Health News

Assisted Dying - Doctors Should Remain Neutral

Date: Jun-19-2012
A resent study has shown that 62 percent of 1004 GPs believe that medical bodies, such as the BMA (British Medical Association) should adopt a position of "studied neutrality", with regard to the question whether assisted dying for terminally ill adults who are mentally competent should be legalized...

Colon Cancer Linked To DNA Repair Capability In Inflammatory Bowel

Date: Jun-19-2012
A new study in mice reveals a particular type of DNA damage that occurs during inflammation gives rise to colon cancer, a disease that eventually develops in nearly one in ten people with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).  Senior author Leona Samson, professor of biological engineering and biology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and colleagues, write about their findings in a paper published earlier this month in the Journal of Clinical Investigation...

Post-Marketing Studies Of New Diabetes Therapies - What Are The Motives?

Date: Jun-19-2012
A new BMJ investigation raises questions behind the motives used for post-marketing studies of new diabetes therapies. To ensure "a proper balance" between commercial and clinical functions, the BMJ demands better regulations for these types of studies. A former drug industry employee admitted that many of these studies "had more marketing than science behind them," which confirms the experts' view that these studies increase "catastrophic health expenditure" in low-income countries...

Foxglove Therapy Explained

Date: Jun-19-2012
The herb Foxglove has been used for centuries to cleanse wounds and Native Americans brewed its dried leaves in order to treat leg swelling caused by cardiovascular problems. Now, researchers have discovered that an active ingredient in Foxglove (digitalis) called digoxin, can improve the body's own protective mechanism against heart failure and hypertension. The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan Health System, is published online in Molecular Pharmacology...

Clinical Trials In Emerging Economies - Challenges And Opportunities

Date: Jun-19-2012
Even though conducting more clinical trials in developing countries would be beneficial due to under-representation of these populations in research, performing trials in countries with poor resources poses many challenges for scientists...

Gastric Bypass Surgery Linked To Alcoholism

Date: Jun-19-2012
New research released this week from University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health is showing that people who have undergone the increasingly popular gastric bypass surgery appear to be at an increased risk of developing alcohol disorders, abuse and dependence, better known as alcoholism. The findings of Wendy King, Ph.D., assistant professor in GSPH's Department of Epidemiology, and her colleagues are published in Journal of the American Medical Association and are the first to find a clear link between Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) surgery and symptoms of alcohol abuse...

Psychological Stress And Trauma Susceptibility Detected WIth Brain Imaging

Date: Jun-19-2012
Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a severe type of anxiety disorder that can occur after an individual experiences a traumatic event. However, at present, doctors are unable to predict who will develop these disorders. Now, a new study seeks to identify individuals who are more susceptible to long-standing disorders if exposed to a traumatic event. The study is published in the journals Brain Connectivity and Neuroimage and initial findings from the study were presented at the Neural Information Processing Systems Conference...

Autism In Teens - Teaching Social Skills Pays Off

Date: Jun-19-2012
In 2006, the UCLA Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS) clinic was established in order to help high functioning adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) improve their social skills to fit in better with their peers at school. High functioning adolescents with ASD are considered healthy enough to be "mainstreamed" in school. Although PEERS was shown to be effective in earlier studies, researchers were still unsure as to whether the new skills "stuck" with these adolescents after they completed the PEERS classes...

Immune Cells In The Gut Can Help Control HIV Growth

Date: Jun-19-2012
Some individuals living with HIV are able to control the virus better, now researchers have discovered that certain immune cells in the gut could be why. According to the researchers, increasing the amount of these cells could be vital in limiting HIV growth. The study, published online in Science Translational Medicine, was conducted by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Kristina Abel, Ph.D...

Obese Children May Have Difficult Time In School

Date: Jun-19-2012
Over the past four decades, the incidence of childhood obesity has increased significantly and has been associated to a wide array health problems. Now, researchers at the University of Missouri, Columbia, the University of California, Los Angeles, and the University of Vermont have discovered that weight can affect a child's academic performance. The study is published in the journal Child Development...