Health News

Household Items Leading To Chemical Exposure In The Womb May Contribute To Obesity

Date: Sep-03-2012
Pregnant women who are highly exposed to common environmental chemicals - polyfluoroalkyl compounds (PFCs) - have babies that are smaller at birth and larger at 20 months of age, according to a study from Emory University's Rollins School of Public Health published online in Environmental Health Perspectives. PFCs are used in the production of fluoropolymers and are found widely in protective coatings of packaging products, clothes, furniture and non-stick cookware. They are persistent compounds found abundantly in the environment and human exposure is common...

Missing Link Discovered Between Stem Cells And Immune System

Date: Sep-03-2012
UCLA researchers have discovered a type of cell that is the "missing link" between bone marrow stem cells and all the cells of the human immune system, a finding that will lead to a greater understanding of how a healthy immune system is produced and how disease can lead to poor immune function. The studies were done using human bone marrow, which contains all the stem cells that produce blood during postnatal life...

Mathematical Model Helps To Design Efficient Multi-Drug Therapies

Date: Sep-03-2012
For years, doctors treating those with HIV have recognized a relationship between how faithfully patients take the drugs they prescribe, and how likely the virus is to develop drug resistance. More recently, research has shown that the relationship between adherence to a drug regimen and resistance is different for each of the drugs that make up the "cocktail" used to control the disease...

New, Less Expensive Nanolithography Technique Developed By Researchers

Date: Sep-03-2012
Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed a new nanolithography technique that is less expensive than other approaches and can be used to create technologies with biomedical applications. "Among other things, this type of lithography can be used to manufacture chips for use in biological sensors that can identify target molecules, such as proteins or genetic material associated with specific medical conditions," says Dr. Albena Ivanisevic, co-author of a paper describing the research...

Early Menopause: A Mouse Model Of Human POI

Date: Sep-03-2012
Scientists have established a genetic mouse model for primary ovarian insufficiency (POI), a human condition in which women experience irregular menstrual cycles and reduced fertility, and early exposure to estrogen deficiency. POI affects approximately one in a hundred women. In most cases of primary ovarian insufficiency, the cause is mysterious, although genetics is known to play a causative role. There are no treatments designed to help preserve fertility. Some women with POI retain some ovarian function and a fraction (5-10 percent) have children after receiving the diagnosis...

Early Activation Of Immune Response Could Lead To Better Vaccines

Date: Sep-03-2012
Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have discovered a new "first response" mechanism that the immune system uses to respond to infection. The findings challenge the current understanding of immunity and could lead to new strategies for boosting effectiveness of all vaccines. The study, conducted in mice, published online in the journal Immunity. Grégoire Lauvau, Ph.D.One way the immune system protects the body against microbes like bacteria and viruses is with memory CD8+ T cells, so named because they can "remember" the invading organisms...

In-Depth Look At The Socio-Demographic Breakdown Of Periodontal Disease In U.S. Adults

Date: Sep-03-2012
In a study titled "Prevalence of Periodontis in Adults in the United States: 2009 and 2010," lead author Paul Eke, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, estimates the prevalence, severity and extent of periodontitis in the adult U.S population using data from the 2009 and 2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) cycle. The study is published in the Journal of Dental Research, the official publication of the International and American Associations for Dental Research (IADR/AADR)...

Pollen-Free House Plants For Hay Fever Sufferers

Date: Sep-03-2012
New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Plant Biology shows how targeting two bacterial genes into an ornamental plant (Pelargonium), can produce long-lived and pollen-free plants. Pelargoniums ('Geraniums' and 'Storkbills') have been cultivated in Europe since the 17th century and are now one of the most popular garden and house plants around the world. They have been selectively bred to produce a wide range of leaf shapes, flowers and scents, and have commercial traits such as early and continuous flowering, pest and disease resistance and consistent quality...

Biologists Create The First Predictive Computational Model Of Gene Networks That Control The Development Of Sea-Urchin Embryos

Date: Sep-03-2012
As an animal develops from an embryo, its cells take diverse paths, eventually forming different body parts - muscles, bones, heart. In order for each cell to know what to do during development, it follows a genetic blueprint, which consists of complex webs of interacting genes called gene regulatory networks. Biologists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have spent the last decade or so detailing how these gene networks control development in sea-urchin embryos. Now, for the first time, they have built a computational model of one of these networks...

Multipurpose Smartphone App Can Track Objects On The Battlefield As Well As On The Sports Field

Date: Sep-03-2012
University of Missouri researchers have developed new software using smartphones' GPS and imaging abilities that determine the exact location of distant objects as well as monitor the speed and direction of moving objects. The software could eventually allow smartphone-armed soldiers to target the location of their enemies. On the home front, the software could be used by everyone, including golfers judging distance to the green and biologists documenting the location of a rare animal without disturbing it...