Health News

Race, ethnicity affects HIV meds dialogue

Date: Jan-29-2014
Researchers found specific racial/ethnic differences in discussions of HIV medicine adherence in a newly published analysis of recorded office visits between 45 doctors and nurse practitioners and more than 400 patients. A lot of evidence shows that a patients' race or ethnicity is associated with differences in how health care providers communicate with them, the health care they receive, and their health outcomes. In HIV care, a key to those outcomes is whether people take their medications as prescribed.

2-step approach allows localization and resection in complex pediatric epilepsy

Date: Jan-29-2014
A staged approach to epilepsy surgery - with invasive brain monitoring followed by surgery in a single hospital stay - is a safe and beneficial approach to treatment for complex cases of epilepsy in children, reports the February issue of Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health."Staged epilepsy surgery with invasive electrode monitoring is safe in children with poorly localized medically refractory epilepsy," write Drs.

Outcome predicted by early tumor response from stereotactic radiosurgery

Date: Jan-29-2014
The response of a patient with metastatic brain tumors to treatment with stereotactic radiosurgery in the first six-to-twelve weeks can indicate whether follow-up treatments and monitoring are necessary, according to research conducted at the University of North Carolina.The study of 52 patients with metastatic brain legions, published in the January issue of the journal Neurosurgery, found that the tumors whose sizes decreased significantly after treatment with stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) did not resume growth or require additional treatment.

Researchers develop valid and accurate model for facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy

Date: Jan-29-2014
Researchers at the Kennedy Krieger Institute recently announced study findings showing the successful development of a humanized preclinical model for facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD), providing scientists with a much needed tool to accelerate novel therapeutic research and development.Published in Human Molecular Genetics, the study outlines the validity of a unique model that, for the first time, mirrors the gene expression and biomarker profile of human FSHD tissue.

New study looks at the shadowy world of Britain's discount hitmen

Date: Jan-29-2014
Contract killing is one of the least studied, but most intriguing areas of organized crime; and new research into British hitmen has found that in some cases victims were murdered for as little as £200. The first typological study of British hitmen, published in The Howard Journal of Criminal Justice, identified four main types of contract killer; the novice, the dilettante, the journeyman; and the master.

The best advice when you have a cold may be 'wash your hands'

Date: Jan-29-2014
How do you prevent and treat the common cold? Handwashing and zinc may be best for prevention whereas acetaminophen, ibuprofen and perhaps antihistamine-decongestant combinations are the recommended treatments, according to a review in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).The common cold is well, common, affecting adults approximately 2-3 times a year and children under age 2 approximately 6 times a year. Symptoms such as sore throat, stuffy or runny nose, cough and malaise are usually worse in days 1-3 and can last 7-10 days, sometimes as long as 3 weeks.

What are the health benefits of bananas?

Date: Jan-29-2014
Bananas are one of the most widely consumed fruits in the world for good reason. The curved yellow fruit packs a big nutritional punch, wrapped in its own convenient packaging. Some scientists believe that the banana may have even been the world's first fruit.Dan Koeppel, author of Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World, traces the banana back to the Garden of Eden, where he believes it was the banana, not the apple, that was the "forbidden fruit" that Eve offered Adam.

Nutrition programmes should shift from treatment to prevention to meet African needs, new research shows

Date: Jan-29-2014
Nutrition programmes by foreign donors in Africa are generally focused on treatment and technical solutions, like vitamin and mineral supplementation. But African researchers and policy makers ask for community-based interventions to prevent, rather than only remedy, nutritional problems. They also want Africa to take charge of research priorities to beat malnutrition and hunger. These are the findings of the two-year EU-funded SUNRAY ('Sustainable nutrition research for Africa in the years to come') project, which will be published in PLOS Medicine.

Premature babies 'at higher risk for asthma'

Date: Jan-29-2014
The World Health Organization estimates that 15 million babies are born premature every year, which means they are born before 37 weeks. But new research suggests that risks are higher than previously thought for preterm babies to develop childhood asthma, compared with their full-term counterparts.Publishing their results in the journal PLoS Medicine, the researchers studied data on more than 1.5 million children around the world.They used information on patients born since the 1990s from 30 studies, which came from six continents. The majority of the studies came from Europe.

Computer algorithms outperformed by crowdsourced RNA designs

Date: Jan-29-2014
An enthusiastic group of non-experts, working through an online interface and receiving feedback from lab experiments, has produced designs for RNA molecules that are consistently more successful than those generated by the best computerized design algorithms, researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and Stanford University report.