Health News

Aspirin - Cardiovascular Events Benefits Versus Major Bleeding Risk

Date: Jun-06-2012
Although daily low-dose aspirin may provide high-risk individuals with protection from cardiovascular events, a considerable number of people run a serious risk of major bleeding, researchers from Consorzio Mario Negri Sud, Santa Maria Imbaro, Italy, reported in JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association). The authors found that almost 200,000 people in their study on low-dose daily aspirin had a greater likelihood of major cerebral or gastrointestinal bleeding...

Study With Music Challenges Theory About Right-Brain And Left-Brain Functions

Date: Jun-06-2012
In a new study, researchers in Australia are challenging the theory that the right hemisphere of the brain is associated with feelings and emotions. The study, conducted by Dr Sharpley Hsieh and colleagues from Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA) and published in the journal Neuropsychologia, discovered that individuals with semantic dementia have a hard time recognizing emotion in music. Semantic dementia is a disease where parts of the left hemisphere in the brain are severely affected...

New Drug Shows Promise For Improved Quality Of Life In Prostate Cancer Patients

Date: Jun-06-2012
Men with advanced prostate cancer could significantly benefit from a new type of hormone treatment called enzalutamide (formerly MDV3100), say researchers. Results from a Phase III clinical trial showed that the enzalutamide prolonged lives of prostate cancer patients and also improved their quality of life. Findings from the study, conducted by the The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, were presented at the ASCO annual meeting by Professor Johann de Bono from the ICR and The Royal Marsden...

Kids With Learning Disorders Might Not Benefit From Memory Training Programs

Date: Jun-06-2012
Children with disorders, such as dyslexia or attention-deficit/hyperactivity, are not likely to benefit from working memory training, say researchers. The study, conducted by researchers from the University of Oslo and University College London and published online in The British Journal of Developmental Psychology, also found that memory training tasks have limited effect on healthy children and adults seeking to improve their cognitive skills or do better in school...

First Vaccine For Potential Treatment Of Parkinson's

Date: Jun-06-2012
AFFiRiS AG has started the first ever Phase I clinical trial for the development of a Parkinson's vaccine (PD01A) at the Confraternität Privatklinik Josefstadt in Vienna. This is the first time a vaccine has the potential to treat the cause of Parkinson's. The study, supported generously by the US-American Michael J. Fox Foundation, will test PD01A on up to 32 patients with Parkinson's disease. The primary endpoints of the trial are safety and tolerability of PD01A. PD01A is the first vaccine in the world designed to treat Parkinson's rather than improve symptoms of the disease...

Vitamin D - Which Type Is Best?

Date: Jun-06-2012
Although vitamin D is essential for healthy bones and muscles, the majority of people do not get enough of it through exposure to sunlight or through diet. Now, researchers have found that vitamin D3 supplements appear to provide more benefit than vitamin D2. The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Surrey and funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), is published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition...

Ginseng For Cancer Patients Says Mayo Clinic

Date: Jun-06-2012
In a trial led by the Mayo Clinic, the herb commonly known as American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius), showed good results in helping cancer patients with fatigue, when compared with a placebo. The findings, which will be presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology's annual meeting, looked at 340 patients who were either in the post treatment phase or under going cancer treatment. 60% of the patients had breast cancer...

Telephone-Delivered Care For Depression Has Lower Dropout Rates

Date: Jun-06-2012
Telephone-administered cognitive behavioral therapy for people with major depression has lower dropout rates compared to equivalent face-to-face therapies, researchers from Northwestern University reported in JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association). The authors added that they believe telephone-therapy is just as good as face-to-face treatments as far as symptoms improvements at the end of treatments are concerned...

Will Large Soda Ban Help New York Obesity Battle? Seems Not

Date: Jun-06-2012
Will Mayor Michael Bloomberg's idea banning of large sugary drinks in New York City have any impact on obesity rates? Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham do not think so. They say that the focus is too narrow - on just one item - and does not address the big picture in the battle against the obesity epidemic. Kathryn Kaise, Ph.D., and team in 2009 set out to determine what effect consuming sugar-sweetened drinks might have on body weight...

Blood Test In Early Stage Breast Cancer May Predict Recurrence And Survival

Date: Jun-06-2012
Testing the blood of early stage breast cancer patients for circulating tumor cells (CTCs) may predict their chance for recurrence and survival, and help identify which ones may need additional treatment, according to a new study published on Wednesday. However, the findings need to be confirmed by larger trials before such a method can be considered for clinical use...