Health News

Emerging multi-drug resistant infections lack standard definition and treatment

Date: Mar-11-2014
Infection control practices for detecting and treating patients infected with emerging multidrug-resistant gram-negative bacteria (MDR-GNB) vary significantly between hospitals. A study from the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America Research Network, a consortium of more than 200 hospitals collaborating on multi-center research projects, found this inconsistency could be contributing to the increase in multidrug-resistant bacteria. The study is published in the April issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology.

Cells appearing normal may actually be harbingers of lung cancer

Date: Mar-11-2014
Seemingly healthy cells may in fact hide clues that lung cancer will later develop, according to a study led by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center The research is published online in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.Examination of gene expression in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) showed the area adjacent to tumors is rich with cancer markers. In addition, researchers discovered the previously unknown role of a cancer-promoting gene in the airways of smokers with lung cancer.

Required electronic lab reporting may lead to doubling of volume of notifiable disease reporting

Date: Mar-11-2014
Public health departments nationwide are already feeling the strain from budget cuts. But their case report volumes are forecasted to double when federal requirements for automated electronic laboratory reporting of notifiable diseases go into effect next year, according to a new study by researchers from the Regenstrief Institute Inc. and the Indiana University School of Informatics and Computing at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.

The majority of Latinas are unaware of their risk of diabetes

Date: Mar-11-2014
Approximately 5.5 million Latinas suffer from elevated fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and nearly 4 million of those women were never told by a healthcare provider they were at risk for diabetes, pre-diabetes, or were borderline for diabetes.The study, "Latinas with Elevated Fasting Plasma Glucose: An Analysis Using NHANES 2009-2010 Data," led by Dr. Shiela M. Strauss, Associate Professor, New York University College of Nursing (NYUCN), points to the urgent need for alternate sites of opportunity for diabetes screenings.

Bacterial secretion system unraveled to understand spread of antibiotic resistance

Date: Mar-11-2014
The system that allows the sharing of genetic material between bacteria - and therefore the spread of antibiotic resistance - has been uncovered by a team of scientists at Birkbeck, University of London and UCL.The study, published in Nature, reveals the mechanism of bacterial type IV secretion, which bacteria use to move substances across their cell wall. As type IV secretion can distribute genetic material between bacteria, notably antibiotic resistance genes, the mechanism is directly responsible for the spread of antibiotic resistance in hospital settings.

Research on 3D scaffolds sets new bar in lung regeneration

Date: Mar-11-2014
In end-stage lung disease, transplantation is sometimes the only viable therapeutic option, but organ availability is limited and rejection presents an additional challenge. Innovative research efforts in the field of tissue regeneration, including pioneering discoveries by University of Vermont Professor of Medicine Daniel Weiss, M.D., Ph.D., and colleagues, hold promise for this population, which includes an estimated 12.7 million people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD), the third leading cause of death in the U.S.

Stem cells generated from skin biopsies of living family members who carry a mutation associated with early-onset Alzheimer's disease

Date: Mar-11-2014
A team of Alzheimer's disease (AD) researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) has been able to study the underlying causes of AD and develop assays to test newer approaches to treatment by using stem cells derived from related family members with a genetic predisposition to (AD)."In the past, research of human cells impacted by AD has been largely limited to postmortem tissue samples from patients who have already succumbed to the disease," said Dr. Tracy L.

Veterans face distress from 'warring identities' on return from deployment

Date: Mar-11-2014
Much of the research on post-combat mental health of veterans focuses on problems like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depression. A paper co-authored by R. Tyson Smith, visiting assistant professor of sociology, takes an even broader snapshot of returning soldiers' mental state by focusing instead on the identity conflict many face when transitioning from soldier to civilian life and how that conflict manifests as mental distress. The paper was published in a recent issue of Society and Mental Health.

First global inventory of flu strains in birds

Date: Mar-11-2014
A group of international scientists have completed the first global inventory of flu strains in birds by reviewing more than 50 published studies and genetic data, providing new insight into the drivers of viral diversity and the emergence of disease that can ultimately impact human health and livelihoods.The research, published in the journal PLOS ONE and performed as part of the USAID PREDICT project, identified over 116 avian flu strains in wild birds. This is roughly twice the number that were found in domestic birds, and more than ten times the number found in humans.

Changes in right ventricular structure and function associated with traffic-related air pollution

Date: Mar-11-2014
Exposure to high levels of traffic-related air pollution is associated with changes in the right ventricle of the heart that may contribute to the known connection between air pollution exposure and heart disease, according to a new study."Although the link between traffic-related air pollution and left ventricular hypertrophy, heart failure, and cardiovascular death is established, the effects of traffic-related air pollution on the right ventricle have not been well studied," said lead author Peter Leary, MD, MS, of the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle.