Health News

Dementia Screening At Home

Date: Oct-06-2012
With baby boomers approaching the age of 65 and new cases of Alzheimer's disease expected to increase by 50 percent by the year 2030, Georgia Tech researchers have created a tool that allows adults to screen themselves for early signs of dementia. The home-based computer software is patterned after the paper-and-pencil Clock Drawing Test, one of health care's most commonly used screening exams for cognitive impairment. "Technology allows us to check our weight, blood-sugar levels and blood pressure, but not our own cognitive abilities," said project leader Ellen Yi-Luen Do...

Women Undergoing Fertility Therapy Stressed By Fear Of Treatment

Date: Oct-06-2012
Fertility treatment has a strong emotional impact on women who want to have children. A study of European countries with the highest number of assisted reproduction cycles identifies which aspects of reproduction treatment contribute to psychological stress. Inability to conceive is extremely stressful for women who want to have a family. This notion is shown by a study published in the 'Human Reproduction' journal on patients in four countries with the highest number of cases of assisted reproduction cycles in Europe: France, Germany, Italy and Spain...

Survey Reveals That Britons Are Least Likely To Adopt Protective Behaviours Against 'Flu'

Date: Oct-06-2012
A new international survey published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases has revealed that during the H1N1 influenza pandemic in 2009, people in Britain lagged far behind other countries in adopting protective behaviours, such as increasing their practice of covering their mouth with a tissue when sneezing or coughing...

Diabetes Screening Study Finds No Reduction In Mortality Rates

Date: Oct-06-2012
Screening for type 2 diabetes does not appear to affect overall population mortality rates, according to a new study published in The Lancet. The randomised trial, which is the first ever study evaluating the effect of type 2 diabetes screening programmes on overall mortality rates in a population, assessed the number of deaths over ten years in a group of more than 20 000 patients across 32 general practices in Eastern England. The patients were all aged between 40 and 69 years, and were assessed as being at high risk of diabetes...

Study: Standing Babies Stay Steady When Focused

Date: Oct-06-2012
Babies learning to stand may look wobbly, but they are really in more control than they appear, especially when they focus and hold on to an object like a toy, according to Purdue University research. "Babies learning to stand often sway and appear out of control, but in this study, once we handed them a toy their standing posture improved and they were more stable," said Laura Claxton, an assistant professor of health and kinesiology who studies motor development in children...

New Boehringer Ingelheim Data To Be Presented On Health-Related Quality Of Life With Afatinib In Patients With EGFR Mutation-Positive Advanced NSCLC

Date: Oct-06-2012
Boehringer Ingelheim has announced new patient-reported health-related outcomes for its investigational oncology compound afatinib,* including lung cancer-related symptoms and quality of life (QoL). These data are secondary endpoints of LUX-Lung 3, a Phase III trial of afatinib (n=230) compared to chemotherapy (pemetrexed/cisplatin) (n=115) in patients with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation-positive advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The poster was presented at the ESMO 2012 Congress (European Society for Medical Oncology) on Sunday, September 30 at 6:45 - 8:15 a.m...

New Preclinical Data Paves Way For Large Scale Vaccine Administration

Date: Oct-06-2012
Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE MKT: INO) announced today the publication of positive immunological effects in preclinical animal models of optimized electroporation (EP) parameters for its minimally invasive skin (intradermal) EP delivery devices in the peer-reviewed journal, Human Gene Therapy...

Ketamine Relieves Depression Symptoms Within Hours

Date: Oct-06-2012
Small amounts of the drug ketamine can immediately relieve the symptoms of chronic depression, as well as those of treatment-resistant patients within a few hours, say Yale scientists. After a decades' worth of research, experts from Yale School of Medicine suggest in the journal Science that the pediatric anesthetic repairs synaptic connections between brain cells that have been impaired by depression and stress. This finding coincides with previous research from 2010 which showed that ketamine can rapidly relieve depression for people with treatment-resistant bipolar disorder...

Substance Abuse Among Homeless Youth Addressed By Nurse-Led Intervention

Date: Oct-06-2012
A new study led by researchers from the UCLA School of Nursing has found that nursing intervention can significantly decrease substance abuse among homeless youth. Published in the current issue of the American Journal on Addictions, the research also revealed that "art messaging" can have a positive effect on drug and alcohol abuse and other risky behaviors among this population. It is estimated that at least 1.2 million adolescents are homeless in the United States...

New Faulty Gene Explains Sudden Cardiac Death

Date: Oct-06-2012
A newly discovered gene mutation may be the answer behind the mysterious cardiac deaths in otherwise healthy young people, research points out. Frequently over the last years, healthy young people have experienced sudden cardiac death, and many doctors are confused as to why the heart abruptly stopped beating. Researchers from Denmark have found a gene mutation that can cause serious heart disease or sudden cardiac death in both adults and children...