Health News

Chickens May Provide Clues For Battling Cancer

Date: Jul-12-2012
International researchers have discovered that a common chicken could provide some very un-common clues for tackling diseases. The study, published in the latest issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Scientists, might even offer new ways to attack cancer. James Womack, Distinguished Professor of Veterinary Pathobiology in the College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, previously led an international team in an effort to sequence the cattle genome in 2004...

Preventing Foodborne Illness During Summer Months

Date: Jul-12-2012
The summer is a great time for lots of picnics, barbecues, and fun outdoor activities with family and friends. However, these fun events present the chance for foodborne bacteria to thrive. It is an exciting time for everyone when the temperature rises in the summer months, but rising temperatures also cause bacteria to multiply rapidly. In order to prevent harm and protect yourself and loved ones in the summer heat against foodborne illness, handling food safely and properly is critical...

Native American Ancestors Came From Asia In Three Migrations

Date: Jul-12-2012
The ancestors of Native American populations from the tip of Chile in the south to Canada in the north, migrated from Asia in at least three waves, according to a new international study published online in Nature this week that involved over 60 investigators in 11 countries in the Americas, plus four in Europe, and Russia. In what they describe as the most comprehensive survey of genetic diversity in Native Americans so far, the researchers studied variation in Native American DNA sequences...

BPA In Rivers May Encourage Fish Species To Interbreed

Date: Jul-12-2012
Exposure to bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical used in the manufacture of polycarbonate and other plastics, changes the appearance and behavior of river fish enough to encourage inter-species breeding, say the authors of a new study published online this week, that warns of the potential threat to biodiversity from blurring of inter-species boundaries. BPA is an organic compound with estrogen-like properties that can disrupt hormones in the body: it is described as an endocrine-disrupting chemical or EDC...

Chronic Health Problems And The Need For Lifestyle Changes

Date: Jul-12-2012
Even as we spend more on healthcare every year, the number of people with chronic health problems continues to rise in developed countries like the United States. Most of these chronic health problems - such as obesity, Type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease - can be addressed through lifestyle changes. But knowing that we should make a lifestyle change to improve our health and actually making that lifestyle change are two very different things...

Women With Menopausal Symptoms May Benefit From A Low-Fat Diet For Weight Loss

Date: Jul-12-2012
Weight loss that occurs in conjunction with a low-fat, high fruit and vegetable diet may help to reduce or eliminate hot flashes and night sweats associated with menopause, according to a Kaiser Permanente Division of Research study that appears in the current issue of Menopause...

Spiral Flow(TM) Grafts Enhance Patient Outcomes

Date: Jul-12-2012
New Paper Published in the Prestigious 'Annals of Vascular Surgery'The medium term results of a 'First in Man' structured registry study are due to be published in the October issue of the Annals of Vascular Surgery. This significant paper describes a 40 patient, 10 centre study by leading vascular surgeons and doctors on patients with peripheral arterial disease needing an above-the-knee or below-the-knee bypass graft. Peripheral arterial disease affects up to 20% of people over the age of 70...

In Bone Marrow Transplant Patients, Maraviroc Reduces Graft-Vs.-Host Disease

Date: Jul-12-2012
An HIV drug that redirects immune cell traffic significantly reduces the incidence of a dangerous complication that often follows bone marrow transplants for blood cancer patients, according to research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The findings represent a new tactic for the prevention of graft-versus-host disease (GvHD), which afflicts up to 70 percent of transplant patients and is a leading cause of deaths associated with the treatment...

Brain Lesions In Multiple Sclerosis Prevented By Stress Reduction Therapy

Date: Jul-12-2012
A weekly stress management program for patients with multiple sclerosis (M.S.) prevented the development of new brain lesions, a marker of the disease's activity in the brain, according to new Northwestern Medicine research. Brain lesions in M.S. often precede flare-ups of symptoms such as loss of vision or use of limbs or pain. "This is the first time counseling or psychotherapy has been shown to affect the development of new brain lesions," said David Mohr, principal investigator of the study and professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine...

Yissum Introduces A Novel Method For Treating Cancer Based On A Protein Encoded By HIV-1

Date: Jul-12-2012
The novel method uses a peptide derived from HIV to increase the sensitivity of cancer cells to radiotherapy and chemotherapy - Finding published in Blood, journal of the American society of hematology. Yissum, Research and Development Company of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, introduces a novel method for treating cancer based on Vif, a protein isolated from the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV-1). The method was invented by Professor Emeritus Moshe Kotler and Dr. Roni Nowarski from the Department of Immunology and Cancer Research at the Hebrew University...