Health News

Genetic Mutations And Colon Cancer Development

Date: Jun-10-2012
In exploring the genetics of mitochondria - the powerhouse of the cell - researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have stumbled upon a finding that challenges previously held beliefs about the role of mutations in cancer development. For the first time, researchers have found that the number of new mutations are significantly lower in cancers than in normal cells. "This is completely opposite of what we see in nuclear DNA, which has an increased overall mutation burden in cancer," said cancer geneticist Jason Bielas, Ph.D., whose findings are published in PLoS Genetics...

Report Addresses Challenges In Implementing New Diagnostic Tests Where They Are Needed Most

Date: Jun-10-2012
Easy-to-use, inexpensive tests to diagnose infectious diseases are urgently needed in resource-limited countries. A new report based on an American Academy of Microbiology colloquium, "Bringing the Lab to the Patient: Developing Point-of-Care Diagnostics for Resource Limited Settings," describes the challenges inherent in bringing new medical devices and technologies to the areas of the world where they are needed most...

Database Of More Than 1 Million Diverse Diabetes Patients Used To Find Better Treatment & Prevention Strategies

Date: Jun-10-2012
Eleven integrated health systems, with more than 16 million members, have combined de-identified data from their electronic health records to form the largest, most comprehensive private-sector diabetes registry in the nation. According to a new study published in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Preventing Chronic Disease, the SUPREME-DM DataLink provides a unique and powerful resource to conduct population-based diabetes research and clinical trials...

Researchers Find A Chink In The Molecular Armor Of Killer Hospital Bacteria

Date: Jun-10-2012
There's new hope for development of an antibiotic that can put down a lethal bacteria or superbug linked to the deaths of hundreds of hospital patients around the world. Researchers from the University of Alberta-based Alberta Glycomics Centre found a chink in the molecular armour of the pathogen Acinetobacter baumannii. The bacteria first appeared in the 1970's and in the last decade it developed a resistance to most antibiotics. U of A microbiologist Mario Feldman identified a mechanism that allows Acinetobacter baumannii to cover its surface with molecules knows as glycoproteins...

Survival Increased In Systemic Sclerosis Patients By Haematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation

Date: Jun-10-2012
Initial results from an international, investigator-initiated, open label phase III trial were presented at EULAR 2012, the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism. Data indicate that haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) results in better long term survival than conventional treatment for patients with poor prognosis early diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis...

Comparison Study Of Rheumatoid Arthritis Drugs Abatacept And Adalimumab

Date: Jun-10-2012
Data from one of the few head-to-head trials in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) presented at EULAR 2012, the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism, demonstrates that at one year, 64.8% of patients receiving abatacept (Orencia) and 63.4% of patients receiving adalimumab (Humira) achieved ACR20*. The Phase IIIb AMPLE study (Abatacept Versus Adalimumab Comparison in Biologic-Naive RA Subjects with Background Methotrexate) was carried out in 646 biologic-naïve patients with active RA and inadequate response to methotrexate. At four weeks, 42...

Discovery Of Protein Function That Protects Cells During Injury

Date: Jun-10-2012
Scientists have discovered a new function for a protein that protects cells during injury and could eventually translate into treatment for conditions ranging from cardiovascular disease to Alzheimer's. Researchers report online in the journal Cell that a type of protein called thrombospondin activates a protective pathway that prevents heart cell damage in mice undergoing simulated extreme hypertension, cardiac pressure overload and heart attack...

Some Fetal Cells Can Migrate Into Maternal Organs During Pregnancy

Date: Jun-09-2012
A pregnant woman's blood stream contains not only her own cells, but a small number of her child's, as well, and some of them remain in her internal organs long after the baby is born. Understanding the origin and identity of these cells is vital to understanding their potential effects on a mother's long-term health. For example, fetal cells have been found at tumor sites in mothers, but it is unknown whether the cells are helping to destroy the tumor or to speed its growth. Three types of fetal cells have now been identified in the lungs of late-term pregnant mice by a team led by Dr...

Physicists Use Ultrafast Lasers To Create First Tabletop X-Ray Device

Date: Jun-09-2012
An international research team led by the University of Colorado Boulder has generated the first laser-like beams of X-rays from a tabletop device, paving the way for major advances in many fields including medicine, biology and nanotechnology development...

Risk For Cardiovascular Disease In Teens May Decreased With Meditation

Date: Jun-09-2012
Regular meditation could decrease the risk of developing cardiovascular disease in teens who are most at risk, according to Georgia Health Sciences University researchers. In a study of 62 black teens with high blood pressure, those who meditated twice a day for 15 minutes had lower left ventricular mass, an indicator of future cardiovascular disease, than a control group, said Dr. Vernon Barnes, a physiologist in the Medical College of Georgia and the Georgia Health Sciences University Institute of Public and Preventive Health. Barnes, Dr...