Health News

Pandemic Preparedness Lacking In Many US Schools

Date: Sep-03-2012
Less than half of U.S. schools address pandemic preparedness in their school plan, and only 40 percent have updated their school plan since the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, according to a study published in the September issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, the official publication of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC)...

New Optical Instrument Helps Diagnose, Monitor Peripheral Arterial Disease In Diabetics

Date: Sep-03-2012
For many diabetics, monitoring their condition involves much more than adhering to a routine of glucose sensing and insulin injections. It also entails carefully monitoring the ongoing toll this disease takes on their body. An innovative new optical diagnostic tool created by Columbia University researchers and reported in the Optical Society's (OSA) open-access journal Biomedical Optics Express may soon make it easier to diagnose and monitor one of the most serious complications of diabetes, peripheral arterial disease (PAD)...

Guidance For Retreatment Of Lyme Disease May Be Flawed

Date: Sep-03-2012
A new statistical review calls into question studies that have been taken as proof that antibiotic retreatment for chronic Lyme disease is futile. That misunderstanding has led to medical guidance that discourages retreatment and insurance coverage for it. Instead, the authors of the review suggest, the proper reading of the studies and their data is that they prove nothing. Most doctors treat Lyme disease with antibiotics for two to four weeks after diagnosis, but if symptoms persist after that, medical guidelines recommend against antibiotic retreatment...

New Research Suggests That A Protein Called Grb10 Plays A Crucial Role In Increasing Muscle Mass During Development

Date: Sep-03-2012
Scientists have moved closer toward helping people grow big, strong muscles without needing to hit the weight room. Australian researchers have found that by blocking the function of a protein called Grb10 while mice were in the womb, they were considerably stronger and more muscular than their normal counterparts. This discovery appears in the September 2012 issue of The FASEB Journal...

Gene Profiling Helping For Find A Cure For Emphysema

Date: Sep-02-2012
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the third leading cause of death in the United States and is thought to affect almost three million people in the UK. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Genome Medicine has identified genes whose activity is altered with increasing lung damage and, using a database of drug effects on gene activity (the Connectivity Map), finds that the compound Gly-His-Lys (GHK) affects the activity of these genes...

Potential Treatment Identified For Cognitive Effects Of Stress-Related Disorders

Date: Sep-02-2012
Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) researchers have identified a potential medical treatment for the cognitive effects of stress-related disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The study, conducted in a PTSD mouse model, shows that an experimental drug called S107, one of a new class of small-molecule compounds called Rycals, prevented learning and memory deficits associated with stress-related disorders. The findings were published in the online edition of Cell...

Many Diabetic Patients May Benefit From Cardioprotective Medications

Date: Sep-02-2012
In individuals with type 2 diabetes, any degree of measurable urinary protein excretion - even in what is considered the normal range - increases their risk of experiencing heart problems, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of new study in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN). The findings could help identify patients who should be treated with cardioprotective medications. Some patients with type 2 diabetes experience kidney problems that cause them to excrete increased amounts of the protein albumin in their urine, a condition called albuminuria...

State-Of-The-Art Imaging Technology For Alzheimer's Disease Biomarker Development

Date: Sep-02-2012
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is one of the most common brain disorders, with an estimated 35 million people affected worldwide. In the last decade, research has advanced our understanding of how AD affects the brain. However, diagnosis continues to rely primarily on neuropsychological tests which can only detect the disease after clinical symptoms begin. In a supplement to the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, investigators report on the development of imaging-based biomarkers that will have an impact on diagnosis before the disease process is set in motion...

Time-Lapse Incubator Use For In Vitro Fertilization

Date: Sep-02-2012
Mayo Clinic recently marked its first births resulting from in vitro fertilization using a new time-lapse incubator that minimizes disturbances from human handling as embryos develop and helps fertility specialists better identify the healthiest embryos. Mayo experts say it may improve pregnancy outcomes for all patients receiving IVF. The twins born at Mayo and babies delivered at the Fertility Centers of New England mark the first reported births in the United States using the technology. Millions of women in the United States have difficulty becoming pregnant or staying pregnant...

Rat Study Suggests That What Babies Eat After Birth Likely Determines Lifetime Risk Of Obesity

Date: Sep-02-2012
Rats born to mothers fed high-fat diets but who get normal levels of fat in their diets right after birth avoid obesity and its related disorders as adults, according to new Johns Hopkins research. Meanwhile, rat babies exposed to a normal-fat diet in the womb but nursed by rat mothers on high-fat diets become obese by the time they are weaned. The experiments suggest that what mammalian babies - including humans - get to eat as newborns and young children may be more important to their metabolic future than exposure to unhealthy nutrition in the womb, the Hopkins scientists say...