Health News

Resveratrol Leads To Decreased Food Intake, Longer Lifespan When Given To Bees

Date: Sep-27-2012
The idea that drinking red wine may provide health benefits - or possibly even extend your life - is an appealing thought for many people. Now, there may be added attraction. Researchers have found that when given resveratrol, a compound found in red wine, bees consume less food. Previous scientific studies on resveratrol show that it lengthens the lifespan of diverse organisms ranging from unicellular yeast to fruit flies and mice...

Better Home Care Needed Say Palliative Care Experts

Date: Sep-27-2012
Improved home care resources for people with conditions such as dementia, who would prefer to die at home, are key to providing better end of life care and reducing the strain of the UK's ageing population on the NHS, according to researchers at King's College London...

Newly Developed Technique Can Kill Antibiotic-Resistant Germs

Date: Sep-27-2012
Infectious bacteria received a taste of their own medicine from University of Missouri researchers who used viruses to infect and kill colonies of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, common disease-causing bacteria. The viruses, known as bacteriophages, could be used to efficiently sanitize water treatment facilities and may aid in the fight against deadly antibiotic-resistant bacteria...

Postmenopausal Women Ofter Suffer Sexual Difficulties Following Breast Cancer Treatment

Date: Sep-27-2012
Women treated for breast cancer after menopause with aromatase inhibitors have very high levels of sexual difficulties, including low interest, insufficient lubrication, and pain with intercourse. It is an important and underestimated problem, say the authors of a study published online in Menopause, the journal of the North American Menopause Society. The researchers from Orebro University and Uppsala University in Sweden are the first to look at the impact of this type of breast cancer treatment on specific aspects of sexuality in postmenopausal women...

Chemist May Hold Key To Building A Better Environmental Toxin Trap

Date: Sep-27-2012
A Florida State University chemist's work could lead to big improvements in our ability to detect and eliminate specific toxins in our environment. Featured on the cover of the prestigious Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS), Sourav Saha's specialized work to strip electrons from the toxic chemical known as fluoride is producing a variety of unique results. "I started out with the very basic premise of trying to find new ways to detect toxic fluoride in solutions," said Saha, an assistant professor of chemistry at Florida State...

Emergency Responders Could Be Aided By Automatic Building Mapping

Date: Sep-27-2012
A prototype sensor array that can be worn on the chest automatically maps the wearer's environment, recognizing movement between floors. MIT researchers have built a wearable sensor system that automatically creates a digital map of the environment through which the wearer is moving. The prototype system, described in a paper slated for the Intelligent Robots and Systems conference in Portugal next month, is envisioned as a tool to help emergency responders coordinate disaster response...

Breast Cancer Metastasis Suppressed By LIFR Protein

Date: Sep-27-2012
A receptor protein suppresses local invasion and metastasis of breast cancer cells, the most lethal aspect of the disease, according to a research team headed by scientists from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Reporting in Nature Medicine, the team described using high-throughput RNA sequencing to identify the leukemia inhibitory factor receptor (LIFR) as a novel suppressor of breast cancer metastasis, the spread of the disease to other organs...

Manipulating And Measuring Magnetic Particles Without Contact, Potentially Enabling Multiple Medical Tests On A Tiny Device

Date: Sep-27-2012
If you throw a ball underwater, you'll find that the smaller it is, the faster it moves: A larger cross-section greatly increases the water's resistance. Now, a team of MIT researchers has figured out a way to use this basic principle, on a microscopic scale, to carry out biomedical tests that could eventually lead to fast, compact and versatile medical-testing devices...

New Technique Developed For Identifying Proteins Secreted By Cells

Date: Sep-27-2012
Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed a new technique to identify the proteins secreted by a cell. The new approach should help researchers collect precise data on cell biology, which is critical in fields ranging from zoology to cancer research. The work is important because cells communicate by secreting proteins. Some of the proteins act on the cell itself, telling it to grow or multiply, for example. But the proteins can also interact with other cells, influencing them to perform any biological function...

Groundbreaking Research Discovers Possible New Way To Fight HIV

Date: Sep-27-2012
New research has exhibited how the HIV virus targets memory T-cells or "veterans", which could potentially change how drugs are used to halt the virus. This latest research, appearing in the October issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, is a huge breakthrough for the George Mason University based researchers who believe their findings will impact the entire field. Helper T-cells protect the body's immune system by arranging forces to fight off infection. The HIV virus seizes control of helper T-cells, causing T-cell numbers to drop, making the body vulnerable to disease...