Health News

Some indigenous groups more susceptible to the effects of the new strain of influenza in China

Date: Jan-15-2014
Research indicated that some Indigenous people such as in Alaska and Australia displayed limited immunity response to the effects of influenza.Published in the Journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, senior author, Associate Professor Katherine Kedzierska from the Department of Microbiology and Immunology said that some groups have a specific genetic make-up that prevents them from fighting off influenza.

Adolescent mothers with higher educational hopes give birth to heavier babies

Date: Jan-15-2014
Indicators of higher academic achievement, including aspirations, in adolescent mothers seems to correlate with higher birth weight for their babies, according to research published in open access journal BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth. Higher birth weight is associated with healthier babies. Previous studies have found that maternal educational attainment is linked to higher birth weight in adult mothers, but this is the first study to look at adolescent mothers. Researchers from Tulane University used national data collected about adolescent health in the USA.

Population of stem-like cells identified where HIV persists in spite of treatment

Date: Jan-15-2014
Although antiviral therapy against HIV suppresses viral replication and allows infected individuals to live relatively healthy lives for many years, the virus persists in the body, and replication resumes if treatment is interrupted. Now investigators from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard may have found where the virus hides - in a small group of recently identified T cells with stem-cell-like properties.

How a fiber-rich diet protects against obesity and diabetes

Date: Jan-15-2014
Researchers have long known that a diet rich in fiber can help protect against diabetes and obesity, but they have been unclear as to how. Now, investigators from France and Sweden say they have unveiled this mechanism. This is according to a study recently published in the journal Cell.

Intensity-modulated radiation therapy reduces side effects, improves outcomes in patients with head and neck cancers

Date: Jan-15-2014
Patients with cancers of the head and neck who received intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) - a technology designed to more precisely target cancer cells and spare nearby tissue - experienced improved outcomes, as well as reduced toxicities, compared to patients receiving conventional radiation therapy, according to new research from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Link between immune system development and leukemia

Date: Jan-15-2014
Scientists have discovered a genetic signature that implicates a key mechanism in the immune system as a driving force for a type of childhood leukaemia.Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia or ALL is the most common form of childhood leukaemia. A key factor driving this leukaemia for one in four ALL patients is a mutation that causes two of their genes, ETV6 and RUNX1, to fuse together. This genomic alteration happens before birth and kick starts the disease.

Just one question may reveal the severity of unhealthy drug and alcohol use

Date: Jan-15-2014
Primary care physicians seeking to determine whether a patient's drug or alcohol use is problematic often have to rely on lengthy questionnaires containing dozens of items with multiple response options.But a new study led by a Boston University School of Public Health [BUSPH] researcher suggests that a single screening question may not only identify unhealthy use, but can help to determine the level of alcohol and drug dependence just as well -- and sometimes better -- than longer screening tools.

Key difference discovered between our bodies' fight against viruses and bacteria

Date: Jan-15-2014
Scientists at The University of Nottingham have discovered a key difference in the biological mechanisms by which the immune system responds to viral and bacterial pathogens.The study, published in the journal Nature Immunology and led by Professor Uwe Vinkemeier in the University's School of Life Sciences, centred on STAT1, a protein that can bind DNA and hence plays a vital role in regulating genes in the body.

Ultrasound directed at human brain improves sensory perception

Date: Jan-15-2014
New research in mapping the connectivity of the brain has shown that controlled deliveries of ultrasound can improve sensory perception in test subjects.Ultrasound - echoing acoustic frequencies that are undetectable to the human ear - is already a common guidance tool for some animals, including bats and whales. As far back as 1929, experiments had shown that ultrasound affected the nerves, muscles and eyes of frogs and turtles.

Growing artificial bone marrow

Date: Jan-15-2014
Artificial bone marrow may be used to reproduce hematopoietic stem cells. A prototype has now been developed by scientists of KIT, the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, Stuttgart, and Tubingen University. The porous structure possesses essential properties of natural bone marrow and can be used for the reproduction of stem cells at the laboratory. This might facilitate the treatment of leukemia in a few years. The researchers are now presenting their work in the Biomaterials journal.