Health News

Microbiologists Unravel Secrets Of Parasites' Replication

Date: Jul-12-2012
A group of diseases that kill millions of people each year can't be touched by antibiotics, and some treatment is so harsh the patient can't survive it. They're caused by parasites, and for decades researchers have searched for a "magic bullet" to kill them without harming the patient. Now, a team of microbiologists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst has made an advance that could one day lead to a new weapon for fighting parasitic diseases such as African sleeping sickness, chagas disease and leishmaniasis...

Robots Aid Patient Care In The ICU

Date: Jul-12-2012
Remote presence robots are used in intensive care units (ICUs) to help critical care physicians supplement on-site patient visits and maintain more frequent patient interactions. Physicians who employ this technology to supplement day-to-day patient care strongly support the positive clinical and social impact of using robots, according to a report published in Telemedicine and e-Health, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. The article is available free on the Telemedicine and e-Health website...

Postmenopause Moderate Alcohol Consumption May Help Prevent Bone Loss

Date: Jul-12-2012
Drinking a moderate amount of alcohol as part of a healthy lifestyle may benefit women's bone health, lowering their risk of developing osteoporosis. A new study assessed the effects of alcohol withdrawal on bone turnover in postmenopausal women who drank one or two drinks per day several times a week. Researchers at Oregon State University measured a significant increase in blood markers of bone turnover in women after they stopped drinking for just two weeks. Bones are in a constant state of remodeling with old bone being removed and replaced...

Isolating Biospecimens For Treatment Of Kidney Disease

Date: Jul-12-2012
Researchers at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) have developed a method of isolating biospecimens that could lead to a less costly, less invasive and more accurate way of diagnosing chronic kidney disease, or CKD. CKD is a major complication of diabetes, high blood pressure and a form of kidney disease known as glomerulonephritis, which is characterized by a progressive deterioration of the kidney's ability to filter waste from the blood...

Searching Genomic Data Faster

Date: Jul-12-2012
Biologists' capacity for generating genomic data is increasing more rapidly than computing power. A new algorithm will help them keep up. In 2001, the Human Genome Project and Celera Genomics announced that after 10 years of work at a cost of some $400 million, they had completed a draft sequence of the human genome. Today, sequencing a human genome is something that a single researcher can do in a couple of weeks for less than $10,000. Since 2002, the rate at which genomes can be sequenced has been doubling every four months or so, whereas computing power doubles only every 18 months...

African-American Adolescents Living In Public Housing Communities More Likely To Smoke

Date: Jul-12-2012
Today, nearly 4,000 adolescents in the United States will smoke their first cigarette, and about a fourth of those youth will become daily smokers, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reports. A recent study by a University of Missouri researcher found that African-American youths who live in public housing communities are 2.3 times more likely to use tobacco than other African-American youths...

Landmark Decision Heralds New Era In Treatment For Children With Congenital Heart Disease, UK

Date: Jul-12-2012
Networks of care and fewer larger surgical centres will save lives Children with congenital heart disease will benefit from consistent high quality standards of treatment following a decision today by the NHS to create seven congenital heart networks across England. The networks will expand ongoing care services so that they are closer to home and focus specialist heart surgery by investing in seven larger centres of surgical expertise. The decision follows the comprehensive Safe and Sustainable clinically-led review of services and one of the largest consultations in NHS history...

Extra 120 Million Females To Have Access To Family Planning - $2.6 Billion Pledged

Date: Jul-12-2012
$2.6 billion have been pledged by donor nations to help 120 million women and girls in the poorest countries have access to family planning by 2020 - this was announced at the London Summit on Family Planning today. Over 150 leaders from rich and developing nations, as well as civil societies, foundations, the private sector and international agencies agreed on a set of commitments to drive forward family planning on a global scale. The Summit is being co-hosted by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the UK government's Department for International Development...

Understanding How A Key Group Of Immune Cells Is Born

Date: Jul-12-2012
A Sydney-based scientist has demonstrated for the first time how an important class of immune cells, essential for the development of antibodies, comes into being. 'Follicular dendritic cells' (FDCs) play a critical role in allowing us to fight infections and create a strong armory of antibodies for future use. FDCs first make sure that our antibody-generating B cells receive samples of an invading organism. They then help to identify and nurture the B cells that manufacture the highest quality antibodies...

Study Identifies Potential Causes For HIV-Associated Cardiovascular Disease

Date: Jul-12-2012
Researchers have identified microbial translocation, the leaking of bacteria from the intestine into the bloodstream that causes chronic inflammation, as a critical factor in the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in patients with HIV. Study results were recently published online in Blood, the Journal of the American Society of Hematology (ASH). Thanks to the success of highly active antiretroviral drug therapy (HAART), it has become increasingly possible for patients with HIV to live longer, healthier lives...