Health News

The Lungs Absorb Half Of Inhaled Diesel Soot

Date: Jun-29-2012
The exhaust from diesel-fuelled vehicles, wood fires and coal-driven power stations contains small particles of soot that flow out into the atmosphere. The soot is a scourge for the climate but also for human health. Now for the first time, researchers have studied in detail how diesel soot gets stuck in the lungs. The results show that more than half of all inhaled soot particles remain in the body. The figure is higher than for most other types of particles. For example "only" 20 per cent of another type of particle from wood smoke and other biomass combustion gets stuck in the lungs...

Probing The Roots Of Depression By Tracking Serotonin Regulation At A New Level

Date: Jun-29-2012
In a process akin to belling an infinitesimal cat, scientists have managed to tag a protein that regulates the neurotransmitter serotonin with tiny fluorescent beads, allowing them to track the movements of single molecules for the first time. The capability, which took nearly a decade to achieve, makes it possible to study the dynamics of serotonin regulation at a new level of detail, which is important because of the key role that serotonin plays in the regulation of mood, appetite and sleep...

Study Looks At The Health Benefits Of Leaving The Car At Home

Date: Jun-29-2012
A new study confirms that doing short journeys on foot rather than taking the car or motorbike would avoid the death of 108 men and 79 women a year in Catalonia alone. This would imply annual savings of more than 200 million euros. Researchers from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Barcelona Public Health Agency (ASPB), headed by Catherine Pérez from the Healthcare Information Systems Service, have estimated the yearly economic benefits from a reduction in death rates by substituting at least one short vehicle journey for a walk...

Nature Inspires Most New Pesticides

Date: Jun-29-2012
Scientists who search for new pesticides for use in humanity's battle of the bugs and other threats to the food supply have been learning lessons from Mother Nature, according to a new analysis. It concludes that more than two out of every three new pesticide active ingredients approved in recent years had roots in natural substances produced in plants or animals. The article appears in ACS' Journal of Natural Products. Charles L...

Research Suggests Gay Dads May Experience Lifestyle Shifts That Reduce HIV Risk

Date: Jun-29-2012
Gay parents face many of the same challenges as straight parents when it comes to sex and intimacy after having children, according to a new study of gay fathers published in the journal Couple and Family Psychology. The findings suggest that gay male couples who are raising children may experience lifestyle changes that could reduce their HIV risk. "When gay couples become parents, they become very focused on the kids, they are tired, there is less time for communication and less desire for sex," said Colleen Hoff, professor of sexuality studies at San Francisco State University...

Faster Assay For Targeted Chemotherapy's Success Against Deadly Liver Cancer Saves Lives

Date: Jun-29-2012
Studies on some 55 U.S. men and women with potentially deadly liver or pancreatic cancers show that specialized MRI scans can tell within a month whether highly toxic chemotherapy is working and killing tumor cells long before tumors actually shrink - or fail to shrink. Using special software and MRI scanners, imaging experts at Johns Hopkins developed their new assay, known as a volumetric functional MRI scan, by exploiting the physiological differences in water movement and absorption inside cancer cells that are dying and those that are not...

Vaccine Safety Improved By Sensitive Test

Date: Jun-29-2012
Salmonella Typhi (S. Typhi) is the causative agent of typhoid fever, a serious health threat resulting in some 22 million new cases yearly and approximately 217,000 fatalities. A number of novel vaccine candidates using live attenuated strains of Salmonella are being developed, but care must be taken to ensure the bacteria are not excreted into the environment following vaccination. Karen Brenneman and her colleagues at Arizona State University's Biodesign Institute have been examining ways to detect the presence of S. Typhi in stool following inoculation with various vaccine strains...

Gastrointestinal Health Improved By Dietary Fiber That Alters Gut Bacteria

Date: Jun-29-2012
A University of Illinois study shows that dietary fiber promotes a shift in the gut toward different types of beneficial bacteria. And the microbes that live in the gut, scientists now believe, can support a healthy gastrointestinal tract as well as affect our susceptibility to conditions as varied as type 2 diabetes, obesity, inflammatory bowel disease, colon cancer, and autoimmune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis...

Study Of Heart Disease In Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients Aided By New Animal Model

Date: Jun-29-2012
Researchers at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine have created the first animal model that spontaneously develops rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and is predisposed towards atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries. This model is considered of critical importance because patients with RA are at increased risk for heart attack and other premature cardiovascular events, but scientists don't know why...

Success Of Fertility Treatment May Approach Natural Birth Rate

Date: Jun-29-2012
A groundbreaking study of nearly 250,000 U.S. women reveals live birth rates approaching natural fertility can be achieved using assisted reproductive technology, where eggs are removed from a woman's ovaries, combined with sperm and then returned to the woman's body. The research, led by Michigan State University's Barbara Luke and published in the New England Journal of Medicine, highlights what factors help or hinder getting pregnant using assisted reproductive technology, or ART...