Health News

New technology for screening potential analgesic drugs developed

Date: Feb-26-2014
Researchers of the Neuropharmacology and Pain Research Group of the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), the University of Barcelona (UB) and ESTEVE, have developed a technology that enables to determine drugs' analgesic potential before being tested in animal models. The finding saves time and money in the research on new effective pain treatments.Traditionally in the development of analgesic drugs, the effectiveness of these molecules has been proved by using pain animal models, a hard, expensive and unclear process from a pharmacological point of view.

Obesity prevalence remains high in U.S.; no significant change in recent years

Date: Feb-26-2014
The prevalence of obesity remains high in the U.S., with about one-third of adults and 17 percent of children and teens obese in 2011-2012, according to a national survey study in JAMA. Obesity and childhood obesity, in particular, are the focus of many preventive health efforts in the United States, including new regulations implemented by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for food packages; funding by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of state- and community-level interventions; and numerous reports and recommendations issued by the Institute of Medicine, the U.S.

Warning: Your open-plan office can make you ill

Date: Feb-26-2014
Don't blame other commuters if you catch a cold this winter: blame the people who designed your office. According to a study published in Ergonomics, workplace layout has a surprising effect on rates of sick leave.Four Stockholm University scientists examined data from nearly 2000 employees working in seven different types of office. Key to their research was the number of short and long-term illnesses the employees had, as well as their total days off sick each year.

Culture influences young people's self-esteem

Date: Feb-26-2014
Regardless of our personal values, we base most of our self-esteem on the fulfilment of the dominant values of our culture, reveals a global survey supervised by Maja Becker, a social psychologist at the CLLE (Laboratoire Cognition, Langue, Langages, Ergonomie, CNRS / Université de Toulouse II-Le Mirail). The results of the study, involving more than 5,000 teenagers and young adults in 19 countries, were recently published online in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.

Scientists explore promising new option for first line of attack in lymphoma

Date: Feb-26-2014
A study led by Manchester scientists has shown promising results for a new treatment approach in follicular lymphoma.Follicular lymphoma is a type of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a blood cancer, that usually develops slowly. The majority of patients are diagnosed when their disease is at an advanced stage.Recent improvements in treatment have included the use of antibodies to specifically target the tumour cells and to stimulate the patient's own immune system to attack their tumour. The use of such antibodies has improved treatment response, but unfortunately most patients still relapse.

Research could help improve early diagnosis of prostate cancer

Date: Feb-26-2014
Prostate cancer patients could get better diagnosis and treatment for the disease in the future thanks to a successful research project at the University of Essex.Currently, is it difficult to distinguish between benign and aggressive malignant tumours, meaning some prostate cancer patients are unnecessarily "over-treated" which can lead to needless distress and anxiety.

Peer-to-peer aggression threatens patient care and outcomes

Date: Feb-26-2014
Horizontal violence between nurses at the same level of authority is jeopardising patient outcomes, research has revealed.A study of the phenomenon in a perinatal department at a US hospital found that staff on labour and delivery wards experience hostile behaviour more frequently than those working elsewhere in the same service.A relationship between horizontal violence and ineffective communication, as well as between horizontal violence and poor patient outcome or near misses, was demonstrated.

Urgent care staff must be alert to atypical signs of life-threatening meningococcal septicaemia

Date: Feb-26-2014
Nurses working in emergency care environments must be trained to recognise the atypical signs and symptoms of meningococcal septicaemia.A case study, published in Emergency Nurse, reveals how easy it is for such symptoms to be missed, delaying diagnosis and treatment of a patient with the life-threatening condition.The patient, a 36-year-old woman, presented at an emergency department with intense pain in both legs and a blotchy rash, also on her legs.She was given various drugs, including codeine and subsequently intravenous morphine, with no effect on her 10/10 pain score.

Brainstem discovered as important relay site after stroke

Date: Feb-26-2014
After a stroke, sufferers are often faced with the problem of severe movement impairment. Researchers at the Brain Research Institute of the University of Zurich have now discovered that the brainstem could play a major role in the recovery of motor functions. The projection of neurons from this ancient part of the brain into the spinal cord leads to the neural impulses needed for motion being rerouted.Around 16,000 people in Switzerland suffer a stroke every year.

UK campaign launched urging doctors to review eating disorder assessments

Date: Feb-26-2014
Cosmopolitan, the world's largest women's magazine brand, is launching a campaign to ensure GPs take eating disorders more seriously and to review the way they assess them.In the UK, 1.6 million people are suffering from eating disorders, half of which are diagnosed with EDNOS (eating disorder not otherwise specified) - the catch-all term for any eating disorder that doesn't fit the criteria for anorexia or bulimia*. These strict guidelines mean many young women aren't getting the help they so desperately need.