Health News

In Children With 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome, Higher Anxiety Associated With Poorer Functioning

Date: Nov-07-2012
UC Davis researchers have found that for children with the genetic disorder known as chromosome 22q11.2 deletion syndrome anxiety - but not intelligence - is linked to poorer adaptive behaviors, such as self-care and communication skills, that affect daily life. The developmental syndrome, which is associated with a constellation of physical, cognitive and psychiatric problems, usually is apparent at birth or early childhood, and leads to lifelong challenges...

Reporting Progress And The Challenges Ahead In HIV And AIDS Prevention

Date: Nov-07-2012
At least 2 million people worldwide will be infected with HIV this year, driving the need for better HIV prevention strategies to slow the global pandemic. A better understanding of how to prevent HIV transmission using antiviral drugs led to approval of the first oral pill for HIV prevention, and microbicides delivered as topical gels or via intravaginal rings are in clinical testing and have yielded both positive and negative results...

Health Of Prisoners Negatively Impacted By Overcrowding

Date: Nov-07-2012
Overcrowding in prisons - an issue in most prisons in Canada and other parts of the world - negatively impacts the mental and physical health of prisoners, states an article in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). Bill C-10, Canada's omnibus federal crime bill that will most likely increase prison populations, will have negative health consequences. "Bill C-10 will likely have a dramatic impact on the size of prison populations and the stability of prison environments," write Adelina Iftene and Allan Manson, Faculty of Law, Queen's University, Kingston, Ont...

Lower Vitamin D Levels, Genetic Variants And Familial Longevity

Date: Nov-07-2012
Low levels of vitamin D may be associated with longevity, according to a study involving middle-aged children of people in their 90s published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). "We found that familial longevity was associated with lower levels of vitamin D and a lower frequency of allelic variation in the CYP2R1 gene, which was associated with higher levels of vitamin D," writes Dr. Diana van Heemst, Department of Gerontology and Geriatrics, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands, with coauthors...

Discovery of A Chink In The Armor Of Cancer Cells

Date: Nov-07-2012
Several substances inhibiting so-called HDAC enzymes have been studied in trials searching for new anti-cancer drugs in recent years. "Trials have shown that HDAC inhibitors are very effective in arresting growth of cultured cancer cells. But apart from a very rare type of lymphoma, these drugs unfortunately do not clinically affect malignant tumors," says Prof. Dr. Olaf Witt, who heads a research department at DKFZ and is pediatrician at the Center for Child and Adolescent Medicine of Heidelberg University Hospital...

Growth Of Cystic Kidney Halted

Date: Nov-07-2012
Autosomal-dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is one of the most common genetic disorders, affecting one in every 1,000 people and responsible for up to ten percent of patients on dialysis worldwide. The disease is characterized by the development of cysts that lead to progressive kidney failure and necessitate dialysis or a kidney transplant in most patients aged around fifty. Moreover, the persistent cyst growth causes high blood pressure and painful complications...

Surgical Safety Checklist Improves Patient Safety

Date: Nov-07-2012
The use of the World Health Organization's Surgical Safety Checklist in the operating room considerably lowers the risks of surgery. This is the conclusion of Axel Fudickar and co-authors in their article in Issue 42 of Deutsches Arzteblatt International (Dtsch Arztebl Int 2012; 109(42): 695). The most common errors in safety-related behavior in the operating room are attributable to inadequate communication and teamwork...

Gene Regulation And Bone Development: New Findings

Date: Nov-07-2012
The patients have single short fingers (metacarpals) and toes (metatarsals) and can be restricted in growth due to a shortened skeleton. This hereditary disease is called brachydactyly type E (Greek for short fingers). Three years ago Dr. Philipp G. Maass from the research group of Professor Friedrich C. Luft at the Experimental and Clinical Research Center (ECRC), a joint cooperation between the Charité Medical Faculty and the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) in Berlin-Buch, has discovered an epigenetic mechanism, which, when dysregulated, causes this condition...

Kawasaki Disease Should Not Be Ruled Out When Kawasaki Disease-Mimicking Virus Discovered In Children

Date: Nov-07-2012
Clinicians should take caution when diagnosing a child who has a high fever and whose tests show evidence of adenovirus, and not assume the virus is responsible for Kawasaki-like symptoms. According to a new study from Nationwide Children's Hospital appearing in Clinical Infectious Diseases, adenovirus detection is not uncommon among children with Kawasaki disease. Kawasaki disease is a rare but serious condition in children that involves inflammation of the blood vessels, specifically the heart vessels that supply the heart tissue or coronary arteries...

Losing Belly Fat Boosts Sleep Quality

Date: Nov-07-2012
Losing weight can directly aid in bettering the quality of sleeping among obese or overweight people, according to a study being presented at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions. The researchers found that improvement in sleep quality was meaningfully associated with weight loss, either from changes in diet or a diet combined with exercise. Sleep quality improvement was also seen specifically connected with loss in belly fat...