Health News

Potential To Build Complex Nanoscale Devices And Test Nanoparticles As Sensors And Drugs In Living Cells

Date: May-08-2012
Using a refined technique for trapping and manipulating nanoparticles, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have extended the trapped particles' useful life more than tenfold.* This new approach, which one researcher likens to "attracting moths," promises to give experimenters the trapping time they need to build nanoscale structures and may open the way to working with nanoparticles inside biological cells without damaging the cells with intense laser light. Scientists routinely trap and move nanoparticles in a solution with "optical tweezers"- a laser...

Questioning The Necessity Of 6 Month Follow-Up Of Patients With Benign MRI-Guided Breast Biopsies

Date: May-08-2012
Short term follow-up of patients who have had a negative (benign) MRI-guided vacuum assisted breast biopsy may not be necessary, a new study indicates. The study, conducted at Yale New Haven Hospital in Connecticut, included 144 patients with 176 lesions that were followed anywhere from three months to 36 months. The study found no malignancies on follow-up MR imaging, said Jaime Geisel, MD, one of the authors of the study. Two patients had suspicious findings at follow-up and underwent a second biopsy six months after the initial biopsy; one yielded benign results and the second showed...

Additional Malignancies Detected By Pre-Op MRI In Dense & Non-Dense Breasts

Date: May-08-2012
Newly diagnosed breast cancer patients should undergo a preoperative MRI exam even if their breasts are not dense, a new study indicates. The study found no difference between the usefulness of 3T breast MRI in detecting additional malignancies and high risk lesions in dense versus non-dense breasts. "There are currently no guidelines that define the role of breast density in determining if a preoperative MRI should be performed. However, anecdotally, we know that preoperative MRI exams tend to be ordered more frequently in younger patients and/or patients with dense breast tissue," said Reena...

Scientists Measure Communication Between Stem Cell-Derived Motor Neurons And Muscle Cells

Date: May-08-2012
In an effort to identify the underlying causes of neurological disorders that impair motor functions such as walking and breathing, UCLA researchers have developed a novel system to measure the communication between stem cell-derived motor neurons and muscle cells in a Petri dish. The study provides an important proof of principle that functional motor circuits can be created outside of the body using stem cell-derived neurons and muscle cells, and that the level of communication, or synaptic activity, between the cells could be accurately measured by stimulating motor neurons with an...

What Is Actinomycosis? What Causes Actinomycosis?

Date: May-08-2012
Actinomycosis is a rare type of infectious bacterial disease. Unlike other infections, actinomycosis is able to move gradually and infiltrate the body's tissue, causing swelling and inflammation. Eventually there is tissue damage and scaring, pus-filled abscesses appear in the mouth, lungs, or gastrointestinal tract. Small holes leaking pus form in the affected tissue. Actinomycosis is caused by a species of bacteria known as actinomyces, which live harmlessly in the lining of the mouth, throat, digestive system and women´s vagina. If the tissue-lining becomes damaged by injury or disease, the...

Malignancy And Resistance Of Breast Cancer Cells Controlled By MicroRNA

Date: May-08-2012
Many breast cancer patients are treated with a drug called tamoxifen. The substance blocks the effect of estrogen and thus suppresses the growth signals of this hormone in cancer cells. When resistance to the drug develops, tumor cells change their growth program: They change their behavior and shape, become more mobile and also adopt the ability to invade surrounding tissue. Scientists working with PD (Associate Professor) Dr. Stefan Wiemann of the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) have now also observed these changes in tamoxifen resistant breast cancer cells. "Resistances to drugs are...

Healers See The "Aura" Of People

Date: May-08-2012
Researchers in Spain have found that many of the individuals claiming to see the aura of people - traditionally called "healers" or "quacks"- actually present the neuropsychological phenomenon known as "synesthesia" (specifically, "emotional synesthesia"). This might be a scientific explanation of their alleged "virtue". In synesthetes, the brain regions responsible for the processing of each type of sensory stimuli are intensely interconnected. This way, synesthetes can see or taste a sound, feel a taste, or associate people with a particular color. The study was conducted by the University...

How Does A Broken DNA Molecule Get Repaired?

Date: May-08-2012
Scientists from the Kavli Institute of Nanoscience at Delft University of Technology have discovered a key element in the mechanism of DNA repair. When the DNA double helix breaks, the broken end goes searching for the similar sequence and uses that as a template for repair. Using a smart new dual-molecule technique, the Delft group has now found out how the DNA molecule is able to perform this search and recognition process in such an efficient way. This week, the researchers report their findings in Molecular Cell. A staggering problem Sometimes, the DNA double helix gets broken: both...

Colonoscopy Rather Than Sigmoidoscopy May Be Better For Blacks And Hispanics Who Have Higher Risk For Precancerous Colorectal Polyps

Date: May-08-2012
Blacks And Hispanics Who Have Higher Risk For Precancerous Colorectal Polyps Main Category: Colorectal Cancer Article Date: 08 May 2012 - 0:00 PDT  email to a friend   printer friendly   opinions    rate article  Current ratings for: 'Colonoscopy Rather Than Sigmoidoscopy May Be Better For Blacks And Hispanics Who Have Higher Risk For Precancerous Colorectal Polyps' Patient / Public: 1 (1 votes) Healthcare Prof: Blacks and Hispanics have a significantly higher risk of developing precancerous colorectal polyps compared with whites, according to a study by researchers at...

Problems In Transport Of Donated Human Retina Led Researchers To Discover New Treatment Path For Eye Disease

Date: May-08-2012
Sloppy shipping of a donated human retina to an Indiana University researcher studying a leading cause of vision loss has inadvertently helped uncover a previously undetected mechanism causing the disease. The discovery has led researchers to urge review of how millions of dollars are spent investigating the cause of a type of age-related macular degeneration called choroidal neovascularization. Working at IU's Biocomplexity Institute, postdoctoral researcher Abbas Shirinifard had hit a brick wall trying to develop detailed computer simulations of the behaviors and interactions of the cells...