Health News

Why motorcycles are a greater traffic hazard than cars

Date: Jan-30-2014
"I didn't see it, because I wasn't expecting it there," might be the more accurate excuse for motorists who have just crashed into a bus or a motorcycle. The mere fact that such vehicles are less common than cars on our roads actually makes it harder for drivers to notice them, says Vanessa Beanland of The Australian National University. Beanland and colleagues conducted research at Monash University on how the so-called "low-prevalence effect" increases the likelihood of accidents. The study is published in Springer's journal Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics.

A silk coat for diamonds makes sleek new imaging and drug delivery tool

Date: Jan-30-2014
Silk and diamonds aren't just for ties and jewelry anymore. They're ingredients for a new kind of tiny glowing particle that could provide doctors and researchers with a novel technique for biological imaging and drug delivery.The new particles, just tens of nanometers across, are made of diamond and covered in silk. They can be injected into living cells, and because they glow when illuminated with certain kinds of light, biologists can use them to peer inside cells and untangle the molecular circuitry that governs cellular behavior, or to study how cells react to a new drug.

Equivalent outcomes for double-lung transplants when blood type between donor and recipient is identical or compatible

Date: Jan-30-2014
In the largest retrospective study to date using data from the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) database for adult double-lung transplants, Temple University School of Medicine researchers have shown that there is no statistically significant difference between rejection and mortality rates among double-lung transplant recipients when their transplanted organs came from donors whose blood-type was identical or compatible to their own.

New brain-scanning technique allows scientists to see when and where the brain processes visual information

Date: Jan-30-2014
Every time you open your eyes, visual information flows into your brain, which interprets what you're seeing. Now, for the first time, MIT neuroscientists have noninvasively mapped this flow of information in the human brain with unique accuracy, using a novel brain-scanning technique.This technique, which combines two existing technologies, allows researchers to identify precisely both the location and timing of human brain activity.

Online expert advice for clinicians treating hepatitis C now available

Date: Jan-29-2014
The American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) and the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), in collaboration with the International Antiviral Society-USA (IAS-USA), has announced the launch of a new website, HCVguidelines.org, that will offer up-to-date guidance for the treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. It is estimated that between 3 and 4 million Americans are infected with HCV and have chronic liver disease as a result. The most recent generation of direct-acting antivirals has the potential to cure most patients with HCV.

ADHD medication saves lives on the road

Date: Jan-29-2014
New research from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden shows that medication used to treat ADHD in adult men can save lives on the road. According to a large registry study, which is now being published in the scientific journal JAMA Psychiatry, up to half of the transport accidents involving men with ADHD could be avoided if the men were taking medication for their condition.The researchers have studied 17,000 individuals with ADHD over a period of four years (2006-2009) using various population health' registers.

ADHD medication saves lives on the road

Date: Jan-29-2014
New research from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden shows that medication used to treat ADHD in adult men can save lives on the road. According to a large registry study, which is now being published in the scientific journal JAMA Psychiatry, up to half of the transport accidents involving men with ADHD could be avoided if the men were taking medication for their condition.The researchers have studied 17,000 individuals with ADHD over a period of four years (2006-2009) using various population health' registers.

Breakthrough: Scientists create embryonic stem cells without embryos

Date: Jan-29-2014
Researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital, in collaboration with researchers from Japan, have discovered a way of changing adult stem cells back to their original embryonic state by exposing them to low oxygen and acidic environments. This is according to a study recently published in the journal Nature.The research team, including senior author Dr. Charles Vacanti of Brigham and Women's Hospital, says their findings may one day lead to the creation of embryonic stem cells specific to each individual without the need for genetic manipulation.

Paranoia increases when experiencing situations from a lower height

Date: Jan-29-2014
The results of a new study published in the journal Psychiatry Research reveal that people who had their height "virtually lowered" feel more inferior and mistrustful.Previous studies examining the psychological perceptions of height have suggested that a person's height conveys certain social connotations. Prof. Daniel Freeman, who conducted the study at the University of Oxford in the UK, explains:"Being tall is associated with greater career and relationship success. Height is taken to convey authority, and we feel taller when we feel more powerful.

Cure for baldness? Hair-follicle-generating stem cells bring hope

Date: Jan-29-2014
According to the American Hair Loss Association, two-thirds of men will experience hair loss by the age of 35. But women are also affected, making up 40% of all hair loss sufferers. Affecting self-image and emotional well-being, the condition has been a difficult one to treat. But a new study brings hope - in the form of human hair-follicle-generating stem cells.