Health News

Predictive Ability Of Family History And SNP-Based Methods Best Used In Combination To Provide Valuable Evidence In A Differential Diagnosis

Date: Oct-17-2012
In a new theoretical study, 23andMe, the leading personal genetics company, developed a mathematical model that shows family history and genetic tests offer different strengths. The study results suggest that both family history and genetics are best used in combination to improve disease risk prediction. The full results of the study have now been published online in the journal PLOS Genetics. Family history is most useful in assessing risks for highly common, heritable conditions such as coronary artery disease...

For Cholesterol Issues, Higher-Dose Use Of Certain Statins Often Best

Date: Oct-17-2012
A comprehensive new review on how to treat high cholesterol and other blood lipid problems suggests that intensive treatment with high doses of statin drugs is usually the best approach. But some statins work much better for this than others, the review concluded, and additional lipid-lowering medications added to a statin have far less value. And medications, of course, should be considered after first trying diet, weight loss and exercise...

Researchers Find The Missing Link Between Mental Health Disorders And Chronic Diseases In Iraq War Refugees

Date: Oct-17-2012
Wayne State University School of Medicine researchers may have discovered why people exposed to war are at increased risk to develop chronic problems like heart disease years later. And the culprit that links the two is surprising. Beginning in the mid-2000s, WSU researchers interviewed a random sample of 145 American immigrants who left Iraq before the 1991 Gulf War, and 205 who fled Iraq after the Gulf War began. All were residing in metropolitan Detroit at the time of the study...

Study Finds Bacterial Protein In House Dust Spurs Asthma

Date: Oct-17-2012
A bacterial protein in common house dust may worsen allergic responses to indoor allergens, according to research conducted by the National Institutes of Health and Duke University. The finding is the first to document the presence of the protein flagellin in house dust, bolstering the link between allergic asthma and the environment. Scientists from the NIH's National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and Duke University Medical Center published their findings in people and mice online in the journal Nature Medicine...

Fathers Matter When It Comes To Their Teenager's Sexual Behavior

Date: Oct-17-2012
A new study by New York University professor Vincent Guilamo-Ramos and colleagues from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggests that fathers' parenting behavior influences the sexual behavior of their adolescent children. However, to date most parent-based research on adolescent sexual risk behavior has neglected the role of fathers, a missed opportunity to contribute to their adolescent children's health and well-being...

New Guide Helps Providers Make Effective Connection With Senior Patients

Date: Oct-17-2012
"Communicating With Older Adults: An Evidence-Based Review of What Really Works*," the latest report from The Gerontological Society of America (GSA), provides 40 pages of recommended guidelines for health care providers interacting with the fastest growing age segment of America's population. This publication is intended for physicians, nurses, pharmacists, biologists, psychologists, social workers, caregivers, economists, and health policy experts - anyone who seeks to have the best possible interactions with older patients...

Vaccine Delivery By Inhilation Instead Of By Injection?

Date: Oct-17-2012
In addition to the obvious benefit of eliminating the need for an injection, new vaccine delivery methods via the lungs offer particular advantages for protecting against infectious agents that enter the body through the respiratory track. A comprehensive review article that presents the current status, challenges, and opportunities of pulmonary vaccine delivery is published in Journal of Aerosol Medicine and Pulmonary Drug Delivery, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers...

Integrating New Rapid And Point Of Care Hepatitis C Tests Into Routine Practice Settings Could Be Global Game Changers

Date: Oct-17-2012
Timely screening and diagnosis is critical to the success of new treatments and ultimately to the survival of hepatitis C patients. A new study led by the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI MUHC) is the first to show that hepatitis C rapid and point of care tests with a quick turnaround time are highly accurate and reliable as conventional first-line laboratory tests...

Promising Stem Cell Therapies In Animal Models For Treating Brain Damage And Heart Problems Resulting From Spinal Cord Injuries

Date: Oct-17-2012
New animal studies provide additional support for investigating stem cell treatments for Parkinson's disease, head trauma, and dangerous heart problems that accompany spinal cord injury, according to research findings just released. The work, presented at Neuroscience 2012, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience and the world's largest source of emerging news about brain science and health, shows scientists making progress toward using stem cell therapies to repair neurological damage...

Researchers Are Finding New Ways To Treat And Rehabilitate Patients With Spinal Cord Injury

Date: Oct-17-2012
Research just released demonstrates how new scientific knowledge is driving innovative treatments for spinal cord injuries. Spinal cord damage is debilitating and life-altering, limiting or preventing movement and feeling for millions worldwide, and leading to chronic health conditions and pain. The new studies suggest potential therapies for managing the aftermath of pain and pressure sores, repairing nervous system damage, and speeding recovery...