Health News
Date: Jun-07-2012
In a discovery that could help in the identification and treatment of anxiety disorders, Michigan State University scientists say the brains of anxious girls work much harder than those of boys. The finding stems from an experiment in which college students performed a relatively simple task while their brain activity was measured by an electrode cap. Only girls who identified themselves as particularly anxious or big worriers recorded high brain activity when they made mistakes during the task...
Date: Jun-07-2012
Researchers at Joslin Diabetes Center have shown that while a type of "good" fat found in the body can be activated by cold temperatures, it is not able to be activated by the drug ephedrine. The finding, published in PNAS USA Early Edition, may lead to drugs or other methods aimed at activating the good fat, known as brown fat. When activated, brown fat burns calories and can help in the battle against obesity...
Date: Jun-07-2012
Family members of children with a staph infection often harbor a drug-resistant form of the germ, although they don't show symptoms, a team of researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has found. The results are published in the June issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. The investigators focused on family members of nearly 200 children who had Staphylococcus aureus infections in the skin and soft tissue, in areas such as the nose, armpits and/or groin...
Date: Jun-07-2012
Current screening strategies for Down syndrome, caused by fetal trisomy 21 (T21), and Edwards syndrome, caused by fetal trisomy 18 (T18), have false positive rates of 2 to 3%, and false negative rates of 5% or higher. Positive screening results must be confirmed by amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling, which carry a fetal loss rate of approximately 1 in 300 procedures. Now an international, multicenter cohort study finds that a genetic test to screen for trisomy 21 or 18 from a maternal blood sample is almost 100% accurate...
Date: Jun-07-2012
A study characterizing the multipotency and transplantation value of olfactory stem cells, as well as the ease in obtaining them, has been published in a recent issue of Cell Transplantation (20:11/12), now freely available on-line.* "There is worldwide enthusiasm for cell transplantation therapy to repair failing organs," said study lead author Dr. Andrew Wetzig of the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. "The olfactory mucosa of a patient's nose can provide cells that are potentially significant candidates for human tissue repair...
Date: Jun-07-2012
Studies have found that police demonstrated considerable resilience to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) compared to other disaster workers after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center (WTC). This has been attributed to effective screening and extensive training in the police force. New research suggests that, despite this greater resilience to PTSD, 15...
Date: Jun-07-2012
Mothers who use marijuana as teens - long before having children - may put their future children at a higher risk of drug abuse, new research suggests. Researchers in the Neuroscience and Reproductive Biology section at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine conducted a study to determine the transgenerational effects of cannabinoid exposure in adolescent female rats. For three days, adolescent rats were administered the cannabinoid receptor agonist WIN-55, 212-2, a drug that has similar effects in the brain as THC, the active ingredient in marijuana...
Date: Jun-07-2012
Rhode Island Hospital and Auburn University researchers found a link between restrictive food intake, or excessive dieting, and an increase in suicide attempts in people with Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD). The study focused on the acquired capability of suicide, which is one component of Joiner's (2005) interpersonal-psychological theory of suicide and is comprised of physical pain tolerance and lowered fear of death. The paper is published in the journal Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, and is now available online in advance of print...
Date: Jun-07-2012
With Type 2 human diabetes climbing at alarming rates in the United States, researchers are seeking treatments for the disease, which has been linked to obesity and poor diet. Now biologists at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, report they have developed a new tool that will help researchers better understand this deadly disease. By manipulating the diets of healthy adult fruit flies, the researchers developed flies that are insulin-resistant, a hallmark of Type 2 diabetes...
Date: Jun-07-2012
Pirfenidone inhibits the development of inflammation and scarring (fibrosis) in pulmonary tissue and has been approved for the treatment of mild to moderate idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) since the beginning of 2011. In an early benefit assessment in accordance with the Act on the Reform of the Market for Medicinal Products (AMNOG), the German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) has examined the extent of added benefit of pirfenidone. Treatment with pirfenidone was compared with the appropriate comparator therapy, so-called best supportive care...