Health News

Researchers Find "Selfish" DNA In Animal Mitochondria, Offering Possible Tool To Study Human Aging

Date: Aug-14-2012
Researchers at Oregon State University have discovered, for the first time in any animal species, a type of "selfish" mitochondrial DNA that is actually hurting the organism and lessening its chance to survive - and bears a strong similarity to some damage done to human cells as they age. The findings, published in the journal PLoS One, are a biological oddity previously unknown in animals. But they may also provide an important new tool to study human aging, scientists said. Such selfish mitochondrial DNA has been found before in plants, but not animals...

Ethical Issues In Prenatal Whole Genome Sequencing

Date: Aug-14-2012
With whole genome sequencing quickly becoming more affordable and accessible, we need to pay more attention to the massive amount of information it will deliver to parents - and the fact that we don't yet understand what most of it means, concludes an article in the Hastings Center Report. The authors are current or former scholars at the National Institutes of Health's Department of Bioethics...

Fruit Fly Chromosomes Improve Understanding Of Evolution And Fertility

Date: Aug-14-2012
The propagation of every animal on the planet is the result of sexual activity between males and females of a given species. But how did things get this way? Why two sexes instead of one? Why are sperm necessary for reproduction and how did they evolve? These as-yet-unresolved issues fascinate Timothy Karr, a developmental geneticist and evolutionary biologist at Arizona State University's Biodesign Institute. To probe them, he uses a common fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster - an organism that has provided science with an enormous treasure-trove of genetic information...

Global Study Shows Brain Damage From Stroke Can Be Minimised

Date: Aug-14-2012
A new study from The University of Queensland shows monitoring the brain of stroke patients using Quantitative EEG (QEEG) studies could inform treatments and therefore, minimising brain damage of stroke victims. EEG stands for electroencephalogram and is a medical test which is used to measure the electrical activity of the brain. Dr Simon Finnigan from UQ's Centre for Clinical Research and Professor Michel van Putten from Medisch Spectr`um Hospital and University of Twente in the Netherlands, recently reviewed all published QEEG studies of stroke worldwide...

Daily Aspirin May Decrease Cancer Mortality

Date: Aug-14-2012
A large new observational study finds more evidence of an association between daily aspirin use and modestly lower cancer mortality, but suggests any reduction may be smaller than that observed in a recent analysis. The study, appearing early online in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (JNCI), provides additional support for a potential benefit of daily aspirin use for cancer mortality, but the authors say important questions remain about the size of the potential benefit...

Research On Language Gene Seeks To Uncover The Origins Of The Singing Mouse

Date: Aug-14-2012
Singing mice (scotinomys teguina) are not your average lab rats. Their fur is tawny brown instead of the common white albino strain; they hail from the tropical cloud forests in the mountains of Costa Rica; and, as their name hints, they use song to communicate. University of Texas at Austin researcher Steven Phelps is examining these unconventional rodents to gain insights into the genes that contribute to the unique singing behavior - information that could help scientists understand and identify genes that affect language in humans...

New Schizophrenia Drug Shows Promise

Date: Aug-13-2012
Around 1% of the world's population suffers from schizophrenia. However, around 30% of patients do not respond to current drugs for treating schizophrenia. In a study published online in Nature Neuroscience, researchers of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine may now have discovered the reasons for this. The discovery opens the door for a new class of drugs that can help in treating this devastating mental illness...

Rejected Drug Could Protect Against Parkinson's And Alzheimer's

Date: Aug-13-2012
The journal Molecular Psychiatry recently featured two studies on latrepirdine, known as Dimebon, which revealed that the second study could be a new potential for the compound to treat Parkinson's, Alzheimer's disease, sleep disorders as well as other neurodegenerative conditions. The international study, which was led by researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine, discovered that latrepiridine reduced the level of at least two neurodegeneration-related proteins in mice...

What Is Earwax (Cerumen)? What Is Earwax Impaction?

Date: Aug-13-2012
Earwax, also known as cerumen, is a yellowish waxy material that is produced by the sebaceous gland in the ear canal inside the ear. Earwax lubricates, cleans and protects the lining of the ear canal by repelling water, trapping dirt and making sure insects, fungi and bacteria do not get through and harm the eardrum. The cerumen is slightly acidic and has antibacterial properties. If we had no earwax, the ear canal would become extremely dry, waterlogged and infected...

Cancer Mortality Rates May Be Lowered By Daily Aspirin Usage

Date: Aug-13-2012
Researchers have discovered in a new study published in the August 10 edition of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, that even though taking aspirin on a daily basis is linked to lower overall cancer mortality, this association may be smaller than previously thought. According to a recent meta-analysis of randomized trials that investigated the effects of daily aspirin use as a preventive measure for vascular events, overall cancer mortality was considerably lower (37%) after a 5-year follow-up and by 15% after a ten-year follow-up...