Health News

ADHD treatment linked to increased obesity risk

Date: Mar-17-2014
Past research has suggested that children with ADHD are at higher risk of obesity than those without the disorder. Now, new research from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, MD, suggests that this increased risk may be a result of ADHD treatment, rather that the disorder itself.ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) is one of the most common childhood psychiatric disorders worldwide. There is no cure for the disorder, but stimulant medication is commonly used to help manage symptoms.

Thirdhand smoke 'damages DNA and may cause cancer'

Date: Mar-17-2014
Evidence presented at the 247th National Meeting and Exposition of the American Chemical Society warns that thirdhand smoke damages DNA, attaching to it in a way that may result in cancer.The talk, titled "Thirdhand smoke causes DNA damage in human cells," was presented by Bo Hang, PhD, a scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, who in 2013 published a study of the same name in the journal Mutagenesis.

Colon cancer rates falling steeply among older Americans

Date: Mar-17-2014
According to a new report from the American Cancer Society, rates of colorectal cancer - commonly called colon cancer - are decreasing steeply among older people in the US because of increasing use of colonoscopy screening, which can detect and remove precancerous growths.Over the last 10 years in the US, colon cancer incidence rates have fallen by 30% among people aged 50 and over, with the largest fall in those over 65.Meanwhile, use of colonoscopy screening has nearly tripled among those aged 50 to 75 - from 19% in 2000 to 55% in 2010.

New gene-scanning approach finds link to heart attack risk 'hiding in plain sight'

Date: Mar-17-2014
As scanning genomes for disease-related gene variations becomes more commonplace, scientists are pinpointing gene variations that change the way proteins function. Using this approach, a new study found a previously unknown gene variation that appears to make blood lipid levels healthier in humans and reduce risk of heart attacks.The study researchers, from the University of Michigan and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, report their findings in Nature Genetics.

Medicaid/marketplace "churning": State-by-state comparisons

Date: Mar-17-2014
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires almost all Americans to have health insurance. For most lower-income Americans, this means coverage through Medicaid, employer-sponsored insurance, or health exchanges, depending on their income and state of residence. Approximately half of all low-income, non-elderly Americans experience a change of income or family circumstance in a given year, which may result in an involuntary shift in how they are covered from health insurance purchased through an exchange to Medicaid - or vice versa.

Smartphone gamers decode half a year of Cancer Research UK's genetic data in one month

Date: Mar-17-2014
In one month 'citizen scientists' have analysed DNA data that would have taken a scientist six months* to analyse by eye by playing Cancer Research UK's new smartphone game Play to Cure: Genes in Space. If this amount of DNA - tightly-coiled strings of genetic information - was unravelled it would stretch across 40 miles, or (65 km)**. Incredibly, this is a distance equivalent to the length of more than 540 football fields, or about 80 times the height of the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

Cancer therapy may be too targeted: Genetic landscape of rare cancer acts as a guide for future clinical trials

Date: Mar-17-2014
Targeted therapies seem to be the future of cancer treatment, but can they be too narrowly focused? In a study published in Nature Genetics, scientists have found that for a rare cancer of the blood vessel where several mutations can underlie the disease, many different parts of the pathway can be disrupted. For patients with multiple underlying mutations, previously developed therapies that focus on targeting a single component in the pathway will be ineffective.

Gene variants protect against relapse after treatment for Hepatitis C

Date: Mar-17-2014
Researchers at the Sahlgrenska Academy have identified a gene, which explains why certain patients with chronic hepatitis C do not experience relapse after treatment. The discovery may contribute to more effective treatment.More than 100 million humans around the world are infected with hepatitis C virus. The infection gives rise to chronic liver inflammation, which may result in reduced liver function, liver cirrhosis and liver cancer. Even though anti-viral medications often efficiently eliminate the virus, the infection recurs in approximately one fifth of the patients.

Prenatal growth could play key role in South Asians' predisposition to non-communicable diseases

Date: Mar-17-2014
A new study in mothers and children of Pakistani origin suggests non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular disease and Type 2 Diabetes could be programmed prior to birth.South Asians show some of the highest rates of cardiovascular disease in the world which, according to a Loughborough University study, may be traced back to a marked reduction in the prenatal growth of the abdominal circumference, specifically during the third trimester.

Vitamin supplements may prevent drug-induced hearing loss, UF researchers say

Date: Mar-17-2014
The drug gentamicin can provide effective treatment for people with bacterial infections that are resistant to other antibiotics, but this medication can cause a serious side effect, too: hearing loss. Now, University of Florida researchers have discovered that a dietary supplement shows promise for protecting against drug-induced hearing loss when taken during gentamicin treatment. The findings of this study in rodents appear online ahead of print in the Journal of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology. Gentamicin belongs to a class of antibiotics called aminoglycosides.