Health News

Insulin Production In Diabetics May Be Restored By Recovering 'Bodyguard' Cells In Pancreas

Date: Oct-10-2012
The key to restoring production of insulin in type I diabetic patients, previously known as juvenile diabetes, may be in recovering the population of protective cells known as T regulatory cells in the lymph nodes at the "gates" of the pancreas, a new preclinical study published online in Cellular & Molecular Immunology by researchers in the Department of Bioscience Technologies at Thomas Jefferson University suggests. Tatiana D. Zorina, M.D., Ph.D...

For Happiness And Mental Health 7-A-day Recommended

Date: Oct-10-2012
Happiness and mental health are highest among people who eat seven portions of fruit and vegetables a day, according to a new report. Economists and public health researchers from the University of Warwick studied the eating habits of 80,000 people in Britain. They found mental wellbeing appeared to rise with the number of daily portions of fruit and vegetables people consumed. Wellbeing peaked at seven portions a day. The research was carried out in conjunction with Dartmouth College in the USA and is due to be published in the journal Social Indicators Research...

New Coating Utilizing Nanotechnology Will Allow Surgeons To Sterilize Medical Devices That Contain Biological Components

Date: Oct-10-2012
A nanotech material containing an extract from liquorice can be used to sterilize and protect medical devices and implants which include biological components, and protects these functional bio-components during the sterilization process. Publishing their findings in the latest issue of Materials Today, a team of researchers from Germany and Austria explain how conventional sterilization techniques based on a blast of radiation, or exposure to toxic gas can damage the functional biological components of the device...

Trials Of Stroke Rehabilitation Robots Planned

Date: Oct-10-2012
Robotherapist 3D, a robot which aids stroke patients' recovery, is to be brought to market by its worldwide patent holder, a spin-off company from the Miguel Hernandez University of Elche (Alicante, Spain). It is the first robot to enable patients to start doing exercises while supine, allowing them to begin shortly after the stroke and expediting recovery. The Biomedical Neuroengineering Group at the Miguel Hernández University of Elche in Alicante has recently established a spin-off technologies company, Instead Technologies...

Are Genetically Modified Crops Dangerous? VIB Concludes That Séralini Study Is Not Substantiated

Date: Oct-10-2012
On 19 September 2012, Gilles-Eric Seralini and his colleagues published a sensational study which, in his opinion, gave clear indications that genetically modified crops and Roundup are dangerous to health. Media across the world picked up on this report and published disturbing photos of rats with enormous tumours. Scientists reacted with shock and immediately criticised the study. The scientific analysis in this document shows that the research design of Séralini et al. contained fundamental shortcomings that preclude any sensible conclusions from being drawn...

The Negative Effects Of Increasing Computerized Surveillance

Date: Oct-10-2012
Researchers at the Helsinki Institute for Information Technology HIIT finish the first longitudinal study on the effects of ubiquitous surveillance in the home. To understand the effects of continuous computerized surveillance on individuals, researchers at HIIT instrumented ten Finnish households with video cameras, microphones, and logging software for personal computers, wireless networks, smartphones, TVs, and DVDs. The twelve participants filled monthly questionnaires to report on stress levels and were interviewed at six and twelve months...

Gene Discovery May Explain Male Infertility, Lead To Male-Based Contraception

Date: Oct-10-2012
New insights into sperms' swimming skills shed light on male infertility, which affects one in 20 men, and could provide a new avenue to the development of a male contraceptive pill. In a study published in the journal PLoS Genetics, researchers from Monash University, the University of Newcastle, John Curtin School of Medical Research and Garvan Institute of Medical Research, in Australia; and the University of Cambridge, in the UK, have shown how a protein called RABL2 affects the length of sperm tails, crippling their motility (or swimming ability), and decreases sperm production...

New Point Of Focus Found For The Treatment Of Rheumatoid Arthritis And Other Autoimmune Diseases

Date: Oct-10-2012
Friday 12 October is "World Arthritis Day". Scientists affiliated with VIB and UGent have discovered a mechanism used by the protein A20 to combat inflammation. This could be a very important point of focus in the search for a treatment for autoimmune diseases such as Rheumatoid Arthritis, in which the patient suffers from chronic, uncontrolled inflammation. Rudi Beyaert (VIB - UGent): We hope that our research can eventually contribute to the development of new therapies against Rheumatoid Arthritis and other auto-immune conditions...

Risk Of An Aggressive Form Of Ovarian Cancer May Be Reduced By Aspirin

Date: Oct-10-2012
New research shows that women who regularly use pain relief medications, particularly aspirin, have a decreased risk of serous ovarian cancer - an aggressive carcinoma affecting the surface of the ovary. The study published in Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica, a journal of the Nordic Federation of Societies of Obstetrics and Gynecology, reports that non-aspirin non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), paracetamol (acetaminophen), or other analgesics did not decrease ovarian cancer risk...

Aspirin May Help Prevent Ovarian Cancer

Date: Oct-10-2012
Women who use aspirin on a regular basis have a lower risk of developing serous ovarian cancer, according to a recent study published in Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica, a journal of the Nordic Federation of Societies of Obstetrics and Gynecology. The study claims that non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), paracetamol (acetaminophen), and other analgesics do not lower the chance of development of ovarian cancer...