Health News

Joint Replacement Surgery May Not Affect Weight Loss

Date: Sep-11-2012
Hip and knee replacements, also known as total joint arthroplasties (TJAs), are common surgical procedures that relieve pain and increase mobility and could potentially cause weight loss as a by-product. Knee replacements have long been known to increase mobility in older patients, however, this new research touches on the whether hip and knee replacements actually have weight benefits.  About 700,000 TJAs are performed each year in the United States...

UNC Lineberger Scientists Lead Definition Of Key Lung Cancer Genome

Date: Sep-11-2012
In the September 9, 2012 early online edition of Nature, scientists with The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) report that they have characterized the lung squamous cell carcinoma genome. Squamous cell carcinoma is the second most common form of lung cancer, a disease that kills more Americans than any other type of cancer. The national team of scientists examined tumor samples from 178 patients with untreated lung squamous cell carcinoma and completed genetic analysis of the tumors, work that paves the way for developing better, more targeted therapies to treat the cancer...

Researchers Show Cost-Effectiveness Of HIV Testing In Drug Abuse Treatment Programs

Date: Sep-11-2012
Less than half of community-based substance abuse treatment programs in the United States currently make HIV testing available on-site or through referral. A new study led by researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College shows the cost-effectiveness of integrating on-site rapid HIV testing into drug treatment programs. The study, published in this issue of Drug and Alcohol Dependence, is a collaboration with the HIV Rapid Testing and Counseling Study trial, sponsored by the National Drug Abuse Clinical Trials Network...

New Potential Targets Discovered For Treating Squamous Cell Lung Cancers

Date: Sep-11-2012
A new paper published online in Nature holds out hope that people with the second most common type of lung cancer may one day benefit from targeted therapies that have transformed treatments for other lung cancer patients. Squamous cell lung cancer kills more people each year than breast, colorectal, or prostate cancer, ranking second only to lung adenocarcinoma in the number of deaths it causes. But unlike the most common form of lung cancer, squamous cell carcinoma has no treatments aimed at the specific genetic alterations that drive it. That picture may change...

Research Finds Novel Airborne Germ-Killing Oral Spray Effective In Fighting Colds And Flu

Date: Sep-11-2012
University Hospitals Case Medical Center clinical researchers presented findings about a one-two punch to prevent colds and flu in San Francisco at the Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC) on Sept. 9. The research team presented data in two poster presentations that a new oral antiseptic spray is effective in killing 99.9 percent of infectious airborne germs. Findings from these two presentations led to the development of Halo Oral Antiseptic, a first-of-its kind germ-fighting spray which is currently on store shelves...

Nano-Velcro Clasps Heavy Metal Molecules In Its Grips

Date: Sep-11-2012
Mercury, when dumped in lakes and rivers, accumulates in fish, and often ends up on our plates. A Swiss-American team of researchers led by Francesco Stellacci at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and Bartosz Grzybowski at Northwestern University has devised a simple, inexpensive system based on nanoparticles, a kind of nano-velcro, to detect and trap this toxic pollutant as well as others. The particles are covered with tiny hairs that can grab onto toxic heavy metals such as mercury and cadmium...

Organ Donation Survey Reveals Shocking Results, UK

Date: Sep-11-2012
A leading charity has warned that the UK's transplant waiting list will never be significantly reduced in size unless public attitudes towards organ donation change, after a survey revealed the majority of people in the UK are prepared to receive an organ but not donate one. The survey was carried out by company Usurv on behalf of Kidney Research UK - the UK's leading funder of research into the treatment and prevention of kidney disease - and was intended to gauge popular opinion around organ donation and transplantation...

Researchers Find First Evidence For A Genetic Cause For Barrett's Oesophagus

Date: Sep-11-2012
Genetic variations that are linked with the onset of Barrett's oesophagus (BE), a pre-cancerous condition of the lower end of the gullet, have been identified for the first time. The discovery of variations in regions on two chromosomes makes it possible to develop screening tests for people at high risk of developing the disease. Although it's been thought for some time that there may be genetic causes for BE as well as environmental ones, such as drinking alcohol and eating fatty food, so far researchers have not found any genetic variations that are associated with the condition...

Protecting Genes, One Molecule At A Time

Date: Sep-11-2012
An international team of scientists have shown at an unprecedented level of detail how cells prioritise the repair of genes containing potentially dangerous damage. The research, published in the journal Nature and involving academics from the University of Bristol, the Institut Jacques-Monod in France and Rockefeller University in the US, studied the action of individual molecules in order to understand how cellular repair pathways are triggered...

Genetic Clues To The Causes Of Primary Biliary Cirrhosis

Date: Sep-11-2012
Researchers have newly identified three genetic regions associated with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), the most common autoimmune liver disease, increasing the number of known regions associated with the disorder to 25. The team used a DNA microchip, called Immunochip, to survey more thoroughly regions of the genome known to underlie other autoimmune diseases to discover if they play a role also in PBC susceptibility...