Health News

New combined therapy proposed to treat cancer

Date: Feb-10-2014
A large part of the effort dedicated to cancer research is directed towards the search for combinations of existing drugs - many of which have already been introduced into clinical practice - that permit higher overall survival rates and improvements in the quality of life of cancer patients.

The critical role cholesterol plays in hantavirus infection

Date: Feb-10-2014
Viruses mutate fast, which means they can quickly become resistant to anti-viral drugs. But viruses also depend on proteins and nutrients provided by their hosts, and therefore one strategy to identify new anti-viral drugs is to identify and target such host-cell components. A paper published in PLOS Pathogens reports that proteins involved in the regulation of cholesterol are essential for hantavirus entry into human host cells.

Researchers study failure to thrive syndrome in young adults

Date: Feb-10-2014
Around the world, more and more young people are failing to find stable jobs and live independently. A new study from IIASA population researchers explains why. The numbers of young people who fail to transition from childhood to independent adulthood is growing - more and more young people find themselves without full-time jobs, relying on their parents, or staying longer in school. These changes can be traced to changes in the global labor force and education according to a new study published in the Finnish Yearbook of Population Research.

Newly identified cell population described that helps maintain normal body function

Date: Feb-10-2014
A new Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC study not only uncovers new details on how bundles of nerves and arteries interact with stem cells but also showcases revolutionary techniques for following the cells as they function in living animals.Principal investigator Yang Chai, director of the Center for Craniofacial Molecular Biology at the Ostrow School of Dentistry, and research associate Hu Zhao authored the article, which appears in the journal Cell Stem Cell.

FDA may need to reconsider what levels of domoic acid in shellfish and fish are safe

Date: Feb-10-2014
A chemical that can accumulate in seafood and is known to cause brain damage is also toxic to the kidneys, but at much lower concentrations. The findings, which come from a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN), suggest that officials may need to reconsider what levels of the toxin are safe for human consumption.The world's oceans contain algae that produce certain chemicals that can be harmful to humans and other living creatures. Many of these chemicals are considered neurotoxins because they cause damage to the brain.

Success reported in efforts to lower health care-associated infections

Date: Feb-10-2014
Efforts to lower the incidence of dangerous infections acquired by patients in the hospital or other care settings and a federal strategy to improve those activities are the subject of a series of articles published by the journal Medical Care.Researchers found that a federally sponsored plan to lower health care-acquired infections was successful in addressing the challenges of prioritizing and coordinating strategies.

Target for future therapeutics aimed at human and avian infection

Date: Feb-10-2014
Escherichia coli - a friendly and ubiquitous bacterial resident in the guts of humans and other animals - may occasionally colonize regions outside the intestines. There, it can have serious consequences for health, some of them, lethal. In a new study conducted in Assistant Professor Melha Mellata's lab, at the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University, lead author Alyssa K. Stacy and her colleagues examine one such bacterial adversary, Avian pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC).

Surprising link discovered between chloracne and a molecule that protects cells against stress

Date: Feb-10-2014
ETH-Zurich researchers have discovered a new, surprising link between chloracne and a molecule that protects cells against stress: if Nrf2 gets out of control, disfiguring cysts form on the skin.The images were seen all over the world and stuck in the minds of many: in the autumn of 2004, former President of the Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko, was poisoned with a high dose of dioxin. Although he survived the attack, the chloracne caused by the poisoning, officially known as MADISH, left him severely disfigured: his face was peppered with numerous cysts, which left deep scars.

Young female smokers at higher risk of common breast cancer type

Date: Feb-10-2014
New research suggests that young women who currently smoke and who have smoked one pack of cigarettes a day for 10 years or more have a much higher risk for estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer - the most common form of the disease - compared with women who have smoked for a shorter period of time.This is according to a study recently published in the journal Cancer.The research team, led by Dr.

Leukemia: study of twin sisters leads to novel molecular discovery

Date: Feb-10-2014
According to the National Cancer Institute, 2013 saw approximately 48,610 new cases of leukemia diagnosed in the US. Now, from analyzing the genomes of twin 3-year-old-sisters - one with and one without aggressive leukemia - researchers have discovered a new molecular target that could be used to treat deadly and recurring forms of the disease.This is according to a study recently published in the journal Nature Genetics.