Health News

No Benefit To Kidney Transplant Recipients Found In Large, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial Of Angiotensin II Blockade

Date: Jan-13-2013
A drug that protects the kidneys of patients with chronic kidney disease does not seem to provide the same benefit to kidney transplant recipients, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN). Immunosuppressants help prolong the function of transplanted organs, but therapies that target non-immunological damage to these organs - such as elevated blood pressure and tissue scarring (or fibrosis) - have not been studied...

Prompting Fibroblasts To Become Neurons Offers Hope For Huntington's, Parkinson's And Alzheimer's Therapies

Date: Jan-13-2013
Repression of a single protein in ordinary fibroblasts is sufficient to directly convert the cells - abundantly found in connective tissues - into functional neurons. The findings, which could have far-reaching implications for the development of new treatments for neurodegenerative diseases like Huntington's, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, will be published online in advance of the January 17 issue of the journal Cell...

New Clues For Designing An Effective HIV Vaccine

Date: Jan-13-2013
New insights into how a promising HIV vaccine works are provided in a study published by Cell Press in the journal Immunity. By analyzing the structure of antibody-virus complexes produced in vaccine recipients, the researchers have revealed how the vaccine triggers immune responses that could fight HIV-1 infection. The study could help guide efforts to increase the vaccine's production, which currently is not high enough for clinical use...

Patient Survival In Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma Predicted By Epigenomic Abnormalities

Date: Jan-13-2013
Think of the epigenome like a giant musical mixing board, turning up or down the expression of various genes. A University of Colorado Cancer Center study published in the journal PLOS Genetics shows that in cancer, not only can genes themselves go bad, but abnormal changes in the epigenetic mixing board can unfortunately change the expression of these genes. Researchers hope to play the role of sound engineers, controlling these harmful epigenomic changes to turn down cancer itself or perhaps sensitize cancers to existing drugs...

Hand Gestures May Soon Be Used By Surgeons To Manipulate MRI Images In OR

Date: Jan-13-2013
Doctors may soon be using a system in the operating room that recognizes hand gestures as commands to tell a computer to browse and display medical images of the patient during a surgery. Surgeons routinely need to review medical images and records during surgery, but stepping away from the operating table and touching a keyboard and mouse can delay the procedure and increase the risk of spreading infection-causing bacteria, said Juan Pablo Wachs, an assistant professor of industrial engineering at Purdue University. "One of the most ubiquitous pieces of equipment in U.S...

There May Be A Period Of Increased Vulnerability For Repeat Traumatic Brain Injury

Date: Jan-13-2013
Repeat traumatic brain injury affects a subgroup of the 3.5 million people who suffer head trauma each year. Even a mild repeat TBI that occurs when the brain is still recovering from an initial injury can result in poorer outcomes, especially in children and young adults. A metabolic marker that could serve as the basis for new mild TBI vulnerability guidelines is described in an article in Journal of Neurotrauma, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available on the Journal of Neurotrauma website...

Road Rage Study Reveals What Irritates Drivers The Most

Date: Jan-13-2013
Cutting in and weaving, speeding, and hostile displays are among the top online complaints posted by drivers, according to a new study by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) recently published in an online issue of Accident Analysis and Prevention. Driver aggression is a major safety concern and researchers estimate this behaviour is a factor in nearly half of all motor vehicle collisions. Identifying the underlying causes and strategies for preventing driver aggression continues to be a priority. CAMH researcher Dr...

Lung Cancer Screening For Heavy Smokers Recommended

Date: Jan-12-2013
People who have smoked at least a pack-a-day for thirty years should undergo lung cancer screening, the American Cancer Society announced today in its lung cancer screening guidelines. The American Cancer Society says that doctors with access to high-tech lung cancer screening equipment, as well as treatment centers, should talk to their healthy patients who have been smoking heavily for at least three decades about having their lungs checked...

Merck To Stop Producing Dyslipidemia Drug Tredaptive

Date: Jan-12-2013
Merck has just announced plans to stop producing the extended-release niacin/laropiprant drug TREDAPTIVE. The drug, used to manage dyslipidemia, is not approved in the U.S. and the company is about to suspend the worldwide availability of it completely.  These measures come following the HPS2-THRIVE (Heart Protection Study 2-Treatment of HDL to Reduce the Incidence of Vascular Events) study, the results of which indicate that the drug is not nearly as effective as previously thought. The drug was found to be associated with a number of serious adverse events...

Pre-Eclampsia Increases Risk Of Complications Following Childbirth

Date: Jan-12-2013
Women with pre-eclampsia are at a higher risk of complications following delivery and should continue to be monitored for up to 72 hours, suggests a new review published in The Obstetrician and Gynaecologist (TOG). The review analyses the health risks associated with postnatal hypertension, elevated blood pressure that occurs after childbirth, and looks at the women at risk of this condition and treatments available. There is extensive literature on hypertension in the antenatal and intrapartum period, but there is little information on postpartum hypertension...