Health News

Physicians Don't Adequately Monitor Patients' Medication Adherence

Date: Jul-17-2012
Patients' non-adherence to prescribed medication costs the U.S. health care system an estimated $290 billion annually and can lead to poor clinical outcomes, increased hospitalizations and higher mortality. In an effort to understand the extent to which health care providers feel responsible for their patients' medication adherence, UCLA researchers and colleagues conducted focus-group discussions with providers and recorded out-patient office visits with 100 patients taking a total of 410 medications...

Autism Law, Financial Burdens Leave Families Struggling With Health Care Needs

Date: Jul-17-2012
While the causes of autism continue to be debated and bandied about, real families who have children with autism spectrum disorders are left to struggle with expensive health care needs. These costs can be devastating - but they can also be markedly different if the family lives in Massachusetts or Maine. Advocates in many states have lobbied for legislation to force private insurers to offer autism services at the same levels as other covered services...

Dendritic Cells Key To Activating Human Immune Responses

Date: Jul-17-2012
Scientists at A*STAR's Singapore Immunology Network (SIgN), in collaboration with Newcastle University, UK, the Singapore Institute of Clinical Sciences and clinicians from multiple hospitals in Singapore, have identified a new subset of dendritic cells (DCs) in human peripheral tissue which have a critical role in activating our immune response against harmful pathogens. This research will have significant impact on the design of vaccines and other targeted immunotherapies...

Prostate Tumors Reduced By 80 Percent Using Gold Nanoparticles

Date: Jul-17-2012
Currently, large doses of chemotherapy are required when treating certain forms of cancer, resulting in toxic side effects. The chemicals enter the body and work to destroy or shrink the tumor, but also harm vital organs and drastically affect bodily functions. Now, University of Missouri scientists have found a more efficient way of targeting prostate tumors by using gold nanoparticles and a compound found in tea leaves. This new treatment would require doses that are thousands of times smaller than chemotherapy and do not travel through the body inflicting damage to healthy areas...

Dealing With Stress Prevented New Multiple Sclerosis Brain Lesions

Date: Jul-17-2012
Research conducted by Jesus Lovera, MD, Assistant Professor of Neurology at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, and colleagues has shown that stress management treatment significantly reduced the formation of new brain lesions in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) over the course of treatment. These lesions are markers of disease activity used to objectively measure disease status. The work is published ahead of print and is now available online in Neurology...

Domestic Violence Largely Ignored Among Asians

Date: Jul-17-2012
Asian-American victims of domestic violence rarely seek help from police or health care providers - "an alarming trend" among the fastest-growing racial group in the United States, says a Michigan State University researcher. While cultural barriers can discourage victims from seeking help, there also is a lack of culturally sensitive services available to them, said Hyunkag Cho, assistant professor of social work. That can be as simple as a local domestic violence hotline that cannot facilitate calls from Chinese- or Korean-speaking victims due to language barriers...

Function Restored In Animals By Lab-Engineered Muscle Implants

Date: Jul-17-2012
New research shows that exercise is a key step in building a muscle-like implant in the lab with the potential to repair muscle damage from injury or disease. In mice, these implants successfully prompt the regeneration and repair of damaged or lost muscle tissue, resulting in significant functional improvement. "While the body has a capacity to repair small defects in skeletal muscle, the only option for larger defects is to surgically move muscle from one part of the body to another. This is like robbing Peter to pay Paul," said George Christ, Ph.D...

Inefficient Helper T Cell Response Might Explain Why Some Patients Relapse After Clearing The Infection

Date: Jul-17-2012
Helper cells traditionally thought to only assist killer white blood cells may be the frontline warriors when battling hepatitis A infection. These are the findings from a Nationwide Children's Hospital study appearing in a recent issue of the Journal of Experimental Medicine. Hepatitis A is a highly contagious liver infection caused by the hepatitis A virus. Despite the availability of an effective vaccine, the virus infects millions of people worldwide each year and remains a global public health problem, especially in underdeveloped countries...

Researchers Identify A New Way For Excess Copper To Leave The Body

Date: Jul-17-2012
Scientists have long known that the body rids itself of excess copper and various other minerals by collecting them in the liver and excreting them through the liver's bile. However, a new study led by Johns Hopkins researchers and published June 22 in PLoS One suggests that when this route is impaired there's another exit route just for copper: A molecule sequesters only that mineral and routes it from the body through urine. The researchers, led by Svetlana Lutsenko, Ph.D...

News From The Annals Of Internal Medicine: July 17, 2012

Date: Jul-17-2012
1. Trans Fat Restrictions Result in Healthier Fast Food Meals for NYC Residents Reduction in Trans Fat Consumption Can Reduce Cardiovascular Disease Risk Trans fat, such as partially hydrogenated oil, is a mostly processed form of fat that significantly increases risk for coronary heart disease. Just 40 calories of trans fat a day can increase risk for heart disease by up to 23 percent...