Health News

Symptoms Of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Ameliorated By Tamoxifen

Date: Jan-16-2013
A new study has found that tamoxifen, a well-known breast cancer drug, can counteract some pathologic features in a mouse model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). At present, no treatment is known to produce long-term improvement of the symptoms in boys with DMD, a debilitating muscular disorder that is characterized by progressive muscle wasting, respiratory and cardiac impairments, paralysis, and premature death. This study will be published in the February 2013 issue of The American Journal of Pathology...

Low Birth Weight Not Associated With Asthma Risk

Date: Jan-16-2013
Asthma is a serious condition that affects more than 25.7 million Americans, and is responsible for nearly 4,000 deaths annually. While the cause of asthma remains unknown, a study in the January issue of Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, the scientific journal of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI), has concluded that low birth weight is not associated with asthma risk in young children. "Asthma is the most common chronic illness in childhood and is a leading reason for missed school days," said allergist Hyeon Yang, M.D., lead study author...

Flawed Hospital Infection Surveillance System

Date: Jan-16-2013
Patients recovering from surgery get infections far more often than is being reported, a new study led by De Montfort University has found. Infection prevention specialists are now calling on the Department of Health to bring in a clear and standardised system for hospitals to try to identify the true scale of surgical infections. They say a study of the way in which NHS hospital trusts in England has shown "worrying inconsistencies" between hospitals in how they defined surgical site infections and how rigorously they looked for them...

Dramatic Loss Of Body Mass In Cancer May Be Controlled By The Liver

Date: Jan-16-2013
Cachexia or wasting is a condition affecting up to 70 percent of cancer patients, depending on the type of cancer. It is characterized by a dramatic loss of body weight that is independent of food intake. Cachexia is seen particularly often and most pronounced in patients suffering from cancers of the digestive tract and the lungs. They may lose up to 80 percent of body fat and skeletal muscle. Muscle loss leads to weakness and immobility of patients and poorer response to treatment...

Antibiotic From Medicinal Toothbrush Tree Treats TB In New Way

Date: Jan-16-2013
A compound from the South African toothbrush tree inactivates a drug target for tuberculosis in a previously unseen way. Tuberculosis causes more deaths worldwide than any other bacterial disease. At the same time as rates are increasing, resistance strains are emerging due, in part, to non-compliance with the treatment required. Many current drugs are nearly 50 years old and alternatives are needed to the long, demanding treatment schedules. The compound under research, diospyrin, binds to a novel site on a well-known enzyme, called DNA gyrase, and inactivates the enzyme...

Nations That Consume A Lot Of Milk....Also Win A Lot Of Nobel Prizes

Date: Jan-16-2013
Milk is a good brain food, but it could just reflect a strong educational system Nations that consume a lot of milk and milk products also tend to have a lot of Nobel laureates among their populations, suggest the authors of a letter, published in Practical Neurology. Research published last year in the New England Journal of Medicine reported a strong association between a nation's chocolate consumption and Nobel laureate prowess, speculating that the flavonoid content of chocolate was behind the boost in brain power. This got the letter authors thinking...

Blueberries And Strawberries May Reduce Women's Risk Of Heart Attack

Date: Jan-15-2013
A new US study suggests women could cut their risk of heart attack by as much as one-third by eating three or more servings of blueberries and strawberries per week, the likely reason being because these foods are high in a class of dietary flavonoids known as anthocyanins. The researchers write about their findings in the 15 January online issue of the American Heart Association journal Circulation. They focused on blueberries and strawberries because they are the most-eaten berries in the US...

Most Coughs Last For 18 Days

Date: Jan-15-2013
When a cough lasts more than a week most of us think we need an antibiotic. Experts from the University of Georgia explained that acute bronchitis (an acute illness with hacking cough) can last for weeks. The authors explained in Annals of Family Medicine that an acute cough lasts for an average of 18 days. People's concern that their cough has gone on for over a week is contributing to the over-prescription of antibiotics. Dr. Mark Ebell and team set out to compare how long most coughs last and people's expectations...

Homeless Dying From Drug Overdoses More Than AIDS

Date: Jan-15-2013
Drug overdoses, especially heroin and painkillers, have surpassed AIDS has the number one cause of death among homeless adults in the USA. The new findings came from a five-year study of homeless people who received treatment from the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program (BHCHP). The study was conducted by a group of researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and BHCHP, and will be published in JAMA Internal Medicine...

One Third Of Girls Meet Internet Strangers Face-To-Face

Date: Jan-15-2013
About one-third of teenage girls are putting themselves at risk by arranging to meet strangers they have met on the Internet, but have never seen face-to-face. The finding came from new research conducted by a U.S. children's hospital and was published in the journal Pediatrics. The study found that 30% of the adolescent females surveyed reported to have met up with at least one person they had encountered on the Internet, whose identity was not confirmed prior to their face-to-face meeting...