Health News

Rise In Lung Cancer Deaths Among European Women

Date: Feb-14-2013
Lung cancer is likely to overtake breast cancer as the main cause of cancer death among European women by the middle of this decade, according to new research published in the cancer journal Annals of Oncology [1]. In the UK and Poland it has already overtaken breast cancer as the main cause of cancer deaths in women. The study by researchers in Italy and Switzerland predicts that just over 1.3 million people will die from cancer (737,747 men and 576,489 women) in the 27 countries of the European Union in 2013...

Novel Protein Discovered That May Help Detect Lou Gehrig's Disease And Dementia

Date: Feb-14-2013
Researchers at Mayo Clinic have discovered an abnormal protein that accumulates in the brains of many patients affected with two common neurodegenerative disorders - amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease, and frontotemporal dementia. They say their findings have uncovered a potentially new therapeutic target and biomarker that would allow clinicians to confirm diagnosis of the diseases. The study is published online in the journal Neuron...

Protein Uncovered That Prevents Light-Induced Retinal Degeneration

Date: Feb-14-2013
Research led by Minghao Jin, PhD, Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology and Neuroscience at the LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans Neuroscience Center of Excellence, has found a protein that protects retinal photoreceptor cells from degeneration caused by light damage. This protein may provide a new therapeutic target for both an inherited retinal degenerative disease and age-related macular degeneration. The paper is published in the February 13, 2013 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience. The visual cycle is essential for regenerating visual pigments that sense light for vision...

Turning Off The Ability To Feel Cold In Mice Has Implications For Pain Research

Date: Feb-14-2013
USC neuroscientists have isolated chills at a cellular level, identifying the sensory network of neurons in the skin that relays the sensation of cold. David McKemy, associate professor of neurobiology in the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, and his team managed to selectively shut off the ability to sense cold in mice while still leaving them able to sense heat and touch...

Genetic Mutation Can Disrupt Serotonin Signaling And Lead To Behavior Characteristic Of Autism

Date: Feb-14-2013
Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified a genetic mutation that may underlie common behaviors seen in some people with autism, such as difficulty communicating and resistance to change. An error in the gene, CELF6, leads to disturbances in serotonin, a chemical that relays messages in the brain and has long been suspected to be involved in autism...

Ability To Tune Gene Activity Will Permit Refined Research For Drug Resistance, Cancer

Date: Feb-14-2013
Scientists who built a synthetic gene circuit that allowed for the precise tuning of a gene's expression in yeast have now refined this new research tool to work in human cells, according to research published online in Nature Communications. "Using this circuit, you can turn a gene from completely off to completely on and anywhere between those two extremes in each cell at once. It's a nice tool if you want to know what happens at intermediate levels of gene expression...

Birth Control Pills The Most Acceptable Form Of Contraception By Teen Girls According To Parents

Date: Feb-14-2013
Parents are more accepting of their teenage daughters using birth control pills than any other form of contraception, including condoms, according to a recent study from UC San Francisco (UCSF). The most effective contraceptive methods, the implant - a matchstick-sized rod that is inserted in the arm to prevent pregnancy - and the intrauterine device (IUD), were acceptable to a minority of parents. Published in the February issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health, the study examined parental acceptability of different contraceptives and explored factors that influence their attitudes...

Victims And Cyberstalking Examined In New Study

Date: Feb-14-2013
Victims of cyberstalking take more self-protective measures, pay higher out-of-pocket costs to combat the problem and experience greater fear over time than traditional stalking victims, said Matt Nobles of Sam Houston State University. Nobles, along with Bradford Reyns of Weber State University, Kathleen Fox of Arizona State University and Bonnie Fisher of the University of Cincinnati, recently published "Protection Against Pursuit: A Conceptual and Empirical Comparison of Cyberstalking and Stalking Victimization Among a National Sample" in Justice Quarterly...

Recommended Vitamin D Doses The Same For African-American And Caucasian Women

Date: Feb-14-2013
African-American women battling vitamin D deficiencies need the same dose as Caucasian women to treat the condition, according to a recent study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM).. Although women with darker skin tones tend to have lower levels of the biomarker used to measure Vitamin D levels, called 25-hydroxyvitamin D or 25OHD, the study found that older African-American and Caucasian women responded in the same way when they received vitamin D supplements...

First-Born Children At Increased Risk Of Diabetes, Metabolic Disorders Later In Life

Date: Feb-14-2013
Long a source of sibling rivalry, birth order may raise the risk of first-born children developing diabetes or high blood pressure, according to a recent study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM). First-born children have greater difficulty absorbing sugars into the body and have higher daytime blood pressure than children who have older siblings, according to the study conducted at the University of Auckland's Liggins Institute in New Zealand...