white fat cells. When this regulation is disrupted, white fat cells are unable to accumulate lipid droplets or mature from their precursors. "We're trying to figure out what the mechanism is - what it takes to make fat cells," says Whitehead Founding Member Harvey Lodish, who is also a professor of biology and a professor of bioengineering at MIT...

Targets For Treatment Revealed By Study Of Cocaine Addiction

Date: Feb-15-2013
Scientists at UC Santa Barbara are researching cocaine addiction, part of a widespread problem, which, along with other addictions, costs billions of dollars in damage to individuals, families, and society. Laboratory studies at UCSB have revealed that the diminished brain function and learning impairment that result from cocaine addiction can be treated - and that learning can be restored. Karen Szumlinski, a professor in the Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences at UCSB, and her colleagues Osnat Ben-Shahar and Tod Kippin, have worked in the field of addiction for many years...

Clues To Risk Of Memory Problems After Menopause May Be Found In The Blood

Date: Feb-15-2013
New Mayo Clinic research suggests that blood may hold clues to whether post-menopausal women may be at an increased risk for areas of brain damage that can lead to memory problems and possibly increased risk of stroke. The study shows that blood's tendency to clot may contribute to areas of brain damage called white matter hyperintensities. The findings are published in the online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The study involved 95 women with an average age of 53 who recently went through menopause...

Hormone Therapy Blocks Accelerated Biological Aging, Seen In Women With Alzheimer's Risk Factor

Date: Feb-15-2013
Healthy menopausal women carrying a well-known genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's disease showed measurable signs of accelerated biological aging, a new study has found. However, in carriers who started hormone therapy at menopause and remained on that therapy, this acceleration was absent, the researchers said. Hormone therapy for non-carriers of the risk factor, a gene variant called ApoE4, had no protective effect on their biological aging...

Racial Disparities Revealed In Chronic Pain Management

Date: Feb-15-2013
Opioids are frequently prescribed for pain management in noncancer patients, but recommended clinical guidelines for monitoring effectiveness and signs of drug abuse are often not implemented. Alongside well-documented racial disparities in prescribing opioid medications for pain, researchers report racial differences in the use of recommended opioid monitoring and follow-up treatment practices. The study is published in the current issue of PAIN®...