Health News

Metabolism In The Brain Fluctuates With Circadian Rhythm

Date: Aug-31-2012
The rhythm of life is driven by the cycles of day and night, and most organisms carry in their cells a common, (roughly) 24-hour beat. In animals, this rhythm emerges from a tiny brain structure called the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) in the hypothalamus. Take it out of the brain and keep it alive in a lab dish and this "brain clock" will keep on ticking, ramping up or gearing down production of certain proteins at specific times of the day, day after day. A new study reveals that the brain clock itself is driven, in part, by metabolism, the production and flow of chemical energy in cells...

Brits Could Be Jetting Off Without Insurance

Date: Aug-31-2012
ONE IN THREE of British holidaymakers are setting off for their summer holidays without dental insurance, a new survey has revealed. Research by the British Dental Health Foundation has discovered that a third (33 per cent) of sun-seeking sightseers admit they have no holiday dental insurance, to cover them in the event of a dental emergency. While more than half of holidaymakers (55 per cent) admit they are unsure if their travel insurance includes adequate dental protection. And only one in nine (12 per cent) Brits leave the UK knowing their travel insurance includes dental cover...

Evaluation Of Noninvasive Technology To Determine Heart Disease

Date: Aug-31-2012
A study published in the most recent issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) presented encouraging news regarding physicians' ability to determine blood flow and associated coronary artery disease (CAD) using noninvasive CT scanning technology. Data from the Determination of Fractional Flow Reserve by Anatomic Computed Tomographic Angiography (DeFACTO) study were presented on August 26 at the European Society of Cardiology Congress in Munich, Germany. John R...

Rosacea May Be Caused By Bacteria Released By Tiny Mites Living On The Skin

Date: Aug-31-2012
Scientists are closer to establishing a definitive bacterial cause for the skin condition rosacea. This will allow more targeted, effective treatments to be developed for sufferers, according to a review published in the Journal of Medical Microbiology. Rosacea is a common dermatological condition that causes reddening and inflammation of the skin mostly around the cheeks, nose and chin. In severe cases skin lesions may form and lead to disfigurement. Rosacea affects around 3% of the population - usually fair-skinned females aged 30-50 and particularly those with weak immune systems...

Circadian Desynchrony May Disrupt The Systems In The Brain That Regulate Metabolism, Leading To Obesity

Date: Aug-31-2012
When Thomas Edison tested the first light bulb in 1879, he could never have imagined that his invention could one day contribute to a global obesity epidemic. Electric light allows us to work, rest and play at all hours of the day, and a paper published this week in Bioessays suggests that this might have serious consequences for our health and for our waistlines. Daily or "circadian" rhythms including the sleep wake cycle, and rhythms in hormone release are controlled by a molecular clock that is present in every cell of the human body...

Researchers Set Record For Detecting Smallest Virus, Opening New Possibilities For Early Disease Detection

Date: Aug-31-2012
Researchers at Polytechnic Institute of New York University (NYU-Poly) have created an ultra-sensitive biosensor capable of identifying the smallest single virus particles in solution, an advance that may revolutionize early disease detection in a point-of-care setting and shrink test result wait times from weeks to minutes...

Multiple Abortions May Increase Risk Of Prematurity And Low Birth Weight In Future Pregnancies

Date: Aug-31-2012
One of the largest studies to look at the effect of induced abortions on a subsequent first birth has found that women who have had three or more abortions have a higher risk of some adverse birth outcomes, such as delivering a baby prematurely and with a low birth weight. The research, which is published online in Europe's leading reproductive medicine journal Human Reproduction [1] , found that among 300,858 Finnish mothers, 31,083 (10.3%) had had one induced abortion between 1996-2008, 4,417 (1.5%) had two, and 942 (0...

Protein Linked To Increased Risk Of Heart Failure And Death In Older Adults

Date: Aug-31-2012
A protein known as galectin-3 can identify people at higher risk of heart failure, according to new research supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of the National Institutes of Health. This research is based on work from the NHLBI's Framingham Heart Study, which began in 1948 and has been the leading source of research findings about heart disease risk factors...

Focusing On Improved Durum Wheat To Develop 'Super Spaghetti'

Date: Aug-31-2012
University of Adelaide researchers are working with colleagues in Italy to produce better quality pasta that also adds greater value to human health. Two research projects - being conducted by the ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Cell Walls at the University's Waite Campus - will start next month in collaboration with researchers from the Italian universities of Bari and Molise. The aim of the ARC Centre of Excellence is to look at the fundamental role of cell walls (biomass) in plants and discover how they can be better utilized...

Earlier Diagnosis Of Liver Disease With New Ttraffic Light' Test Could Save Lives

Date: Aug-31-2012
A new 'traffic light' test devised by Dr Nick Sheron and colleagues at University of Southampton and Southampton General Hospital could be used in primary care to diagnose liver fibrosis and cirrhosis in high risk populations more easily than at present. Liver disease develops silently without symptoms, and many people have no idea they have liver failure until it is too late - one-third of people admitted to hospital with end-stage liver disease die within the first few months...