Health News

Cell-Replacement Therapies For Neurological Conditions Via Neurons Derived From Cord Blood Cells

Date: Jul-18-2012
For more than 20 years, doctors have been using cells from blood that remains in the placenta and umbilical cord after childbirth to treat a variety of illnesses, from cancer and immune disorders to blood and metabolic diseases. Now, scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have found a new way-using a single protein, known as a transcription factor-to convert cord blood (CB) cells into neuron-like cells that may prove valuable for the treatment of a wide range of neurological conditions, including stroke, traumatic brain injury and spinal cord injury...

Study Reveals Important Clues And Characteristics About Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection

Date: Jul-18-2012
Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD), a tear of the layers of the artery wall that can block normal blood flow into and around the heart, is a relatively rare and poorly understood condition. It often strikes young, otherwise healthy people - mostly women - and can lead to significant heart damage, even sudden death...

Inspiring Children To Appreciate Vegetables

Date: Jul-18-2012
Two new studies presented at the Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior's (SNEB) annual conference may make it easier for moms to get their kids to eat - and enjoy - vegetables. Both studies were conducted by SNEB president Brian Wansink, PhD, the John Dyson Professor of Consumer Behavior at Cornell University, and funded by Birds Eye, the country's leading vegetable brand that recently launched a three-year campaign to inspire kids to eat more veggies...

Obesity Leads To More Doctor Visits Than Smoking

Date: Jul-18-2012
Statistics show that today, almost one in four Canadians is obese. A deadly trend that has been on the rise for the last thirty years, obesity is associated with diabetes, heart disease and cancer. But is the obesity epidemic putting more pressure on an already strained Canadian health care system? James McIntosh, a professor in the Department of Economics at Concordia University, is the first to look at the impact of obesity on the number of doctor visits nation-wide...

Survey Reveals Emergency Patients Prefer Technology-Based Interventions For Behavioral Issues

Date: Jul-18-2012
A Rhode Island Hospital researcher has found that emergency department patients prefer technology-based interventions for high-risk behaviors such as alcohol use, unsafe sex and violence. ER patients said they would choose technology (ie text messaging, email, or Internet) over traditional intervention methods such as in-person or brochure-based behavioral interventions. The paper by Megan L. Ranney, M.D., is available now online in advance of print in the Annals of Emergency Medicine. The study was a cross-sectional survey of urban emergency department patients ages 13 and older...

Uncommon BRAF Mutation In Melanoma Sensitive To MEK Inhibitor Drug Therapy

Date: Jul-18-2012
An uncommon mutation of the BRAF gene in melanoma patients has been found to respond to MEK inhibitor drugs, providing a rationale for routine screening and therapy in melanoma patients who harbor the BRAF L597 mutation. The new study by co-first-authors Kimberly Brown Dahlman, Ph.D., Junfeng Xia, Ph.D., and Katherine Hutchinson, B.S., Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center (VICC), Nashville, Tenn., was published online in Cancer Discovery. The research was led by co-senior authors William Pao, M.D., Ph.D., Jeffrey Sosman, M.D., and Zhongming Zhao, Ph.D., VICC, and Antoni Ribas, M.D...

Transmission Of Nerve Signals Enhanced By Calorie Restriction

Date: Jul-18-2012
A novel technique for measuring tiny, rapid-fire secretions in the brains and mouthparts of fruit flies (drosophila) is providing insights into the beneficial effects of eating less - information that ultimately could help people suffering from neuromuscular disorders. Using the method, researchers uncovered never-before-seen brain chemistry that helps explain why fruit flies genetically manipulated to mimic conditions such as Parkinson's disease and myasthenia gravis are more vigorous and live longer when fed a restricted diet...

The Lives Of Mice With Spinal Muscular Atrophy Extended By Gene Therapy Treatment

Date: Jul-18-2012
A team of University of Missouri researchers has found that introducing a missing gene into the central nervous system could help extend the lives of patients with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) - the leading genetic cause of infantile death in the world. SMA is a rare genetic disease that is inherited by one in 6,000 children who often die young because there is no cure. Children who inherit SMA are missing a gene that produces a protein which directs nerves in the spine to give commands to muscles...

Development Of Marijuana Varieties To Produce Pharmaceuticals

Date: Jul-18-2012
U of S researchers have discovered the chemical pathway that Cannabis sativa uses to create bioactive compounds called cannabinoids, paving the way for the development of marijuana varieties to produce pharmaceuticals or cannabinoid-free industrial hemp. The research appears online in the early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)...

Most Adults And Teens Not Exercising And At High Risk Of Disease

Date: Jul-17-2012
Not complying with physical activity recommendations is leaving around a third of adults (approx.1.5 billion people) and 4 out of 5 adolescents at a 20-30% greater risk of diabetes, heart disease, and some types of cancer, Brazilian researchers have found. The first paper in The Lancet Series on physical activity has calculated the first global estimate of physical activity levels. The research shows that physical inactivity rates differ in various regions of the world; from 17 percent of adults in southeast Asia to 43 percent in the Americas...