Health News

The Characteristic Shape Of A Man's Urine Can Help Diagnose Urinary Problems

Date: Oct-18-2012
Scientists at Queen Mary, University of London have discovered that the characteristic shape of a man's urine stream could be used to help diagnose urinary problems. The research, published in PLOS One is the first study to analyse the specific pattern a man's urine makes and whether it could be used to detect prostate problems. Co-author Dr Martin Knight from Queen Mary's School of Engineering and Materials Science explained: "The characteristic shape is due to the surface tension in the urine and the elliptical shape of the urethra...

Women Should Be Included In Reproductive Health Research

Date: Oct-18-2012
A team of Northwestern University scientists will meet with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrators in Washington D.C. Oct. 18 to advocate for important changes in the agency's guidelines for reproductive health research. "The problem is current research assessing the risk of toxins on reproductive health is not being uniformly investigated in both sexes and across the lifespan," said Kate Timmerman, program director of the Oncofertility Consortium of Northwestern University, who will be one of the scientists meeting with the EPA...

Growth Protein Could Serve As A Biomarker To Help Guide Prostate Cancer Treatment

Date: Oct-18-2012
Men who had high levels of the activated Stat5 protein in their prostate cancer after a radical prostatectomy were more likely to have a recurrence or die from the disease compared to men who had little to no presence of the growth protein, according to a recent study published in Human Pathology by Jefferson's Kimmel Cancer Center researchers. This suggests, Stat5, a protein that when activated signals cancer cells to grow and survive, could be an ideal biomarker to help guide patients and physicians for future treatment. The research team, led by Marja Nevalainen, M.D., Ph.D...

New Light Shed On The Progression And Invasiveness Of Ductal Breast Cancer

Date: Oct-18-2012
Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) is considered a precursor lesion for invasive breast cancer if untreated, and is found in approximately 45% of patients with invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC). Patients with DCIS only (not accompanied by invasive disease) have a 5-year-survival of nearly 100%, compared to 89% for all stages of invasive breast cancer (24% for patients with distant metastasis)...

MS Pill Gilenya® (Fingolimod) Shows Significant Early Effect On Reducing Brain Volume Loss At Six Months, New Analysis Indicates

Date: Oct-18-2012
Early effects on MRI lesions, brain atrophy and relapses replicated across two large Phase III trials suggest substantial early treatment benefits of fingolimod1. Pooled analysis of core and long-term study data from over 3,500 patients reinforces known safety profile of fingolimod; more than 49,000 patients treated worldwide2,3...

Abuse Of Nonmedical Analgesics Up 40 Percent

Date: Oct-18-2012
A new study by the University of Colorado Denver reveals that today's adolescents are abusing prescription pain medications like vicodin, valium and oxycontin at a rate 40 percent higher than previous generations. That makes it the second most common form of illegal drug use in the U.S. after marijuana, according to Richard Miech, Ph.D., lead author of the study and professor of sociology at CU Denver. "Prescription drug use is the next big epidemic," Miech said...

How 'Cleaving' Protein Drives Tumor Growth In Prostate, Other Cancers

Date: Oct-18-2012
Researchers led by Tanya Stoyanova and Dr. Owen Witte of UCLA's Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research have determined how a protein known as Trop2 drives the growth of tumor cells in prostate and other epithelial cancers. This discovery is important because it may prove essential for creating new therapies that stop the growth of cancer, the researchers said. The study is featured on the cover of the journal Genes and Development...

The Damage Of Prenatal Stress On Offspring May Be Reversed By Mother's Touch After Birth

Date: Oct-18-2012
Scientists at the Universities of Liverpool, Manchester, and Kings College, London, have found that mothers who stroke their baby's body in the first few weeks after birth may change the effects that stress during pregnancy can have on an infant's early-life development. Researchers world-wide have been studying whether stress in pregnancy can lead to emotional and behavioural problems in children for many years. Attention is now moving towards how parents might alter these effects after birth...

"Genetic Scorecard" Predicts Which Patients With Heart Failure Respond Best To Beta-Blocker Drug

Date: Oct-18-2012
A landmark paper identifying genetic signatures that predict which patients will respond to a life-saving drug for treating congestive heart failure has been published by a research team co-led by Stephen B. Liggett, MD, of the University of South Florida.  The study, drawing upon a randomized placebo-controlled trial for the beta blocker bucindolol, appears this month in the international online journal PLoS ONE. In addition to Dr...

Role May Be Played By Prion Protein In Aiding Learning And Memory

Date: Oct-18-2012
Scientists from the University of Leeds have found that the protein called prion helps our brains to absorb zinc, which is believed to be crucial to our ability to learn and the wellbeing of our memory. The findings published in Nature Communications show that prion protein regulates the amount of zinc in the brain by helping cells absorb it through channels in the cell surface. It is already known that high levels of zinc between brain cells are linked with diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's...