Health News

Health Complications And Unique Needs Of Caregivers Of Stroke Victims

Date: Jul-24-2012
Caregivers of stroke survivors are at risk for developing depression and complications from chronic stress, according to a study published by researchers at the Loyola University Chicago Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing (MNSON) in the latest issue of Biological Research for Nursing. Stroke is one of the leading causes of long-term disability, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention...

Risk Of Parkinson's Increased By Severe Flu

Date: Jul-24-2012
Severe influenza doubles the odds that a person will develop Parkinson's disease later in life, according to University of British Columbia researchers. However, the opposite is true for people who contracted a typical case of red measles as children - they are 35 per cent less likely to develop Parkinson's, a nervous system disorder marked by slowness of movement, shaking, stiffness, and in the later stages, loss of balance...

Cognitively-Based Compassion Training For Children In Foster Care Helps Them To Develop Resilience Through Compassion

Date: Jul-24-2012
A new study shows that a therapeutic intervention called Cognitively-Based Compassion Training (CBCT) appears to improve the mental and physical health of adolescents in foster care. CBCT is a tool that provides strategies for people to develop more compassionate attitudes toward themselves and others. It is well documented that children in foster care have a high prevalence of trauma in their lives. For many, circumstances that bring them into the foster care system are formidable - sexual abuse, parental neglect, family violence, homelessness, and exposure to drugs...

Understanding Of Cancer Improved With The Help Of Stem Cell Research

Date: Jul-24-2012
An international team of researchers led by renowned stem cell scientist Professor Martin Pera has discovered a novel marker that plays an important role in our understanding of how cancer develops in the liver, pancreas and oesophagus. The study, published in the journal Stem Cell, adds to our understanding of the role of stem and next stage progenitor cells in tissue regeneration and in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. While stem cells are known to reside in organs such as the liver and pancreas, they are difficult to isolate...

Drug Discovery Success Rate Improved By 3D Tumor Models Which Bridge Gap Between Cell Assays And Animal Models

Date: Jul-24-2012
Imagine millions of cancer cells organized in thousands of small divots. Hit these cells with drugs and when some cells die, you have a candidate for a cancer drug. But a review published in the journal Expert Opinion on Drug Discovery argues that these 2D models in fact offer very little information about a potential drug's effects in the body and may often give researchers misleading results. "Up until the 1980s animal models were the standard for cancer drug discovery...

Depression In Cancer Patients Improved By Cognitive Behavioral Therapy And Pharmacologic Interventions

Date: Jul-24-2012
Despite guidelines recommending screening for depression in cancer patients, it's been unclear whether interventions designed to treat this depression are effective. A study* by the University of Colorado Cancer Center and other institutions, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, changes that. This meta-analysis of 10 studies encompassing 1362 patients shows that especially cognitive behavioral therapy and pharmacologic interventions decrease depressive symptoms in cancer patients...

Accessing Advanced Technologies Via 'Medical Travel'

Date: Jul-24-2012
The search for medical technologies through 'medical travel' can change the lives of patients and their family members, according to medical anthropologists Cecilia Vindrola-Padros and Linda M. Whiteford, who examined the lives of Bolivian and Paraguayan families who traveled to Buenos Aries, Argentina, seeking pediatric oncology care for their children...

Patients With Milder OSA And Daytime Sleepiness Benefit From CPAP Treatment

Date: Jul-24-2012
Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), well established as an effective treatment for severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), is also effective in patients with mild and moderately severe OSA and daytime sleepiness, according to a new study. "The evidence for the efficacy of CPAP in patients with milder OSA is limited and conflicting," said lead author Terri E. Weaver, PhD, RN, professor and dean of the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Nursing...

Exposure To Anti-HIV Drugs During Pregnancy And Breast-Feeding Revealed By Hair Samples From Infants

Date: Jul-24-2012
Researchers from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and Makerere University in Uganda have used hair and blood samples from three-month old infants born to HIV-positive mothers to measure the uninfected babies' exposure - both in the womb and from breast-feeding - to antiretroviral medications their mothers were taking. The results, they said, are surprising...

Poverty, Not Mental Illness, The Likely Cause Of Anxiety Disorders In Poor Mothers

Date: Jul-24-2012
Poor mothers are more likely to be classified as having the mental illness known as generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) because they live in poverty - not because they are suffering from a psychiatric disorder, according to Rutgers researchers. Judith C...