Health News

Learning More About High Altitude Adaptation From The Yak Genome

Date: Jul-06-2012
An international team, led by Lanzhou University, comprising BGI, the world's largest genomics organization, Institute of Kunming Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences as well as the other 12 institutes, has completed the genomic sequence and analyses of a female domestic yak, which provides important insights into understanding mammalian divergence and adaptation at high altitude. This study was recently published online in Nature Genetics...

Preventing Postoperative Delirium May Improve Recovery Of Cognitive Ability In Cardiac Patients

Date: Jul-06-2012
Older patients undergoing cardiac surgery often experience changes in cognitive function, such as memory problems or an inability to focus, in the days immediately following their operations. While these changes are usually temporary, for unknown reasons, a significant number of cardiac patients will encounter long-term cognitive problems, lasting as long as a year after their surgeries. Now, new research published in The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), establishes a link between postoperative delirium and prolonged loss of cognitive function in cardiac surgery patients...

Embryo Cryopreservation In IVF May Improve Outcome

Date: Jul-06-2012
There is growing interest in a "freeze-all" embryo policy in IVF. Such an approach, which cryopreserves all embryos generated in a stimulated IVF cycle for later transfer in a non-stimulated natural cycle, would avoid any of the adverse effects which ovarian stimulation might have on endometrial receptivity during the treatment cycle. Ovarian stimulation has been shown to have adverse effects on endometrial receptivity and the risk of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) is also increased when embryo transfer is performed in the stimulated cycle...

Spontaneous Pregnancy Achieved Following Cryopreservation And Transplant Of Ovarian Tissue

Date: Jul-06-2012
Although the first successful preservation of fertility from the freezing, thawing and grafting of ovarian tissue was reported eight years ago,(1) the technique has remained experimental and confined to a few specialist centres. Now, with the announcement of a first pregnancy (and subsequent live birth) in Italy following the transplantation of ovarian tissue, there are indications that fertility preservation is moving into the mainstream of reproductive medicine and into a greater number of centres...

Perinatal Mortality In IVF Reduced By Single Embryo Transfer

Date: Jul-06-2012
A policy of single embryo transfer (SET) reduces the risk of perinatal mortality in infants born as a result of IVF and ICSI. The conclusion emerged from an analysis of more than 50,000 births recorded in the Australian and New Zealand Assisted Reproduction Technology Database between 2004 and 2008, where the introduction of an SET policy has been associated with a reduction in overall perinatal mortality for IVF and ICSI babies...

Airways More Acidic In Cystic Fibrosis Patients, Less Effective At Killing Bacteria

Date: Jul-06-2012
The human airway is a pretty inhospitable place for microbes. There are numerous immune defense mechanisms poised to kill or remove inhaled bacteria before they can cause problems. But cystic fibrosis (CF) disrupts these defenses, leaving patients particularly susceptible to airway infection, which is the major cause of disease and death in CF. Using a unique animal model of CF, a team of scientists from the University of Iowa has discovered a surprising difference between healthy airways and airways affected by CF that leads to reduced bacterial killing in CF airways...

Treating Persistent Dizziness With Simple Exercises

Date: Jul-06-2012
A professor from the University of Southampton has called on doctors around the world to give patients with persistent dizziness a booklet of simple exercises, after new research has shown that it is a very cost effective treatment for common causes of the condition. Lucy Yardley, who has been researching dizziness for many years, urgeed GPs at the international WONCA conference to ensure that the booklet is translated so that patients of all nationalities can benefit...

Improved Understanding Of The Very Early Stages In The Development Of Inflammatory Diseases Such As Atherosclerosis And Rheumatoid Arthritis

Date: Jul-06-2012
Scientists at the University of East Anglia (UEA) have discovered a 'constant cloud' of potent inflammatory molecules surrounding the cells responsible for diseases such as thickening of the arteries and rheumatoid arthritis. Published online by The Journal of Cell Science, the findings could eventually lead to new treatments for chronic inflammatory diseases...

Asthma-Promoting Immune Cells Can Be Rewired So They No Longer Cause Inflammation

Date: Jul-06-2012
Dr Rhys Allan from the institute's Molecular Immunology division, was part of a research team that found asthma-promoting immune cells could be rewired so they no longer cause inflammation. Dr Rhys Allan from the institute's Molecular Immunology division, was part of a research team that found asthma-promoting immune cells could be rewired so they no longer cause inflammation. Reprogramming asthma-promoting immune cells in mice diminishes airway damage and inflammation, and could potentially lead to new treatments for people with asthma, researchers have found...

Structured Training In Simulated Environment Improves Surgical Residents' Performance In OR

Date: Jul-06-2012
New research has shown that surgical residents who received structured training in a simulated environment perform significantly better when they start operating on patients. The results of the study by researchers at St. Michael's Hospital were so convincing that the University of Toronto implemented the training program they developed even before their research was published in the July issue of the Annals of Surgery. "Often surgical residents came to the OR and we didn't know whether they had the skills or the knowledge to perform safe surgery...