Health News

For Cord Blood Cell Transplantation After Stoke, Therapeutic Time Window An Important Factor

Date: Oct-04-2012
A research team from Germany has found that optimal benefit and functional improvement for ischemic stroke results when human umbilical cord blood mononuclear cells (hUCB MNCs) are transplanted into rat stroke models within 72 hours of the stroke. Their study is published in the current issue of Cell Transplantation (21:6), now freely available on-line. * "Ischemic stroke is one of the most frequent causes of death and the most common reason for permanent disabilities in adults in industrialized nations," said Dr. Johannes Boltze, study corresponding-author from the University of Leipzig...

Serum From Animals Such As Camels, Llamas, And Alpacas Could Enhance Brain Imaging, Aid President Obama's Alzheimer's Plan

Date: Oct-04-2012
President Obama's national plan to fight Alzheimer's disease just got a lift thanks to a team of international researchers whose recent discovery may lead to enhanced imaging of and improved drug delivery to the brain. A research report appearing in The FASEB Journal, describes an entirely new class of antibody discovered in camelids (camels, dromedaries, llamas, and alpacas) that is able to cross the blood-brain barrier, diffuse into brain tissue, and reach specific targets...

Highly Toxic Compounds In Tobacco Not Regulated By Law

Date: Oct-04-2012
Researchers from the University of Alicante (Spain) have analysed ten brands of cigarettes and found that the concentrations of certain harmful and carcinogenic substances vary significantly from one brand to another. Until now legislation has not covered these compounds and only establishes limits for nicotine, tar and carbon monoxide. Scientists have also developed catalysts to reduce the harmful products in tobacco...

Obesity Resulting From High-Fat, High-Sugar Foods May Impair Brain, Fuel Overeating

Date: Oct-04-2012
"Betcha can't eat just one!" For obese people trying to lose weight, the Lays potato chip advertising slogan hits a bit too close to home as it describes the daily battle to resist high calorie foods. But new research by Terry Davidson, director of American University's Center for Behavioral Neuroscience, indicates that diets that lead to obesity - diets high in saturated fat and refined sugar - may cause changes to the brains of obese people that in turn may fuel overconsumption of those same foods and make weight loss more challenging...

Appropriate Injury-Prevention Strategies Necessary For College Athletes To Avoid Concussions

Date: Oct-04-2012
What does it mean to have a head concussion? Much has been written in recent years about the short- and long-term consequences of concussions sustained in sports, combat, and accidents. However, there appear to be no steadfast rules guiding the definition of concussion: the characteristics associated with this type of traumatic head injury have shifted over time and across medical disciplines...

Appropriate Food Assistance Programs Essential To Tackle Both Obesity And Under-Nutrition In Long-Term Refugee Populations

Date: Oct-04-2012
Both obesity and under-nutrition are common in women and children from the Western Sahara living in refugee camps in Algeria, highlighting the need to balance both obesity prevention and management with interventions to tackle under-nutrition in this population, according to a study by international researchers published in this week's PLOS Medicine...

Improved Control Of Blood Glucose In Type 1 Diabetes Could Avert Serious Complications

Date: Oct-04-2012
Strategies implemented in high-income countries to improve blood glucose control in people with type 1 diabetes and so reduce complications, such as heart attacks, strokes, and early death, are working, but there is much need for further improvement, according to a study from Scotland published in this week's PLOS Medicine...

PETA Involvement Helped Cut Number Of Animals Used In HPV Chemicals Challenge Program From 3.5 Million To 127,000

Date: Oct-04-2012
In an article published in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP), People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals reports that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) High Production Volume (HPV) Chemicals Challenge Program had the potential to use 3.5 million animals in new testing, but after the application of animal-saving measures, approximately 127,000 were actually used...

A Reduction In Breast Biopsies Likely With New MRI Technique

Date: Oct-04-2012
Water diffusion measurements with MRI could decrease false-positive breast cancer results and reduce preventable biopsies, according to a new study published online in the journal Radiology. Researchers said the technique also could improve patient management by differentiating high-risk lesions requiring additional workup from other non-malignant subtypes. Dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) has emerged in recent years as a useful tool in breast cancer detection and staging. One of its primary limitations is a substantial number of false-positive findings that require biopsies...

Eggs Recreated In Vitro To Treat Infertility

Date: Oct-04-2012
Regenerative-medicine researchers have moved a promising step closer to helping infertile, premenopausal women produce enough eggs to become pregnant. Surgeons at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center's Institute for Regenerative Medicine in Winston-Salem, NC, reported that they were able to stimulate ovarian cell production using an in vitro rat model, and observed as the cells matured into very early-stage eggs that could possibly be fertilized. Results from this novel study were presented at the 2012 American College of Surgeons Annual Clinical Congress...