Health News

Puzzle Of B-Cell Lymphoma Development Solved By MDC Researchers

Date: Sep-25-2012
Germinal centers are sites in the organs of the lymphatic system, formed during the course of an immune response to infection, where B cells intensely proliferate and modify their DNA in order to produce antibodies specific for the pathogen. However, it is known that the vast majority of lymphomas derive from the B cells at the germinal centers. Now, Dr. Dinis Pedro Calado and Dr...

Breast Cancer Mapping Reveals Four Distinct Types

Date: Sep-25-2012
After mapping the genetic features of 800 breast cancer tumors, scientists with The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) program  conclude that even given the huge genetic diversity of the disease, there are four main subtypes. They also found a remarkable similarity between one type of breast cancer and ovarian cancer.  The researchers, who write about their findings in a 23 September online issue of Nature, believe they greatly increase the understanding of breast cancer and will lead to more treatment options for patients...

Antibiotic Prescribing Among Older Patients Varies Considerably

Date: Sep-25-2012
The rate at which antibiotics are prescribed for elderly patients varies significantly according to where they live and what time of year it is, researchers from the University of Pittsburgh reported in Archives of Internal Medicine. As background information, the authors explained that antibiotics are commonly overprescribed, resulting in unnecessary extra spending as well as raising the risks of antimicrobial resistance and adverse effects...

Using 'Green' Raw Material To Create 'Sweet' Chemicals

Date: Sep-25-2012
The biobased world's traditional focus on producing fuels for cars, trucks and aircraft is quietly undergoing a major transition this summer toward production of chemicals needed for manufacture of hundreds of different consumer products, according to an article in the current edition of Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN). The cover story appears in the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society. Melody M...

In Giant-Cell Tumor Of The Bone, Denosumab Reduces Burden

Date: Sep-25-2012
Treatment with denosumab, a drug targeted against a protein that helps promote bone destruction, decreased the number of tumor giant cells in patients with giant-cell tumor of the bone, and increased new bone formation, according to the results of a phase II study published in Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. "Giant-cell tumor of the bone is a rare tumor that affects mostly young people," said Sant P. Chawla, M.D., director of the Santa Monica Oncology Center, Santa Monica, Calif. "Radical surgery is currently the only treatment option...

Genomic Analysis Of E. Coli Shows Multiple Steps To Evolve New Trait

Date: Sep-25-2012
Several years ago researchers at Michigan State University (MSU) reported discovering a novel, evolutionary trait in a long-studied population of Escherichia coli, a rod-shaped bacterium commonly found in the lower intestine of mammals. The E. coli added a helping of citrate to its traditional diet of glucose, even though other E. coli can't consume citrate in the presence of oxygen. These same biologists have now analyzed this new trait's genetic origins and found that in multiple cases, the evolving E...

Association Between Diets High In Total Antioxidants And Lower Risk Of Myocardial Infarction In Women

Date: Sep-25-2012
Coronary heart disease is a major cause of death in women. A new study has found that a diet rich in antioxidants, mainly from fruits and vegetables, can significantly reduce the risk of myocardial infarction. The study is published in the October issue of The American Journal of Medicine. "Our study was the first to look at the effect of all dietary antioxidants in relation to myocardial infarction," says lead investigator Alicja Wolk, DrMedSci, Division of Nutritional Epidemiology, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden...

Unprecedented Moon Shots Program Launched By UT MD Anderson Cancer Center

Date: Sep-25-2012
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center announces the launch of the Moon Shots Program, an unprecedented effort to dramatically accelerate the pace of converting scientific discoveries into clinical advances that reduce cancer deaths. Even as the number of cancer survivors in the US is expected to reach an estimated 11.3 million by 2015, according to the American Cancer Society, cancer remains one of the most destructive and vexing diseases. An estimated 100 million people worldwide are expected to lose their lives to cancer in this decade alone...

Montreal Component Of Canada-Wide Aging Study: Boomers And Beyond

Date: Sep-25-2012
It's often referred to as the "Silver Tsunami". The aging of the Canadian population will become a public health challenge in the coming decades. By 2025, it is estimated that one in five Canadians will be over 65, and within 30 years Quebec will have one of the most elderly populations in the Western world. The Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI MUHC) and McGill University has launched the Montreal component of the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA) - one of the most comprehensive studies ever conducted on aging...

Study Evaluates Magnetic Therapy For Tinnitus

Date: Sep-25-2012
Loyola University Medical Center is studying whether a new form of non-invasive magnetic therapy can help people who suffer debilitating tinnitus (ringing in the ears). The therapy, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), sends short pulses of magnetic fields to the brain. TMS has been approved since 2009 for patients who have major depression and have failed at least one antidepressant. The Loyola study will include patients who suffer from both depression and tinnitus...