Health News

Botox For Overactive Bladder Treatment Approved By FDA

Date: Jan-21-2013
Expanded use of Botox (onabotulinumtoxinA) for the treatment of overactive bladder in adults who did not respond well to anticholinergics has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Anticholinergics are a class of medications that oppose the actions of acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter. These medications inhibit the transmission of parasympathetic nerve impulses; they reduce spasms of smooth muscles, such as the muscles in the bladder...

Novel Cancer Stem Cell-Targeting Drug Has Potential To Combat Hard-To-Reach Leukemia Stem Cells Responsible For Relapses

Date: Jan-21-2013
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have discovered that hard-to-reach, drug-resistant leukemia stem cells (LSCs) that overexpress multiple pro-survival protein forms are sensitive - and thus vulnerable - to a novel cancer stem cell-targeting drug currently under development. The findings, published in Cell Stem Cell, open the possibility that diseases like chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and some solid tumor cancers might - in combination with other therapies - be more effectively treated with this drug, and with a lower chance of relapse...

A Molecular Mechanism For Generation Of Large Force Inside Cells

Date: Jan-21-2013
To live is to move. You strike to swat that irritable mosquito, which skilfully evades the hand of death. How did that happen? Who moved your hand, and what saved the mosquito? Enter the Molecular Motors, nanoscale protein-machines in the muscles of your hand and wings of the mosquito. You need these motors to swat mosquitoes, blink your eyes, walk, eat, drink... just name it. Millions of motors tug as a team within your muscles, and you swat the mosquito. This is teamwork at its exquisite best...

Migrant Farmworker Camps Often Have Inadequate Food Facilities, Could Lead To Illness

Date: Jan-21-2013
Farmworkers are at potential risk from food and waterborne illnesses because of the condition of cooking and eating facilities available to them, according to a new study from Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. Researchers from Wake Forest Baptist are the first to evaluate cooking and eating facilities in migrant farmworker camps to compare against established housing regulations. They found that the facilities fail to comply with regulations in a substantial number of camps...

The Immune System Interacts With Feeding Pathways During Intestinal Inflammation, Worm Infestation

Date: Jan-21-2013
Scientists from The University of Manchester have discovered that weight loss plays an important role in the body's response to fighting off intestinal worms. The findings have been published in the journal PLOS Pathogens and show that the immune system hijacks the natural feeding pathways causing weight loss. This then drives the defense mechanisms down the correct pathway to expel the worms. Nearly one quarter of the world's population is infected with gastrointestinal parasites. These prevalent infections often result in a period of reduced appetite resulting in weight loss...

New Insights On Leukemia From Study Of Cancer Cell Metabolism

Date: Jan-21-2013
University of Rochester Medical Center scientists have proposed a new reason why acute myeloid leukemia, one of the most aggressive cancers, is so difficult to cure: a subset of cells that drive the disease appear to have a much slower metabolism than most other tumors cells. The slower metabolism protects leukemia cells in many important ways and allows them to survive better - but the team also found an experimental drug tailored to this unique metabolic status and has begun testing its ability to attack the disease, URMC researchers report in the online edition of Cell Stem Cell...

Body Clock Synchronisation Studied In 'Jet-Lagged' Fruit Flies

Date: Jan-21-2013
New research led by a team at Queen Mary, University of London, has found evidence of how daily changes in temperature affect the fruit fly's internal clock. "A wide range of organisms, including insects and humans, have evolved an internal clock to regulate daily patterns of behaviour, such as sleep, appetite, and attention," explains Professor Ralf Stanewsky, senior study author from Queen Mary's School of Biological and Chemical Sciences...

Multi Tasking And Age Related Changes To The Brain

Date: Jan-21-2013
The pattern of blood flow in the prefrontal cortex in the brains alters with age during multi-tasking, finds a new study in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Neuroscience. Increased blood volume, measured using oxygenated haemoglobin (Oxy-Hb) increased at the start of multitasking in all age groups. But to perform the same tasks, healthy older people had a higher and more sustained increase in Oxy-Hb than younger people...

Doggy Database Aims To Define The Health Of Our Pets

Date: Jan-21-2013
Using data collected about Labrador Retrievers, research published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Veterinary Research is beginning to quantify the health, illnesses, and veterinary care of dogs. The UK is a nation of pet lovers - but what do we know about the health of our pets? To date the long term (longitudinal) study of canine diseases has been patchy, relying on information from referral centers and details about pet illnesses which are not reported to a vet have never been studied before...

Researchers Report Potential New Treatment For Some Types Of Colon And Gastric Cancers

Date: Jan-21-2013
Researchers have identified a complex of proteins that promotes the growth of some types of colon and gastric cancers, and shown that medications that block the function of this complex have the potential to be developed into a new treatment for these diseases. The complex of proteins, known as mTorc1 (mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1), has previously been implicated in the development of some other cancers but this is the first time it has been shown to promote the growth of colon and gastric cancers that are associated with inflammation...