Health News

Observer Bias High In Clinical Trials With Nonblinded Outcome

Date: Jan-30-2013
A new study of randomized clinical trials found significant observer bias toward a more beneficial treatment effect in nonblinded trials when the researcher knew the treatment being given to the participant. The study is published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). "Nonblinded assessors of subjective measurement scales outcomes in randomized clinical trials tended to generate substantially biased effect sizes," writes Dr. Asbjørn Hróbjartsson, The Nordic Cochrane Centre, Rigshospitalet Department, Copenhagen, Denmark, with coauthors...

The Distress Of Constipation In Seniors

Date: Jan-30-2013
For seniors who are constipated, the use of polyethylene glycol and lactulose are effective, according to a review of current treatments published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). The article reviews the latest evidence on the efficacy and safety of treatments to help doctors treat their patients. Constipation, which increases with age, is a common complaint in seniors that can have serious health consequences and affect quality of life. Excessive straining in frail people can cause fainting and the risk of injury from falling or restrict blood flow to the heart and brain...

Genes Related To Aggressive Endometrial Cancer Identified

Date: Jan-30-2013
In a major breakthrough for uterine serous carcinoma (USC) - a chemo-resistant, aggressive form of endometrial cancer, Yale researchers have defined the genetic landscape of USC tumors, findings that point to new treatment opportunities. The collaborative team - which included researchers with expertise in gynecological cancer, genomics, and computational biology - identified a number of new genes that are frequently mutated in USC. The results of this comprehensive genetic analysis of USC are published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) online early edition...

Spontaneous Synchronization In Primates May Shed Light On Human Behavioral Dysfunction

Date: Jan-30-2013
Japanese researchers show for the first time that primates modify their body movements to be in tune with others, just like humans do. Humans unconsciously modify their movements to be in synchrony with their peers. For example, we adapt our pace to walk in step or clap in unison at the end of a concert. This phenomenon is thought to reflect bonding and facilitate human interaction. Researchers from the RIKEN Brain Science Institute report that pairs of macaque monkeys also spontaneously coordinate their movements to reach synchrony...

Patients With Diabetes, Cancer To Benefit From Slow-Release 'Jelly' Delivery System

Date: Jan-30-2013
Duke University biomedical engineers have developed a new delivery system that overcomes the shortcomings of a promising class of peptide drugs - very small proteins - for treating diseases such as diabetes and cancer. There are more than 40 peptide drugs approved for use in humans and more than 650 are being tested in clinical studies. One example is the hormone insulin, a peptide that regulates the metabolism of carbohydrates in the body and is used as a drug to treat diabetes. Despite their effectiveness, peptide drugs cannot achieve their full potential for a number of reasons...

Report Invaluable To All Those Involved In Planning, Managing And Delivering Percutaneous Coronary Interventional Procedures

Date: Jan-30-2013
The 2011 annual report of the National Audit of Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI) highlights the significant progress within hospitals to expand PCI services to treat more patients with acute coronary syndromes. PCI mechanically improves blood flow to the heart and can be used to relieve the symptoms of angina, prevent and treat heart attacks. When used to treat heart attack patients, the procedure is called primary PCI...

Study Identifies Potential Therapeutic Target To Treat Autism, Schizophrenia, And Epilepsy

Date: Jan-30-2013
Synapse development is promoted by a variety of cell adhesion molecules that connect neurons and organize synaptic proteins. Many of these adhesion molecules are linked to neurodevelopmental disorders; mutations in neuroligin and neurexin proteins, for example, are associated with autism and schizophrenia. According to a study in The Journal of Cell Biology, another family of proteins linked to these disorders regulates the function of neuroligins and neurexins in order to suppress the development of inhibitory synapses...

The Sexual Revolution May Have Been Launched, Not By 'The Pill' But By Penicillin

Date: Jan-30-2013
The rise in risky, non-traditional sexual relations that marked the swinging '60s actually began as much as a decade earlier, during the conformist '50s, suggests an analysis recently published by the Archives of Sexual Behavior. "It's a common assumption that the sexual revolution began with the permissive attitudes of the 1960s and the development of contraceptives like the birth control pill," notes Emory University economist Andrew Francis, who conducted the analysis...

Surprising Organization Revealed By New Look At Cell Membrane

Date: Jan-30-2013
Sight would dramatically alter a blind man's understanding of an elephant, according to the old story. Now, a look directly at a cell surface is changing our understanding of cell membrane organization. Using a completely new approach to imaging cell membranes, a study by researchers from the University of Illinois, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the National Institutes of Health revealed some surprising relationships among molecules within cell membranes. Led by Mary Kraft, a U. of I...

Modifying Existing Cells In The Eye May One Day Restore Vision

Date: Jan-30-2013
Doctors may one day treat some forms of blindness by altering the genetic program of the light-sensing cells of the eye, according to scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Working in mice with retinitis pigmentosa, a disease that causes gradual blindness, the researchers reprogrammed the cells in the eye that enable night vision. The change made the cells more similar to other cells that provide sight during daylight hours and prevented degeneration of the retina, the light-sensing structure in the back of the eye...