Health News

Center Researchers Shed Light On New Multiple Myeloma Therapy

Date: Jul-27-2012
Researchers from John Theurer Cancer Center at HackensackUMC, one of the nation's 50 best hospitals for cancer, played leading roles in three separate multi-center studies with the new proteasome inhibitor carfilzomib published in Blood, a major peer-reviewed scientific journal. Carfilzomib is a novel, highly selective proteasome inhibitor, a type of medication that blocks the actions of certain proteins (proteasomes) that cancer cells need to survive and multiply. Carfilzomib is also known by its branded name Kyprolis™. On July 20th the U.S...

Proof Of Concept For New Class Of Synthetic Vaccines

Date: Jul-27-2012
In a quest to make safer and more effective vaccines, scientists at the Biodesign Institute0 at Arizona State University have turned to a promising field called DNA nanotechnology to make an entirely new class of synthetic vaccines. In a study published in the journal Nano Letters, Biodesign immunologist Yung Chang joined forces with her colleagues, including DNA nanotechnology innovator Hao Yan, to develop the first vaccine complex that could be delivered safely and effectively by piggybacking onto self-assembled, three-dimensional DNA nanostructures...

Discovery Of New Gene Mutation Associated With Congenital Myopathy

Date: Jul-27-2012
University of Michigan researchers have discovered a new cause of congenital myopathy: a mutation in a previously uncharacterized gene, according to research published this month in the American Journal of Human Genetics. About 50% of congenital myopathy cases currently do not have a known genetic basis, presenting a clear barrier to understanding disease and developing therapy, says James Dowling, M.D., Ph.D., the paper's co-senior author and assistant professor of Pediatric Neurology at the University of Michigan's C.S. Mott Children's Hospital...

Emergency Diagnosis Of Heart Disease By CT Angiography Best For Low-Risk Patients

Date: Jul-27-2012
Incorporating coronary CT angiography (CCTA) into the initial evaluation of low-risk patients coming to hospital emergency departments (EDs) with chest pain appears to reduce the time patients spend in the hospital without incurring additional costs or exposing patients to significant risks. The report of a study conducted at nine U.S. hospitals appears in the New England Journal of Medicine...

Seeking Noninvasive Ways To Detect Lung Cancer Early

Date: Jul-27-2012
Scientists are looking for non-invasive ways to detect lung cancer in order to reduce the number of patients diagnosed with an advanced stage of the disease. A multiple marker test in peripheral blood is one such way. In research performed at the IRST Biosciences Laboratory in Italy, researchers looked at blood from 100 healthy donors and blood from 100 patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). By using a combination of four specific testing techniques, they could discriminate between healthy donors and NSCLC patients...

Tendency To Impulsivity Decreased By Increasing Dopamine In Brain's Frontal Cortex

Date: Jul-27-2012
Raising levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine in the frontal cortex of the brain significantly decreased impulsivity in healthy adults, in a study conducted by researchers at the Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center at the University of California, San Francisco. "Impulsivity is a risk factor for addiction to many substances, and it has been suggested that people with lower dopamine levels in the frontal cortex tend to be more impulsive," said lead author Andrew Kayser, PhD, an investigator at Gallo and an assistant professor of neurology at UCSF...

Areas Of The Brain Related To Goal-Directed Behaviour Switched Off By Stress Hormones

Date: Jul-27-2012
RUB publication: Combination of 2 stress hormones is responsible Cognition psychologists at the Ruhr-Universitat together with colleagues from the University Hospital Bergmannsheil (Prof. Dr. Martin Tegenthoff) have discovered why stressed persons are more likely to lapse back into habits than to behave goal-directed. The team of PD Dr. Lars Schwabe and Prof. Dr. Oliver Wolf from the Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience have mimicked a stress situation in the body using drugs. They then examined the brain activity using functional MRI scanning...

Female Survivors Of Stroke Or Mini Stroke Have A Poorer Quality Of Life Than Males

Date: Jul-27-2012
Having a stroke or mini stroke has a much more profound effect on women than men when it comes to their quality of life, according to research published in the August issue of the Journal of Clinical Nursing. Swedish researchers at Danderyd Hospital, Stockholm, asked all patients attending an out-patient clinic over a 16-month period to complete the Nottingham Health Profile, a generic quality of life survey used to measure subjective physical, emotional and social aspects of health...

One In Two Victims Of Cyberbullying Suffer From The Distribution Of Embarrassing Photos And Videos

Date: Jul-27-2012
Researchers at Bielefeld University questioned schoolchildren on cyberbullying attacks through the Internet and by mobile phone Embarrassing personal photos and videos circulating in the Internet: researchers at Bielefeld University have discovered that young people who fall victim to cyberbullying or cyber harassment suffer most when fellow pupils make them objects of ridicule by distributing photographic material. According to an online survey published recently, about half of the victims feel very distressed or severely distressed by this type of behaviour...

Leukaemia Patients Will Benefit From Discovery Of Key Function Of Protein For Obtaining Blood Stem Cells As Source For Transplants

Date: Jul-27-2012
Researchers from IMIM (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute) have deciphered the function executed by a protein called β-catenin in generating blood tissue stem cells. These cells, also called haematopoietic, are used as a source for transplants that form part of the therapies to fight different types of leukaemia. The results obtained will open the doors to produce these stem cells in the laboratory and, thus, improve the quality and quantity of these surgical procedures. This will let patients with no compatible donors be able to benefit from this discovery in the future...