Health News

Dabrafenib And Trametinib For Metastatic Melanoma Meet Primary Endpoints In Phase III Studies

Date: Jun-04-2012
Phase III human trials of single agent therapy using dabrafenib and trametinib for patients with BRAF V600 mutation positive metastatic melanoma met their primary endpoints, GSK (GlaxoSmithKline) reported at the Annual Meeting of ASCo (American Society of Clinical Oncology), Chicago, Illinois, today. The trial results were also published today in NEJM (New England Journal of Medicine)...

Reducing Indoor Air Pollution With Effective Use Of Kitchen Exhaust Fans

Date: Jun-04-2012
Here's the recipe from a new study for minimizing indoor air pollution from cooking - which can produce levels of indoor air pollution higher than those encountered in heavily polluted outdoor air: Turn on the range exhaust fan and cook on the back burners. The study appears in ACS' journal Environmental Science & Technology. Brett C. Singer and William W. Delp explain that cooking with gas burners on stovetops and in ovens can produce unhealthy levels of indoor air pollution...

Genetic Cause For CLOVES Syndrome Identified

Date: Jun-04-2012
Using advanced technologies for rapidly sequencing and analyzing DNA from clinical and pathologic samples, a multidisciplinary research team consisting of geneticists, pathologists and surgeons at Boston Children's Hospital has identified the genetic basis for CLOVES syndrome, a rare congenital malformation and overgrowth disorder. The discovery raises the hope that, for the first time, it will be possible to develop targeted medical treatments capable of delaying, reversing or possibly preventing CLOVES's debilitating consequences...

Imaging Of Blood Flow Provides New Way To Look Into Cardiac Abnormalities And Dysfunction

Date: Jun-04-2012
Researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine are pioneering new ultrasound techniques that provide the first characterization of multidirectional blood flow in the heart. By focusing on fluid dynamics - specifically, the efficiency with which blood enters and exits the heart's left ventricle - the researchers believe they can detect heart disease even when traditional measures show no sign of trouble. In addition to improving diagnoses, this shift in focus from muscle mechanics to fluid mechanics could lead to more effective therapeutic interventions...

Potential For Human Intravenous Kidney Cell Transplants

Date: Jun-04-2012
Indiana University School of Medicine scientists have successfully transplanted primary kidney cells intravenously to treat renal failure in rats, pointing the way to a possible future alternative to kidney transplants and expensive dialysis treatments in humans. The researchers, Katherine J. Kelly, M.D., associate professor of medicine, and Jesus Dominguez, M.D., professor of medicine, genetically modified the cells in the laboratory to produce a protein - called SAA - that plays an important role in renal cell growth, embryonic kidney development and kidney regeneration after an injury...

The Gap Between Policy And Practice In Maternal Health And Maternal Mortality

Date: Jun-04-2012
As the UN Special Rapporteur on maternal mortality in India points out there is a 'yawning gulf between ... commendable maternal mortality policies and their urgent, focused, sustained, systematic and effective implementation.' Reproductive Health Matters explores the causes and impact of this gap, but also highlights hopeful signs of progress. Two papers from India included in the issue capture both the good and bad news that characterise the gap between rhetoric and reality in maternal health and maternal mortality...

Promising Biomarkers And New Therapeutic Targets Identified For Kidney Cancer

Date: Jun-04-2012
Using blood, urine and tissue analysis of a unique mouse model, a team led by UC Davis researchers has identified several proteins as diagnostic biomarkers and potential therapeutic targets for kidney cancer. Subject to follow-up validation testing, inhibition of these proteins and several related pathways holds promise as a form of therapy to slow the growth of kidney tumors...

Investigating Trends In Crime Against The Elderly

Date: Jun-04-2012
While the elderly represent the fastest growing segment of the population, too little is known about the nature and scope of crime impacting this generation. Victoria Titterington of Sam Houston State University is trying to change that with a series of studies that examine the elderly and crime. The elderly, defined as persons over the age of 65, currently represent about 12 percent of the population nationally. But with the baby boomer generation aging, that number is expected to double by 2030...

Vaccine Mapped For Deadly Pathogenic Fungus

Date: Jun-04-2012
University of Alberta researchers have made breakthrough use of 3-D magnetic resonance technology to map the structure of a common fungus that is potentially deadly for individuals with impaired immune function. The work could pave the way for development of an effective vaccine. The researchers targeted Candida, a pathogen that in its most virulent form has led to more than 70,000 bloodstream infections in North American hospital patients. Health officials estimate that death rate from this bloodstream infection is 40 per cent...

Sex And Trauma Research

Date: Jun-04-2012
Research on sex and trauma faces an ethical dilemma: how can we find out more about the effects of such psychologically sensitive topics without hurting the people who participate in the study? Institutional review boards that approve research on human subjects believe that asking people about sex and trauma is riskier and more distressing than asking people to complete standard intelligence tests or personality questionnaires...