Health News

Birth control 'does not result in more promiscuous women'

Date: Mar-10-2014
Critics of free birth control programs have previously suggested that giving women free contraception will encourage them to engage in more risky sexual behavior. But a new study published in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology finds that this is not the case.The researchers, from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO, say their findings show that providing women with free birth control does not increase the likelihood that they will have sex with multiple partners.They used data from the Contraceptive CHOICE Project, which followed 9,256 women in St.

Protein synthesis studied in stem cells for the first time

Date: Mar-10-2014
A new breakthrough in stem cell research has occurred, thanks to scientists at the Children's Medical Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas. The researchers claim that protein synthesis - an essential biological process - can be studied in adult stem cells. This is something that scientists have been previously unable to accomplish.It is believed that many degenerative diseases and some cancers are linked with mutations that affect the process of protein synthesis. But experts have been unable to pinpoint why this happens.

China Healthcare ICT Conference, 24-25 April 2014, Beijing

Date: Mar-10-2014
"Develop low cost, secure and interoperability solutions to advance medical diagnosis, treatment, and patient care through application of wireless communications, mobile computing, cloud, big data and sensing technologies"In recent years, IT applications in China's medical industry have gained momentum.  IT enabled medical market in China is booming, which provides tremendous business opportunities. The medical industry in China is experiencing a vigorous period of advances in IT. National policies are also in place for an IT enabled medical industry.

New blood test predicts Alzheimer's, dementia

Date: Mar-10-2014
Researchers have developed a new blood test that can predict with 90% accuracy whether a healthy person will develop Alzheimer's or cognitive decline within 3 years. They report how they identified and validated the 10 biomarkers that form the basis of the test in a study published in Nature Medicine.Study leader Howard J.

Serious diarrheal infection in kids linked to antibiotics

Date: Mar-10-2014
A new study by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) finds that most cases of the severe - and potentially fatal - diarrhea illness in children caused by Clostridium difficile infection picked up outside of the hospital occur among those who have recently taken prescribed antibiotics.The CDC urges doctors to improve antibiotic prescribing to protect the health of American children.CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden says:"When antibiotics are prescribed incorrectly, our children are needlessly put at risk for health problems including C.

Only 25% of ovarian cancer cases diagnosed in Stage I

Date: Mar-10-2014
During ovarian cancer awareness month, analysis from global independent analyst firm, Datamonitor Healthcare, has revealed that just 25% of ovarian cancer cases are diagnosed in Stage I despite it being the fourth most common cancer among women. Patients diagnosed during early-stages of the disease have a 75-80% chance of recurrence-free survival over the next five years, as a high percentage of these cases can be treated by surgery alone.

Reelin protein rescues cognitive deficits in an animal model of Alzheimer's disease

Date: Mar-10-2014
Reelin, a crucial protein for adult brain plasticity, recovers cognitive functions in mice with Alzheimer's disease. This is one of the main results of an article published in the journal Nature Communications, co-led by Eduardo Soriano, professor from the Department of Cell Biology at the University of Barcelona (UB) and member of the Centre for Networked Biomedical Research on Neurodegenerative Diseases (CIBERNED), and researcher Lluís Pujadas (UB and CIBERNED). The study is part of the PhD thesis developed by Daniela Rossi, co-author of the article together with Lluís Pujadas.

UV light accelerates melanoma cancer cells that creep along the outside of blood vessels

Date: Mar-10-2014
Based on the pioneering work of Dr. Claire Lugassy and Dr. Raymond Barnhill at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, a new study provides additional support for a process by which melanoma cells, a deadly form of skin cancer, can spread throughout the body by creeping like tiny spiders along the outside of blood vessels without ever entering the blood stream, and that this process is exacerbated by exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light.In collaboration with the husband and wife team of Dr. Barnhill, professor of pathology and Dr.

7-Tesla MRI scanner allows even more accurate diagnosis of breast cancer

Date: Mar-10-2014
Taking part in a recent study, scientists at the MedUni Vienna have demonstrated for the first time worldwide that 7-Tesla ultra-high-field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can be used for clinical applications in patients with breast tumours. This may in future facilitate even more accurate diagnosis of breast cancer. The scientists' work has now been published in the highly respected journal European Radiology.In previous studies involving 7-Tesla MRI, the exploration of clinical application has previously been limited to just one breast due to the limited coil technology available.

Education 'protects' poor women from fattening effects of rising wealth

Date: Mar-10-2014
Obesity levels among women in low- and middle-income countries tend to rise in line with wealth as they purchase more energy-dense foods, but a new UCL study suggests that more educated consumers make better food choices that mitigate this effect.The study showed that in middle-income countries, obesity levels among women with secondary or higher education are 14-19% lower than less-educated women of similar wealth.