Health News

Fighting Triple-Negative Breast Cancer With The Help Of Vitamin D

Date: Jan-24-2013
In research published in The Journal of Cell Biology, a team led by Susana Gonzalo, Ph.D., assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Saint Louis University, has discovered a molecular pathway that contributes to triple-negative breast cancer, an often deadly and treatment resistant form of cancer that tends to strike younger women. In addition, Gonzalo and her team identified vitamin D and some protease inhibitors as possible new therapies and discovered a set of three biomarkers that can help to identify patients who could benefit from the treatment...

Medulloblastoma Spurred On By Oxygen-Free Energy Designed To Fuel Brain Development

Date: Jan-24-2013
The metabolic process which fuels the growth of many cancers has its origins in normal brain growth finds a new study published in BioMed Central's open access journal Cancer & Metabolism. Using knock-out mice the study shows that interfering with Hexokinase-2 (Hk2), an enzyme integral to glucose metabolism, reduces the aggressiveness of medulloblastoma, the most common malignant brain tumor in children, and allows long term survival of mice. Most cells only convert glucose to lactate in the absence of oxygen, for example, during a short burst of intensive exercise (anaerobic glycolysis)...

New Drug Target For Her-2 Related Breast Cancer

Date: Jan-24-2013
Research led by Dr. Suresh Alahari, the Fred Brazda Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans and its Stanley S. Scott Cancer Center, details exactly how the Her2 cancer gene promotes the progression and spread of breast cancer cells. The inactivation of a tumor suppression gene called Nischarin is among the mechanisms identified. The findings provide a new therapeutic target to block the function of Her2. The research was published in Cancer Research, OnlineFirst. About 30% of breast cancers are positive for the Her2 oncogene...

In X-Linked Myotubular Myopathy, Enzyme Replacement Therapy Shows Promising Results

Date: Jan-24-2013
A collaborative research team including a Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) pediatric neuropathologist successfully mitigated some of the effects of a muscular disease by using a new targeted enzyme replacement therapy strategy from 4s3 Bioscience. The findings are published in the January edition of Human and Molecular Genetics,* X-linked myotubular myopathy (XLMTM) is a severe muscle disease caused by an absence of a protein called myotubularin. There is currently no treatment for this disorder, and most patients die in infancy or childhood...

Proposed DSM-5 Changes To Assessment Of Alcohol Problems

Date: Jan-24-2013
Proposed changes to the upcoming fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) will affect the criteria used to assess alcohol problems. One change would collapse the two diagnoses of alcohol abuse (AA) and alcohol dependence (AD) into a single diagnosis called alcohol use disorder (AUD). A second change would remove "legal problems," and a third would add a criterion of "craving." A study of the potential consequences of these changes has found they are unlikely to significantly change the prevalence of diagnoses...

Different, Complex Pathways Involved In Alcohol Consumption From Adolescence To Adulthood

Date: Jan-24-2013
Adolescence is often a time of novelty seeking and risk taking, including the initiation of drinking. While heavy drinking that begins in adolescence can lead to problematic alcohol use later in life, other risk factors are also involved in trajectories of alcohol use that may develop. A study of factors predicting alcohol use and patterns of use over time has identified six distinct trajectories that concern level of alcohol use, rate of increase in use during early adolescence, and persistence of use into adulthood...

Language Skills At 1 Year Predicted By Brain Structure In Infancy

Date: Jan-24-2013
Using a brain-imaging technique that examines the entire infant brain, researchers have found that the anatomy of certain brain areas - the hippocampus and cerebellum - can predict children's language abilities at 1 year of age. The University of Washington study is the first to associate these brain structures with future language skills. The results are published in the January issue of the journal Brain and Language...

Fertility May Be Affected By Postpartum Hemorrhage

Date: Jan-24-2013
First pregnancies complicated by postpartum haemorrhage (PPH) have no detrimental effect on future fertility but women who have caesarean sections at the time of PPH are less likely to conceive again, finds a new study published in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. There has been a rise in the overall rate of PPH (where blood loss is 500ml) in the UK, due to increases in maternal risk factors and in the number of caesarean sections performed. Women who undergo caesarean section deliveries are more likely to suffer PPH than vaginal deliveries (59% vs 21%)...

GP Judgement Not Enough To Accurately Diagnose Cases Of Pneumonia

Date: Jan-23-2013
Pneumonia cannot be accurately diagnosed solely on a doctor's analysis of symptoms and patient history, according to new findings. A new study, published online today ahead of print in the European Respiratory Journal, found that a majority of pneumonia cases could not be accurately diagnosed by a doctor's judgement alone, compared to a chest radiograph. The major symptoms of pneumonia include acute cough and other lower respiratory tract symptoms, such as shortness of breath. Most people showing these symptoms are diagnosed with acute bronchitis, and only a minority with pneumonia...

Vanda's Sleep Disorder Drug Tasimelteon Shows Promise

Date: Jan-23-2013
The experimental drug tasimelteon has passed it's second late-stage trial with surprisingly good results, showing the effectiveness of the drug in treating a rare condition called non-24-hour sleep-wake disorder (non-24). Non-24 is a serious cicardian rhythm sleep disorder characterized by hourly delays in sleep onset and wake times due to a person's body clock not properly adjusting to the light/dark cycle. This results in people being unable to sleep at night and then feeling exhausted and tired during the day...