Health News

Summer Sports Injuries Are Easy To Avoid

Date: Jul-26-2012
With summer having officially started, more people exercise outdoors and play sports. Experts from NYU Langone's Center for Musculoskeletal Care (CMC) are at help by providing advice on how to avoid injuries. Laith Jazrawi, MD, associate professor at NYU Langone's Department of Orthopedic Surgery and chief of sports medicine at the CMC states: "The warm summer weather draws people outdoors and young athletes are also often participating in competitive sports tournaments...

Researchers Link Kawasaki Disease In Childhood With Increased Risk Of Adult Heart Disease

Date: Jul-26-2012
Cedars-Sinai researchers have linked Kawasaki Disease, a serious childhood illness that causes inflammation of blood vessels throughout the body, with early-onset and accelerated atherosclerosis, a leading cause of heart disease in adults.  In a study published in the August 2012 print edition of Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology, an American Heart Association peer-reviewed medical journal, a team of researchers showed how Kawasaki Disease in young mice predisposed them to develop accelerated atherosclerosis, often called hardening of the arteries, in young adulthood...

Dengue Vaccine Shows Promise in Thailand Trial

Date: Jul-26-2012
Early analysis from the world's first ever efficacy trial of an experimental vaccine against dengue fever shows promising results. In a study involving 4,000 children in Thailand, the vaccine appeared to prevent infection by three of the four circulating strains of the virus and showed an excellent safety profile, its French drug maker Sanofi told the press on Wednesday...

Laser Maps And Zaps Cancer Tumors

Date: Jul-26-2012
Scientists in the US have developed a laser that can locate, map, and then precisely destroy cancer tumors non-invasively. Using a "femtosecond laser" that pulses at speeds of one-quadrillionth of a second, the new "seek and destroy" device focuses on a specific tissue region to find and precisely map a tumor...

Second-Line Defense Needed For Patients With NSCLC

Date: Jul-26-2012
In lung cancer, patients who benefit from drugs like erlotinib will inevitably develop drug resistance. This is heralded by cancer growth and increasing tumor-related symptoms. Now scientists are investigating a second line of defense by studying the use of the novel AKT inhibitor MK-2206 in combination with erlotinib for patients whose benefit from erlotinib has begun to wane. Results of a Phase II trial will be presented during the 5th Latin American Conference on Lung Cancer. Dr...

Fluoride May Lower Your IQ

Date: Jul-26-2012
A new study by Harvard researchers suggests that fluoride may lower IQ, casting further doubt on the public health benefits of its inclusion in water supplies. Their review of fluoride/brain studies says "our results support the possibility of adverse effects of fluoride exposures on children's neurodevelopment." Their research was published in Environmental Health Perspectives, a U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences' journal, reports the NYS Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation, Inc. (NYSCOF). Anna L...

Molecular Link Between Arsenic Exposure And Lung Cancer

Date: Jul-26-2012
Arsenic is a natural element in the environment, sometimes found in air, soil and water. Arsenic contaminated water is a global threat, currently affecting more than 100 million people. Both genetic and epigenetic changes drive arsenic-induced carcinogenesis and lung cancer is one of the main consequences of this process. Researchers from the British Columbia Cancer Research Center have analyzed a panel of lung tumors from a population exposed to arsenic...

Following Large-scale HPV Vaccination, Human Papillomavirus Types Do Not Replace Others

Date: Jul-26-2012
Vaccines against human papillomavirus (HPV) are now recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for both teenage boys and girls. The vaccine protects against the two most common types of the virus that cause cervical cancer: HPV 16 and 18. Is there a chance that the increased number of people vaccinated might result in an increase of other types of HPV that cause cancer? A UNC-led international team of scientists studied this question in a group of 2228 Kenyan men as a "nested" trial in a larger trial...

Medicare Readmissions Policy Threatens Vulnerable Communities And Patients

Date: Jul-26-2012
While well-intended, recent Medicare regulations that penalize hospitals with high readmission rates could have the unintended consequence of increasing health disparities. While treatment failures in general must be addressed, the reasons for readmissions are complex, often out of a hospital's control, and reflect the community and its population. According to research, differences in hospital readmission rates are more closely linked to the patient socio-demographic and community factors than to hospital performance...

Sudden Cardiac Death In Black Athletes May Be Caused By Sickle Cell Trait

Date: Jul-26-2012
While some published research has hinted at the connection between the sickle cell trait and sudden cardiac death among young, athletic African-American males, which was initially observed in black military recruits 25 years ago, a new study with the first sizeable patient series definitively confirms this risk for these individuals during competitive sports. The sickle cell trait, for which all U.S. African Americans are tested at birth, affects approximately 8 percent of the population. The Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation maintains a 32-year-old forensic database, the U.S...