Health News

Study finds more women receiving breast reconstruction after mastectomy

Date: Feb-20-2014
A new study finds that the majority of women who undergo mastectomy for breast cancer go on to get breast reconstruction, a practice that has increased dramatically over time.Researchers found that 46 percent of patients received reconstruction in 1998 but that figure rose to 63 percent by 2007."Breast reconstruction has a big impact on quality of life for breast cancer survivors.

Surprising differences revealed in brain activity of alcohol-dependent women

Date: Feb-20-2014
A new Indiana University study that examines the brain activity of alcohol-dependent women compared to women who were not addicted found stark and surprising differences, leading to intriguing questions about brain network functions of addicted women as they make risky decisions about when and what to drink.The study used functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI, to study differences between patterns of brain network activation in the two groups of women.

How therapy-induced resistance to 'NNRTI' HIV drugs works

Date: Feb-20-2014
For the more than one million people with HIV/AIDS in the United States (and the over 34 million people living with HIV/AIDS around the world), antiretroviral drugs such as efavirenz and other so-called non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs) in combination with other antiretrovirals can be a lifeline, because they slow the progress of viral infection, prolonging life.

Discovery could lead to improved early detection and prevention strategies for sudden cardiac death syndrome

Date: Feb-20-2014
UC Irvine researchers have found a specific genetic flaw that is connected to sudden death due to heart arrhythmia - a leading cause of mortality for adults around the world.While a number of genes have been linked with arrhythmias, UC Irvine's Geoffrey Abbott and his colleagues discovered that the functional impairment of a gene called KCNE2 underlies a multisystem syndrome that affects both heart rhythm and blood flow and can activate chemical triggers that can cause sudden cardiac death.

Social acceptance in wasps has implications for human societies

Date: Feb-20-2014
Ants, wasps and humans live in highly complex societies. Our organizations share some basic features of group life, like individuals trying to find the balance between cooperation and conflict. Understanding what factors are important for these communities to develop gives us key insights into the evolution of sociality in animals.A new study, by University of Miami biologist and College of Arts & Sciences lecturer Floria Mora-Kepfer Uy, looks at colonies of social wasps and explores the acceptance of individuals not related to each other, in a highly organized and adaptable society.

How your mindset about the future may impact your eating habits

Date: Feb-20-2014
Emotional eating is something we're all familiar with. Maybe you had had a rough week at work and all you want on Friday night is to plop down and watch a movie with a giant bowl of buttery popcorn. Maybe you're a student stressed about a big exam and you're munching on candy as you study. Or maybe your child's birthday party is coming up and you've bought an ice cream cake to serve a small army to celebrate. Happy or sad, up or down, there's a plethora of media in the world that tells us our moods often dictate the foods we choose to eat.

Matching the right drug with the right ovarian tumor

Date: Feb-20-2014
There are three common drugs for advanced ovarian cancer: paclitaxel, cyclophosphamide, and topotecan. Like a shell game, if you pick the right drug a patient is likely to respond. And, unfortunately, picking the wrong drug can lead to treatment failure. As reported in this month's issue of the journal PLoS ONE, a University of Colorado Cancer Center and University of Virginia study used a sophisticated model of ovarian cancer genetics to match the right tumor with the right drug. Patients who were matched in this way lived an average 21 months longer than patients who were not matched.

Materials scientists examine implants made of nickel-titanium alloy in a long-term study

Date: Feb-20-2014
A trousers button, a coin or a watch can be dangerous for people with a nickel allergy. Approximately 1 in 10 Germans is allergic to the metal. "This raises the question of the safety of medical implants containing nickel," explains Professor Dr. Markus Rettenmayr of the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (Germany). Nickel-titanium alloys are increasingly used as material for cardiovascular implants in minimal invasive surgery. Once implanted, nickel-titanium alloys can release small amounts of nickel due to corrosion phenomena, the holder of the Chair of Metallic Materials explains.

Pairing school and home programs most effective in fight against teen prescription drug abuse

Date: Feb-20-2014
Programs that aim to curb teen prescription drug abuse have vastly differing effectiveness, ranging from big drops in drug abuse to no measurable effect, according to a new study of 11,000 teenagers by researchers at Duke and Pennsylvania State universities.The best results came from pairing a school-based program with a home-based intervention, resulting in a 10 percent decrease in abuse rates. By contrast, most school-based programs were ineffective when used by themselves, with just one exception.

Glaucoma treatment may be improved by nanodiamond-embedded contact lenses

Date: Feb-20-2014
By 2020, nearly 80 million people are expected to have glaucoma, a disorder of the eye that, if left untreated, can damage the optic nerve and eventually lead to blindness.The disease often causes pressure in the eye due to a buildup of fluid and a breakdown of the tissue that is responsible for regulating fluid drainage. Doctors commonly treat glaucoma using eye drops that can help the eye drain or decrease fluid production.