Health News

Researchers Use Brain Imaging To Uncover Susceptibility To Psychological Stress And Trauma

Date: Jun-16-2012
Most people have intense emotional reactions to traumatizing events like road accidents or combat. But some suffer far longer, caught in the grip of long-term debilitating disorders such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Because doctors cannot predict who will develop these disorders, however, early or preventive intervention is not available. Now, a new project led by researchers at Tel Aviv University seeks to identify pre-traumatic subjects - those who are more susceptible to long-standing disorders if exposed to a traumatic incident. The project, a joint work between Prof...

Stanford Scientists Challenge Proposed Testosterone Testing Of Some Female Olympians

Date: Jun-16-2012
Proposed Olympic policies for testing the testosterone levels of select female athletes could discriminate against women who may not meet traditional notions of femininity and distort the scientific evidence on the relationship between testosterone, sex and athletic performance, says a Stanford University School of Medicine bioethicist and her colleagues. They also warn that the proposed policies would not only be unfair, but also could lead to female athletes being coerced into unnecessary and potentially harmful medical treatment in order to continue competing...

Century-Old Heart Test Still Effective Today

Date: Jun-16-2012
Most people might assume that technology first developed in 1928 would be obsolete by now. But from air conditioned buildings to sliced bread, many inventions of that era are still essential to our lives today. That includes the exercise stress test, which is still the most widely used medical test for coronary artery disease. "Even though they've been around for nearly a century, they can not only tell us if you currently have heart disease, but can also predict your risk for it in the future," said Martha Gulati, MD, of The Ohio State University's Wexner Medical Center...

Corneal Dysfunction - Cell Regeneration May Restore Vision

Date: Jun-15-2012
Doctors have successfully treated various disorders of the heart, pancreas and cartilage by using regenerative medicine, i.e. using specially grown tissues and cells. However, until now, regenerative treatment of the corneal endothelium, a single cell layer on the cornea's inner surface has been of limited success. A new method that improves the adhesion of injected corneal endothelial cells (CECs) in order to enhance successful transplantations to repair pathological dysfunctions has just been published in The American Journal of Pathology...

Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy Linked To Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Date: Jun-15-2012
A new UK study published in the American Journal of�Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine reveals that obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is independently linked to diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The researchers note that the severity of the DPN is also associated with the degree of OSA as well as the severity of nocturnal hypoxemia...

Parkinson's Disease - Smelling Test For Early Detection

Date: Jun-15-2012
Even though Parkinson's disease is incurable, nowadays doctors are able to favorably influence the course of the disease, so that patients are able to enjoy a high quality of life for many years. In order to fight against the destruction of brain cells in Parkinson's it is necessary for doctors to detect the disease early, but unfortunately only very few adequate early detection methods are available. Researchers have now discovered that the sense of smell provides valuable indications. Hyposmia, i.e...

Gene May Link Diabetes And Alzheimer's

Date: Jun-15-2012
As if having Diabetes isn't bad enough, research has shown that in older age, those with the disease have a much higher tendency to develop Alzheimer's. The reason wasn't clear, but now research from The City College of New York (CCNY) ties the issue to a genetic link. More interestingly, the researchers, who report their finding in the June 2012 issue of the journal Genetics, say that the gene that is seen in many people with Alzheimer's, also appears to affect the insulin pathway...

How Music Benefits The Brain

Date: Jun-15-2012
Studies by the University Hospital San Raffaele (Milan, Italy), presented at the 22nd Meeting of the European Neurological Society (ENS) in Prague demonstrated that test persons with no musical background were not only visibly more skilled after completing two weeks of regular exercise on a piano keyboard, their brains also changed measurably. The study also provides evidence that even a short period of ambidextrous training leads to better coordination and more balanced action between the left and right brain hemisphere...

Key Preventive Health Services - Only Half Of U.S Adults Benefitted Before 2010

Date: Jun-15-2012
The report 'Use of Selected Clinical Preventive Services Among Adults - United States, 2007-2010' by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed that only 50% of U.S. adults received selected preventive services from health care professionals prior to 2010 consisting of consultations, screenings, and prescriptions. The report provides a detailed insight into US adult clinical preventive services that were declared as priorities for public health by the CDC, and evaluated according to the health care law of 2010 (prior to the Affordable Care Act)...

Breast Cancer - For Proper Biopsy Diagnosis, Multiple Tumor Zones Should Be Analyzed

Date: Jun-15-2012
Certain short strands of RNA, known as microRNAs (miRNAs), have been linked to the progression and metastasis of breast cancer and may provide information about prognosis.� However, studies of miRNA expression profiles often report conflicting findings. While the potential for using miRNAs in breast cancer diagnosis is promising, scientists report in a new study published online today in The Journal of Molecular Diagnostics that differences in the amount and types of miRNA within breast tumors can be misleading...