Health News

The African Spiny Mouse Could Become A New Model For Research In Regenerative Medicine

Date: Sep-28-2012
A small African mammal with an unusual ability to regrow damaged tissues could inspire new research in regenerative medicine, a University of Florida study finds. For years biologists have studied salamanders for their ability to regrow lost limbs. But amphibian biology is very different than human biology, so lessons learned in laboratories from salamanders are difficult to translate into medical therapies for humans. New research in the journal Nature describes a mammal that can regrow new body tissues following an injury...

Blood Test Developed That Accurately Detects Early Stages Of Lung, Breast Cancer In Humans

Date: Sep-28-2012
Researchers at Kansas State University have developed a simple blood test that can accurately detect the beginning stages of cancer. In less than an hour, the test can detect breast cancer and non-small cell lung cancer -- the most common type of lung cancer -- before symptoms like coughing and weight loss start. The researchers anticipate testing for the early stages of pancreatic cancer shortly. The test was developed by Stefan Bossmann, professor of chemistry, and Deryl Troyer, professor of anatomy and physiology...

'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' - Study Looks At Risk Factors For HIV In US Navy And Marines

Date: Sep-28-2012
Same-sex partners and inconsistent condom use were among the major risk factors for HIV infection among U.S. Navy and Marines personnel during the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT) era, reports a study in the October 1 issue of JAIDS: Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health. "[M]ale-to-male sexual contact was a much more common mode of infection than previously reported," reports the new study, led by Shilpa Hakre, DrPH, MPH, of the US Military HIV Research Program, Rockville, Md...

Computer Models Helping To Reduce Acrylamide Levels In French Fries

Date: Sep-28-2012
The process for preparing frozen, par-fried potato strips - distributed to some food outlets for making french fries - can influence the formation of acrylamide in the fries that people eat, a new study has found. Published in ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, the study identifies potential ways of reducing levels of acrylamide, which the National Toxicology Program and the International Agency for Research on Cancer regard as a "probable human carcinogen." Acrylamide forms naturally during the cooking of many food products. Donald S...

Could Antibiotics Replace Surgery For Appendicitis?

Date: Sep-28-2012
Although the standard approach to acute appendicitis is to remove the appendix, a study at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, reveals that treatment with antibiotics can be just as effective in many cases. In her thesis, Jeanette Hansson discusses two major clinical studies of adult patients with acute appendicitis. In the first study she compares surgery with antibiotic therapy, while in the second patients with appendicitis were treated with antibiotics as first-line therapy...

Study Of The Credibility Of Health Messages On Twitter

Date: Sep-28-2012
People are more likely to trust health messages tweeted by doctors who have a lot of followers, but not the messages they retweet, according to researchers. A study of the credibility of health messages on Twitter showed that credibility dips when doctors who have a large number of Twitter followers passed on messages, instead of composing their own tweets, said Ji Young Lee, a former master's degree student in media studies, Penn State...

When Employees Feel Safe To Reveal Performance Errors, Patient Safety Improves

Date: Sep-28-2012
When nurses feel safe admitting to their supervisors that they've made a mistake regarding a patient, they are more likely to report the error, which ultimately leads to a stronger commitment to safe practices and a reduction in the error rate, according to an international team of researchers. In addition, when nurse leaders' safety actions mirror their spoken words -- when they practice what they preach -- unit nurses do not feel caught between adhering to safety protocols and speaking up about mistakes against protocols...

Purging Stem Cells To Make Therapy Safer

Date: Sep-28-2012
A sticky problem that is holding back the therapeutic use of stem cells bioengineered from adult tissue (induced pluripotent stem cells or iPS cells), is the risk that any residual undifferentiated ones will remain and form tumors after transplant into the patient. So while iPS stem cell therapy may be effective, as long as this problem remains, it is unsafe. Now researchers at the Mayo Clinic in the US may have found a solution: in a study published online this week they show how they purged or selectively killed the tumor-forming cells by damaging their DNA...

New Strategy For Battling HIV

Date: Sep-28-2012
New research showing how the HIV virus targets "veterans" or memory T-cells could change how drugs are used to stop the virus, Mason researchers say. The research will appear in the Journal of Biological Chemistry's October edition and currently is available online. "It's a big breakthrough for us," says Yuntao Wu, an author of the study and professor at the Mason-based National Center for Biodefense and Infectious Diseases. "I think this will impact the field." Helper T-cells support the body's immune system by organizing forces to fight off infection...

Colorectal Cancer Gene Database Helpful In Furthering Research

Date: Sep-28-2012
The CRCgene database, which gathers all genetic association studies on colorectal cancer, allows for researchers to accurately interpret the risk factors of the disease and provides insight into the direction of further colorectal cancer research, according to a study published September 27 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Approximately 950,000 new cases of colorectal cancer are diagnosed each year. The risk of developing the disease also increases with age, and as life expectancy rises, the incidence continues to grow...