Health News

Study Of Chimp Brains In The Womb Has Implications For Human Brain Fetal Development

Date: Sep-26-2012
Humans' superior brain size in comparison to their chimpanzee cousins traces all the way back to the womb. That's according to a study reported in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, that is the first to track and compare brain growth in chimpanzee and human fetuses. "Nobody knew how early these differences between human and chimp brains emerged," said Satoshi Hirata of Kyoto University. Hirata and colleagues Tomoko Sakai and Hideko Takeshita now find that human and chimp brains begin to show remarkable differences very early in life...

Watchful Waiting As Viable Option For Men With Low-Risk Prostate Cancer Confirmed By Model

Date: Sep-26-2012
A new research model has estimated that the difference in prostate cancer mortality among men with low-risk disease who choose active surveillance versus those who choose immediate treatment with radical prostatectomy is likely to be very modest, possibly as little as two to three months. The model, developed by biostatistician Ruth Etzioni, Ph.D., and colleagues of the Public Health Sciences Division at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Wash...

Large Donors Are Forcing The World Health Organization To Reform

Date: Sep-25-2012
The current practice of large donors is forcing the World Health Organization and the World Bank to reflect on how to reform to remain more appealing to the wider set of stakeholders and interests at play, according to Devi Sridhar from the University of Oxford writing in this week's PLOS Medicine Sridhar argues that since the priorities of funding bodies largely dictate what health issues and diseases are studied, a major challenge in the governance of global health research funding is agenda-setting, which in turn is a consequence of a larger phenomenon - "multi-bi financing...

Change In Treatment Regime For Cryptococcal Meningitis May Be Needed

Date: Sep-25-2012
The most cost-effective treatment for cryptococcal meningitis (a serious infection of the brain membranes, usually in people with AIDS or other immune system deficiencies) is different to that currently recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), warranting a review of policy, according to the findings of a study published in this week's PLOS Medicine...

Study Examines Usage, Outcomes Of Knee Replacement Procedures Among Medicare Patients

Date: Sep-25-2012
There has been an increase in total knee arthroplasty (TKA; knee replacement) procedures over the past 20 years that has been driven by both an increase in the number of Medicare enrollees and increase in per capita utilization, according to a study in the September 26 issue of JAMA. There has also been a decrease in hospital length of stay for TKA, but increased hospital readmission rates and increased rates of infectious complications. "Total knee arthroplasty is a common and safe procedure typically performed for relief of symptoms in patients with severe knee arthritis...

Use Of Corticosteroid For Children Undergoing Tonsillectomy Does Not Appear To Increase Risk Of Serious Bleeding

Date: Sep-25-2012
Administration of the corticosteroid dexamethasone to children during a tonsillectomy was not associated with excessive, serious bleeding events following surgery compared to patients who received placebo, according to a study in the September 26 issue of JAMA. Tonsillectomy is exceedingly common, with a reported increase in tonsillectomy rates in children younger than 15 years from 287,000 to 530,000 per year over the past decade. Although safe, adenotonsillectomy can result in significant complications, according to background information in the article...

Harmful Virus May Be Able To Treat Acne

Date: Sep-25-2012
A harmful virus has been identified as a possible new weapon to fight acne. Scientists at UCLA and the University of Pittsburgh suggest that a virus living on our skin naturally seeks and destroys the bacteria responsible for zits. Dr. Robert Modlin, a researcher in this study and chief of dermatology and professor of microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, explained: "Acne affects millions of people, yet we have few treatments that are both safe and effective...

Endorectal MRI Could Be Key To Identifying Eligible Prostate Cancer Patients For Active Surveillance

Date: Sep-25-2012
In an effort to reduce over treatment, "active surveillance" has become a realistic option for men with prostate cancer whose tumors do not need urgent attention and may never advance into a life threatening illness. MRIs have always been a common tool in screening for prostate cancer reoccurrence. Now, researchers from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York recently reported that endorectal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can be added to the clinical evaluation for men with clinically low prostate cancer risk in order to measure their qualifications for active surveillance...

Cancer Deaths Expected To Drop 17% By 2030

Date: Sep-25-2012
Cancer death rates are predicted to drop by 17% (16.8) in the UK by 2030, according to Cancer Research UK's new report. This new research coincides with a study from February of this year, which revealed that in 2012, the rates of deaths from cancer (per 100,000 people, by age) have decreased. 2010 saw 157,275 cancer deaths in the UK alone - 170 of every 100,000 cancer patients died. However, experts believe that by 2030, this number will drop from 170 to 142...

Drug Originally Developed For Cancer Proves Effective For Children With Progeria

Date: Sep-25-2012
Results of the first-ever clinical drug trial for children with Progeria, a rare, fatal "rapid-aging" disease, demonstrate the efficacy of a farnesyltransferase inhibitor (FTI), a drug originally developed to treat cancer. The clinical trial results, completed only six years after scientists identified the cause of Progeria, included significant improvements in weight gain, bone structure and, most importantly, the cardiovascular system, according to The Progeria Research Foundation (PRF) and Boston Children's Hospital...