Health News

Neurons That Impact On Appetite Also Linked To Cocaine Desire

Date: Jun-25-2012
People who have higher appetites for food tend to have lower interest in cocaine, or exploratory behavior, while those less interested in foods may become increasingly interested in cocaine, because of the way some neurons in part of the brain that controls hunger work, researchers from Yale University School of Medicine reported in Nature Neuroscience. The scientists say they have closed in on a set of neurons that are not only linked to overeating, but also to non-food associated behaviors, such as drug addiction and novelty seeking...

Dabrafenib Shows Promise For Melanoma Patients

Date: Jun-25-2012
Results of the 'BREAK3 trial, a Phase III study of dabrafenib to treat patients with BRAF mutation-positive melanoma, i.e. a type of advanced skin cancer that works by inhibiting a key signaling protein, has demonstrated that these patients have better results with dabrafenib than with chemotherapy. The study has been published Online First in The Lancet. In 2008, an estimated 46,000 people died from melanoma. Dabrafenib is suitable for use in about half of all melanomas, i.e. in those that contain the mutated form of the BRAF gene...

Over 600,000 Alcohol-Related Hospitalizations In England

Date: Jun-25-2012
An article published online in the Emergency Medicine Journal reports that almost 640,000 hospital admissions and nearly 2 million emergency care department (ER) visits in England and Wales per year could be alcohol-related. The researchers invited people who required treatment at Bristol's Royal Infirmary (BRI) in the UK to participate in their study, and recruited a total of 774 eligible patients, from almost 1,000 adults, who visited the hospital's emergency care unit over a four-week period in June 2009...

Male Suicide Rates - Who Is At Greatest Risk?

Date: Jun-25-2012
Suicide rates among young men (ages 19-30) are rising in some countries including Brazil, Ireland, Lithuania and Singapore. However, new research published in The Lancet shows that very few studies published over the last decade distinguish factors which identify those at greatest risk. The study, conducted by Dr Alexandra Pitman of University College London (UCL) Mental Health Sciences Unit, UK, also found that very few studies examined which prevention interventions are effective in young men. Globally, suicide is the second most common cause of death in young men...

Suicide In India Is Leading Cause Of Death Among Young Adults

Date: Jun-25-2012
According to a study published in The Lancet, India has one of highest suicide rates in the world, and self-inflicted death is the second most common cause of death of young people in the country. In addition, suicide could become the leading cause of death among young Indian women as maternal death rates fall. Professor Vikram Patel, of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, explained: "Suicide kills nearly as many Indian men aged 15-29 as transportation accidents and nearly as many young women as complications from pregnancy and childbirth...

Suicide - Restricting The Means Lowers Incidence, Community Acceptance And Support Important

Date: Jun-25-2012
In a study published in The Lancet, researchers examine evidence for means restriction in preventing suicides. Professor Paul Yip of the Center for Suicide Research and Prevention, University of Hong Kong, China and his team, state that although it is difficult to restrict some suicide methods, such as hanging, means restriction continues to be a successful method to lower suicide rates. Individuals who attempt to commit suicide usually choose a method that is readily available to them. According to the researchers, restricting these methods can considerably reduce suicide rates...

Later ADHD Meds Start Undermines Math Scores In Kids

Date: Jun-25-2012
Children with ADHD who start taking ADHD medications later have lower math scores, compared to their counterparts who took medications earlier, researchers from the USA and Iceland reported in the journal Pediatrics. Those taking their meds within 12 months of their fourth-grade test dropped 0.3% in their seventh grade tests math scores, compared to 9.4% among those taking similar meds 25 to 36 months after the same test...

Speech Algorithms To Detect Parkinson's Disease

Date: Jun-25-2012
A British mathematician hopes he can speed up the diagnosis of Parkinson's disease with a cheap test that uses speech signal processing algorithms he developed at Oxford University in the UK. Parkinson's Disease is a progressive, devastating neurological disorder that is difficult and slow to diagnose: there are currently no lab tests or biomarkers that can definitively diagnose the condition, which affects more than 6 million people worldwide...

Stem Cells USA And Regenerative Medicine Congress, 20-21 September 2012, Boston

Date: Jun-25-2012
The stem cell and regenerative medicine industry is facing a serious funding problem. Just as the first therapies are reaching commercialization, biotechs in phase 2 and 3 are struggling to raise the funds needed to finish their studies. Over 300 biotechs, pharmas, investors, and suppliers will be meeting in Boston on September 20-21 at the Stem Cells USA and Regenerative Medicine Congress 2012...

World Cord Blood Congress Co-Located With Annual Stem Cells Conference, 20-21 September 2012, Boston

Date: Jun-25-2012
Public and private cord blood banks are facing a standstill. Costs to store cord blood and use in transplants remain extremely high. Lack of funding prevents cord blood from being researched and used to treat a number of indications. It is critical that we sustain this industry to continuously provide access to novel regenerative therapies. The event is designed to help regional and international cord blood banks, biotechs, and academics learn how to get the most out of banking business strategies, cord blood therapeutic uses, and improved transplant opportunities...