Health News

Pain perception and racial bias evident in childhood

Date: Mar-04-2014
A new University of Virginia psychology study has found that a sample of mostly white American children - as young as 7, and particularly by age 10 - report that black children feel less pain than white children.The study, which builds on previous research on bias among adults involving pain perception, is published in the Feb. 28 issue of the British Journal of Developmental Psychology."Our research shows that a potentially very harmful bias in adults emerges during middle childhood, and appears to develop across childhood," said the study's lead investigator, Rebecca Dore, a Ph.D.

Disappointing results from trial of bevacizumab for glioblastoma

Date: Mar-04-2014
"The results of this study are counter to most expectations," said Dr. Brachman, Director of Radiation Oncology at Barrow and St. Joseph's. "Bevacizuman had been shown in earlier studies to be an effective drug in the treatment of patients with recurrent disease. But, on newly diagnosed patients, it did not, in fact, prolong survival."The randomized, double-blind placebo controlled trial of 621 adults was funded by the National Cancer Institute and the drug manufacturer Genentech from 2009 to2012. Glioblastoma is the most common primary malignant brain tumor in adults.

Fires in Northern Sumatra leave population suffering from the effects of smoke

Date: Mar-04-2014
The Wall Street Journal and Southeast Asia Realtime recently reported that: "the plantation-rich province of Riau on Indonesia's Sumatra Island has declared a state of emergency as fires set for land clearing have sent pollution levels soaring and smoke made breathing difficult for thousands."Tens of thousands of Riau residents are suffering from the effects of the smoke coming from dozens of fires set to clear land in Sumatra. Riau is the center of Indonesia's more than $20 billion palm oil industry - the world's largest.

Space station researchers tackle tumors

Date: Mar-04-2014
In space, things don't always behave the way we expect them to. In the case of cancer, researchers have found that this is a good thing: some tumors seem to be much less aggressive in the microgravity environment of space compared to their behavior on Earth. This observation, reported in research published recently by the FASEB Journal, could help scientists understand the mechanism involved and develop drugs targeting tumors that don't respond to current treatments. This work is the latest in a large body of evidence on how space exploration benefits those of us on Earth.

Shedding light on Apert syndrome development with the help of 3-D imaging

Date: Mar-04-2014
Three dimensional imaging of two different mouse models of Apert Syndrome shows that cranial deformation begins before birth and continues, worsening with time, according to a team of researchers who studied mice to better understand and treat the disorder in humans.Apert Syndrome is caused by mutations in FGFR2 - fibroblast growth factor receptor 2 - a gene, which usually produces a protein that functions in cell division, regulation of cell growth and maturation, formation of blood vessels, wound healing, and embryonic development.

Higher education attenuates impact of TBI on cognition: results support the hypothesis of cognitive reserve in traumatic brain injury

Date: Mar-04-2014
Kessler Foundation researchers have found that higher educational attainment (a proxy of intellectual enrichment) attenuates the negative impact of traumatic brain injury (TBI) on cognitive status. The brief report was published recently in Archives of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation. Cognitive outcomes vary post-TBI, even among individuals with comparable injuries. To examine this finding, investigators looked at whether the hypothesis of cognitive reserve helps to explain this differential cognitive impairment following TBI.

Enzyme that slices and dices and protects the body from harm

Date: Mar-04-2014
An essential weapon in the body's fight against infection has come into sharper view. Researchers at Princeton University have discovered the 3D structure of an enzyme that cuts to ribbons the genetic material of viruses and helps defend against bacteria.The discovery of the structure of this enzyme, a first-responder in the body's "innate immune system," could enable new strategies for fighting infectious agents and possibly prostate cancer and obesity. The work was published Feb. 27 in the journal Science.

Risk of psychotic traits may be indicated by frequent nightmares in childhood

Date: Mar-04-2014
Children who suffer from frequent nightmares or bouts of night terrors may be at an increased risk of psychotic experiences in adolescence, according to new research from the University of Warwick.The study, published in the journal SLEEP, shows that children reporting frequent nightmares before the age of 12 were three and a half times more likely to suffer from psychotic experiences in early adolescence. Similarly, experiencing night terrors doubled the risk of such problems, including hallucinations, interrupted thoughts or delusions.

Studying link between HIV, drug use on Twitter could help prevention, detection efforts

Date: Mar-04-2014
Real-time social media like Twitter could be used to track HIV incidence and drug-related behaviors with the aim of detecting and potentially preventing outbreaks, a new UCLA-led study shows.The study, published in the peer-reviewed journal Preventive Medicine, suggests it may be possible to predict sexual risk and drug use behaviors by monitoring tweets, mapping where those messages come from and linking them with data on the geographical distribution of HIV cases.

Unusual genetic mutation discovered with a link to adolescent liver cancer

Date: Mar-04-2014
In the race for better treatments and possible cures, rare diseases are often left behind. In a collaboration of researchers at The Rockefeller University, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and the New York Genome Center (NYGC), an unusual mutation has been found that is strongly linked to one such disease: a rare liver cancer that affects teens and young adults. The results, published this week in Science, suggest that the mutation plays a key role in the development of the disease, called fibrolamellar hepatocellular carcinoma, and may also underlie more common cancers as well.