Health News

CT Texture Analysis Of Tumors May Be A Valuable Biomarker In Localized Esophageal Cancer

Date: Feb-12-2013
CT texture analysis of primary tumors may be a potential imaging biomarker in localized esophageal cancer following neoadjuvant chemotherapy, according to research presented at the 2013 Cancer Imaging and Radiation Therapy Symposium. This Symposium is sponsored by the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) and the Radiological Society of North American (RSNA)...

Patients At End Of Life Need Better Emotional Support, Study Suggests

Date: Feb-12-2013
Patients approaching the end of life often do not receive adequate care for their emotional needs, according to a study. Most people who die from illnesses other than cancer never have a conversation with medical staff about how they might be cared for in their last months, researchers found. The team from the University of Edinburgh says this lack of planning and support can place unnecessary stress on the patients' families...

C-Sections Might Not Be Needed For Pregnant Women Who Have Unruptured Brain Aneurysms

Date: Feb-12-2013
Cesarean sections are used almost three times as often to deliver the babies of women who have an unruptured brain aneurysm - a blood-filled ballooning of a blood vessel - as for other women. But that extra precaution might not be necessary, say researchers at the University of Florida. That's because the risk of an aneurysm rupturing during pregnancy or delivery is not any higher than for women who are not pregnant, the researchers found in a study published in the February issue of the journal Neurosurgery...

Scientists Find Key To Growth Of "Bad" Bacteria In Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Date: Feb-12-2013
Research is the first to shed light on how harmful gut bacteria thrive in the intestine Scientists have long puzzled over why "bad" bacteria such as E. coli can thrive in the guts of those with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), causing serious diarrhea. Now UC Davis researchers have discovered the answer - one that may be the first step toward finding new and better treatments for IBD. The researchers discovered a biological mechanism by which harmful bacteria grow, edge out beneficial bacteria and damage the gut in IBD. This new understanding, published in the Feb...

Inflammatory Biomarker Levels May Be Associated With Increased Risk Of Macular Edema

Date: Feb-12-2013
Rajeev H. Muni, M.D., M.Sc., F.R.C.S.C., of the University of Toronto, Canada, and colleagues examined inflammatory biomarkers and the risk of diabetic retinopathy in the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial population (Online First). Diabetic retinopathy is a leading cause of vision loss in working-age individuals in North America and most of the vision loss is attributed to diabetic macular edema (a collection of fluid in the eye)...

Association Between High-Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein Levels And Risk Of Macular Degeneration

Date: Feb-12-2013
Vinod P. Mitta, M.D., M.P.H., of the Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, and colleagues investigated the relationship between high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) and the future risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in U.S. men and women (Online First). Inflammation plays a role in the incidence and progression of AMD, the leading cause of blindness among older adults in the United States, according to the study background. The study was an analysis of prospective nested case-control data from the Women's Health Study and four other study groups...

Study Examines Seizures, Epilepsy In Children With Intracerebral Hemorrhage

Date: Feb-12-2013
In a study conducted at three tertiary care pediatric hospitals, Lauren A. Beslow, M.D., M.S.C.E., of the of the Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Conn., and colleagues examined the incidence and risk factors for seizures and epilepsy in children with spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) (Online First). Seizures are thought to be a common presenting symptom in newborns and children with spontaneous ICH, but few data are available regarding the causes of acute symptomatic seizures or the risk for later epilepsy, according to the study background...

Smoking Among U.S. Adults With Mental Illness 70 Percent Higher Than For Adults With No Mental Illness

Date: Feb-12-2013
Studies show need for enhanced prevention and quitting efforts for people with mental illness Adults with some form of mental illness have a smoking rate 70 percent higher than adults with no mental illness, according to a Vital Signs report released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in collaboration with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The report finds that 36 percent of adults with a mental illness are cigarette smokers, compared with only 21 percent of adults who do not have a mental illness...

Amlexanox May Point The Way To New Treatments For Diabetes And Obesity

Date: Feb-12-2013
Researchers at the University of Michigan's Life Sciences Institute have found that amlexanox, an off-patent drug currently prescribed for the treatment of asthma and other uses, also reverses obesity, diabetes and fatty liver in mice. The findings from the lab of Alan Saltiel, the Mary Sue Coleman director of the Life Sciences Institute, are published online in the journal Nature Medicine...

Identification Of New Genes For Short-Sightedness

Date: Feb-12-2013
An international team of scientists led by King's College London has discovered 24 new genes that cause refractive errors and myopia (short-sightedness). Myopia is a major cause of blindness and visual impairment worldwide, and currently there is no cure. These findings, published today in the journal Nature Genetics, reveal genetic causes of the trait, which could lead to finding better treatments or ways of preventing the condition in the future. Thirty per cent of Western populations and up to 80 per cent of Asian people suffer from myopia...