Health News

Sit Down Less And Live Longer

Date: Jul-10-2012
US adults could boost their life expectancy simply by reducing the amount of time they spend seated each day and by cutting down daily TV viewing, according to a study published in the online journal BMJ Open. The researchers used data collected for the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) in order to determine how much time US adults spent sitting down and watching TV each day. In addition, they examined five published studies on sitting time and deaths from all causes. Combined, the five studies involved almost 167,000 adults...

DNA From Cystic Fibrosis Patients With And Without Chronic Infections Points To Unsuspected Mutation

Date: Jul-10-2012
Comparing the DNA from patients at the best and worst extremes of a health condition can reveal genes for resistance and susceptibly. This approach discovered rare variations in the DCTN4 gene among cystic fibrosis patients most prone to early, chronic airway infections. The DCTN4 gene codes for dynactin 4. This protein is a component of a molecular motor that moves trouble-making microbes along a cellular conveyer belt into miniscule chemical vats, called lysosomes, for annihilation...

For Production Of Early T-Cell Progenitors, Transcription Factor Lyl-1 Is Critical

Date: Jul-10-2012
A transcription factor called Lyl-1 is necessary for production of the earliest cells that can become T-cells, critical cells born in the thymus that coordinate the immune response to cancer or infections, said a consortium of researchers led by those from Baylor College of Medicine in a report in the journal Nature Immunology. These earliest progenitors (called early T lineage progenitor cells) are the first cells that can be identified as being on the road to becoming T-cells, said Dr...

The Inflammatory Mechanism Involved In Sunburn Described For The First Time

Date: Jul-10-2012
The biological mechanism of sunburn - the reddish, painful, protective immune response from ultraviolet (UV) radiation - is a consequence of RNA damage to skin cells, report researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and elsewhere in the Advance Online Publication of Nature Medicine. The findings open the way to perhaps eventually blocking the inflammatory process, the scientists said, and have implications for a range of medical conditions and treatments...

Urinary Tract Infections Steal From Hosts' Defense Arsenals

Date: Jul-10-2012
Humans have known for centuries that copper is a potent weapon against infection. New research shows that the bacteria that cause serious urinary tract infections "know" this, too, and steal copper to prevent the metal from being used against them. Blocking this thievery with a drug may significantly improve patients' chances of fighting off infections, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The findings appear online in Nature Chemical Biology...

What Improves Quality Of Life For Dying Cancer Patients?

Date: Jul-09-2012
Patients with advanced cancer who are reaching the end of their lives have a better quality of life if they are not hospitalized, are not in an intensive care unit, are being visited by a pastor if they are hospitalized or in a clinic, can worry less, have the opportunity to meditate or pray, and have a therapeutic alliance with their doctor, say researchers from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, in a report published in Archives of Internal Medicine...

"R" Rating For Movies With Smoking To Cut Teenage Smoking

Date: Jul-09-2012
The impact of an R rating for movie smoking was considered for the first time in a new study by Norris Cotton Cancer Center, examining the cause-and-effect relationship it has with adolescent smoking. A movie that has an R rating because of its smoking content could significantly decrease the number of adolescents who take up smoking, according to James Sargent, MD, co-director of the Cancer Control Research Program. Sargent explained: "Smoking is a killer. Its connection to cancer, heart attacks, and chronic lung disease is beyond doubt...

Genetic Test To Decide Whether Erbitux Works For Colon Cancer Patients Approved By FDA

Date: Jul-09-2012
Up until now, some colorectal cancer (CRC) patients and their doctors had no way of determining whether the drug Erbitux (cetuximab) would be a helpful treatment based on the absence of a KRAS gene mutation. On July 6, 2012, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first genetic test to help doctors decide which colon cancer patients might respond well to cetuximab. The therascreen KRAS RGQ PCR Kit can tell whether a patient's tumor which has metastasized (spread to other parts of the body) carries a KRAS gene mutation...

Sanofi Cancels Heparin Substitute Semuloparin

Date: Jul-09-2012
The experimental drug Semuloparin which acts to prevent blood clots and was considered as an alternative to standard heparins, has been withdrawn by it's European based manufacturer Sanofi. They have announced today that they will no longer be seeking marketing approval for the experimental medication. Semuloparin is classified as an ultra-LMWH because of its low molecular mass of 2000 - 3000 Daltons on average. (Enoxaparin has 4500 Daltons...

Alzheimer's Patients Benefit From Nutrient Mix

Date: Jul-09-2012
Patients with early Alzheimer's disease can significantly benefit by consuming a nutritional cocktail, say researchers. The study, conducted in Europe, found that the nutrient cocktail Souvenaid can improve memory in these patients. The results of the clinical trial will be published online July 10 in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. Over time Alzheimer's patients lose the connections between brain cells (synapses). This causes memory loss in addition to other cognitive impairments...