Health News

Ability to metabolize drugs reduced by low birth weight

Date: Mar-03-2014
Researchers have identified another concern related to low birth weight - a difference in how the body reacts to drugs, which may last a person's entire life and further complicate treatment of illnesses or diseases that are managed with medications.The findings add to the list of health problems that are already known to correspond to low birth weight, such as a predisposition for adult-onset diabetes, hypertension, and obesity.

Cases of food allergy 'have doubled in black children'

Date: Mar-03-2014
Though food allergies are on the rise in children, researchers are reporting in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology that self-reported food allergy has nearly doubled over the past 23 years in black children. The investigators say their results could show a possible food allergy prediction.A 2013 report revealed that children's food allergies cost the US nearly $25 billion every year. But more importantly, having a food allergy puts children at risk of suffering anaphylaxis - an allergic reaction that causes swelling and breathing difficulties.

Large-scale protein interaction network for Huntington's disease expands knowledge of disease pathology and therapeutic targets

Date: Mar-03-2014
Researchers at the Buck Institute have identified and categorized thousands of protein interactions involving huntingtin, the protein responsible for Huntington's disease (HD). To use an analogy of a human social network, the identified proteins are like "friends" and "friends of friends" of the HD protein. The network provides an invaluable resource for identifying targets to treat the disease and has been used to implicate a particular signaling pathway involved in cell motility. HD is an incurable, fatal, inherited neurological disorder that causes severe degeneration of the nervous system.

Single protein controls Drosophila nervous system development and survival

Date: Mar-03-2014
A protein that controls the metamorphosis of the common fruit fly could someday play a role in reversing brain injuries, said Duke University researchers.This protein directs both the early development and regrowth of the tiny branches that relay information from neuron to neuron. Known as dendrites, these thin structures that resemble tree branches are responsible for receiving electrical impulses that flash throughout the body.

Failure of immune system switch aids disease-causing bacterial invaders

Date: Mar-03-2014
Immune system defenses against dangerous bacteria in the gut can be breached by turning off a single molecular switch that governs production of the protective mucus lining our intestinal walls, according to a study led by researchers at Yale, the University of British Columbia, and the Weizmann Institute of Science.

Discovery of circadian clock in the cochlea paves the way for medicine for people with hearing disabilities

Date: Mar-03-2014
Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have identified a biological circadian clock in the hearing organ, the cochlea. This circadian clock controls how well hearing damage may heal and opens up a new way of treating people with hearing disabilities.Important body functions, such as sleep, the immune system, and hormone levels are controlled by a biological circadian clock. A team of researchers at Karolinska Institutet have now discovered that there is also a biological clock in the ear, controlled by genes known to regulate circadian rhythms.

New speedier method for anthrax detection could improve bioterror response and save millions in decontamination costs

Date: Mar-03-2014
Shortly following the 9/11 terror attack in 2001, letters containing anthrax spores were mailed to news outlets and government buildings killing five people and infecting 17 others. According to a 2012 report, the bioterrorism event cost $3.2 million in cleanup and decontamination. At the time, no testing system was in place that officials could use to screen the letters. Currently, first responders have tests that can provide a screen for dangerous materials in about 24-48 hours.

Feeling of social pain or empathy for others 'causes physical pain'

Date: Mar-03-2014
We all have friends that we cherish. Some can be as close to us as our own family. Now, new research suggests that if a bond with a friend is threatened or lost, we see a friend in distress, or we become excluded socially, these experiences can cause us to feel physical pain.This is according to a study published in the journal Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience.

Creation of computer game characters that can gossip and lie has implications for healthcare, language learning

Date: Mar-03-2014
'In today's computer games, we often see a goal-driven dialogue where the player is limited to a number of predefined response alternatives. In my research, I study how we can use language technology to create more socially driven dialogues in games, with characters who can understand natural language.

Insomniacs have different brain activity in region responsible for movement

Date: Mar-03-2014
Around 15% of the US population has insomnia - the inability to sleep. Now, researchers have found that people who have chronic insomnia have more activity and plasticity in the area of the brain that controls movement, compared with sound sleepers.This is according to a study published in the journal Sleep.To reach their findings, researchers from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, MD, assessed 28 participants. Of these, 18 had experienced insomnia for more than 1 year, while 10 were deemed good sleepers.