Health News

New Tools For Psychological Science Research - Facebook And Smartphones

Date: May-22-2012
Whether you're an iPerson who can't live without a Mac, a Facebook addict, or a gamer, you know that social media and technology say things about your personality and thought processes. And psychological scientists know it too - they've started researching how new media and devices both reveal and change our mental states. Two recent articles in the journal Perspectives on Psychological Science, a publication of the Association for Psychological Science, explored how trends in technology are changing the questions psychological scientists are asking and the ways they ask them. A Review of...

Minimally Invasive Surgery For Sutureless Aortic Valve Replacement

Date: May-22-2012
The surgical team at the Montreal Heart Institute (MHI) achieved a North American surgical milestone on May 1st with a sutureless aortic valve replacement through a thoracic incision just five centimetres long. The two patients in their seventies who underwent this innovative procedure, which was performed by cardiac surgeons Denis Bouchard and Michel Carrier, were doing well only one week after their operations. A novel combination "This innovative combination of implanting a Perceval™ S valve through a minimally invasive thoracotomy signals great progress for Quebec's aging population,...

HDAC Inhibitor Targets Triple Negative Breast Cancer

Date: May-22-2012
The histone de-acetylase (HDAC) inhibitor panobinostat is able to target and destroy triple negative breast cancer, reveals a new study published in BioMed Central's open access journal Breast Cancer Research. Researchers from Tulane University Health Sciences Center have shown that panobinostat was able to destroy breast cancer cells and reduce tumor growth in mice. Approximately 15% of breast cancers are found at diagnosis to be triple negative. These aggressive tumours are missing both the estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor, which means that they do not respond to hormonal...

Dietary Fat Types And 4-year Cognitive Change In Community-dwelling Older Women

Date: May-21-2012
According to a new study published in Annals of Neurology and conducted by researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), a certain type of saturated fat, or "bad fat", is worse for women's overall memory and cognitive function. On the other hand, "good fat", or monounsaturated fats, have been linked to better memory and overall healthier cognitive function. For their study, the researchers looked at data from the Women's Health Study - 6,000 women ages 65 and older, and compared them to a cohort of 40,000 women over the age of 45. The women were asked to take three tests, every 2 years...

Sleep Apnea Has Higher Risk Of Cancer Mortality

Date: May-21-2012
University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health released a study today showing that those suffering from sleep apnea appear to have an increased risk of cancer mortality.  Previous studies have linked the sleep disordered breathing (SBD) problems to hypertension, cardiovascular disease, depression and earlier death, but this is the first to find a link to cancer. Lead author Dr. F. Javier Nieto, chair of the Department of Population Health Sciences at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health commented that the study had subjects with severe SBD had five...

Adolescents Are Still Smoking, But Percentages Have Dropped

Date: May-21-2012
A new report that is based on the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA) National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) reveals that cigarette use amongst minors has dropped from 11.9% in 2004 to 8.3% in 2010 (the year with the latest available data), and that of young adults decreased from 39.5% in 2004 to 34.2% in 2010, although a considerable percentage of both minors and young adults are currently still smoking.  The definition of 'current' was defined as having smoked at least once in the past month. SAMHSA Administrator Pamela S. Hyde declared:...

Binge Drinking Reduced With Herbal Extract

Date: May-21-2012
Researchers at McLean Hospital and Harvard Medical School have discovered that an extract of the Chinese herb Kudzu may help to curb binge drinking. The team found that components in the kudzu root can significantly reduce alcohol consumption, without adverse effects. The study is published in the current issue of Drug and Alcohol Dependence. David Penetar, Ph.D., of the Behavioral Psychopharmacology Research Laboratory at McLean Hospital explained:` "Our study is further evidence that components found in kudzu root can reduce alcohol consumption and do so without adverse side effects. Further...

Breast Cancer Battle - More Genes Discovered

Date: May-21-2012
Researchers have discovered nine new genes which are involved in the development of breast cancer, bringing the number of all genes so far associated with the development of breast cancer to 40, according to a study published in Nature. The researchers analyzed all genes in the genomes of 100 breast cancer cases and discovered that there were different mutated cancer-causing genes in different samples of cancer, suggesting that breast cancer is genetically diverse. This finding is significant for the development of better cancer therapies, as researchers need to understand the consequences of...

Blood Test May Help Identify Mothers At Risk Of Post Natal Depression

Date: May-21-2012
About one in seven new mothers suffer from postnatal depression (PND), a condition that usually starts about two weeks after childbirth. A simple, accurate blood test to determine which women may be most at risk could soon be developed due to the discovery Warwick University researchers' made when they examined women for specific genetic variants.  The study was presented at the International Congress of Endocrinology/European Congress of Endocrinology by Professor Dimitris Grammatopoulos, Professor of Molecular Medicine at Warwick's University, who explains: "Current screening policies rely...

Shocking Risk Figures For Teens Developing Diabetes And Heart Problems

Date: May-21-2012
The June issues of Pediatrics carries an article laying down the risks for teens developing heart problems, cardio-vascular disease and diabetes.  The study compares today's figures with a study from a year ago called "Prevalence of Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors Among U.S. Adolescents, 1999-2008." Just looking at diabetes, we find that figures have jumped from 9% a decade ago, to a dreadful 23% today. That's nearly a quarter of all teens at risk of needing daily insulin injections to control their blood sugar levels, or risk coma and death - never mind the expense and loss of...