Health News

Conventional wisdom challenged and some of the mysteries surrounding flu outbreaks of historical significance solved

Date: Feb-19-2014
A new study reconstructing the evolutionary tree of flu viruses challenges conventional wisdom and solves some of the mysteries surrounding flu outbreaks of historical significance.The study, published in the journal Nature, provides the most comprehensive analysis to date of the evolutionary relationships of influenza virus across different host species over time.

More than half of women, young adults find animal testing 'morally wrong'

Date: Feb-19-2014
Americans' moral opposition to animal testing has grown significantly since 2001, according to a new study presented at the annual meeting of the prestigious American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Chicago.Researchers from PETA and Western Governors University examined data collected in independent surveys by the Gallup organization from 2001 to 2013, in which approximately 1,000 American adults each year were asked whether they found "medical testing on animals" to be "morally acceptable" or "morally wrong.

Autologous stem cell transplant in multiple sclerosis leads to extensive renewal of the T cell repertoire

Date: Feb-19-2014
A new study describes the complexity of the new T cell repertoire following immune-depleting therapy to treat multiple sclerosis, improving our understanding of immune tolerance and clinical outcomes.In the Immune Tolerance Network's (ITN) HALT-MS study, 24 patients with relapsing, remitting multiple sclerosis received high-dose immunosuppression followed by a transplant of their own stem cells, called an autologous stem cell transplant, to potentially reprogram the immune system so that it stops attacking the brain and spinal cord.

Newly discovered blood cells fight brain inflammation

Date: Feb-19-2014
Hyperactivity of our immune system can cause a state of chronic inflammation. If chronic, the inflammation will affect our body and result in disease. In the devastating disease multiple sclerosis, hyperactivity of immune cells called T-cells induce chronic inflammation and degeneration of the brain. Researchers at BRIC, the University of Copenhagen, have identified a new type of regulatory blood cells that can combat such hyperactive T-cells in blood from patients with multiple sclerosis.

News from the Annals of Internal Medicine: Feb. 18, 2014

Date: Feb-19-2014
1. Aortic valve replacement improves function but may not improve quality of lifeTranscatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) improves functional status but may not improve overall quality of life, according to an article being published in Annals of Internal Medicine. Aortic stenosis (AS) is the most common valvular heart disease in developing countries and it affects up to 3 percent of adults older than 75. In recent years, TAVR has emerged as an alternative treatment to surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) for high-risk or inoperable patients with symptomatic severe AS.

Neurotensin conjugate provides pain relief in animal models

Date: Feb-19-2014
The small peptide neurotensin is a potent regulator of dopamine signaling and can provide dramatic pain relief; however, the blood brain barrier provides a substantial challenge toward clinical use of neurotensin for analgesia. In this issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Philippe Sarret and colleagues at Université de Sherbrooke generated a conjugate of neurotensin with a peptide able to cross the blood brain barrier and evaluated the analgesic effects of this molecule in animal models of pain.

Home-based exercise programs may improve hip fracture recovery

Date: Feb-19-2014
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention state that in 2010, there were 258,000 hospital admissions for hip fractures among Americans aged 65 and older. Although patients with hip fractures undergo standard rehabilitation, new research suggests that following this up with a home-based exercise program can further improve patients' recovery.This is according to a study recently published online in the journal JAMA.The research team, led by Nancy K.

During financial crises, stress hormones in traders may trigger 'risk aversion' and contribute to market crises

Date: Feb-19-2014
High levels of the stress hormone cortisol may contribute to the risk aversion and 'irrational pessimism' found among bankers and fund managers during financial crises, according to a new study.The study's authors say that risk takers in the financial world exhibit risk averse behaviour during periods of extreme market volatility - just when a crashing market most needs them to take risks - and that this change in their appetite for risk may be "physiologically-driven", specifically by the body's response to cortisol.

Targeting stem cells in triple-negative breast cancer

Date: Feb-19-2014
New research from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center and Georgia Regents University finds that a protein that fuels an inflammatory pathway does not turn off in breast cancer, resulting in an increase in cancer stem cells. This provides a potential target for treating triple negative breast cancer, the most aggressive form of the disease.The researchers identified a protein, SOCS3, that is highly expressed in normal cells but undetectable in triple-negative breast cancer.

Religious and scientific communities may be less combative than commonly portrayed

Date: Feb-19-2014
One of the largest surveys of American views on religion and science suggests that the religious and scientific communities may be less combative than is commonly portrayed in the media and in politics.Only 27 percent of those surveyed said that they viewed science and religion as being in conflict with each other, with about equal percentages of those people "siding with either religion or science," said Rice University sociologist Elaine Howard Ecklund at the AAAS Annual Meeting.