Health News

Gene Discovered That Causes Deafness

Date: Oct-02-2012
Researchers at the University of Cincinnati (UC) and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center have found a new genetic mutation responsible for deafness and hearing loss associated with Usher syndrome type 1. These findings, published in the advance online edition of the journal Nature Genetics, could help researchers develop new therapeutic targets for those at risk for this syndrome. Partners in the study included the National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), Baylor College of Medicine and the University of Kentucky...

Hormone Receptor Status Defines Breast Cancer Recurrence

Date: Oct-02-2012
Human epidermal growth factor (HER2) positive breast cancers are often treated with the same therapy regardless of hormone receptor status. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Breast Cancer Research shows that women whose HER2 positive cancer was also hormone (estrogen and progesterone) receptor (HR) negative had an increased risk of early death, and that their cancer was less likely to recur in bone than those whose cancer retained hormone sensitivity. Breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease with many different subtypes...

Advances In Esophageal And Gastrointestinal Cancer Treatments

Date: Oct-02-2012
New trial data showing improvements in the treatment of esophageal and gastrointestinal cancers were released at the ESMO 2012 Congress of the European Society for Medical Oncology in Vienna.  Phase III, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of gefitinib versus placebo in esophageal cancer progressing after chemotherapy The first phase III trial to address the need for second-line treatments in esophageal cancer shows that gefitinib improves important quality-of-life measures and extends progression-free survival, UK researchers report...

New Insights On Control Of Pituitary Hormone Outside Of Brain Has Implications For Breast Cancer

Date: Oct-02-2012
The hormone prolactin is produced by the pituitary gland in the brain and then travels via the bloodstream to cells throughout the body, where it exerts multiple reproductive and metabolic effects, most notably on the breast where it is the master regulator of lactation. In recent years researchers have found that prolactin is also produced by some tissues outside the brain, however little is known about the functions of extra-pituitary prolactin or how its production is regulated in these tissues. Now, the laboratory of Lewis A...

Epidemic Of New Pathogen, Invasive Non-Typhoidal Salmonella Disease, Identified In Sub-Saharan Africa

Date: Oct-02-2012
A new study reveals that the emergence and spread of a rapidly evolving invasive intestinal disease, that has a significant mortality rate (up to 45%) in infected people in sub-Saharan Africa, seems to have been potentiated by the HIV epidemic in Africa. The team found that invasive non-Typhoidal Salmonella (iNTS) disease is caused by a new form of the bacteria Salmonella Typhimurium that has spread from two different focal hubs in Southern and Central Africa beginning 52 and 35 years ago, respectively...

Type 2 Diabetes Risk Tied To Short Sleep In Teens

Date: Oct-02-2012
A study of teenagers in the US found that the less sleep they got, the higher the chance of them having insulin resistance, a metabolic condition that increases a person's risk of developing type 2 diabetes. The researchers, writing in the October issue of the journal Sleep, suggest increasing the amount of sleep teenagers get could protect them against diabetes in the future by improving their insulin resistance. Insulin is a hormone made in the pancreas that helps the body use glucose, its main source of energy...

ALS And Dementia Share A Common RNA Pathway

Date: Oct-02-2012
Two proteins previously found to contribute to ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, have divergent roles. But a new study, led by researchers at the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, shows that a common pathway links them. The discovery reveals a small set of target genes that could be used to measure the health of motor neurons, and provides a useful tool for development of new pharmaceuticals to treat the devastating disorder, which currently has no treatment or cure...

White Finger Disease And Genetics

Date: Oct-02-2012
Vibration-induced white finger disease (VWF) is caused by continued use of vibrating hand held machinery (high frequency vibration 50 Hz), and affects tens of thousands of people. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Clinical Epigenetics finds that people with a genetic polymorphism (A2191G) in sirtuin1 (SIRT1), a protein involved in the regulation of endothelial NOS (eNOS), are more likely to suffer from vibration-induced white finger disease...

Potentially Dangerous New Malaria Mosquito Discovered

Date: Oct-02-2012
University of Notre Dame entomologists are part of a team of researchers that recently discovered a potentially dangerous new malaria-transmitting mosquito. The as yet unnamed, and previously unreported, mosquito breeds in the western areas of Kenya and has an unknown DNA match to any of the existing malaria-transmitting species. The Anopheles species of mosquitoes which transmits malaria in Africa is already widely studied by researchers. It prefers to rest indoors during the day and feed on humans during the night...

Improvement Needed In Patient Selection For Bilateral Total Knee Replacement

Date: Oct-02-2012
Because there are more risks with having a total knee replacement in both legs at the same time than having a knee replacement in one leg, doctors in recent years have been selecting younger and healthier patients for the bilateral procedure. Now a new study by researchers at Hospital for Special Surgery has revealed that although patients are younger and healthier than those undergoing only one-sided surgery, they are becoming sicker and some complication rates have risen...