Health News

New Genetic Findings: Gifts Of The MAGI In Schizophrenia And Bipolar Disorder

Date: May-14-2012
These findings are not about the classic story of gift-giving, although the MAGI genes (officially named membrane associated guanylate kinase, WW and PDZ domain containing proteins) do influence brain function in important ways. MAGI1 and MAGI2 are genes that code for the MAGI proteins. These proteins influence the development and function of synapses in the brain, the junctions where communication between nerve cells occurs. Because they perform many important functions at brain synapses, researchers have made several attempts to tie these genes to psychiatric disease. So far, the efforts...

Study Identifies Key Cellular Mechanisms Behind The Onset Of Tinnitus

Date: May-14-2012
Researchers in the University of Leicester's Department of Cell Physiology and Pharmacology have identified a cellular mechanism that could underlie the development of tinnitus following exposure to loud noises. The discovery could lead to novel tinnitus treatments, and investigations into potential drugs to prevent tinnitus are currently underway. Tinnitus is a sensation of phantom sounds, usually ringing or buzzing, heard in the ears when no external noise is present. It commonly develops after exposure to loud noises (acoustic over-exposure), and scientists have speculated that it results...

Protein Identified That Stimulates Brown Fat To Burn Calories

Date: May-14-2012
Scientists have identified a protein which regulates the activation of brown fat in both the brain and the body's tissues. Their research, which was conducted in mice, was published in the journal Cell. Unlike white fat, which functions primarily to store up fat, brown fat (also known as brown adipose tissue) burns fats to generate heat in a process known as thermogenesis. The research, led by scientists at the University of Cambridge Metabolic Research Laboratories at the Institute of Metabolic Science, discovered that the protein BMP8B acts on a specific metabolic system (which operates in...

Cardiac Surgery To Repair Mitral Valve Sees Improved Survival Rates

Date: May-14-2012
Patients with mitral regurgitation, a type of valvular heart disease common in the elderly, are living longer after surgery, Yale School of Medicine researchers report in the journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes. Surgery that replaces or repairs the mitral valve remains the definitive therapy for symptomatic mitral regurgitation, but surgery carries considerable risks of mortality and complications such as infection and renal failure. Led by John A. Dodson, M.D., a postdoctoral fellow in cardiology and geriatrics at Yale School of Medicine, the researchers found that short-...

Hospitals Performing Expensive Heart Procedures Are More Costly For All Patients

Date: May-14-2012
Hospitals that perform expensive, invasive cardiovascular procedures on a disproportionate number of patients are more costly for all heart failure patients, including those treated with noninvasive methods, according to a new Yale study. Most heart failure patients are cared for without the use of invasive procedures like cardiac catheterization, notes the study published in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes; but the rates of invasive procedures used for heart failure patients vary across hospitals. The study authors represent the NIH Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Center for...

New Study Finds Military Marriages Are Not More Vulnerable To Divorce

Date: May-14-2012
Despite the fact that military service means working long hours with unpredictable schedules, frequent relocations, and separations from loved ones due to deployment, a new study published in the Journal of Family Issues (a SAGE journal) finds that marriages of military members are not more vulnerable than civilian marriages. According to the authors, members of the military are significantly more likely to be married, but are not more likely to be divorced than civilians with matched characteristic. Additionally, the risk of divorce among military marriages has not seen a real increase since...

The Benefits And Risks Of Direct-To-Consumer Genetics Tests

Date: May-14-2012
Patients see potential benefits from direct-to-consumer genetic testing, but are also concerned about how the test results will be used, and generally are unwilling to pay more than $10 or $20 for them, according to focus groups conducted by researchers at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine. Findings by first author Katherine Wasson, PhD, MPH, and colleagues are published in the American Journal of Bioethics Primary Research. Wasson, an assistant professor in Loyola's Neiswanger Institute for Bioethics and Health Policy, is an expert on the ethics of direct-to-consumer...

Researchers Describe A New Target For Developing Anti-Angiogenic And Anti-Tumoral Therapies

Date: May-14-2012
Researchers from the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), led by Jorge L. Martínez-Torrecuadrada from the Proteomics Unit, have demonstrated that the antibody-based blocking of ephrinB2, a protein involved in angiogenesis and lymphoangiogenesis, may represent an effective strategy for the development of antiangiogenic and antitumoural therapies. The results of this study appeared in this month's issue of Blood, the journal of the American Society of Hematology. CNIO researchers generated highly-specific human antibodies against ephrin-B2 using a phage display approach. These...

Psoriasis Linked To Increased Risk Of Cardiovascular Disease By Mechanistic Discovery

Date: May-14-2012
The link between psoriasis and cardiovascular events has been observed for years, however the mechanics were unknown. For the first time, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine researchers have discovered preclinical evidence demonstrating that the inflammatory skin disease leads to cardiovascular disease. Further, the research demonstrated that aggressive reversal of psoriasis reduces the cardiovascular risk as well. Psoriasis is a chronic disease of the immune system that appears as raised, inflamed, scaly red patches of skin and is often associated with intense itch. In the...

New Twist On Ancient Math Problem Could Improve Medicine, Microelectronics

Date: May-14-2012
A hidden facet of a math problem that goes back to Sanskrit scrolls has just been exposed by nanotechnology researchers at the University of Michigan and the University of Connecticut. It turns out we've been missing a version of the famous "packing problem," and its new guise could have implications for cancer treatment, secure wireless networks, microelectronics and demolitions, the researchers say. Called the "filling problem," it seeks the best way to cover the inside of an object with a particular shape, such as filling a triangle with discs of varying sizes. Unlike the traditional...