Health News

New Prognosis Tool For Deadly Brain Cancer - Glioblastoma Multiforme

Date: Jun-22-2012
A diagnosis of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is generally a death sentence, but new research from the University of Wisconsin-Madison lab of Dr. John Kuo shows that at least one subtype is associated with a longer life expectancy. This discovery could help with better patient prognoses and lead to targeted drug treatments for GBM subtypes. People diagnosed with GBM live on average less than 15 months after diagnosis, even after undergoing aggressive surgery, radiation and chemotherapy...

For Happiness In Life, Respect Matters More Than Money

Date: Jun-22-2012
New research suggests that overall happiness in life is more related to how much you are respected and admired by those around you, not to the status that comes from how much money you have stashed in your bank account. Psychological scientist Cameron Anderson of the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, and his co-authors explore the relationship between different types of status and well-being in a new article published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science...

To Counter The Obesity Epidenmic, Online Weight Loss Programs That Feature Successful Dieters Recommended

Date: Jun-22-2012
A Web-based program featuring successful strategies of others who have lost weight may be an effective strategy for weight loss, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers. Researchers created a website called AchieveTogether and evaluated the weight-loss success of users. They compared users with a group of people attempting to lose weight on their own, and then allowed that second group access to the site 12 weeks later. "Internet-based weight loss programs could help address the obesity epidemic, as they can be widely shared and used with low costs," said Jennifer L...

Causes Of Difficulty Swallowing And Swelling Of The Throat Identified By Food Elimination Diet

Date: Jun-22-2012
A six-food elimination diet significantly improves symptoms in adult patients with eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), according to a new study in Gastroenterology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association. In EoE, eosinophils and other inflammatory cells cause inflammation of the esophagus in response to an allergic stimulus. Previously thought to be a rare disease, EoE has become one of the most common causes for dysphagia (difficulty swallowing), heartburn and the sensation of "food stuck in the throat" in adults...

Improving Health Outcomes Via Innovative, Automated Strategies To Engage Patients At Home

Date: Jun-22-2012
In a Perspective piece published Online First this week in the New England Journal of Medicine, a group of researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania propose a multi-pronged approach to the new practice of so-called "automated hovering" that aims to improve patients' compliance with medication and dietary regimens and other positive health behaviors...

Simple New Way To Clean Traces Of Impurities From Drug Ingredients

Date: Jun-22-2012
Scientists are reporting development of a simple new procedure for removing almost 98 percent of an important impurity that can contaminate prescription drugs and potentially increase the risk for adverse health effects in patients. Their report appears in ACS' journal Organic Process Research & Development. Ecevit Yilmaz and colleagues note that contamination of medications with so-called "genotoxic" impurities (GTIs) have resulted in several major recent drug recalls...

Gold Nanoparticles Found To Be Capable Of 'Unzipping' DNA

Date: Jun-22-2012
New research from North Carolina State University finds that gold nanoparticles with a slight positive charge work collectively to unravel DNA's double helix. This finding has ramifications for gene therapy research and the emerging field of DNA-based electronics. "We began this work with the goal of improving methods of packaging genetic material for use in gene therapy," says Dr. Anatoli Melechko, an associate professor of materials science and engineering at NC State and co-author of a paper describing the research...

Research Provides Clue To Unexplained Excited Delirium Deaths

Date: Jun-22-2012
The headlines are often filled with this scenario: a person displaying violent, bizarre and agitated behavior is subdued by law enforcement personnel and later dies in custody. It appears to be a case of police brutality - but is it? According to William P. Bozeman, M.D., an emergency medicine physician at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, some of these deaths may be caused by an abnormal cardiac condition called Long QT Syndrome, compounded by a situation of Excited Delirium (ExD) Syndrome...

Motor Function Often Improves Following Sleep In Parkinson's Disease, But Reasons Remain Elusive

Date: Jun-22-2012
Some Parkinson's patients report that their motor function is better upon awakening in the morning, which is contrary to what would be expected after a night without medication. This phenomenon, known as sleep benefit, has been studied but no consistent variables have been found and in the last decade there has been little new research...

Carcinogens Linked To Cancer Stem Cells, But Spinach Can Help

Date: Jun-22-2012
Researchers at Oregon State University have for the first time traced the actions of a known carcinogen in cooked meat to its complex biological effects on microRNA and cancer stem cells. The findings are part of a growing awareness of the role of epigenetics in cancer, or the ways in which gene expression and cell behavior can be changed even though DNA sequence information is unaltered. The scientists also found that consumption of spinach can partially offset the damaging effects of the carcinogen...