Health News

Rett syndrome genetic variants now publicly available for advance testing, diagnosis, and research

Date: Feb-07-2014
Despite the identification of gene mutations in methyl CpG binding protein 2 (MECP2) being linked to Rett syndrome (RS), research has been hindered by the lack of commercially available reference materials.

Encouraging web-based health care in hospitals

Date: Feb-07-2014
In the first national look at how broadly web-based technologies are being used to provide health care, a University of Michigan researcher has found that 42 percent of U.S. hospitals use some type of "telehealth" approach.The study, published in the February issue of the journal Health Affairs, breaks down adoption rates by state. It also pinpoints state policies that might encourage more hospitals to adopt telehealth.

Anesthetic could be alternative to hormones and other medications for hot flashes

Date: Feb-07-2014
Injecting a little anesthetic near a nerve bundle in the neck cut troublesome hot flashes significantly, shows a new randomized, controlled trial published online in Menopause, the journal of The North American Menopause Society (NAMS). The technique could give women who cannot or prefer not to take hormones or other medications an effective treatment alternative.

Smartphones could help COPD sufferers avoid air pollution

Date: Feb-07-2014
For patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, exposure to air pollutants such as sulphur and nitrogen oxides can worsen the condition. But researchers from the National Technical University of Athens in Greece say that smartphones and sensors could help sufferers avoid environments with such pollution.According to the American Lung Association, more than 12.7 million adults in the US age 18 and over were estimated to have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in 2011.

Heart failure patient owes diagnosis to TV doctor Gregory House

Date: Feb-07-2014
Doctors at a clinic in Germany report that the TV show House (also known as House, M.D.) provided them with an unexpected diagnosis for a heart failure patient.Though the bedside manner of the misanthropic, Vicodin-addicted Dr. Gregory House may leave little to be desired, fans of the series this fictional character lends his name to thrill at his Sherlock Holmes-like powers of deduction.

Smartphones could help COPD sufferers avoid air pollution

Date: Feb-07-2014
For patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, exposure to air pollutants such as sulphur and nitrogen oxides can worsen the condition. But researchers from the National Technical University of Athens in Greece say that smartphones and sensors could help sufferers avoid environments with such pollution.According to the American Lung Association, more than 12.7 million adults in the US age 18 and over were estimated to have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in 2011.

Rett syndrome genetic variants now publicly available for advance testing, diagnosis, and research

Date: Feb-07-2014
Despite the identification of gene mutations in methyl CpG binding protein 2 (MECP2) being linked to Rett syndrome (RS), research has been hindered by the lack of commercially available reference materials.

Unprecedented images of hydrated protein molecules made possible using graphene balloon

Date: Feb-07-2014
A graphene water balloon may soon open up new vistas for scientists seeking to understand health and disease at the most fundamental level.Electron microscopes already provide amazingly clear images of samples just a few nanometers across. But if you want a good look at living tissue, look again."You can't put liquid in an electron microscope," says Tolou Shokuhfar, of Michigan Technological University.

Unprecedented images of hydrated protein molecules made possible using graphene balloon

Date: Feb-07-2014
A graphene water balloon may soon open up new vistas for scientists seeking to understand health and disease at the most fundamental level.Electron microscopes already provide amazingly clear images of samples just a few nanometers across. But if you want a good look at living tissue, look again."You can't put liquid in an electron microscope," says Tolou Shokuhfar, of Michigan Technological University.

Insight into autism from gene that influences receptive joint attention in chimpanzees

Date: Feb-07-2014
Following another's gaze or looking in the direction someone is pointing, two examples of receptive joint attention, is significantly heritable according to new study results from researchers at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University. Determining such communicative cues are significantly heritable means variation in this ability has a genetic basis, which led the researchers to the vasopressin receptor gene, known for its role in social bonding.