Health News

Women With Brain Aneurysms At No Greater Risk Of Rupture During Pregnancy And Delivery

Date: Feb-12-2013
For women with aneurysms involving the brain blood vessels, pregnancy and delivery don't appear to increase the risk of aneurysm rupture, reports a paper in the February issue of Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health. The study also finds that women with known, unruptured aneurysms have a very high rate of cesarean delivery - which isn't supported by evidence and "may not be necessary," according to Dr. Brian L...

Better Ways To Treat Nerve Compression Disorder 'Neurogenic Thoracic Outlet Syndrome'

Date: Feb-12-2013
Two new studies from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggest ways to improve surgical treatment for a debilitating condition caused by compressed nerves in the neck and shoulder. The condition, neurogenic thoracic outlet syndrome, causes pain, numbness or tingling in the shoulder, arm or hand and is perhaps best known for affecting baseball pitchers and other elite athletes. Patients often describe pain and tension in the neck and upper back, numbness and tingling in the fingers, headaches and perceived muscle weakness in the affected limb...

Epigenetic Investigation Of Mice Can Contribute To Early Diagnosis Of Cancer In Humans

Date: Feb-12-2013
Tumourigenesis is driven by genetic alterations and by changes in the epigenome, for instance by the addition of methyl groups to cytosine bases in the DNA. A deeper understanding of the interaction between the genetic and epigenetic mechanisms is critical for the selection of tumour biomarkers and for the future development of therapies. Human tumour specimens and cell lines however contain a plethora of genetic and epigenetic changes, which complicate data analysis. In contrast, certain mouse tumour models contain only a single genetic mutation and allow the analysis of nascent tumours...

Infusions Of Regulatory T Cells Prevent Rheumatoid Arthritis In Mice,

Date: Feb-12-2013
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute scientists have demonstrated a new strategy for treating autoimmune disease that successfully blocked the development of rheumatoid arthritis in a mouse model. They say it holds promise for improved treatment of arthritis and other autoimmune disorders in people. The scientists report in the Journal of Clinical Investigation that infusing a highly specific type of cell that regulates immune responses into arthritis-prone mice shut down the cascade of inflammation that damages tissues and joints...

Research Reviewed On Canine Cranium Development Suggests Future Research And How It May Inform Human Skull Development

Date: Feb-12-2013
Man's best friend may touch our hearts with their empathy, companionship, playfulness and loyalty, and they may also lead us to a deeper understanding of our heads. In the article, "The Genetics of Canine Skull Shape Variation," in the February issue of the Genetics Society of America's journal, Genetics, Jeffrey J. Schoenebeck, PhD, and Elaine A...

Comparison Between Physicians' Beliefs About The Causes Of Obesity And Provision Of Nutritional Counseling

Date: Feb-12-2013
How physicians view the causes of obesity may impact the advice they give their patients. The findings are from a new study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health who compared the relationship between primary care physicians' beliefs about the causes of obesity with the frequency of nutritional counseling. They found that physicians who believed over consumption of food to be a major contributor to obesity were significantly more likely to counsel their patients to modify nutritional habits...

Marrying Genome-wide And Proteome-wide Screening Helps Determine Susceptibility In A Wide Variety Of Diseases

Date: Feb-12-2013
For the first time, scientists have combined genomic and proteomic analysis of blood plasma to enhance identification of genetically regulated protein traits. This could be applied to any large association study of civilization diseases where blood plasma has been collected, vastly improving a clinician's ability to identify disease susceptibility in individuals and populations. This advance is published in the February 2013 issue of the journal Genetics...

Genetics Journal Highlights For February 2013

Date: Feb-12-2013
Listed below are the selected highlights for the February 2013 issue of the Genetics Society of America's journal, Genetics. The February issue is available online.*Genetics, Vol. 193, February 2013, Copyright © 2013. ISSUE HIGHLIGHTS Population and Evolutionary Genetics Patterns of transcriptome divergence in the male accessory gland of two closely related species of field crickets, pp. 501-513 Jose A. Andrés, Erica L. Larson, Steven M. Bogdanowicz, and Richard G...

Mechanical Clot Removal Compared To Standard Medical Therapy For Severe Stroke

Date: Feb-12-2013
Results of the first randomized controlled study to evaluate a procedure that removes blood clots in the brain from patients experiencing severe strokes was presented at the International Stroke Conference in Honolulu, Hawaii. The study also evaluates if imaging techniques were helpful in identifying patients who potentially would benefit most from clot removal. In addition to the presentation, the full study, led by Chelsea Kidwell, M.D...

Rooting Out Recurrent Breast Cancer

Date: Feb-12-2013
Due to chemotherapy resistance and a high rate of relapse, triple negative cancers are among the most difficult breast cancers to treat. In this issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, researchers led by Carlos Arteaga at Vanderbilt University identified a protein, TGF-β, that is highly expressed in triple negative breast cancer cells after chemotherapy. In a mouse model of breast cancer, TGF-β both diverted cells down a path to becoming cancerous and allowed for cancer to come back after treatment. Importantly, loss of TGF-β prevented tumor recurrence in mice...