Health News

Dynamic Changes Discovered In Gene Regulation In Human Stem Cells

Date: May-07-2012
A team led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute and the University of California (UC) San Diego has discovered a new type of dynamic change in human stem cells. Last year, this team reported recurrent changes in the genomes of human pluripotent stem cells as they are expanded in culture. The current report, which appears in the journal Cell Stem Cell, shows that these cells can also change their epigenomes, the patterns of DNA modifications that regulate the activity of specific genes - sometimes radically. These changes may influence the cells' abilities to serve as models of human...

Researchers Describe New Functions Of Cohesin Relevant For Human Disease

Date: May-07-2012
Cohesin is a ring-shaped protein complex involved in the spatial organization of the genome and in mitotic chromosome structure. Vertebrate somatic cells have two versions of cohesin that contain either SA1 or SA2, but their functional specificity has been largely ignored. Researchers of the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO) under the direction of Ana Losada have identified new functions of cohesin SA1 that are relevant for two human diseases, cancer and Cornelia de Lange Syndrome (CdLS). These results are published in two papers that appear back-to-back in EMBO Journal. The first...

How A Persons "Ranks" Their Suffering May Stop Them Seeking Help For Depression And Anxiety

Date: May-07-2012
People's judgements about whether they are depressed depend on how they believe their own suffering "ranks" in relation to the suffering of friends and family and the wider world, according to a new study. Research from the Department of Psychology at the University of Warwick finds that people make inaccurate judgements about their depression and anxiety symptoms - potentially leading to missed diagnoses as well as false positive diagnoses of mental health problems. This is of particular concern as vulnerable individuals surrounded by people with mental health problems may decide not to seek...

Genetic Pathway Of Rare Facial Malformation In Children

Date: May-07-2012
Researchers at Seattle Children's Research Institute and their collaborators have discovered a pair of defective genes that cause a rare congenital malformation syndrome that can make it impossible for the child to breathe or eat properly without reparative surgery. In a study led by Michael L. Cunningham, MD, PhD, medical director of the Seattle Children's Hospital's Craniofacial Center, a research team pinpointed two genes known as PLCB4 and GNAI3 in a genetic pathway that affects children with auriculocondylar syndrome (ACS). ACS is a rare disorder in which a child's bottom jaw develops as...

First Oral Agent To Quell Invasive Macular Degeneration, Restore Lost Vision

Date: May-07-2012
There may be new found hope for patients whose vision is threatened when medicine injected directly into the eyes fails to cause abnormal blood vessels to recede. While injectable drugs called angiogenesis (an-gee-oh-jen-esis) inhibitors are considered a modern miracle and have become the standard of care for patients with the fast-progressive form of macular degeneration, they are not foolproof. For the first time researchers report that an oral nutriceutical, used on a last resort basis, rapidly restores vision to otherwise hopeless patients who face permanent loss. Stuart Richer OD, PhD,...

Wouldn't You Like To Know What Your Dog Is Thinking? Brain Scans Unleash Canine Secrets

Date: May-07-2012
When your dog gazes up at you adoringly, what does it see? A best friend? A pack leader? A can opener? Many dog lovers make all kinds of inferences about how their pets feel about them, but no one has captured images of actual canine thought processes - until now. Emory University researchers have developed a new methodology to scan the brains of alert dogs and explore the minds of the oldest domesticated species. The technique uses harmless functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), the same tool that is unlocking secrets of the human brain. The Public Library of Science (PLoS ONE) is...

Having A Break From Emails Decreases Stress, Increases Concentration

Date: May-07-2012
Being cut off from work email significantly reduces stress and allows employees to focus far better, according to a new study by UC Irvine and U.S. Army researchers. Heart rate monitors were attached to computer users in a suburban office setting, while software sensors detected how often they switched windows. People who read email changed screens twice as often and were in a steady "high alert" state, with more constant heart rates. Those removed from email for five days experienced more natural, variable heart rates. "We found that when you remove email from workers' lives, they multitask...

Instant Leap In Human Brain Evolution May Have Been Driven By Extra Gene

Date: May-07-2012
A partial, duplicate copy of a gene appears to be responsible for the critical features of the human brain that distinguish us from our closest primate kin. The momentous gene duplication event occurred about two or three million years ago, at a critical transition in the evolution of the human lineage, according to a pair of studies published early online in the journal Cell, a Cell Press publication. The studies are the first to explore the evolutionary history and function of any uniquely human gene duplicate. These "extra" genes are of special interest as they provide likely sources of raw...

What Is Vitiligo? What Causes Vitiligo?

Date: May-07-2012
Vitiligo is a continual and long term skin problem that produces white depigmentation patches that develop and enlarge only in certain sections of the skin. These white patches appear because the patient has very little or no skin cells - called melanocytes - which are the cells in charge of producing the skin pigmentation, called melanin, which gives the color of the skin and protects it from the sun´s UV rays. It is impossible to predict how much of the skin can be affected. In the majority of cases, the affected areas remain affected for the rest of the person's life. According to...

Study Offers Path For Studying Learning, Decision-Making, PTSD

Date: May-07-2012
UCSF scientists have identified patterns of brain activity in the rat brain that play a role in the formation and recall of memories and decision-making. The discovery, which builds on the team's previous findings, offers a path for studying learning, decision-making and post-traumatic stress syndrome. The researchers previously identified patterns of brain activity in the rat hippocampus, a brain region critical for memory storage. The patterns sometimes represented where an animal was in space, and, at other times, represented fast-motion replays of places the animal had been, but no one...