Health News

Physical activity and diet have positive impact on health, regardless of fat levels

Date: Mar-25-2014
Digits on a scale can help determine a child's weight, but their overall health status can be influenced by other factors such as physical activity, diet and screen time, according to new research from the University of Alberta and Alberta Health Services.A study of 181 children with obesity aged eight to seventeen years old showed that up to a third could be classified as "metabolically healthy," meaning they're not imminently at risk of developing insulin resistance - a precursor to Type 2 diabetes - high blood pressure, high cholesterol or other obesity-related diseases.

Renewed promise for potential lung cancer vaccine

Date: Mar-25-2014
Researchers at UC Davis have found that the investigational cancer vaccine tecemotide, when administered with the chemotherapeutic cisplatin, boosted immune response and reduced the number of tumors in mice with lung cancer. The study also found that radiation treatments did not significantly impair the immune response. The paper was published in the journal Cancer Immunology Research, an American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) publication.

Researchers trace deadly bacteria in cheese

Date: Mar-25-2014
If food products are not produced in a hygienic environment, consumers can face the threat of dangerous pathogens. This is exactly what happened in 2009 and 2010 when two different strains of Listeria monocytogenes were found in the traditional Austrian curd cheese known as "Quargel". 34 people were infected, and a total of 8 patients died. Experts from the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna analysed the genomes of the outbreak strains and were able to show that the strains displayed distinct properties and entered the food chain independently.

Genome-wide association studies mislead on cardiac arrhythmia risk gene

Date: Mar-25-2014
Although genome-wide association studies have linked DNA variants in the gene SCN10A with increased risk for cardiac arrhythmia, efforts to determine the gene's direct influence on the heart's electrical activity have been unproductive. Now, scientists from the University of Chicago have discovered that these SCN10A variants regulate the function of a different gene, SCN5A, which appears to be the primary gene responsible for cardiac arrhythmia risk. The SCN10A gene itself plays only a minimal role in the heart, according to the study, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

Poor fuel economy in the muscles may help lean people stay that way

Date: Mar-25-2014
We all know the type: the friend or colleague who stays slim and trim without much effort and despite eating the same high-calorie fare that causes everyone else to gain weight. As it turns out, the way the muscles of the inherently thin work may give them the edge.Daily physical activity is an inherited trait with a strong association to how fat or thin a person is. Chaitanya K. Gavini et al. previously found that aerobic capacity is a major predictor of daily physical activity level among humans and laboratory animals.

Scientists find surprising new way to kill cancer cells

Date: Mar-25-2014
Northwestern Medicine scientists have demonstrated that cancer cells - and not normal cells - can be killed by eliminating either the FAS receptor, also known as CD95, or its binding component, CD95 ligand."The discovery seems counterintuitive because CD95 has previously been defined as a tumor suppressor," said lead investigator Marcus Peter, professor in medicine-hematology/Oncology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. "But when we removed it from cancer cells, rather than proliferate, they died."The findings were published in Cell Reports.

As brain images become increasingly important, special report examines what they can - and cannot - tell us about ourselves

Date: Mar-25-2014
Neuroimages play a growing role in biomedical research, medicine, and courtrooms, as well as in shaping our understanding of what it means to be human. But how helpful are they at answering complex questions such as: What is depression? Is a defendant lying? Do we have free will?These are among the topics explored in Interpreting Neuroimages: An Introduction to the Technology and Its Limits, a special report of the Hastings Center Report.

Study explores connection between ideology, social capital and health

Date: Mar-25-2014
The nation's left-leaning citizens might be pleased by the findings of a new University of Nebraska study that finds those who live in liberal states tend to be healthier.But conservatives could also take satisfaction in the same study's conclusion that strong communities also foster better health."Some people might like the argument that liberal government automatically leads to healthier people, because it supports their worldview," said Mitchel Herian, a faculty fellow with the university's Public Policy Center and lead researcher on the new study.

Association discovered between severity of autism symptoms and gene family linked to brain evolution

Date: Mar-25-2014
The same gene family that may have helped the human brain become larger and more complex than in any other animal is also linked to the severity of autism, according to new research from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.The gene family is made up of over 270 copies of a segment of DNA called DUF1220. DUF1220 codes for a protein domain - a specific functionally important segment within a protein. The more copies of a specific DUF1220 subtype a person with autism has, the more severe the symptoms, according to a paper published in the PLoS Genetics.

Natural-products derivatives to inhibit oral biofilm and cell-cell communication

Date: Mar-25-2014
During the 43rd Annual Meeting & Exhibition of the American Association for Dental Research, held in conjunction with the 38th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Association for Dental Research, Steve Kasper, SUNY College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, Albany, presented research titled "Inhibition of Oral Biofilm and Cell-cell Communication Using Natural-products Derivatives."Many plant metabolites and structurally similar derivatives have been identified as inhibitors of bacterial biofilm formation and quorum sensing (QS).