Health News

Novel Surgery Using Capsaicin May Reduce 'Beer Belly' Visceral Fat

Date: May-11-2012
According to research from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), the ingredient that gives hot sauce its heat could play a role in the future of weight loss. Ali Tavakkoli, MD, BWH Department of Surgery, and his team have published a study investigating whether two surgeries called vagal de-afferentation - which uses capsaicin, the component responsible for the chili pepper's burning sensation - and vagatomy can achieve weight loss and reduce the risk of obesity-related diseases with fewer side effects when compared to today's bariatric surgical options. The study is published in the May issue...

Interactive Music Classes Good For Babies' Brains

Date: May-11-2012
After completing the first study of its kind, researchers at McMaster University have discovered that very early musical training benefits children even before they can walk or talk. They found that one-year-old babies who participate in interactive music classes with their parents smile more, communicate better and show earlier and more sophisticated brain responses to music. The findings were published recently in the scientific journals Developmental Science and Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. "Many past studies of musical training have focused on older children," says Laurel...

Brain Activity Of Zebrafish Measured In A Virtual Environment At Unprecedented Resolution

Date: May-11-2012
Researchers have developed a new technique which allows them to measure brain activity in large populations of nerve cells at the resolution of individual cells. The technique, reported in the journal Nature, has been developed in zebrafish to represent a simplified model of how brain regions work together to flexibly control behaviour. Our thoughts and actions are the product of large populations of nerve cells, called neurons, working in harmony, often millions at a time. Measuring brain activity during behaviour at detailed resolution in these groups of cells has proved extremely...

Memory Improved In Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment By Reducing Excess Brain Activity

Date: May-11-2012
Research published by Cell Press in the journal Neuron, describes a potential new therapeutic approach for improving memory and modifying disease progression in patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment. The study finds that excess brain activity may be doing more harm than good in some conditions that cause mild cognitive decline and memory impairment. Elevated activity in specific parts of the hippocampus, a brain region involved in memory, is often seen in disorders associated with an increased risk for Alzheimer's disease. Amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI), where memory is...

The Insurance Status Of Children In The Emergency Department May Lead To Disparities In Treatment

Date: May-11-2012
In 2009, children with public insurance were three times more likely and children with no insurance were eleven time more likely not to have a primary care physician, compared with children with private insurance. Without a primary care physician, the Emergency Department (ED) often becomes the primary point of contact for treatments and diagnoses. A new study scheduled for publication in The Journal of Pediatrics reports that children with private, public, and no insurance may receive differing levels of treatment in EDs. Rebekah Mannix, MD, MPH, and colleagues from Children's Hospital...

What Is Diabetic Neuropathy?

Date: May-11-2012
Diabetic Neuropathy? Editor's Choice Main Category: Neurology / Neuroscience Also Included In: Diabetes;  Pain / Anesthetics Article Date: 11 May 2012 - 0:00 PDT  email to a friend   printer friendly   opinions    rate article  Current ratings for: 'What Is Diabetic Neuropathy?' Patient / Public: 4.5 (2 votes) Healthcare Prof: 4 (1 votes) Article opinions: 1 posts Diabetic neuropathy is damage that affects the peripheral nerves of the body. The damage is specifically to the nerves of the ganglia, outside of the skull, the spinal cord, and some other nerves that...

Leading Medical Societies Collaborate To Offer Criteria For Rational And Timely Use Of Cardiac Catheterization

Date: May-11-2012
Cardiac Catheterization Main Category: Heart Disease Also Included In: Medical Devices / Diagnostics Article Date: 11 May 2012 - 0:00 PDT  email to a friend   printer friendly   opinions    rate article  Current ratings for: 'Leading Medical Societies Collaborate To Offer Criteria For Rational And Timely Use Of Cardiac Catheterization' Patient / Public: Healthcare Prof: Cardiac catheterization - an invasive diagnostic procedure that allows doctors to see the vessels and arteries leading to the heart and its chambers - is performed thousands of times in the United States each...

Controlling The Action Of Estrogen, Key Risk Factor For Endometrial And Breast Cancers

Date: May-11-2012
Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have discovered a molecule that inhibits the action of estrogen. This female hormone plays a key role in the growth, maintenance and repair of reproductive tissues and fuels the development of endometrial and breast cancers. The molecule, discovered in animal studies, could lead to new therapies for preventing and treating estrogen-related diseases in humans. The findings were published online in the PNAS Plus. The hormones estradiol (the most important form of estrogen) and progesterone prepare the uterus for pregnancy....

Study Is First To Show Feasibility And Efficacy Of A New Use For Autologous Stem Cell Transplant - Protection From Toxic Side Effects Of Chemotherapy

Date: May-11-2012
For the first time, scientists at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have transplanted brain cancer patients' own gene-modified blood stem cells in order to protect their bone marrow against the toxic side effects of chemotherapy. Initial results of the ongoing, small clinical trial of three patients with glioblastoma showed that two patients survived longer than predicted if they had not been given the transplants, and a third patient remains alive with no disease progression almost three years after treatment. "We found that patients were able to tolerate the chemotherapy better and...

Identifying A Molecular-Based Treatment For A Viral Skin Cancer

Date: May-11-2012
Four years after they discovered the viral roots of a rare skin cancer, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI) and the School of Medicine have now identified a molecule activated by this virus that, in animal studies, could be targeted to selectively kill the tumor cells. The treatment will soon be tested in patients. Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC), a skin cancer that is more common among seniors and those with weakened immune systems, could not be readily diagnosed at one time, and it still has a very poor prognosis, said Patrick S. Moore, M.D., M.P.H., and Yuan...