Health News

Most people have access to stroke care, but few get recommended treatment

Date: Feb-13-2014
Four out of five people in the United States live within an hour's drive of a hospital equipped to treat acute stroke - yet very few get recommended treatment, according to research presented at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference 2014.Of the more than 370,000 Medicare stroke claims for 2011 that researchers examined:Only 4 percent received tPA, a drug that can reduce disability if given intravenously within three to four hours after the first stroke symptoms.Only 0.5 percent had endovascular therapy to reopen clogged arteries.

High-tech glasses help surgeons see cancer cells

Date: Feb-13-2014
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO, have developed a way of visualizing cancer cells using high-tech glasses designed to make it easier for surgeons to distinguish between cancerous and healthy tissue.Cancer cells are notoriously difficult to see, even when highly magnified, and the hope is the special glasses will help surgeons remove all of the tumor tissue and avoid leaving behind any stray cancer cells.

Ability to recreate heart muscle from scar tissue steps closer

Date: Feb-13-2014
A team of biomedical engineers have brought a step closer the day when we are able to regenerate tissue that is damaged in heart attacks.Writing in the journal Scientific Reports, the team from the University of Michigan College of Engineering, Ann Arbor, explains how it transformed cells common in scar tissue into colonies of beating heart cells.Previous attempts to reprogram cells in scar tissue directly into heart muscle cells have shown low success rates.

Make communication a basic human right, says global campaign

Date: Feb-13-2014
The Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists has joined an international coalition calling for worldwide decision-makers to recognise communication as a basic human right. The professional body for speech therapy in UK and Ireland has teamed up with its fellow speech, language and hearing organisations to launch the International Communication Project 2014 (ICP 2014). ICP2014 aims to raise awareness of the vital importance of communication and the critical difference that communication professionals can make.

Brilliant blue G may shine in treating traumatic brain injuries

Date: Feb-13-2014
A close cousin of the dye that makes fabric, M&M's and sports drinks blue may improve recovery from traumatic brain injuries.Falls, motor vehicle accidents, collisions, assaults, and war injuries result in more than 1.7 million Americans experiencing a traumatic brain injury annually, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

New breast cancer treatment Kadcyla given green light by regulators, UK

Date: Feb-13-2014
Kadcyla is now available for patients with advanced HER2-positive breast cancer. Kadcyla is the first medicine of its kind in breast cancer, consisting of the HER2-targeted antibody, trastuzumab (contained in the medicine Herceptin), linked with the chemotherapy agent, DM1. In response to the pivotal Phase III EMILIA clinical trial, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has now granted a license for adult patients with advanced HER2-positive breast cancer who have previously received Herceptin and a taxane, separately or in combination.

Elevated brain aluminium and early onset Alzheimer's disease in an individual occupationally exposed to aluminium

Date: Feb-13-2014
Research at Keele University in Staffordshire has shown for the first time that an individual who was exposed to aluminium at work and died of Alzheimer's disease had high levels of aluminium in the brain.While aluminium is a known neurotoxin and occupational exposure to aluminium has been implicated in neurological disease, including Alzheimer's disease, this finding is believed to be the first record of a direct link between Alzheimer's disease and elevated brain aluminium following occupational exposure to the metal.

Nearly half of those with long term illnesses have struggled to cope with their medications, UK

Date: Feb-13-2014
Nearly half (46%) of people don't always take their medication as instructed, according to new research.Less than a third (30%) of people with long term conditions said they felt 'confident' about the way they manage their medicine and with over 15 million[1] people in England suffering from a long term condition such as diabetes, heart disease and arthritis, this means that millions of people could be putting their health at risk by not taking their medicine properly.

Prostate cancer advance could improve treatment options

Date: Feb-13-2014
Researchers at the University of East Anglia have made an important advance in understanding genetic changes associated with terminal prostate cancer.Findings published today in the British Journal of Cancer, and funded by the Association for International Cancer Research (AICR), show how a genetic mutation in untreated patients is linked to aggressive cancer later in life. It was previously thought that the mutation only occurred in response to therapy.The research highlights why relapses could occur in some men following hormone therapy.

Stem cells from foreskin could be used to treat congenital muscular dystrophy

Date: Feb-13-2014
Foreskin-derived stem cells have therapeutic potential for the currently untreatable condition congenital muscular dystrophy (CMD), according to a proof of concept study published in the journal Stem Cell Research and Therapy.CMD is a group of genetic conditions that usually presents at, or soon after, birth resulting in muscle weakness. There is currently no cure for these conditions, and treatment usually involves physical therapy, surgery and use of a wheelchair.