Health News

Protein called YAP gives blood vessels strength and shape

Date: Mar-26-2014
When yes-associated protein, or YAP, is deleted from vascular smooth muscle cells during development, the protein makes thin-walled blood vessels that over-dilate in response to the usual pressure of blood flow, said Dr. Jiliang Zhou, vascular biologist at the Medical College of Georgia at Georgia Regents University."The thickness of the arterial wall decreases from three or four layers of smooth muscle cells to one or two layers," said Zhou, corresponding author of the study featured on the cover of the American Heart Association journal, Circulation Research.

Greater distance from transplant center associated with lower likelihood of receiving liver transplant, higher risk of death among U.S. veterans

Date: Mar-26-2014
Among veterans meeting eligibility for liver transplantation, greater distance from a Veterans Affairs transplant center or any transplant center was associated with lower likelihood of being put on a waitlist or receiving a transplant, and a greater likelihood of death, according to a study in the March 26 issue of JAMA. Centralization of specialized health care services is used to control costs, concentrate expertise, and minimize regional differences in quality of care.

Recreational drug users who switch from ecstasy to mephedrone don't understand the dangers

Date: Mar-26-2014
Contrary to popular belief among recreational drug users, mephedrone has several important differences when compared with MDMA, commonly known as ecstasy. These differences mean that mephedrone could leave a user with acute withdrawal symptoms and indicate that it may have a higher potential for developing dependence than MDMA according to a study published in British Journal of Pharmacology.

Recreational drug users who switch from ecstasy to mephedrone don't understand the dangers

Date: Mar-26-2014
Contrary to popular belief among recreational drug users, mephedrone has several important differences when compared with MDMA, commonly known as ecstasy. These differences mean that mephedrone could leave a user with acute withdrawal symptoms and indicate that it may have a higher potential for developing dependence than MDMA according to a study published in British Journal of Pharmacology.

Motor learning: Lining up our sights

Date: Mar-26-2014
Neurologists at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich have studied the role of the vestibular system, which controls balance, in optimizing how we direct our gaze. The results could lead to more effective rehabilitation of patients with vestibular or cerebellar dysfunction.When we shift the direction of our gaze, head and eye movements are normally highly coordinated with each other. Indeed, from the many possible combinations of speed and duration for such movements, the brain chooses the one that minimizes the error in reaching the intended line of sight. Dr.

Motor learning: Lining up our sights

Date: Mar-26-2014
Neurologists at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich have studied the role of the vestibular system, which controls balance, in optimizing how we direct our gaze. The results could lead to more effective rehabilitation of patients with vestibular or cerebellar dysfunction.When we shift the direction of our gaze, head and eye movements are normally highly coordinated with each other. Indeed, from the many possible combinations of speed and duration for such movements, the brain chooses the one that minimizes the error in reaching the intended line of sight. Dr.

Availability of sugar-sweetened beverages in schools increases odds of adolescent obesity

Date: Mar-26-2014
The availability and consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) in secondary schools is associated with higher adolescent obesity rates in British Columbia (BC), Canada, according to a study published in the open access International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity. As with most developed countries, the percentage of Canadian youths aged 6-17 that were overweight or obese was 19.5% and 11.6%, respectively, recorded in 2010.

Availability of sugar-sweetened beverages in schools increases odds of adolescent obesity

Date: Mar-26-2014
The availability and consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) in secondary schools is associated with higher adolescent obesity rates in British Columbia (BC), Canada, according to a study published in the open access International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity. As with most developed countries, the percentage of Canadian youths aged 6-17 that were overweight or obese was 19.5% and 11.6%, respectively, recorded in 2010.

Study finds substantial decrease in use of cardiac imaging procedure

Date: Mar-26-2014
There has been a sharp decline since 2006 in the use of nuclear myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI; an imaging procedure used to determine areas of the heart with decreased blood flow), a decrease that cannot be explained by an increase in other imaging methods, according to a study in JAMA. Nuclear myocardial perfusion imaging accounted for much of the rapid growth in cardiac imaging that occurred from the 1990s through the middle 2000s. Edward J. McNulty, M.D.

Leading surgeons warn against media hype about tracheal regeneration

Date: Mar-26-2014
Reports of the two earliest tissue-engineered whole organ transplants using a windpipe, or trachea, created using the patient's own stem cells, were hailed as a breakthrough for regenerative medicine and widely publicized in the press. However, two leading transplant surgeons in Belgium warn of the dangers of media attention, and urge that tracheal bioengineering be demonstrated as both effective and safe before further transplants take place.