Health News

Bringing Mars/Venus Theories About Men And Women Down To Earth

Date: Feb-06-2013
For decades, popular writers have entertained readers with the premise that men and women are so psychologically dissimilar they could hail from entirely different planets. But a new study* shows that it's time for the Mars/Venus theories about the sexes to come back to Earth. From empathy and sexuality to science inclination and extroversion, statistical analysis of 122 different characteristics involving 13,301 individuals shows that men and women, by and large, do not fall into different groups...

Sophisticated Modeling And Biotechnology Used To Weaken Cells By Fouling Their Metabolic Machinery In War Against Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria

Date: Feb-06-2013
A team of scientists just won a battle in the war against antibiotic-resistant "superbugs" -- and only time will tell if their feat is akin to the bacterial "Battle of Gettysburg" that turns the tide toward victory. They won this particular battle, or at least gained some critical intelligence, not by designing a new antibiotic, but by interfering with the metabolism of the bacterial "bugs" - E. coli in this case - and rendering them weaker in the face of existing antibiotics, as reported in Nature Biotechnology...

In Mouse Model Of Usher Syndrome, Researchers Develop Rx For Deafness, Impaired Balance

Date: Feb-06-2013
Jennifer Lentz, PhD, Assistant Professor of Otorhinolaryngology & Biocommunications and a member of the Neuroscience Center of Excellence at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, is the lead author of a paper reporting that hearing and balance can be rescued by a new therapy in a mouse model of Usher syndrome (Usher) that contains the mutation responsible for type 1C Usher. The results provide the first evidence that congenital deafness can be effectively overcome by treatment early in development to correct gene expression...

Mary Ingalls (Little House Books) Probably Did Not Go Blind From Scarlet Fever

Date: Feb-06-2013
In the beloved American stories of the Little House on the Prairie, author Laura Ingalls Wilder writes emotionally about how scarlet fever robs her big sister Mary of her sight. But in a new study published in the journal Pediatrics, University of Michigan researchers found it is likely scarlet fever had nothing to do with Mary's blindness. Senior author Beth A. Tarini, M.D., and her co-authors used evidence from newspaper reports, Laura Ingalls' memories and school registries to conclude Mary's blindness was probably caused by viral meningoencephalitis...

Evidence-Based Guidelines For Automated Preschool Vision Screening

Date: Feb-06-2013
The Vision Screening Committee of the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus, the professional organization for pediatric eye care, has revised its guidelines for automated preschool vision screening based on new evidence. The new guidelines are published in the February issue of the Journal of AAPOS. Approximately 2% of children develop amblyopia, sometimes known as "lazy eye" - a loss of vision in one or both eyes caused by conditions that impair the normal visual input during the period of development of vision...

More 'Activated' Patients Had Substantially Lower Health Care Costs

Date: Feb-06-2013
When it comes to health care, patients with the motivation, knowledge, skills and confidence to manage their own health have better health outcomes and incur fewer health care costs. Those are the findings of a study led by Judith Hibbard, a professor emerita in the Department of Planning, Public Policy and Management at the University of Oregon...

Intensive Control Activities Can Control Tuberculosis In Nunavut, Canada

Date: Feb-06-2013
A combined strategy is needed to combat tuberculosis in Nunavut where the rate is 66 times higher than in the general Canadian population, states a commentary in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). Nunavut, Canada's eastern territory in the north, has seen a dramatic increase in the disease since 1997. Previous efforts to eradicate the disease focused on early identification and treatment of people as well as treatment of latent cases. This intense approach helped decrease the number of cases, but was not continued...

The Immune System Can Use Melanoma's Own Proteins To Kill Off Cancer Cells

Date: Feb-06-2013
Though a small group of proteins, the family called Ras controls a large number of cellular functions, including cell growth, differentiation, and survival. And because the protein has a hand in cellular division, mutated Ras, which can be detected in one-third of all tumors, contributes to many human cancers by allowing for the rapid growth of diseased cells. Now Prof. Yoel Kloog of Tel Aviv University's Department of Neurobiology, along with Dr. Itamar Goldstein of TAU's Sackler Faculty of Medicine and the Sheba Medical Center and their students Helly Vernitsky and Dr...

Discovery Of The Remains Of King Richard III Confirmed By University Of Leicester

Date: Feb-06-2013
At a specially convened media conference, experts from across the University unanimously identified the remains discovered in Leicester city centre as being those of the last Plantagenet king who died in 1485. Rigorous scientific investigations confirmed the strong circumstantial evidence that the skeleton found at the site of the Grey Friars church in Leicester was indeed that of King Richard III. University of Leicester researchers have revealed a wealth of evidence - including DNA analysis, radiocarbon dating and skeletal examination - proving the identity of the skeleton...

Ability To Deliver Dried Live Vaccine To Skin Without Traditional Needle Demonstrated; Could Aid In Global Vaccine Challenge For HIV, Malaria

Date: Feb-06-2013
Scientists at King's College London have demonstrated the ability to deliver a dried live vaccine to the skin without a traditional needle, and shown for the first time that this technique is powerful enough to enable specialised immune cells in the skin to kick-start the immunising properties of the vaccine...