Health News

Improved Tool To Remove Stroke-Causing Blood Clots

Date: Aug-28-2012
Stroke is the fourth leading cause of death and a common cause of long-term disability in the United States, but doctors have very few proven treatment methods. Now a new device that mechanically removes stroke-causing clots from the brain is being hailed as a game-changer. In a recent clinical trial, the SOLITAIRE Flow Restoration Device dramatically outperformed the standard mechanical treatment...

New Molecular Interactions Behind The Inhibition Of TGF Beta-Signaling Described

Date: Aug-28-2012
Researchers headed by Maria Macias an ICREA researcher at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) and Joan Massague, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) in New York, have identified a new molecular mechanism that plays a crucial role in the control of the activation of certain genes associated with cancer...

Although Healthy Foods Consumed More Often By Wealthy, Study Suggests Need For Customized Prevention Policies Among The Poor And The Rich

Date: Aug-28-2012
Healthy foods such as fruits and vegetables, proteins and total fats are consumed more often by the wealthy while poorer people consume more carbohydrates, says a new study involving people from 17 countries. The Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology (PURE) study involving 154,000 individuals from 628 communities reported on the patterns of diet, physical activity and smoking, was presented at the European Society of Cardiology 2012 Congress...

Metabolic Disease An Increased Risk For Mexican-Americans Due To Ancestral Link

Date: Aug-28-2012
Mexican-Americans with an ancestral link to Amerindian tribes were found to have higher insulin resistance levels, which is an indication of several chronic conditions such as type 2 diabetes, according to research by The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth). "Now that we have identified the ancestral link, we have an opportunity to develop some new approaches to personalized medicine using genetic markers," said HuiQi Qu, Ph.D...

Anti-Clotting Drugs Prasugrel And Clopidogrel Yield Similar Results

Date: Aug-28-2012
The first trial to study patients with acute coronary syndrome who do not undergo coronary stenting or bypass surgery found no significant difference between two anti-clotting drugs - prasugrel and clopidogrel - in preventing the first occurrence of death, heart attack or stroke, according to Duke University Medical Center cardiologists. The study also showed no difference in serious bleeding complications. At the same time, the Duke researchers observed an unexpected reduction in heart attack, stroke and death among patients treated with prasurgrel beyond one year of treatment...

The Generation Of New Neurons From Neural Stem Cells Controlled By Astrocytes

Date: Aug-28-2012
Astrocytes are cells that have many functions in the central nervous system, such as the control of neuronal synapses, blood flow, or the brain's response to neurotrauma or stroke.  Reduces brain tissue damage Prof. Pekny's laboratory together with collaborators have earlier demonstrated that astrocytes reduce the brain tissue damage after stroke and that the integration of transplanted neural stem cells can be largely improved by modulating the activity of astrocytes...

New Computer Simulation Models Metastasis

Date: Aug-28-2012
Cancer metastasis, the escape and spread of primary tumor cells, is a common cause of cancer-related deaths. But metastasis remains poorly understood. Studies indicate that when a primary tumor breaks through a blood vessel wall, blood's "stickiness" tears off tumor cells the way a piece of tape tears wrapping paper. Until now, no one knew the physical forces involved in this process, the first step in metastasis. Using a statistical technique employed by animators, scientists created a new computer simulation that reveals how cancer cells enter the bloodstream...

Biology Researchers Offered Hands-On Help For Learning The Secrets Of Molecules

Date: Aug-28-2012
For biology researchers, the complex world of molecular proteins - where tens of thousands of atoms can comprise a single protein - may be getting clearer with the help of a new soft, transparent, and squishy silicone model they can hold in their hands. Its advantage over traditional computer and solid models is that it is mostly transparent and easy to manipulate, which will help researchers more intuitively understand protein structures, positions, and interactions...

When Malignant Brain Tumors Appear At Multiple Sites, Length Of Survival Affected

Date: Aug-28-2012
When aggressive, malignant tumors appear in more than one location in the brain, patient survival tends to be significantly shorter than when the disease starts as a single tumor, even though patients in both groups undergo virtually identical treatments, according to research at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center's Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Research Institute...

Fear Of Losing Licence Cited For Understatement Of Sleep Apnoea Symptoms By Commercial Drivers

Date: Aug-28-2012
People who drive commercial vehicles, such as buses, taxis, trucks and aeroplanes, could be incorrectly reporting their symptoms of sleep apnoea due to their fears of endangering their employment, according to a new study. The research will be presented on 1 September 2012 at the European Respiratory Society's (ERS) Annual Congress in Vienna. All the abstracts from the ERS Congress will be publicly available online today (26 August 2012)...