Health News

Invasive GAS infections in pregnancy

Date: Mar-10-2014
Ignaz Semmelweiss made one of the most important contributions to modern medicine when he instituted hand washing in an obstetric clinic in Austria in 1847, decreasing mortality there from more than ten percent to two percent. Unfortunately, infections can still occur in pregnancy and during delivery and can have associated mortality rates of up to 30 to 50 percent if not treated quickly and properly.

Motion prolongs survival whilst waiting for a donor heart

Date: Mar-10-2014
For many people with advanced cardiac insufficiency, a heart transplant may be their only hope. But waiting for a donor heart to come along is a race against time. Patients who remain active and stay in good shape psychologically can significantly increase their chances of surviving this period. Anxiety-ridden, depressive and passive patients, on the other hand, run the risk of further serious deterioration of their heart's ability to function.

Study helps refine personalized approach to breast cancer diagnosis and treatment

Date: Mar-10-2014
A method called molecular subtyping can help doctors better determine which of their breast cancer patients are at high risk of getting breast cancer again, a new study led by the University of South Florida reports. This sophisticated genetic profiling of an individual's specific tumor offers an additional resource to help identify patients who would most benefit from chemotherapy and those who would not.The findings by researchers from USF and other institutions were presented in a scientific poster at the Miami Breast Cancer Conference in Miami Beach, Fla.

In zebrafish model, common mutation is culprit in acute leukemia relapse

Date: Mar-10-2014
Harvard stem cell scientists have identified a mutation in human cases of acute lymphoblastic leukemia that likely drives relapse. The research, published in Cancer Cell, could translate into improved patient care strategies for this particular blood cancer, which typically affects children but is more deadly in adults.In recent years, a trend toward single-cell analysis has shown that individual cells within a tumor are capable of amassing mutations to make them more aggressive and treatment resistant.

'Good' stem cells defined

Date: Mar-10-2014
After more than a decade of incremental - and paradigm shifting, advances in stem cell biology, almost anyone with a basic understanding of life sciences knows that stem cells are the basic form of cell from which all specialized cells, and eventually organs and body parts, derive.But what makes a "good" stem cell, one that can reliably be used in drug development, and for disease study? Researchers have made enormous strides in understanding the process of cellular reprogramming, and how and why stem cells commit to becoming various types of adult cells.

Children whose parents provide less early academic stimulation gain extra benefit from Head Start

Date: Mar-10-2014
One year of Head Start can make a bigger difference for children from homes where parents provide less early academic stimulation, such as reading to children, helping them recognize and pronounce letters and words, and helping them count. Showing parents how they can help their children with reading and counting may help, too.Those are the conclusions of a new study by researchers at the University of California, Irvine. The study appears in the journal Child Development.

Sensory substitution approach enables blind to 'see' bodies with sound

Date: Mar-10-2014
People born unable to see are readily capable of learning to perceive the shape of the human body through soundscapes that translate images into sound, according to researchers who report their findings in the Cell Press journal Current Biology. With a little training, soundscapes representing the outlines and silhouettes of bodies cause the brain's visual cortex - and specifically an area dedicated in normally sighted people to processing body shapes - to light up with activity.

Target identified for shutting down growth of prostate cancer cells

Date: Mar-10-2014
Scientists at UT Southwestern Medical Center have identified an important step toward potentially shutting down the growth of prostate cancer cells.Dr. Ralf Kittler, Assistant Professor of Pharmacology, studies ERG, a protein that facilitates the transformation of normal prostate cells into cancer cells. His lab found that an enzyme called USP9X protects ERG from degradation and subsequently found that a molecule called WP1130 can block USP9X and lead to the destruction of ERG."We now have a target that we could potentially exploit to develop a drug for treatment," said Dr.

Patients and their families lack basic skills and knowledge to manage heart failure successfully

Date: Mar-10-2014
Al Brommeland found a true partner in his wife Florence. Through 57 years of marriage they've proved a formidable team, swinging and bowing at square dances, kicking up dust in their clogs, and now in their golden years, taking daily strolls side by side.When Al started experiencing irregular heart rhythm 12 years ago, the couple worked together to stay healthy.

Work increases resilience among survivors in a town where half the people have PTSD symptoms

Date: Mar-10-2014
Though just two of Hirono's 5,418 residents lost their lives in Japan's mega-earthquake and tsunami, a new study shows that the survivors are struggling to keep their sanity.One year after the quake, Brigham Young University professor Niwako Yamawaki and scholars from Saga University evaluated the mental health of 241 Hirono citizens. More than half of the people evaluated experienced "clinically concerning" symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. Two-thirds of the sample reported symptoms of depression.