Health News

Renal Denervation Technology Demonstrates Safe, Rapid And Sustained Reduction In Blood Pressure

Date: Sep-01-2012
Twenty eight point reduction of systolic blood pressure after one month remained stable at three months using EnligHTN renal denervation system St. Jude Medical, Inc. (NYSE:STJ), a global medical device company, today announced that interim data demonstrated the company's EnligHTN™ renal denervation system is safe and effective for the treatment of resistant hypertension...

Collaboration To Validate A Method Developed By Mars, Incorporated To Quantify The Much-Studied Cocoa Flavanols

Date: Sep-01-2012
Mars, Incorporated, working in partnership with AOAC International, has successfully completed a multi-laboratory, first-of-its-kind validation of a method for analyzing flavanols and procyanidins in cocoa-based products. The study, just published in the latest edition of the Journal of AOAC International, details the results of a comprehensive evaluation of this method by 12 international laboratories, which included academic, industrial and commercial institutions...

New Method Teaches Kids To Remain Still During MRIs

Date: Aug-31-2012
A recent report by Jude Children's Research Hospital and published in Pediatric Radiology says that experts have developed a new method for teaching children to stay still while they are having an MRI done, which makes the scan safer. MRI scans on children are usually tough because naturally, children don't like to stay still. These scans make it necessary for kids to remain in one place for a long period of time. However, a new technique will help children as young as the age of 5 to have MRIs without being put to sleep...

Temper Tantrums - Should Parents Be Concerned?

Date: Aug-31-2012
A recent study published in The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry may have parents and doctors wondering when a temper tantrum their child has may be something more. Could it be an early sign of a serious mental health problem? Researchers from Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine have decided to look into when parents and pediatricians should worry about temper tantrums or unusual behavior. A survey developed by experts can help parents determine whether their child is acting like a normal kid or if their outlandish behavior is the result of something more worrying...

Intellectual Disability May Be Caused By Too Much Protein HUWE1

Date: Aug-31-2012
An intellectual disability is present in 2 to 3% of babies at birth, possibly by a genetic defect, but scientists have been unsure exactly what genes are responsible in 80% of these cases. According to VIB researchers at KU Leuven, the cause in some patients is an increased production of the HUEW1 protein. Guy Froyen (VIB/KU Leuven) said: "The fact that HUWE1 regulates the dose of several other proteins in the brains, has an important impact on the quest for new therapies. It would then be possible to intervene in these different proteins...

Beer Glass Shape Influences People's Drinking Speed

Date: Aug-31-2012
The shape of the glass may influence how rapidly we consume an alcoholic drink, researchers from the University of Bristol reported in the journal PLoS ONE. The authors believe that their findings could help towards reducing the prevalence of drunkenness which has become a progressively bigger problem in society today. Dr Angela Attwood and team gathered and analyzed data on 160 social drinkers. None of them had any history of alcoholism; they were aged from 18 to 40 years and were asked to attend two experimental sessions...

Trauma During Childhood Increases Drug Addiction Risk

Date: Aug-31-2012
While prior research has suggested that signs of an increased risk of addiction are personality traits, such as impulsivity or compulsiveness, there is new evidence from the University of Cambridge suggesting that these characteristics are also associated with a traumatic childhood background. The goal of the research, which was published in the journal American Journal Pschiatry and led by Karen Ersche, was to discover the risk factors that make a person susceptible to developing drug dependence...

Linzess (Linaclotide) Approved For IBS And Constipation, And Chronic Idiopathic Constipation

Date: Aug-31-2012
Linzess (linaclotide), for the treatment of chronic idiopathic constipation and irritable bowel syndrome with constipation, has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), USA. The approval is for adult patients only. "Idiopathic" means "of unknown cause". Chronic constipation affects approximately 63 million Americans, says the NIH (National Institutes of Health). If a patient continues suffering from persistent constipation after receiving standard treatment for the condition, doctors generally diagnose it as "chronic idiopathic constipation"...

Potential New Type Of Diagnostic Imaging Technology Using Collagen-Seeking Synthetic Protein Could Lead Doctors To Tumor Locations

Date: Aug-31-2012
Johns Hopkins researchers have created a synthetic protein that, when activated by ultraviolet light, can guide doctors to places within the body where cancer, arthritis and other serious medical disorders can be detected. The technique could lead to a new type of diagnostic imaging technology and may someday serve as a way to move medications to parts of the body where signs of disease have been found. In a study published in the Aug...

New Cancer Drug Efficiently Targets Breast, Lung And Colon Cancer; Clinical Trials Could Start Within 2 Years

Date: Aug-31-2012
Legend has it that Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, "Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door." University of Missouri researchers are doing just that, but instead of building mousetraps, the scientists are targeting cancer drugs. In a new study, MU medicinal chemists have taken an existing drug that is being developed for use in fighting certain types of cancer, added a special structure to it, and created a more potent, efficient weapon against cancer. "Over the past decade, we have seen an increasing interest in using carboranes in drug design," said Mark W...