Health News

New Way Developed To Study How Acid In The Brain Affects Brain Function

Date: May-21-2012
University of Iowa neuroscientist John Wemmie, M.D., Ph.D., is interested in the effect of acid in the brain. His studies suggest that increased acidity or low pH, in the brain is linked to panic disorders, anxiety, and depression. But his work also suggests that changes in acidity are important for normal brain activity too. "We are interested in the idea that pH might be changing in the functional brain because we've been hot on the trail of receptors that are activated by low pH," says Wemmie, a UI associate professor of psychiatry. "The presence of these receptors implies the possibility...

Instructional Web-Based Video Decreases Patient No-Shows For Colonoscopy

Date: May-21-2012
Patients who watch an online instructional video are more likely to keep their appointments and arrive prepared for a scheduled colonoscopy than those who do not, according to a study by gastroenterologists at the University of Chicago Medicine. The study, presented at the 2012 annual Digestive Diseases Week meeting in San Diego, CA, found that among patients age 50 to 65 - the primary target for colon cancer screening - those who watched the video were 40 percent less likely to cancel an appointment. That suggests many more cancers could be prevented or detected and treated early if more...

Finding That Oxytocin Improves Brain Function In Children With Autism Could Lead To Treatment For Associated Social Deficits

Date: May-21-2012
Preliminary results from an ongoing, large-scale study by Yale School of Medicine researchers shows that oxytocin - a naturally occurring substance produced in the brain and throughout the body - increased brain function in regions that are known to process social information in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). A Yale Child Study Center research team that includes postdoctoral fellow Ilanit Gordon and Kevin Pelphrey, the Harris Associate Professor of Child Psychiatry and Psychology, presented the results at the International Meeting for Autism Research. "Our...

In Heart Transplant Recipients, Statins May Prevent Cancer

Date: May-21-2012
Statins prevent cancer and reduce death from all causes in heart transplant recipients. The findings were independent of cholesterol levels. The research was presented at the Heart Failure Congress 2012, 19-22 May, in Belgrade, Serbia. The Congress is the main annual meeting of the Heart Failure Association of the European Society of Cardiology. Cancer is the leading cause of death late after heart transplantation. Skin cancer is particularly common, but solid organ cancers including colorectal cancer, prostate cancer and lymphoma also occur. The increased rate of cancer in heart transplant...

Researchers Identify New Key Mechanism In Cell Division

Date: May-21-2012
Researchers from the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) have identified the mechanism by which protein Zds1 regulates a key function in mitosis, the process that occurs immediately before cell division. The result has been achieved in the online edition of the Journal of Cell Science and opens the door to developing targeted and direct therapies against cancer. In every organism, cells grow and divide into two daughter cells through an orderly succession of events called "cell cycle". Cells have to complete four main processes during the cell cycle: growth (G1 and G2 phases),...

Immune Response At Birth May Predict Babies' Susceptibility To Colds

Date: May-21-2012
Innate differences in immunity can be detected at birth, according to new research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. And babies with a better innate response to viruses have fewer respiratory illnesses in the first year of life. "Viral respiratory infections are common during childhood," says first author Kaharu Sumino, MD, assistant professor of medicine. "Usually they are mild, but there's a wide range of responses - from regular cold symptoms to severe lung infections and even, in rare instances, death. We wanted to look at whether the innate immune response - the...

The Cognitive Effects Of Head Impacts In Athletics Investigated By Researchers

Date: May-21-2012
Dartmouth faculty and students played prominent roles in a recent study on the cognitive effects of head impacts among student athletes. Tested at the beginning and end of one season, 22 percent of those students who participated in contact sports scored significantly lower in memory and learning skills than expected, as opposed to only 4 percent of non-contact sport athletes. "These results were found shortly after the season and we do not know how long the effect [of the head impacts] lasts," said Thomas McAllister, Millennium Professor of Psychiatry and Director of Neuropsychiatry at the...

Simple Solution For Age Related Macular Degeneration

Date: May-21-2012
A device which could restore sight to patients with one of the most common causes of blindness in the developed world is under development in an international partnership. Researchers from the University of Strathclyde and Stanford University in California are creating a prosthetic retina for patients of age related macular degeneration (AMD), which affects one in 500 patients aged between 55 and 64 and one in eight aged over 85. The device would be simpler in design and operation than existing models. It acts by electrically stimulating neurons in the retina, which are left relatively...

Rates Of PTSD Among Soldiers Returning From Afghanistan And Iraq Are Dramatically Lower Than Predicted

Date: May-21-2012
A decade after the start of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, studies have shown that the incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among troops is surprisingly low, and a Harvard researcher credits the drop, in part, to new efforts by the Army to prevent PTSD, and to ensure those who do develop the disorder receive the best treatment available. In an article that appears in Science, Professor of Psychology Richard J. McNally says there is reason for cautious optimism when it comes to the prevalence of PTSD. While early estimates suggested as many as 30 percent of troops might develop...

Hybrid Vaccine Demonstrates Potential To Prevent Breast Cancer Recurrence

Date: May-21-2012
A breast cancer vaccine already shown to elicit a powerful immune response in women with varying levels of HER2 expression has the ability to improve recurrence rates and is well tolerated in an adjuvant setting, according to new research from a clinical trial led by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. The findings will be presented on Monday, June 4 in an oral presentation at the 2012 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). It builds on previous research showing the vaccine, known as AE37, to safely and effectively raise immunity...