Health News

How The Flu Virus Tells Time May Provide New Targets For Antiviral Drugs And Vaccine Designs

Date: Jan-21-2013
Scientists have discovered that the flu virus can essentially tell time, thereby giving scientists the ability to reset the virus' clock and combat it in more effective ways. According to researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, the flu knows how much time it has to multiply, infect other cells, and spread to another human being. If it leaves a cell too soon, the virus is too weak. If it leaves too late, the immune system has time to kill the virus...

Analysis Of Roe V. Wade Arrests Of And Forced Interventions On Pregnant Women

Date: Jan-20-2013
"Arrests of and Forced Interventions on Pregnant Women in the United States, 1973-2005: Implications for Women's Legal Status and Public Health," an article by Lynn M. Paltrow and Jeanne Flavin in the Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law (volume 38, issue 2), offers a groundbreaking, in-depth look at criminal and civil cases in which a woman's pregnancy was a deciding factor leading to attempted and actual deprivations of her physical liberty.  As "personhood" measures are promoted and the fortieth anniversary of Roe v...

Scientists Closer To Deciphering The Code That Controls Gene Expression

Date: Jan-20-2013
Scientists at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have made a large step towards the understanding of how human genes are regulated. In a new study, published in the journal Cell, they identified the DNA sequences that bind to over four hundred proteins that control expression of genes. This knowledge is required for understanding of how differences in genomes of individuals affect their risk to develop disease...

Over Active Enzyme Discovered In Failing Hearts

Date: Jan-20-2013
The enzyme CaM kinase II relaxes the muscle cells A certain enzyme, the CaM kinase II, keeps the cardiac muscle flexible. By transferring phosphate groups to the giant protein titin, it relaxes the muscle cells. This is reported by researchers led by Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Linke of the Institute of Physiology at the Ruhr Universität in the journal Circulation Research. In failing hearts, which don't pump enough blood around the body, the scientists found an overly active CaM kinase II. "The phosphorylation of titin could be a new starting point for the treatment of heart failure" Prof...

For Women With Pelvic Girdle Pain, Vaginal Delivery Is The Safest Option

Date: Jan-20-2013
Caesarean section increases the risk of persistent pelvic girdle pain after delivery compared with vaginal delivery, according to a new study from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. Caesarean section rates are increasing worldwide, and this trend has partly been explained by women's requests for planned caesarean section without a medical reason. Pregnancy-related pelvic girdle pain has been associated with increased preference for caesarean section and with increased planned caesarean section rates...

Effectively Treating Colorectal Cancer With Grape Seed Extract, Even As Cancer Gets More Aggressive

Date: Jan-20-2013
When the going gets tough, grape seed extract gets going: A University of Colorado Cancer Center study recently published in the journal Cancer Letters shows that the more advanced are colorectal cancer cells, the more GSE inhibits their growth and survival. On the other end of the disease spectrum, GSE leaves healthy cells alone entirely. "We've known for quite a while that the bioactive compounds in grape seed extract selectively target many types of cancer cells...

New Paper Highlights Important Links Between Socio-Economic Prosperity And Integrated Neglected Tropical Disease Efforts

Date: Jan-20-2013
A recently released report, entitled "Social and Economic Impact Review on Neglected Tropical Diseases," highlights links between neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) and socio-economic prosperity...

New Vulnerabilities Exposed In The Security Of Personal Genetic Information

Date: Jan-20-2013
Using only a computer, an Internet connection, and publicly accessible online resources, a team of Whitehead Institute researchers has been able to identify nearly 50 individuals who had submitted personal genetic material as participants in genomic studies...

Income Inequality And Residential Segregation Affect Survival Differences Between Black, White Kidney Failure Patients

Date: Jan-20-2013
Complex socioeconomic and residential factors may account for differences in survival between Black and White kidney failure patients, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN). The findings could help researchers design interventions to prolong patients' lives. Among kidney failure patients on dialysis in the United States, Blacks tend to live longer than Whites with higher income...

Mathematical Model Suggests Wild Animals May Contribute To The Resurgence Of African Sleeping Sickness

Date: Jan-20-2013
Wild animals may be a key contributor to the continuing spread of African sleeping sickness, new research published in PLOS Computational Biology shows. The West African form of the disease, also known as Gambiense Human African trypanosomiasis, affects around 10,000 people in Africa every year and is deadly if left untreated...