Health News

Importance Of Exercise In Health Plans Upheld By Supreme Court Decision

Date: Jul-03-2012
According to scientists and medical experts, even though the U.S. Supreme Court's decision on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) anticipated much speculation while putting plans into effect, it still does not change one important thing they are sure of. Leaders of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) strongly believe physical activity and exercise to be the most powerful tool in helping aid the sick people in the U.S...

Discovery Of Hormone That Preserves Insulin Production And Beta Cell Function In Diabetes

Date: Jul-03-2012
Researchers at Duke University Medical Center have found protective, anti-diabetic functions for a hormone that, like insulin, is produced by the islet cells of the pancreas. The new hormone was found to stimulate insulin secretion from rat and human islet cells and protect islet cells in the presence of toxic, cell-killing factors used in the study. The study, which was supported in part by JDRF, a global leader in type 1 diabetes research, appears in the July 3 issue of the journal Cell Metabolism...

Consuming Fast Food Increases Risk Of Diabetes And Heart Disease In Singapore

Date: Jul-03-2012
The dangers of fast food are well documented; the portions are often larger and the food is generally high in calories and low in nutrients. Now, University of Minnesota School of Public Health researchers have examined the eating habits of residents in Singapore and found new evidence that a diet heavy in fast food increases the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes and coronary heart disease...

Researchers Discover Dissociative Subtype Of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Date: Jul-03-2012
A recent study by Erika J. Wolf, PhD, and Principal Investigator Mark W. Miller, PhD, both from the National Center for PTSD at the VA Boston Healthcare System and Department of Psychiatry at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM), found an association between post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and dissociation. The findings, published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, suggest that symptoms of dissociation, which reflect problems in consciousness and awareness, are a prominent feature of PTSD in a distinct subtype of individuals with the disorder...

Seasonal Prescribing Changes And Antibiotic Resistance

Date: Jul-03-2012
A new study published in Clinical Infectious Diseases and available online shows how seasonal changes in outpatient antibiotic use - retail sales of antibiotics typically get a boost during the winter - can significantly alter seasonal patterns of drug resistance. The findings suggest that hospital campaigns to reduce inappropriate antibiotic use should be coordinated with efforts in the broader community if they are to be most effective. In the study, Dr. Ramanan Laxminarayan, director of the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics and Policy in Washington, D.C...

Safer Radiologic Imaging Of Otolaryngologic Disease In Children

Date: Jul-03-2012
Advances in diagnostic imaging have benefited children with otolaryngologic disease, allowing shorter hospital stays, fewer invasive procedures, more targeted surgical procedures, and earlier and more precise diagnoses. However, despite improved technology, concerns about exposure of children to ionizing radiation have recently come to the forefront, according to a commentary in the July 2012 issue of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. Children have more radiosensitive body tissues than adults, and also tend to live longer, giving the effects of radiation exposure time to manifest...

Link Between Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS) And Abnormal Stem Cells

Date: Jul-03-2012
Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have found that abnormal bone marrow stem cells drive the development of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), serious blood diseases that are common among the elderly and that can progress to acute leukemia. The findings could lead to targeted therapies against MDS and prevent MDS-related cancers. The study is published in the online edition of the journal Blood. "Researchers have suspected that MDS is a 'stem cell disease,' and now we finally have proof," said co-senior author Amit Verma, M.B.B.S...

First Study On Public Health Impact Of Teen Sexting

Date: Jul-03-2012
Teens are sexting - and at higher rates than previously reported. In the first study of the public health impact of teen sexting, researchers found that close to 30 percent are engaging in the practice of sending nude pictures of themselves via email or text. Further, the practice is indicative of teens' sexual behavior overall and, particularly, girls' participation in risky sexual behaviors...

Abuse During Childhood May Contribute To Obesity In Adulthood

Date: Jul-03-2012
Investigators from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and Boston University's Slone Epidemiology Center report research findings that may shed light on influences on obesity during adulthood. Appearing in the journal Pediatrics, the study found an association of severity of sexual and physical abuse during childhood and adolescence with obesity during adulthood. The findings were based on the ongoing Black Women's Health Study, which has followed a large cohort of African-American women since 1995...

Honey Bees Reveal Link Between Sugar Sensitivity And Metabolic Disorders

Date: Jul-03-2012
Scientists studying the genetics of honey bees found they reveal some insights into the link between sugar sensitivity, diabetic physiology and carbohydrate metabolism that may also be relevant to humans. Lead author Ying Wang, a research scientist, in the School of Life Sciences in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Arizona State University (ASU), and colleagues, write about their findings in a paper published on 28 June in the open access journal PLoS Genetics...