Health News

Adherence To DASH Diet For Lowering Blood Pressure Less Likely In African Americans

Date: Sep-21-2012
The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet, which promotes consumption of more fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy products, and whole grain, and less meats and sweets, is a proven effective treatment for hypertension. For some individuals, adherence to the diet can be just as effective in lowering blood pressure as taking antihypertensive medication. A new study has found that greater adherence to the diet can lead to significant reductions in blood pressure, but that African Americans are less likely to adopt the diet compared to whites...

First Low-Cost, Paper-Based, Point Of Care Liver Function Test

Date: Sep-21-2012
A new postage stamp-sized, paper-based device could provide a simple and reliable way to monitor for liver damage at a cost of only pennies per test, say researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and Diagnostics For All (DFA), a Cambridge, MA nonprofit dedicated to improving the health of people living in the developing world...

Biological Mechanism Discovered That Can Trigger Epileptic Seizures

Date: Sep-21-2012
Scientists have discovered the first direct evidence that a biological mechanism long suspected in epilepsy is capable of triggering the brain seizures - opening the door for studies to seek improved treatments or even preventative therapies. Researchers at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center report in Neuron that molecular disruptions in small neurons called granule cells - located in the dentate gyrus region of the brain - caused brain seizures in mice similar to those seen in human temporal lobe epilepsy...

Research Published Supporting Disease-Modifying Potential Of STX209 For Fragile X Syndrome

Date: Sep-21-2012
Seaside Therapeutics has announced the publication of two papers in Science Translational Medicine, supporting its lead candidate, STX209 (arbaclofen), for the treatment of fragile X syndrome (FXS). The works presented highlight STX209 as a potential disease-modifying drug in preclinical studies, with improvement in social function in a clinical trial of patients with FXS...

Unreliable Neural Responses May Induce Autism Symptoms

Date: Sep-21-2012
Diverse symptoms associated with autism could be explained by unreliable activity of neurons in the brain in response to basic, nonsocial sensory information, according to a study published by Cell Press in the journal Neuron. The new findings suggest that autism is a disorder of general neural processing and could potentially provide an explanation for the origins of a range of psychiatric and neurological disorders...

Blood Pressure Lower When Yogurt Part Of Diet

Date: Sep-21-2012
Adding more yogurt to your diet without increasing the number of calories you eat may help lower your risk of high blood pressure, according to new research presented at the American Heart Association's High Blood Pressure Research 2012 Scientific Sessions. A recent study found long-term yogurt-eaters were less likely to develop high blood pressure and on average had lower systolic blood pressure than those who didn't eat yogurt. Systolic blood pressure is the top number in a blood pressure reading...

Decorin, A Well-Studied Protein, Induces Tumor Suppressor Genes In Microenvironment To Stop Metastasis In Triple Negative Breast Cancer

Date: Sep-21-2012
A natural substance found in the surrounding tissue of a tumor may be a promising weapon to stop triple negative breast cancer from metastasizing. A preclinical study published in PLOS ONE September 19 by Thomas Jefferson University researchers found that decorin, a well-studied protein known to help halt tumor growth, induces a series of tumor suppressor genes in the surrounding tissue of triple negative breast cancer tumors that help stop metastasis...

Children Who Suffer Emotional Neglect At Increased Risk For Stroke In Later Life

Date: Sep-21-2012
The results from a new study by neurological researchers from the Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center at Rush University Medical Center suggest that people who were emotionally neglected as children may have a higher risk of stroke in later adulthood. "Studies have shown that children who were neglected emotionally in childhood are at an increased risk of a slew of psychiatric disorders. However, our study is one of few that looked at an association between emotional neglect and stroke," said study author Robert S. Wilson, PhD, a neuropsychologist at Rush...

Monitoring Brain Activity During Study Can Help Predict Test Performance

Date: Sep-21-2012
Research at Sandia National Laboratories has shown that it's possible to predict how well people will remember information by monitoring their brain activity while they study. A team under Laura Matzen of Sandia's cognitive systems group was the first to demonstrate predictions based on the results of monitoring test volunteers with electroencephalography (EEG) sensors...

Stem Cell-Based Regenerative Medicine Research May Be Advanced By Discovery Of Reprogramming Signature

Date: Sep-21-2012
Salk scientists have identified a unique molecular signature in induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), "reprogrammed" cells that show great promise in regenerative medicine thanks to their ability to generate a range of body tissues. In this week's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the Salk scientists and their collaborators at University of California, San Diego, report that there is a consistent, signature difference between embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells. The findings could help overcome hurdles to using the induced stem cells in regenerative medicine...