Health News

Cognitive behavioral therapy plus hypnosis reduces fatigue in radiotherapy breast cancer patients

Date: Feb-24-2014
Breast cancer patients receiving radiotherapy showed decreased fatigue as a result of cognitive behavioral therapy plus hypnosis (CBTH), according to a study recently published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.The study, titled, "Randomized Controlled Trial of a Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Plus Hypnosis Intervention to Control Fatigue in Patients Undergoing Radiotherapy for Breast Cancer," was led by Guy Montgomery, PhD, Associate Professor and Director of the Integrative Behavioral Medicine Program in the Department of Oncological Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

Powerful muscles created from fishing line and sewing thread

Date: Feb-24-2014
An international team led by The University of Texas at Dallas has discovered that ordinary fishing line and sewing thread can be cheaply converted to powerful artificial muscles.The new muscles can lift a hundred times more weight and generate a hundred times higher mechanical power than the same length and weight of human muscle. Per weight, they can generate 7.1 horsepower per kilogram, about the same mechanical power as a jet engine.

How men age: more uplifts, fewer hassles until the age of 65-70

Date: Feb-24-2014
A new study of how men approach their golden years found that how happy individuals are remains relatively stable for some 80 percent of the population, but perceptions of unhappiness - or dealing with "hassles" - tends to get worse once you are about 65-70 years old.The reasons vary, researchers say, but may be because of health issues, cognitive decline or the loss of a spouse or friends.

Scientists discover brain region involved in social memory

Date: Feb-24-2014
How does an animal recognize another of the same species? Researchers from the Columbia University Medical Center in New York say they have uncovered the brain region responsible for this process - known as social memory.The research team says their findings could assist in the understanding and treatment of disorders associated with altered social behaviors, including autism, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.The hippocampus is an area of the brain that is known to be associated with memory.

Methods other than biopsies are needed to assess quality of deceased donor kidneys before transplantation

Date: Feb-24-2014
Biopsies of donated kidneys provide little information for determining the suitability of organs for transplantation, according to two studies appearing in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (CJASN). The findings suggest that other methods are needed when weighing whether to discard or transplant a deceased donor kidney.The quality of donated kidneys is fundamentally important for the longevity of kidney transplants. Clinicians often use kidney biopsies to assess kidney health before transplantation.

10 of 11 new gene signals are likely drug targets for hypertension

Date: Feb-24-2014
A large international study analyzing genes in tens of thousands of individuals has discovered 11 new genetic signals associated with blood pressure levels. Ten of those signals are in or very near genes encoding proteins that appear to be likely targets for drugs already in existence or in development."The fact that most of these new gene signals are 'druggable' targets offers the possibility of expedited pharmaceutical development of therapeutics for high blood pressure, a serious risk factor for cardiovascular diseases," said geneticist Brendan J. Keating, D. Phil.

Promising skin tumor vaccine offers hope for transplant patients

Date: Feb-24-2014
Papillomaviruses (linked to cervical cancer when they infect the mucosal tissue in the female reproductive tract) can also infect normal skin, where they cause warts and possibly non-melanoma skin cancer, mostly in immune-suppressed organ transplant patients. An article published in PLOS Pathogens suggests that vaccination might prevent virus-associated benign and malignant skin tumors.Transplant recipients need to take immunosuppressive drugs for the rest of their lives to prevent rejection of the transplanted organ.

Sound-sensing cells regenerated in the ears of mice with hearing damage

Date: Feb-24-2014
One of the major causes of hearing loss in mammals is damage to the sound-sensing hair cells in the inner ear. For years, scientists have thought that these cells are not replaced once they're lost, but new research appearing online in the journal Stem Cell Reports reveals that supporting cells in the ear can turn into hair cells in newborn mice. If the findings can be applied to older animals, they may lead to ways to help stimulate cell replacement in adults and to the design of new treatment strategies for people suffering from deafness due to hair cell loss.

Identifying men with advanced prostate cancer through genetic screening

Date: Feb-24-2014
Screening men with a family history of prostate cancer for a range of gene mutations can identify those who are at high risk of aggressive forms of the disease and in need of lifelong monitoring, a new study has shown.Scientists at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, found screening of men who had multiple relatives with prostate cancer was able to pick up 14 mutations in known cancer genes that predicted the development of the disease.

Gaps in inpatient psychiatry for Ontario youth

Date: Feb-24-2014
A first of its kind benchmarking survey was used to evaluate the state of inpatient psychiatry settings and services for youth at hospitals across Ontario, as published in the Journal of the Canadian Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. On average, the province's services are comparable to other settings internationally, helping youth with the most severe and complex mental health problems, but also show similar signs of inconsistency across settings in the types and quality of inpatient care."There is no rhyme or reason for these discrepancies throughout the province," said Dr.