Health News

It May Be Possible To Delay The Onset Of Neurodegenerative Diseases With An Immunosuppressive Drug

Date: Oct-16-2012
Rapamycin, a drug used to prevent rejection in transplants, could delay the onset of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. This is the main conclusion of a study published in the Nature in which has collaborated the researcher Isidro Ferrer, head of the group of Neuropathology at the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) and the Bellvitge University Hospital and Full Professor of Pathological Anatomy at the University of Barcelona. The research was led by researchers from the International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA) in Trieste (Italy)...

Novel Potential Treatment For Autoimmune Diseases Inspired By Mother Nature

Date: Oct-16-2012
Reproducing a rare type of B cell in the laboratory and infusing it back into the body may provide an effective treatment for severe autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis or rheumatoid arthritis, according to researchers at Duke University Medical Center. The findings, which were demonstrated in mice, highlight the unique properties of a subset of B cells that normally controls immune responses and limits autoimmunity, in which an organism mistakenly attacks its own healthy tissue. The work appears Oct. 14, 2012, in the journal Nature...

Hope For Patients Suffering From Lymphoma

Date: Oct-16-2012
The use of carefully chosen animal models often underlies crucial medical advances. A perfect example is provided by the recent demonstration that a known drug, imatinib, can be used to treat a rare but highly aggressive type of lymphoma. The work was largely undertaken in the group of Lukas Kenner at the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Cancer Research and the Medical University of Vienna with the support of Karoline Kollmann and Veronika Sexl at the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, together with a number of national and international collaborators...

Drug-Resistant TB: Urgent Need For Vaccines

Date: Oct-16-2012
As World Health Organization prepares to release report on global TB incidence, researchers say UK at forefront of efforts to develop critical medical tools Drawing on recent findings of a significant rise in cases of drug-resistant tuberculosis in the UK and globally, top TB researchers at a briefing in London called for greater focus on the quest for new vaccines - a crucial long-term, cost-effective method for addressing the growing threat...

Older Women Living With Breast Cancer To Quadruple, UK

Date: Oct-16-2012
New research predicts the number of older women in the UK who will be living with breast cancer in 2040 will be four times the number today.  Macmillan Cancer Support, the charity that funded the study says the health service, which is already struggling to meet the needs of older patients, has to be ready for this surge and doctors should change their attitude and make treatment decisions based on objective assessment not patient age. Published in the British Journal of Cancer, the study by researchers at King's College London, predicts by 2040 there will be 1...

UK Doctors Hopeful For Pakistani Girl Who Was Shot In The Head

Date: Oct-16-2012
Malala Yousafzai, a 14-year-old girl who was shot in the head during a Taliban targeted gun attack, may well make a full recovery, British doctors said yesterday. Malala, who had a bullet removed from her head last week, was moved from Pakistan to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, England, yesterday by air ambulance. Malala travelled to England on her own. However, it is believed that some members of her family will follow. The girl was shot for "promoting secularism", Taliban said...

New Targets For Treating Depression

Date: Oct-16-2012
Researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine are presenting important discoveries on the involvement of the immune system and dopamine cells in the onset of depression at Neuroscience 2012, the Society for Neuroscience's 42nd annual meeting on October 13 -17 in New Orleans. In addition to scientists presenting at the conference, Dennis S...

Wearing Bicycle Helmets Saves Lives

Date: Oct-16-2012
Cyclists who died of a head injury were three times as likely to not be wearing a helmet compared with those who died of other injuries, according to a study in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). "We saw an association between dying as a result of sustaining head injury and not wearing a helmet," states Dr. Navindra Persaud, Keenan Research Centre and the Department of Family and Community Medicine, St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, with coauthors. "These results are consistent with a protective effect of helmets on cycling deaths...

Psoriasis: Scratching The Surface

Date: Oct-16-2012
Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disorder that affects approximately 2% of the world's population. A group of inflammatory molecules known as interleukins activate an immune response that causes itchy skin, but it is unclear how the skin cells and immune cells communicate. In a study published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, researchers led by Manfred Kopf at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich, Switzerland found that mice lacking interleukin-36 (IL-36) were protected from immune-mediated skin inflammation...

Course Of Substance Addiction Treatment May Be Predicted By Neuroimaging

Date: Oct-16-2012
An Indiana University study has provided preliminary evidence that by measuring brain activity through the use of neuroimaging, researchers can predict who is likely to have an easier time getting off drugs and alcohol, and who will need extra help. "We can also see how brain activity changes as people recover from their addictions," said Joshua Brown, assistant professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Indiana University Bloomington, part of the College of Arts and Sciences...