Health News

Daily aspirin use 'reduces ovarian cancer risk by 20%'

Date: Feb-10-2014
Previous research has suggested that aspirin may help to reduce the risk of breast cancer and melanoma. Now, new research from the National Institutes of Health suggests that women who take low-dose aspirin every day may reduce their risk of ovarian cancer by 20%.The findings were recently published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.The National Cancer Institute states that approximately 22,240 new cases of ovarian cancer were diagnosed in the US last year, and more than 14,000 women will die from the disease in 2014.

Risk for heart problems increase following acute kidney injury

Date: Feb-10-2014
Patients who experience abrupt kidney injury following surgery have an increased risk of later developing heart problems, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN). The findings suggest that properly treating and monitoring patients with acute kidney injury (AKI) could help protect their heart health.AKI, an sudden decline in kidney function, is an increasingly prevalent and potentially serious condition in hospitalized patients.

A drug affecting chloride levels improves autistic-like behavior in offspring of mouse models of autism

Date: Feb-10-2014
A drug given to pregnant mice with models of autism prevents autistic behavior in their offspring, a new report shows, and though the drug could not be administered prenatally in humans (there is no way to screen for autism in human fetuses), clinical trials of this drug administered later in development, in young children who have already developed autistic symptoms, are showing progress.The causes of autism spectrum disorder, or ASD, are complex and not well understood.Prolonged excitation of brain neurons seems partly to blame.

Skin cells reprogrammed into insulin-producing pancreas cells; an important step towards a cure for type 1 diabetes

Date: Feb-10-2014
A cure for type 1 diabetes has long eluded even the top experts. Not because they do not know what must be done - but because the tools did not exist to do it. But now scientists at the Gladstone Institutes, harnessing the power of regenerative medicine, have developed a technique in animal models that could replenish the very cells destroyed by the disease. The team's findings, published online today in the journal Cell Stem Cell, are an important step towards freeing an entire generation of patients from the life-long injections that characterize this devastating disease.

Clues to cancer pathogenesis found in cell-conditioned media

Date: Feb-10-2014
Primary effusion lymphoma (PEL) is a rare B-cell neoplasm distinguished by its tendency to spread along the thin serous membranes that line body cavities without infiltrating or destroying nearby tissue. By growing PEL cells in culture and analyzing the secretome (proteins secreted into cell-conditioned media), investigators have identified proteins that may explain PEL pathogenesis, its peculiar cell adhesion, and migration patterns. They also recognized related oncogenic pathways, thereby providing rationales for more individualized treatment.

Spouses' social support linked to heart disease risk

Date: Feb-10-2014
Matters of the heart can influence actual heart health, according to new research. A study from researchers at the University of Utah shows that the ways in which your spouse is supportive - and how you support your spouse - can actually have significant bearing on your overall cardiovascular health.The findings reveal that when both partners perceive the support they get from each other as ambivalent - that is, sometimes helpful and sometimes upsetting - each partner's levels of coronary artery calcification (CAC) tend to be particularly high.

Don't let rocky past relations with parents spoil your romance

Date: Feb-09-2014
University of Alberta relationship researcher Matt Johnson has some Valentine's Day advice for anybody who's had rocky relations with their parents while growing up: don't let it spill over into your current romantic partnership.The love between parents and teens - however stormy or peaceful - may influence whether those children are successful in romance, even up to 15 years later, according to a new U of A study co-authored by Johnson, whose work explores the complexities of the romantic ties that bind.

More children destined for the ER if pot decriminalized

Date: Feb-09-2014
States that decriminalized marijuana saw dramatic increases in children requiring medical intervention, although the overall number of unintentional marijuana exposures among children remained low. The Annals of Emergency Medicine study of call volume to U.S. poison centers from January 2005 through December 2011 will be published online ("Association of Unintentional Pediatric Exposures with Decriminalization of Marijuana in the U.S.").

Active life-style possible for users of new, high-tech prosthetics and orthotics

Date: Feb-09-2014
Thanks to advanced technologies, those who wear prosthetic and orthotic devices are now able to break previous activity boundaries. People with amputations now have prosthetic devices that allow them to engage in and function more effectively in a wider range of daily activities, exercise, sports, and even extreme sports, such as long-distance snowshoeing and ice climbing.Comparative research into the effectiveness of advanced prosthetic and orthotics technologies is the focus of the current special issue of Technology and Innovation-Proceedings of the National Academy of Inventors®.

Comprehensive review finds hospitals don't follow infection prevention rules

Date: Feb-09-2014
While most hospitals have polices in place to prevent health care-associated infections, clinicians often fail to follow evidence-based guidelines established to prevent these infections, according to new research from Columbia University School of Nursing published in the American Journal of Infection Control. The study, the most comprehensive review of infection control efforts at U.S.