Health News

Microspheres could be key in preventing bone infections after joint replacement

Date: Feb-04-2014
Currently more than 1 million knee replacements and hip replacements are performed each year in the United States, and with the aging population, the number of total joint replacements is expected to grow.While total joint surgeries have a low risk of infection - between 1 and 3 percent - in those rare instances when bone infection sets in, it can be a devastating setback for patients.

Change in brain anatomy shown in women with multiple sclerosis, depression

Date: Feb-04-2014
A multicenter research team led by Cedars-Sinai neurologist Nancy Sicotte, MD, an expert in multiple sclerosis and state-of-the-art imaging techniques, used a new, automated technique to identify shrinkage of a mood-regulating brain structure in a large sample of women with MS who also have a certain type of depression.In the study, women with MS and symptoms of "depressive affect" - such as depressed mood and loss of interest - were found to have reduced size of the right hippocampus.

Could the quality of your attachment to your parents affect your own child's risk for obesity

Date: Feb-04-2014
Could the quality of your attachment to your parents affect your own child's risk for obesity? A new University of Illinois study says it can."If your mother regularly punished or dismissed your anger, anxiety, or sadness instead of being sensitive to your distress and giving you strategies for handling those feelings, you may be insecurely attached and parenting your children in the same way. A child who doesn't learn to regulate his emotions may in turn develop eating patterns that put him at risk for obesity," said Kelly Bost, a U of I professor of human development and family studies.

Quality and accuracy of information about vertebroplasty largely inaccurate on the net

Date: Feb-04-2014
Most websites with information on vertebroplasty - a procedure in which a special medical-grade cement mixture is injected into a fractured vertebra - do not paint the full picture about the pros, cons and alternatives of the treatment. Therefore patients should always sit down with their physicians to thoroughly discuss their options, rather than take everything they read on the Internet as the full gospel.

Protein serves as a natural boost for immune system fight against tumors

Date: Feb-04-2014
Substances called adjuvants that enhance the body's immune response are critical to getting the most out of vaccines. These boosters stimulate the regular production of antibodies -- caused by foreign substances in the body -- toxins, bacteria, foreign blood cells, and the cells of transplanted organs.But, biologists think that vaccine adjuvants could be much better: The currently available licensed adjuvants are poor inducers of T helper cells and even worse at inciting killer T cells that clear viruses, as well as eradicate cancer cells.

10 years after menopause more than a third of women have hot flashes

Date: Feb-04-2014
A team of researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania has found that moderate to severe hot flashes continue, on average, for nearly 5 years after menopause, and more than a third of women experience moderate/severe hot flashes for 10 years or more after menopause. Current guidelines recommend that hormone therapy, the primary medical treatment for hot flashes, not continue for more than 5 years.

Study supports new safety rule for truck drivers

Date: Feb-04-2014
The U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has released the findings of a field study conducted by the Washington State University (WSU) Sleep and Performance Research Center. The study provides evidence that a revised provision in new hours-of-service regulations for truck drivers is more effective at combating fatigue than the previous version. The new trucking regulations took effect last July.Hours-of service safety regulations prescribe that truck drivers may not drive more than 60/70 hours on duty in the most recent 7/8 days.

Sex-specific patterns of recovery from newborn brain injury revealed by study

Date: Feb-04-2014
Physicians have long known that oxygen deprivation to the brain around the time of birth causes worse damage in boys than girls. Now a study by researchers from the Johns Hopkins Children's Center conducted in mice reveals one possible reason behind this gender disparity and points to gender-specific mechanisms of brain repair following such injury.

Quality and accuracy of information about vertebroplasty largely inaccurate on the net

Date: Feb-04-2014
Most websites with information on vertebroplasty - a procedure in which a special medical-grade cement mixture is injected into a fractured vertebra - do not paint the full picture about the pros, cons and alternatives of the treatment. Therefore patients should always sit down with their physicians to thoroughly discuss their options, rather than take everything they read on the Internet as the full gospel.

Genetically diverse cancer cells key to brain tumor resistance

Date: Feb-04-2014
For a cancer cell, it pays to have a group of eccentric friends. Like X-Men characters, a group of cancer cells with diverse physical traits is safer, because it takes different strategies to kill each member.The more diverse the group, the better the chances are for individual cells to survive and join forces as a cohesive tumor.A multi-university research team, including researchers with the Fralin Life Science Institute at Virginia Tech, discovered that the unique physical differences among brain tumor cells were because of chromosomal abnormalities.