Health News

Brain Insulin Function Impaired By Overeating, Likely Leading To Diabetes And Obesity

Date: Oct-21-2012
New research from Mount Sinai School of Medicine sheds light on how overeating can cause a malfunction in brain insulin signaling, and lead to obesity and diabetes. Christoph Buettner, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Medicine (Endocrinology, Diabetes and Bone Disease) and his research team found that overeating impairs the ability of brain insulin to suppress the breakdown of fat in adipose tissue. In previous research Dr...

High Carb Diet Bad For Elderly Cognitive Function

Date: Oct-21-2012
Seniors who follow a high-carbohydrate diet are nearly four times as likely to develop mild cognitive impairment, especially if their food intake is high in sugar, researchers from the Mayo Clinic report in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. Their findings relate specifically to people aged 70 or more years. They also found that seniors whose diets are high in protein and fat are less likely to develop cognitive impairment. Most studies have mentioned low carb and high protein diets as the best to keep the weight off, but hardly any have focused on how it affects cognition...

Loss Of Smell Linked To Onset Of Parkinson's Or Alzheimer's

Date: Oct-21-2012
When somebody starts losing their sense of smell, it could be one of the first signs of Parkinson's or Alzheimer's disease, or another neurodegenerative disorder, researchers from Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania reported in PLoS One. The common cold and upper respiratory tract infections are the main causes of loss of smell. Some studies have indicated that regular smokers' sense of smell is weaker than non-smokers. Researchers in this study found a link between an impaired sense of smell and MG (myasthenia gravis)...

Lipid Droplets Play An Unexpected Role In Embryo Development

Date: Oct-21-2012
Histones are proteins needed to assemble DNA molecules into chromosomes. They have long represented a classic balancing act in biology; too few histone molecules result in DNA damage, while too many histones are toxic to the cell. New research at the University of Rochester is causing a fundamental shift in the concept of histone balance and the mechanism behind it. Previous studies of Drosophila embryos showed massive amounts of histones located on lipid droplets, the structures associated with fat storage...

Stroke Care Improved By Use Of 'Lean' Manufacturing Techniques In Hospital

Date: Oct-21-2012
A hospital stroke team used auto industry "lean" manufacturing principles to accelerate treatment times, according to new research in the American Heart Association's journal Stroke.  In a prospective observational study, the average time between patients arriving at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, Mo., and receiving the clot-busting agent tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), decreased 21 minutes using process improvement techniques adapted from auto manufacturing. Data from more than 200 patients was included in the study analysis, ranging over 3 years...

Researchers Elucidate Transport Pathway Of Immune System Substances

Date: Oct-21-2012
To transport substances from the site of their production to their destination, the body needs a sophisticated transport and sorting system. Various receptors in and on the cells recognize certain molecules, pack them and ensure that they are transported to the right place. One of these receptors is Sortilin. It is present in the cells of the nervous system, the liver, and the immune system. Studies by Stefanie Herda and Dr. Armin Rehm (Max Delbruck Center for Molecular Medicine, MDC, Berlin-Buch and Charite-Universitatsmedizin Berlin) and the immunologist Dr...

A Pediatric Patient's Neighborhood Could Be The Newest Vital Sign

Date: Oct-21-2012
Simply knowing a child's home address and some socioeconomic data can serve as a vital sign - helping hospitals predict which children admitted for asthma treatment are at greater risk for re-hospitalization or additional emergency room visits, according to new research in the American Journal of Public Health...

Health Of Minority Seniors Boosted By Living In Ethnically Dense Neighborhoods

Date: Oct-21-2012
An African-American or Mexican-American senior living in a community where many neighbors share their background is less likely to have cancer or heart disease than their counterpart in a more mixed neighborhood. Results of the new study by Kimberly Alvarez, a PhD student at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, and Becca Levy, PhD, associate professor of Epidemiology and Psychology at the Yale School of Public Health, appear in the December issue of the American Journal of Public Health and online...

Does Fertility Improve If A Woman Loses Weight? No

Date: Oct-21-2012
While losing weight does not improve a woman's fertility, her sexual function does, say Penn State College of Medicine researchers, who reported their findings in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. Richard Legro, M.D. explained that obese women have problems ovulating, which affects fertility. "Obesity, especially centered in the abdomen, among infertile women seeking pregnancy is also associated with poor response to ovulation induction and with decreased pregnancy rates." Doctors usually tell obese women who want to get pregnant to lose weight. Dr...

New Drug Developed To Target And Destroy Tumor Cells Successful In Mouse Model Of Pancreatic Cancer

Date: Oct-21-2012
A new drug created at the University of Minnesota may hold the answer to defeating pancreatic cancer, according to results published in the prestigious journal Science Translational Medicine. The study is based on successful outcomes in a mouse model - results researchers expect to carry over to human patients when the drug potentially begins human trials in 2013. The drug, Minnelide, is a type of injectable chemotherapy designed to target tumor cells. The drug works by inhibiting a heat shock protein, HSP 70, which has been proven to aid the growth of tumor cells...