Health News

Just a fifth of people with hearing problems wear a hearing aid

Date: Mar-19-2014
The study, published in the journal Ear and Hearing, looked at the habits of 160,000 people in the UK aged 40 to 69 years. It found 10.7 per cent of adults had significant hearing problems when listening to speech in the presence of background noise - but only 2.1 per cent used a hearing aid. One in 10 middle aged adults had substantial hearing problems and were more likely to be from a working class or ethnic minority background.

A novel mechanism for fast regulation of gene expression

Date: Mar-19-2014
Our genome, we are taught, operates by sending instructions for the manufacture of proteins from DNA in the nucleus of the cell to the protein-synthesizing machinery in the cytoplasm. These instructions are conveyed by a type of molecule called messenger RNA (mRNA).Francis Crick , co-discoverer of the structure of the DNA molecule, called the one-way flow of information from DNA to mRNA to protein the "central dogma of molecular biology."Yehuda Ben-Shahar and his team at Washington University in St.

Ant algorithm employed for drug design

Date: Mar-19-2014
New drugs often fail because they cause undesirable side-effects. ETH researchers have developed simulation software that predicts the properties of active agents and virtually builds new ones. The software's search process is modelled after the behaviour of ants.The path to developing new drugs is a long one. If a target is identified for a new active agent - for instance a particular protein that plays a key role in a disease - an active molecule that binds to the target must then be developed.

While under general anesthesia rats' brains may 'remember' odor experienced

Date: Mar-19-2014
Rats' brains may remember odors they were exposed to while deeply anesthetized, suggests research in rats published in the April issue of Anesthesiology.Previous research has led to the belief that sensory information is received by the brain under general anesthesia but not perceived by it. These new findings suggest the brain not only receives sensory information, but also registers the information at the cellular level while anesthetized without behavioral reporting of the same information after recovering from anesthesia.

Breakthrough discovery offers new perspectives for research on the immune and nervous system

Date: Mar-19-2014
When it comes to analyzing cell components or body fluids or developing new medications, there is no way around mass spectrometry. Mass spectrometry is a highly sensitive method of measurement that has been used for many years for the analysis of chemical and biological materials. Scientists at the Institute of Immunology of the University Medical Center of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) have now significantly improved this analytical method that is widely employed within their field.

Dietary restriction and extended lifespan

Date: Mar-19-2014
A new evolutionary theory in BioEssays claims that consuming a diet very low in nutrients can extend lifespan in laboratory animals, a finding which could hold clues to promoting healthier ageing in humans.Scientists have known for decades that severely restricted food intake reduces the incidence of diseases of old age, such as cancer, and increases lifespan."This effect has been demonstrated in laboratories around the world, in species ranging from yeast to flies to mice.

Research on the protein gp41 could help towards designing future vaccinations against HIV

Date: Mar-19-2014
Researchers from the University of Granada have discovered, for the first time, an allosteric interaction (that is, a regulation mechanism whereby enzymes can be activated or de-activated) between this protein, which forms part of the sheath of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and an antibody that neutralizes the virusThe study has been published in The Journal of Biological ChemistryResearchers from the University of Granada have discovered, for the first time, an allosteric interaction (that is, a regulation mechanism whereby enzymes can be activated or de-activated) between...

PTSD: Suppressing unwanted memories reduces their unconscious influence on behavior

Date: Mar-19-2014
Researchers part-funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC) have shown that, contrary to what was previously assumed, suppressing unwanted memories reduces their unconscious influences on subsequent behaviour, and have shed light on how this process happens in the brain.The study, published online in PNAS, challenges the idea that suppressed memories remain fully preserved in the brain's unconscious, allowing them to be inadvertently expressed in someone's behaviour.

How best to manage sepsis patients, particularly during the critical first few hours of treatment

Date: Mar-19-2014
Survival of patients with septic shock was the same regardless of whether they received treatment based on specific protocols or the usual high-level standard of care, according to a five-year clinical study. The large-scale randomized trial, named ProCESS for Protocolized Care for Early Septic Shock, was done in 31 academic hospital emergency departments across the country and was funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), a component of the National Institutes of Health.The results of the trial, led by Derek C. Angus, M.D., M.P.H., and Donald M. Yealy, M.D.

Pneumonia coding practices may skew hospital performance outcomes

Date: Mar-19-2014
Variations in coding practices related to pneumonia cases may bias efforts to compare quality of care among hospitals, according to an article published in Annals of Internal Medicine. Pneumonia is the most common reason for emergency hospitalization in the United States, making it an appropriate target for quality improvement initiatives and public reporting of hospital quality.