Health News

Tackling The 'East London Diabetes Belt' Is A Major Challenge

Date: Oct-08-2012
A study by Queen Mary, University of London researchers has shown the scale of the challenge facing those in charge of delivering the Olympic legacy. In three London boroughs they have found that, overall, as many as one in ten of the local population has a high risk of developing type 2 diabetes within the next ten years. In some areas close to the Stratford Olympic Park up to one in six adults are at high risk...

Severely Wounded Soldiers' Survival Rates May Be Improved By Better Battlefield Triage, Transport

Date: Oct-08-2012
Wounded soldiers who sustained chest injuries in Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (Iraq) had higher mortality rates than soldiers in Korea and Vietnam, according to a military trauma study presented at the 2012 American College of Surgeons Annual Clinical Congress. However, better battlefield triage and transport may have meant that severely wounded soldiers whom would have been considered killed in action in previous conflicts are more likely to get sent to trauma centers in the United States sooner in their course of care, study authors explained...

Researchers Create A Universal Map Of Vision In The Human Brain

Date: Oct-08-2012
Nearly 100 years after a British neurologist first mapped the blind spots caused by missile wounds to the brains of soldiers, Perelman School of Medicine researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have perfected his map using modern-day technology. Their results create a map of vision in the brain based upon an individual's brain structure, even for people who cannot see. Their result can, among other things, guide efforts to restore vision using a neural prosthesis that stimulates the surface of the brain. The study appears in the latest issue of Current Biology, a Cell Press journal...

Important Advance Towards Understanding The Mechanisms Of Colon Cancer Progression

Date: Oct-08-2012
Researchers from IMIM, Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute, have succeeded in determining the function of a new variant of enzyme IKKalpha (IKKα) to activate some of the genes taking part in the tumor progressions of colorectal cancer. In the future, this fact will make it possible to design new drugs that inhibit this enzyme specifically and are less toxic for the remaining body cells, hence improving the treatment for this disease...

Computer Model Computes Probability Of Conception

Date: Oct-08-2012
A new mathematical method can help to predict a couple's chances of becoming pregnant, according to how long they have been trying. The model may also shed light on how long they should wait before seeking medical help. For example, the researchers have found that, if the woman is aged 35, after just six months of trying, her chance of getting pregnant in the next cycle is then less than 10 per cent...

At Homeland Security's Think Tank, First Responders Imagine A High-Tech Future

Date: Oct-08-2012
To believe that technologies once dreamed of in science fiction novels, television shows, and comic strips may one day be a reality, or that real-world technologies might make the fantastic devices of fiction obsolete, you'd need to be either an optimist...or a futurist in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)'s Science and Technology Directorate (S&T). To keep dreams grounded, S&T maintains a team of futurists in Arlington, Va., at the Homeland Security Studies & Analysis Institute (HSSAI)...

Helping Parents And Professionals To Recognize Teens In Distress

Date: Oct-08-2012
Suicide is the third-leading cause of death for teens, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Now, a University of Missouri public health expert has identified factors that will help parents, medical professionals and educators recognize teens at risk for self injury and suicide. "For many young people, suicide represents an escape from unbearable situations - problems that seem impossible to solve or negative emotions that feel overwhelming," said Lindsay Taliaferro, an assistant professor of health sciences at MU...

Breast Cancer Survivors More Likely To Exercise If Self-Confidence And Motivation Addressed During Rehab

Date: Oct-08-2012
More than 40 percent of older breast cancer survivors are insufficiently active after leaving a supervised program. But new research shows that those women who developed behavioral skills such as self-confidence and motivation during their program were far more likely to continue exercising on their own. Regular exercise may reduce the risk of breast cancer recurrence and breast cancer-related mortality, experts say, making it crucial to effectively target breast cancer survivors who do not engage in regular physical activity for interventions...

Mathematical Model Simulates Injections Of Insulin In An Artificial Pancreas For Diabetes Control

Date: Oct-08-2012
Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease in which individuals exhibit high levels of sugar in the blood, either due to insufficient production of insulin - the hormone that allows glucose to be absorbed by body cells - or the body's lack of response to insulin. Type 1 diabetes occurs due to loss or dysfunction of β-cells of the pancreas, the organ that produces insulin. Type 2 diabetes is caused by a defective glucose-insulin regulatory system. The most common control for diabetes is by subcutaneous injection of insulin analogues through insulin pumps...

Date: Oct-08-2012
New research draws attention to the continuing and urgent health emergency facing Palestinians living under occupation, especially the health and wellbeing issues surrounding refugees from the occupied Palestinian territories. Abstracts of the research, which were presented at the fourth meeting of The Lancet Palestinian Health Alliance in March 2012, are published online today [Monday, October 8] in The Lancet...