Health News

UCF Researchers Record World Record Laser Pulse

Date: Sep-05-2012
A University of Central Florida research team has created the world's shortest laser pulse and in the process may have given scientists a new tool to watch quantum mechanics in action - something that has been hidden from view until now. UCF Professor Zenghu Chang from the Department of Physics and the College of Optics and Photonics, led the effort that generated a 67-attosecond pulse of extreme ultraviolet light. The results of his research are published online under Early Posting in the journal Optics Letters. An attosecond is an incomprehensible quintillionith of a second...

Pretreatment PET Imaging Of Lymph Nodes Predicts Recurrence In Breast Cancer Patients

Date: Sep-05-2012
Disease-free survival for invasive ductal breast cancer (IDC) patients may be easier to predict with the help of F-18-fludeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) scans, according to research published in the September issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine. New data show that high maximum standard uptake value (SUVmax) of F-18-FDG in the lymph nodes prior to treatment could be an independent indicator of disease recurrence...

Vitamin D Supplements Do Not Improve Cholesterol As Previous Research Suggested

Date: Sep-05-2012
Vitamin D has been touted for its beneficial effects on a range of human systems, from enhancing bone health to reducing the risk of developing certain cancers. But it does not improve cholesterol levels, according to a new study conducted at The Rockefeller University Hospital. A team of scientists has shown that, at least in the short term, cholesterol levels did not improve when volunteers with vitamin D deficiency received mega-doses of vitamin D. The finding is published in the journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology...

A Blueprint For 'Affective' Aggression

Date: Sep-05-2012
A North Carolina State University researcher has created a roadmap to areas of the brain associated with affective aggression in mice. This roadmap may be the first step toward finding therapies for humans suffering from affective aggression disorders that lead to impulsive violent acts. Affective aggression differs from defensive aggression or premeditated aggression used by predators, in that the role of affective aggression isn't clear and could be considered maladaptive. NC State neurobiologist Dr...

Repeated Exposure To Traumatic Images May Be Harmful To Health

Date: Sep-05-2012
Repeated exposure to violent images from the terrorist attacks of September 11 and the Iraq War led to an increase in physical and psychological ailments in a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults, according to a new UC Irvine study. The study sheds light on the lingering effects of "collective traumas" such as natural disasters, mass shootings and terrorist attacks. A steady diet of graphic media images may have long-lasting mental and physical health consequences, says study author Roxane Cohen Silver, UCI professor of psychology & social behavior, medicine and public health...

Magazines Jeopardize And Empower Young Women's Sexuality

Date: Sep-05-2012
While the effects of sexualized media on young women has long been debated, a new study finds that women who read sex-related magazine articles from popular women's magazines like Cosmopolitan are less likely to view premarital sex as a risky behavior. Additionally, the women who are exposed to these articles are more supportive of sexual behavior that both empowers women and prioritizes their own sexual pleasure. This study was published in a recent article from Psychology of Women Quarterly (published by SAGE). Study authors Janna L. Kim and L...

Healing Cuts For Medicare

Date: Sep-05-2012
The challenge of lowering payments for care following acute hospitalization while safeguarding patient outcomes will require vigilant monitoring Medicare payment reforms mandated in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) for postacute care have great potential to lower costs without harming patients, a new study reports. However, researchers caution, policymakers will need to be vigilant to ensure that these cuts don't result in one-time savings that revert to rising costs...

U Of M Faculty Find Antimicrobials Altering Intestinal Bacteria Composition In Swine

Date: Sep-05-2012
Researchers from the University of Minnesota's College of Veterinary Medicine, concerned about the use of antibiotics in animal production, have found that antimicrobial growth promoters administered to swine can alter the kind of bacteria present in the animal's intestinal track, resulting in an accelerated rate of growth and development in the animals. Antibiotics are routinely administered to swine to treat illness and to promote larger, leaner animals. The results of the study, conducted by Richard Isaacson, Ph.D...

BUSM Researchers Identify Potential Key To Emphysema Treatment

Date: Sep-05-2012
A study led by researchers at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) has shown that a compound used in some skin creams may halt the progression of emphysema and reverse some of the damage caused by the disease. When the compound Gly-His-Lys (GHK) was applied to lung cells from patients with emphysema, normal gene activity in altered cells was restored and damaged aspects of cellular function were repaired...

Children Taking Steroids For Asthma Are Slightly Shorter Than Peers

Date: Sep-05-2012
Children who use inhaled steroid drugs for asthma end up slightly shorter at their full adult height than children who don't use the drugs, new results from a comprehensive asthma study show. The findings were presented Sept. 3 at the European Respiratory Society meeting in Vienna, Austria, and published online in the New England Journal of Medicine. The study's senior author is Robert C. Strunk, MD, the Donald Strominger Professor of Pediatrics at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis...