Health News

Scientists create synthetic self-propelled swimming bio-bots

Date: Jan-22-2014
Engineers at the University of Illinois have created a new "species" of swimming micro-organisms. They hope these could one day develop into "smart structures" that could help with delivering drugs or targeting cancer.These wonders of modern engineering are a miniature mix of biological and engineered components. Unlike complex but morally ambiguous famous movie "cyborgs," though, these bio-bots consist of just a simple head and tail - similar to single-celled, long-tailed swimming creatures such as sperm.

News from Annals of Family Medicine: January/February 2014

Date: Jan-22-2014
Self-rated Health an Efficient and Effective Predictor of Long-Term Depression RiskSelf-rated health appears to be a strong and consistent predictor of the risk of future depression in patients with recent experience of depressive symptoms. Analyzing data from a primary care cohort of more than 500 patients with depressive symptoms, researchers found those who rated their health as poor to fair had a twofold greater risk of major depression up to five years later compared with those who rated their health as good to excellent.

FAK inhibitors may prevent tumor cells entering the bloodstream

Date: Jan-22-2014
Cancer cells have something that every prisoner longs for - a master key that allows them to escape. A study in The Journal of Cell Biology describes how a protein that promotes tumor growth also enables cancer cells to use this key and metastasize.Unless it can enter a blood or lymphatic vessel, a cancer cell is imprisoned in the tissue where it arises. The growth factor VEGF is the tumor cell's master key.

Air pollution tied to goods made in China for the US

Date: Jan-22-2014
Chinese air pollution blowing across the Pacific Ocean is often caused by the manufacturing of goods for export to the U.S. and Europe, according to findings by UC Irvine and other researchers published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.The study is the first to quantify how much pollution reaching the American West Coast is from the production in China of cellphones, televisions and other consumer items imported here and elsewhere.

Promising new drug targets discovered for cocaine addiction

Date: Jan-22-2014
Researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have identified a new molecular mechanism by which cocaine alters the brain's reward circuits and causes addiction. Published online in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by Dr. Eric J. Nestler, MD, PhD, and colleagues, the preclinical research reveals how an abundant enzyme and synaptic gene affect a key reward circuit in the brain, changing the ways genes are expressed in the nucleus accumbens.

World War II resulted in more illness, less education for survivors

Date: Jan-22-2014
A novel examination of the long-lasting consequences that World War II had on continental Europeans finds that living in a war-torn country increased the likelihood of a number of physical and mental problems later in life.Experiencing the war was associated with a greater chance of suffering from diabetes, depression and heart disease as older adults, according to the study.

Mediterranean diet may reduce the risk of peripheral artery disease

Date: Jan-22-2014
Past studies have suggested that following a Mediterranean diet may reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke. Now, a new analysis of previous research suggests that the diet, supplemented with extra-virgin olive oil or nuts, may reduce the risk of peripheral artery disease. This is according to a research letter published in the journal JAMA.Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is a condition in which fatty deposits build up in the arteries, restricting blood supply to the arms, legs, stomach or kidneys.

Risk of suicide, homicide increased by access to guns

Date: Jan-22-2014
Someone with access to firearms is three times more likely to commit suicide and nearly twice as likely to be the victim of a homicide as someone who does not have access, according to a comprehensive review of the scientific literature conducted by researchers at UC San Francisco.The meta-analysis, published online in Annals of Internal Medicine, pools results from 15 investigations, slightly more than half of which were done after a 1996 federal law prohibited the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services from funding research that could be seen as promoting gun control.

Many cardiovascular devices approved by process that often does not require new clinical data

Date: Jan-21-2014
Many cardiac implantable electronic device models currently in use were approved via a Food and Drug Administration review process in which the models were assumed safe and effective based on approval of prior versions of the device, according to a study in JAMA.

Study examines reasons for delay, denial of new drugs by FDA

Date: Jan-21-2014
Several potentially preventable deficiencies, including failure to select optimal drug doses and suitable outcome measures for a study, accounted for significant delays in the approval of new drugs by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), according to a study in JAMA. "The road from medical product discovery to marketing is typically long and costly. The interval between initial clinical testing and product approval has been estimated to average 8 years and only 1 in 6 drugs entering clinical trials ultimately obtains U.S.