Health News

Ion Channel Helps Clear Airway Mucus

Date: Sep-06-2012
Allergens, such as dust, pollen, and smoke, trigger airway inflammation, leading to an increase in mucus secretion. The mucus binds up the allergens and, in a process known as mucociliary clearance, ejects the allergens from the airway. Mucus is formed when dehydrated mucin molecules mix with free water in the airway. Mucus production is required to protect the airway, but in certain inflammatory airway diseases, too much mucus is produced, leading to difficulty in breathing. Mucus production is partially controlled by the number of water molecules in the airway...

Researchers Identify Immune System Targets Associated With Skin Blistering Disease Pemphigus Vulgaris

Date: Sep-06-2012
Pemphigus vulgaris (PV) is an autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system develops antibodies to two of its own proteins, the desmogleins DSG1 and DSG3 that help maintain the integrity of the skin. The immune attack causes painful blisters on the skin and mucus membranes that can lead to infections. Current therapies are geared towards suppressing the entire immune system, but this is problematic as it causes many side effects and leaves the patient vulnerable to infection...

A Delicate Balance: Gut Serotonin And Bone Maintenance

Date: Sep-06-2012
The hormone serotonin is probably best known for its role in the brain; however, it is also made elsewhere in the body where it regulates multiple physiological processes. Serotonin that is made in the gut is reduces the proliferation of bone cells (osteoblasts) and scientists have suggested that blocking gut serotonin might be method for treating osteoporosis. To determine if this is a feasible treatment method, researchers led by Stavroula Kosteni at Columbia University set out to determine exactly how gut serotonin exerts its effects on bone mass...

Mouse Model Sheds Light On Human Pituitary Disorder

Date: Sep-06-2012
Pituitary hypoplasia, or incomplete growth of the pituitary gland, causes hormone deficiencies in humans. One form is caused by a mutation in the SOX2 gene, resulting in eye abnormalities, short stature, hearing loss, digestive problems, and learning difficulties. SOX2 is broadly involved in embryonic development. To determine exactly how Sox2 influences development of the pituitary gland, researchers at University College London studied the development of mice that lost SOX2 at different points in development...

Smokers Who Value The Future Are More Likely To Quit

Date: Sep-06-2012
Addiction researchers have known for many years that smokers are less likely than non-smokers to look to the future in planning their lives. New research has now shown that among smokers, those who have more of a future orientation are more likely to stop smoking. Drs. Heather Brown and Jean Adams of Newcastle University (UK) tapped into eight years of data from a large Australian database to make this discovery...

'Benign' Malaria Key Driver Of Human Evolution In Asia-Pacific

Date: Sep-06-2012
Their finding challenges the widely-accepted theory that Plasmodium falciparum, which causes the most lethal form of malaria, is the only malaria parasite capable of driving genome evolution in humans. The study was published in the journal PLOS Medicine. Professor Ivo Mueller from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute and Barcelona Centre for International Health Research (CRESIB) led the study, with colleagues from the Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research, Centre of Global Health and Diseases, US, and the University of Western Australia...

Rapid Response In Cases Of Smoke Poisoning

Date: Sep-06-2012
The main cause of cyanide poisoning is smoke inhalation in closed spaces during fires. Cyanides, the salts of hydrocyanic acid, inhibit cellular respiration and may lead to coma or death. The rapid administration of a cyanide antidote is essential for successful treatment. Previously, detecting cyanide in the blood took up to an hour and could only be performed in the laboratory, a lengthy process that is poorly suited for emergency situations. As a result, emergency doctors and paramedics are forced to administer antidotes based solely on presumptive diagnoses...

Cancer Cells Co-Opt A Stress Response Protein

Date: Sep-06-2012
Malignant nerve peripheral sheath tumors are a form of cancer in the connective tissue surrounding nerve cells that is driven by the loss of the tumor suppressor gene NF1. Researchers at the Whitehead Institute in Cambridge, MA recently found that loss of NF1 causes an increase in the expression of a protein known as Heat Shock Factor 1 (HSF1), a protein that normal cells use to respond to cellular stress...

Binding Sites For LIN28 Protein Found In Thousands Of Human Genes

Date: Sep-06-2012
A study led by researchers at the UC San Diego Stem Cell Research program and funded by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) looks at an important RNA binding protein called LIN28, which is implicated in pluripotency and reprogramming as well as in cancer and other diseases. According to the researchers, their study - published in the September 6 online issue of Molecular Cell - will change how scientists view this protein and its impact on human disease...

Canada Should Remove Section Of Criminal Code That Permits Physical Punishment Of Children

Date: Sep-06-2012
To promote good parenting, Canada should remove section 43 of its Criminal Code because it sends the wrong message that using physical punishment to discipline children is acceptable, argues Dr. John Fletcher, Editor-in-Chief, CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) in an editorial. Section 43 of the Criminal Code of Canada states "...a parent is justified in using force by way of correction...if the force does not exceed what is reasonable under the circumstances...