Health News

Federal Asthma Action Plan To Reduce Disparities Supported By Leading Childhood Asthma Group

Date: Jun-04-2012
During an event with leaders from three U.S. federal agencies and the White House, the executive director of the Merck Childhood Asthma Network, Inc. (MCAN), Dr. Floyd Malveaux, expressed strong support for the government's new coordinated action plan to reduce racial and ethnic asthma disparities. The release of the new report came on the last day of National Asthma Awareness Month. The Action Plan is an outcome of the interagency Asthma Disparities Working Group, co-chaired by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S...

Researchers Learn About End-Of-Life Communication

Date: Jun-04-2012
What is the best way to talk to someone about prognosis and quality of life when serious illness strikes? It turns out that no one had studied that question through direct observation, until the University of Rochester Medical Center audio-recorded 71 palliative care discussions. The data is published online in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. Lead author Robert E. Gramling, M.D., Sc.D...

Snacking On Raisins Controls Hunger, Promotes Satiety In Children

Date: Jun-04-2012
New research recently announced at the Canadian Nutrition Society annual meeting in Vancouver, B.C., suggests eating raisins as an after-school snack prevents excessive calorie intake and increases satiety - or feeling of fullness - as compared to other commonly consumed snacks. The study, funded by a grant from the California Raisin Marketing Board, was conducted among 26 normal-weight boys and girls ages 8 - 11 during a three-month timeframe...

Possible Drug Target For Acute Pancreatitis Identified

Date: Jun-04-2012
Scientists from the Universities of Illinois and California have found that the inflammatory protein interleukin-6 (IL-6) plays a pivotal role in the duration of acute pancreatitis in animal models with this condition. Their report, in the June 2012 issue of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology, describes experiments in lean and obese mice that identify the presence of high IL-6 as one of the reasons why the disease is more devastating in obese people. "The study helps to understand why acute pancreatitis is more prolonged in obese subjects," said Giamila Fantuzzi, Ph.D...

New Device Warns Workers Of High Levels Of Airborne Metals In Minutes Rather Than Weeks

Date: Jun-04-2012
Scientists are reporting development of a new paper-based device that can warn workers that they are being exposed to potentially unhealthy levels of airborne metals almost immediately, instead of the weeks required with current technology. The report on the device, which costs about one cent to make and could prevent illness in the millions of people who work with metal, appears in ACS' journal Analytical Chemistry. Charles Henry and colleagues explain that worldwide, job-related respiratory illnesses are associated with about 425,000 deaths each year...

New Community Approach Recommended To Lower Increasing Rates Of Childhood Obesity

Date: Jun-04-2012
National data show that currently more than 10 percent of preschoolers in the United States are obese, and an additional 10 percent are overweight. In a recently published article, a researcher from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, in collaboration with peers and colleagues from across the nation, says that effective strategies to target pregnancy, infancy, and toddlers are urgently needed to stop the progression of childhood obesity...

No Evidence That Working Memory Training Programs Improve General Cognitive Performance

Date: Jun-04-2012
Working memory training is unlikely to be an effective treatment for children suffering from disorders such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity or dyslexia, according to a research analysis published by the American Psychological Association. In addition, memory training tasks appear to have limited effect on healthy adults and children looking to do better in school or improve their cognitive skills...

N-acetylcysteine For Treating Irritability In Autism

Date: Jun-04-2012
Autism is a developmental disorder that affects social and communication skills. Irritability is a symptom of autism that can complicate adjustment at home and other settings, and can manifest itself in aggression, tantrums, and self-injurious behavior. These disruptive behaviors are frequently observed in children with autism, which may considerably affect their ability to function at home or in school...

Prevalence Of Chronic Hepatitis B Greater In The US Than Previously Reported

Date: Jun-04-2012
The prevalence of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in the U.S. may be as high as 2.2 million cases according to a new study now available in Hepatology, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases. Findings suggest the higher prevalence of chronic HBV can be attributed to foreign-born persons who were infected in their country of origin prior to arrival in the U.S. Emigrants from Asia and Africa, where infection with hepatitis B is highly endemic, represent close to 70% of the 1...

Dual Effect On Tumor Blood Vessels

Date: Jun-04-2012
As soon as they have grown to pinhead size, tumors rely on the formation of new blood vessels - a process which is scientifically called angiogenesis. Interfering with this process (antiangiogenesis) is considered to be a promising approach in cancer medicine. However, those drugs that are already available for preventing the sprouting of new blood capillaries have failed to fulfill the high expectations placed on them. Medical researchers hope to increase the efficacy of antiangiogenic therapies by attacking angiogenesis from several angles...