Health News

Good Microbes That Promote Normal Health Can 'Turn Bad' If Found Outside The Intestine

Date: Jun-08-2012
The healthy human intestine is colonized with over 100 trillion beneficial, or commensal, bacteria of many different species. In healthy people, these bacteria are limited to the intestinal tissues and have a number of helpful properties, including aiding in the digestion of food and promoting a healthy immune system. However, when it comes to commensal bacteria, location is key...

Controversial Changes To Criteria For Substance Use Disorders In New Edition Of The Diagnostic And Statistical Manual Of Mental Disorders

Date: Jun-08-2012
Every new edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders stirs up a host of questions and controversies, and the next DSM - the DSM-5, to be published in 2013 - is no exception. The diagnoses related to alcohol and other substance use disorders have had their own share of the controversy, according to Marc A. Schuckit, M.D., editor of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs and a member of the Substance Use Disorder Work Group for the DSM-5. An editorial from Schuckit in the July issue of JSAD, as well as letters from three experts, highlights the debate...

Are Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Related To Crime?

Date: Jun-08-2012
Despite some concerns to the contrary, neighborhoods with medical marijuana dispensaries may not have higher crime rates than other neighborhoods - at least in one California city. That's the conclusion of a new study in the July issue of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. Researchers found that, across Sacramento neighborhoods, there was no evidence that having a higher density of medical marijuana dispensaries was related to higher rates of violent crime or property crime. As more U.S...

For Reducing Signs And Symptoms Of Rheumatoid Arthritis, Tocilizumab More Effective Than Adalimumab

Date: Jun-08-2012
Data presented at EULAR 2012, the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism, demonstrates that tocilizumab monotherapy is more effective than adalimumab monotherapy in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) based on change from baseline in DAS28* (-3.3 vs. -1.8, p "Approximately one third of patients with rheumatoid arthritis receive biologic monotherapy and this is the first head-to-head trial comparing an IL-6 inhibitor to an anti-TNF, two therapies with different modes of action," said Professor Cem Gabay from University Hospitals of Geneva, Switzerland...

Some Good News About Belly Fat

Date: Jun-08-2012
A fatty membrane in the belly called the omentum has until recently been considered somewhat like the appendix - it didn't seem to serve much purpose. But Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine researchers have found that the omentum appears to play an important role in regulating the immune system. The finding could lead to new drugs for organ transplant patients and patients with auto-immune diseases such as lupus and Crohn's disease...

Analysis Of Life-Saving Potential Of Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention

Date: Jun-08-2012
Giving young children medicine once a month during the rainy season to protect them against malaria could prevent tens of thousands of deaths each year in some areas of Africa, according to new research. A team of scientists analysed the potential impact of a new strategy to control malaria in Africa which takes a similar approach to that used to protect travellers going to malaria endemic areas and found that even with moderate levels of coverage it could lead to significant public health improvements...

The Complex World Of Microbes Fine-Tunes Body Weight

Date: Jun-08-2012
Microorganisms in the human gastrointestinal tract form an intricate, living fabric made up of some 500 to 1000 distinct bacterial species, (in addition to other microbes). Recently, researchers have begun to untangle the subtle role these diverse life forms play in maintaining health and regulating weight...

Potential Environmental Trigger For Autism, But Only In Genetically Predisposed Individuals

Date: Jun-08-2012
Psychoactive medications in water affect the gene expression profiles of fathead minnows in a way that mimics the gene expression patterns associated with autism spectrum disorder in genetically susceptible humans, according to research published in the open access journal PLoS ONE. These results suggest a potential environmental trigger for autism spectrum disorder in this vulnerable population, the authors write. The researchers, led by Michael A...

PTSD Linked To Hidden Head Injuries Suffered In Combat

Date: Jun-08-2012
Even when brain injury is so subtle that it can only be detected by an ultra-sensitive imaging test, the injury might predispose soldiers in combat to post-traumatic stress disorder, according to a University of Rochester Medical Center study. The research is important for physicians who are caring for troops in the years following deployment, as they try to untangle the symptom overlap between PTSD and mild traumatic brain injury (mild TBI) and provide the appropriate treatment. Until now, the nature of the interaction between TBI and PTSD was unclear...

Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis Increasing

Date: Jun-08-2012
Johns Hopkins experts in the prevention and treatment of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis are calling for increased screening and more rapid testing of the 9 million people worldwide estimated to be infected each year with TB and now at risk for this form of the highly contagious lung disease. The call follows results of a survey showing that the harder-to-treat TB variants are much more widespread than previously thought...