Health News

Researchers Working Hard To Unlock Alzheimer's Genetic Secrets

Date: Jul-05-2012
Researchers in the U.S. are on a mission to unlock the genetic secrets of Alzheimer's disease hiding in our DNA. The study, which will be conducted by researchers at Indiana University School of Medicine and colleagues across the country, could significantly affect the development of treatments for Alzheimer's. The researchers will sequence and examine genomes of more than 800 adults taking part in the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI)...

Osteoarthritis Breakthrough - 8 New Susceptibility Genes Discovered

Date: Jul-05-2012
Arthritis affects around 40% of the worldwide population over 70. Scientists have now discovered eight new genetic variants or loci in the largest genome-wide study (GWAS) of osteoarthritis to date, which seem to increase susceptibility to the most common form of arthritis. The findings, which have been published Online First in The Lancet raise the total number of osteoarthritis susceptibility genes isolated in European populations to 11...

Neupro Shows Promise For Restless Legs Syndrome Patients

Date: Jul-05-2012
At the 16th International Congress of Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders in Dublin, Ireland, German researchers presented results from a clinical analysis of Neupro® (rotigotine transdermal patch), which demonstrated improvements in both day- and night-time symptoms of moderate to severe idiopathic Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS). Neupro® (rotigotine) is approved in the E.U...

Parents Have Lower Risk Of Catching Colds

Date: Jul-05-2012
A study published in the July edition of Psychosomatic Medicine, the official journal of the American Psychosomatic Society, reveals that parents have a lower risk of catching a cold, which could potentially be due to unknown "psychological or behavioral differences between parents and non-parents." Research leader, Rodlescia S. Sneed, MPH, and Sheldon Cohen, PdD of Pittsburgh's Carnegie Mellon University discovered that the risk of contracting a cold, regardless of pre-existing immunity, after being exposed to cold viruses is 50% less in parents compared with those who have no children...

Media Coverage Of Terrorism Raises Pain Levels In Chronic Pain Patients

Date: Jul-05-2012
According to a new study by Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Researchers, people experience an increase in chronic pain intensity when they view terrorist attacks in the media. The study revealed, "Exposure to media coverage of terrorist missile attacks increases pain levels in people already suffering from chronic pain." Chronic pain is understood as a continuous or recurring pain over an extended period that can develop from a diseases or disorder, such as depression. Some specialists consider chronic pain as lasting longer than 6 months, but it is defined as lasting longer than 3...

Multiple CPR Rescuers Better Than One For Out Of Hospital Cardiac Arrest

Date: Jul-05-2012
When somebody's heart stops, and they are away from a hospital in a public place, two or more bystanders who apply CPR or apply CPR and help are better than just one, researchers from Kanazawa University Graduate School of Medicine, Japan, reported in the journal Resuscitation. The authors added that most out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occur in the victim's home, and their rescuers tend to be family members. Unfortunately, the survival advantage to having more than one rescuer only applies to public places, and not cardiac arrests suffered at home...

Research Finds Parents Less Likely To Develop Colds

Date: Jul-05-2012
There is no question that being a parent is, at times, challenging both physically and mentally. However knowledge of the actual affect parenthood has on health has been inconsistent at best, until now. New research led by Carnegie Mellon University's Sheldon Cohen and Rodlescia S. Sneed shows that being a parent influences health in a positive way. Published in Psychosomatic Medicine, the research provides the first evidence that, when exposed to a common cold virus, parents are 52 percent less likely to develop a cold than non-parents...

Proliferation Of Toxic Cyanobacteria Favored By Global Warming

Date: Jul-05-2012
Cyanobacteria are among the most primitive living beings, aged over 3,500 million years old. These aquatic microorganisms helped to oxygenate the earth´atmosphere. At present their populations are increasing in size without stopping. It appears that global warming may be behind the rise in their numbers and may also lead to an increase in the amount of toxins produced by some of these populations...

Hookworm Infections Cured In Hamster Model

Date: Jul-05-2012
A drug candidate that is nearing clinical trials against a Latin American parasite is showing additional promise as a cure for hookworm, one of the most widespread and insidious parasites afflicting developing nations, according to a collaborative study at UCSF and Yale University. The drug candidate, known by the scientific name K11777, is under development at UCSF and is targeted to enter clinical trials in the next one to two years to treat Chagas disease, a potentially fatal parasitic disease common to Latin America...

Study Examines How Cells Exploit Gene Sequences To Cope With Toxic Stress

Date: Jul-05-2012
Toxic chemicals wreak havoc on cells, damaging DNA and other critical molecules. A new study from researchers at MIT and the University at Albany reveals how a molecular emergency-response system shifts the cell into damage-control mode and helps it survive such attacks by rapidly producing proteins that counteract the harm...