Health News

Schizophrenia May Be Associated With Immune Function

Date: Aug-09-2012
A new Australian study published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry provides the, so far, strongest evidence of an association between schizophrenia and immune function, suggesting that schizophrenic patients' brains could be attacked by the immune system. Researchers have found elevated levels of inflammation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, a key region in the brain that is affected by schizophrenia in 40% of schizophrenics...

Ischemic Stroke Treatment 3K3A-APC Enters Phase 1 Study

Date: Aug-09-2012
ZZ Biotech, LLC have announced that it has commenced dosing healthy volunteers in a Phase 1 clinical study with 3K3A-APC, a recombinant variant of human activated protein C (APC), being developed for the treatment of acute ischemic stroke. The Phase 1 study is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, single-center trial that will investigate the safety and pharmacokinetics of single and multiple ascending doses of 3K3A-APC in healthy adult volunteers...

Overtime Shifts May Increase Obesity Rates Among Nurses

Date: Aug-09-2012
According to a study published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, nurses who work long shifts, overtime or other adverse work schedules could be at greater risk of obesity. The study, conducted by Alison M. Trinkoff, ScD, RN, and colleagues of University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, examined data on more than 1,700 female nurses. The team set out to determine factors associated to obesity in nurses who worked long hours, were on call, worked overtime, had a high work burden, and/or lack of rest...

Coaches Can Help Boost Recovery Of Stroke Patients

Date: Aug-09-2012
After being discharged from hospital, stroke patients are often faced with having to deal with a new disability or lack of function, which can make changes in medications or a new prescription particularly confusing. This can lead to various complications, such as taking the wrong medications, forgetting to take medication or to overmedicate, all of which can result in being readmitted to hospital...

Researchers Build A Toolbox For Synthetic Biology

Date: Aug-09-2012
Engineers design new proteins that can help control novel genetic circuits in cellsFor about a dozen years, synthetic biologists have been working on ways to design genetic circuits to perform novel functions such as manufacturing new drugs, producing fuel or even programming the suicide of cancer cells. Achieving these complex functions requires controlling many genetic and cellular components, including not only genes but also the regulatory proteins that turn them on and off. In a living cell, proteins called transcription factors often regulate that process...

Young Athletes: Injuries And Prevention

Date: Aug-09-2012
High profile events like the Olympics bring the hope that witnessing and celebrating dedicated athletes at the top of their game, will inspire young people to take up sport and physical activities that help them develop confidence, lead more satisfying lives, and not least, secure long-term health by reducing their risk for developing chronic illness like diabetes, obesity, cancer and cardiovascular diseases. But unfortunately, if they don't take appropriate measures, young athletes can instead, end up in pain, on a different path to poor health, due to avoidable sport injury...

Preventing Rejection Of Disease-Fighting Proteins

Date: Aug-09-2012
The body's natural reaction to reject replacement proteins represents a major obstacle to the successful use of gene therapy to cure a range of life-threatening diseases. A novel method that uses the body's own immune cells to induce tolerance to a specific protein was shown to suppress the rejection response, as described in an article in Human Gene Therapy, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. The article is available free online at the Human Gene Therapy website...

Tele-Medicine Helps Stroke Patients With Medications, Rehabilitation

Date: Aug-09-2012
When a stroke patient is discharged from the hospital, they often must cope with a new disability or lack of function, so changes in their medications or a new dosing prescription can be particularly confusing. This can lead the patient to overmedicate, take the wrong medication or skip medications entirely and can result in being readmitted to the hospital...

Cell Evolution Employed In The Fight Against Cancer

Date: Aug-09-2012
As the medical community continues to make positive strides in personalized cancer therapy, scientists know some dead ends are unavoidable. Drugs that target specific genes in cancerous cells are effective, but not all proteins are targetable. In fact, it has been estimated that as few as 10 to 15 percent of human proteins are potentially targetable by drugs. For this reason, Georgia Tech researchers are focusing on ways to fight cancer by attacking defective genes before they are able to make proteins...

Nanoparticle Discovery Opens Door For Pharmaceuticals

Date: Aug-09-2012
What a University of Central Florida student thought was a failed experiment has led to a serendipitous discovery hailed by some scientists as a potential game changer for the mass production of nanoparticles. Soroush Shabahang, a graduate student in CREOL (The College of Optics & Photonics), made the finding that could ultimately change the way pharmaceuticals are produced and delivered. The discovery was based on using heat to break up long, thin fibers into tiny, proportionally sized seeds, which have the capability to hold multiple types of materials locked in place...