Health News

Prostate Cancer Severity Predicted With Two Genetic Signatures

Date: Oct-09-2012
Two separate genetic signatures seem to be able to tell how severe a patient's prostate cancer is going to be, which would dramatically improve prognoses and make it easier for doctors to decide on the most appropriate treatment early on, American and British researchers report in two articles published today in the journal The Lancet Oncology. The authors explain that unique RNA patterns seem to be able to predict the course of prostate cancer, pointing either towards an aggressive disease or a milder form...

The Challenges Of Shoulder Dislocation In Older Patients

Date: Oct-09-2012
Although shoulder dislocation can occur at about the same rates in both younger and older patients, injuries in older patients are more likely to be overlooked or misdiagnosed, resulting in years of persistent pain and disability. A new study published in the October 2012 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons examines the differences in dislocation injuries between older and younger patients and suggests an approach to evaluate older patients that could help improve diagnosis and management of interrelated injuries...

McGill Researchers Link Genetic Mutation To Psychiatric Disease And Obesity

Date: Oct-09-2012
McGill researchers have identified a small region in the genome that conclusively plays a role in the development of psychiatric disease and obesity. The key lies in the genomic deletion of brain-derived neurotrophic factor, or BDNF, a nervous system growth factor that plays a critical role in brain development. To determine the role of BDNF in humans, Prof. Carl Ernst, from McGill's Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, screened over 35,000 people referred for genetic screening at clinics and over 30,000 control subjects in Canada, the U.S., and Europe...

Safety And Effectiveness Of Inhaled Medications Studied In Critically Ill Patients On Mechanical Ventilation

Date: Oct-09-2012
Essential medications can be delivered as inhaled drugs to critically ill patients in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) who require mechanical ventilation to breathe. Aerosol drug delivery is highly complex, however, and if not done properly the medication will not reach the lungs and therapy will be ineffective...

Curious Genetic Trait Behind Malaria Transmission May Offer Clues To Control

Date: Oct-09-2012
An African mosquito species with a deadly capacity to transmit malaria has a perplexing evolutionary history, according to discovery by researchers at the Fralin Life Science Institute at Virginia Tech. Closely related African mosquito species originated the ability to transmit human malaria multiple times during their recent evolution, according to a study published in PLoS Pathogens by Igor Sharakhov, an associate professor of entomology in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and Maryam Kamali of Tehran, Iran, a Ph.D. student in the department of entomology...

A Molecular Scissor Related To Alzheimer's Disease

Date: Oct-09-2012
An international research team led by the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and researchers from Kiel University revealed the atomic-level structure of the human peptidase enzyme meprin β (beta). The study was published online in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "Now that we know how meprin β looks, how it works and how it relates to diseases, we can search for substances that stop its enzyme activities when they become harmful", explains Xavier Gomis�Ruth, researcher at the Molecular Biology Institute of Barcelona who led the project...

New Blood Tests To Put Clinical Trials For Allergic Asthma On The Fast Track

Date: Oct-09-2012
The Centre of Excellence for the Prevention of Organ Failure (PROOF Centre) and AllerGen NCE (Allergy, Genes and Environment Network of Centres of Excellence) are working together to develop blood tests that will speed up clinical trials investigating the efficacy of drugs treating allergic disease. Leveraging expertise of the PROOF Centre, researchers will use blood samples obtained from the AllerGen Clinical Investigator Collaborative (CIC) to identify molecular signals ("biomarkers") predictive of chronic inflammatory responses in allergic asthmatic adults...

New Results For Fycompa(R) (Perampanel) Presented At Leading Epilepsy Conference

Date: Oct-09-2012
New data shared with Europe's epilepsy community at the 10th European Congress on Epileptology (ECE) in London, demonstrate the efficacy of once-daily Fycompa(R) (perampanel) in reducing partial-onset seizures, the most common form of epilepsy, and its effectiveness and flexibility of use as add-on therapy...

Learning From Past 'Flu Epidemics To Model Outbreaks As They Happen

Date: Oct-09-2012
A new model of influenza transmission, published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Medicine, using more detailed information about patterns and severity of infection than previous models, finds that cases and transmission rates of H1N1 during the 2009-2010 flu pandemic have been underestimated. This model can provide a more robust and accurate real-time estimate of infection during a pandemic, which will help health services prepare and respond to future outbreaks...

Source Of Clinic Infection Outbreak Identified With The Help Of Genotyping

Date: Oct-09-2012
Researchers from East Carolina University used a new technique of genotyping to identify the source of a hematology clinic outbreak of Mycobacterium mucogenicum, a gram-positive, acid-fast bacteria found in tap water. This is the first outbreak of M. mucogenicum in an ambulatory care setting; five other outbreaks have been reported in hospital settings since 1995. The study was published in the November issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America...