Health News

Lowering Cholesterol - Long-term Multiple Drugs Effective

Date: Jun-29-2012
In a recent study it has been found that cholesterol therapy using multiple drugs over an extended period may be more effective than taking a single statin medication. In previous studies the benefits of using a combination of two or three drugs aimed to aggressively lower LDL (bad cholesterol) and raise HDL (good cholesterol) have been mentioned. This is the first one to show long term benefits over a period of 20 years. Patients who received a combination drug-therapy had much lower levels of LDL and triglycerides as well as higher HDL and less fatty buildup in the carotid artery...

Drug Trial Participants Not Fully Informed About Placebos

Date: Jun-29-2012
Participants in drug trials are often not fully informed about the effect of placebos, thereby undermining the process of "informed consent", concludes a new study published this week in the open access journal PLoS ONE. Placebos are used in randomized drug trials as to act as a yardstick or constant against which to compare the effect of the drug being tested, the "target"...

Eyesight Problems Reducing Among Older Americans

Date: Jun-29-2012
Older Americans are reporting fewer serious eyesight problems today than they were a generation ago, according to a new study published in the journal Ophthalmology recently. The researchers suggest improvements in healthcare such as cataract surgery and lower rates of macular degeneration may be the main reasons. First author Dr Angelo P. Tanna, from the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago, told the press on Wednesday: "From 1984 until 2010, the decrease in visual impairment in those 65 and older was highly statistically significant...

New Research Set To Soothe Colicky Babies - Volunteers Wanted In The Brisbane Metropolitan Area, Australia

Date: Jun-29-2012
Parents could soon have new tools to soothe the tummies and ease the cries of colicky infants, thanks to a new study at the Children's Nutrition Research Centre, School of Medicine, The University of Queensland. Study leader Tracy Harb said the research aimed to determine whether careful modifications to the diets of lactating mothers would ease the symptoms of colic in babies. "Colic is unexplained, persistent crying in an otherwise healthy baby and in spite of much research into the condition, its cause and its treatment remains unknown," Ms Harb said...

The Heart Protected From Adrenaline Overload By 'Broken Heart Syndrome'

Date: Jun-29-2012
A condition that temporarily causes heart failure in people who experience severe stress might actually protect the heart from very high levels of adrenaline, according to a new study published in the journal Circulation. The research provides the first physiological explanation for Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, also called "broken heart syndrome" because it affects people who suffer severe emotional stress after bereavement, and suggests guidance for treatment...

Researchers Measure The Rate Of DNA Transfer From Viruses To Bacteria

Date: Jun-29-2012
Researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have been able, for the first time, to watch viruses infecting individual bacteria by transferring their DNA, and to measure the rate at which that transfer occurs. Shedding light on the early stages of infection by this type of virus - a bacteriophage - the scientists have determined that it is the cells targeted for infection, rather than the amount of genetic material within the viruses themselves, that dictate how quickly the bacteriophage's DNA is transferred...

Research Reveals That The Eyes Give Away More Than We Might Think

Date: Jun-29-2012
Our eyes don't just take in the world around us, they can also reflect our emotional state, influence our memories, and provide clues about the way we think. Here is some of the latest research from the journals Psychological Science and Current Directions in Psychological Science in which scientists show there's much more to the eyes than people might think. 1...

A Mother's Risk Of Early Death Skyrockets Following The Death Of A Child

Date: Jun-29-2012
In the first two years following the death of a child, there is a 133% increase in the risk of the mother dying, a new study from the University of Notre Dame shows. Titled "Maternal bereavement: the heightened mortality of mothers after the death of a child," the study is published in the current issue of Economics and Human Biology...

Defence Against Rift Valley Fever

Date: Jun-29-2012
University of Texas Medical Branch researchers have significantly improved an existing experimental vaccine for Rift Valley fever virus, making possible the development of a more effective defense against the dangerous mosquito-borne pathogen. The African virus causes fever in humans, inflicting liver damage, blindness, encephalitis and even death on a small percentage of those it infects. It also attacks cattle, sheep and goats, producing high mortality rates in newborn animals and causing spontaneous abortions in nearly all infected pregnant sheep...

Regulation Of Telomerase In Stem Cells And Cancer Cells

Date: Jun-29-2012
Scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics in Freiburg have gained important insights for stem cell research which are also applicable to human tumours and could lead to the development of new treatments. As Rolf Kemler's research group discovered, a molecular link exists between the telomerase that determines the length of the telomeres and a signalling pathway known as the Wnt/β-signalling pathway. Telomeres are the end caps of chromosomes that play a very important role in the stability of the genome...