Health News

Regorafenib: hint of minor added benefit

Date: Jan-15-2014
Advantage in overall survival, but disadvantage in severe side effectsRegorafenib (trade name: Stivarga) has been approved in Germany since August 2013 for adults with metastatic colorectal cancer in whom previous treatments are no longer effective or for whom these alternatives are not an option.

Fruit fly study opens door for investigations into taste receptors of mosquitoes and other deadly insects

Date: Jan-15-2014
Insects represent remarkable diversity and have adapted to all sorts of ecological nooks and crannies. For example, they have taste receptors - novel proteins - with which they taste chemicals and make important choices about not only foods but also mates and where to deposit their eggs. These receptors are widely seen as being at the leading edge of behavioral adaptations.Now, using the common fruit fly, researchers at the University of California, Riverside have performed a study that describes just how the fly's taste receptors detect sweet compounds.

Follow-up tests improve colorectal cancer recurrence detection

Date: Jan-14-2014
Among patients who had undergone curative surgery for primary colorectal cancer, the screening methods of computed tomography and carcinoembryonic antigen each provided an improved rate of surgical treatment of cancer recurrence compared with minimal follow-up, although there was no advantage in combining these tests, according to a study in the January 15 issue of JAMA. Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer worldwide, with 1.24 million cases reported to the International Agency for Research on Cancer in 2008.

Patients with mild hyperglycemia and genetic mutation have low prevalence of vascular complications

Date: Jan-14-2014
Despite having mild hyperglycemia for approximately 50 years, patients with a mutation in the gene encoding the enzyme glucokinase had a low prevalence of clinically significant vascular complications, findings that provide insights into the risks associated with isolated mild hyperglycemia, according to a study in the January 15 issue of JAMA. "In both type 1 and type 2 diabetes, hyperglycemia [abnormally high blood sugar] is associated with microvascular complications over time.

Humans' slow metabolisms explain long life span, study says

Date: Jan-14-2014
Though some individuals may not appreciate their slow metabolisms, a new study suggests that humans and other primates - who burn 50% fewer calories each day than other mammals - have such long lives because of their curiously slow metabolisms.Publishing their results in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the international team of scientists says burning fewer calories may also explain why primates grow up so slowly.

Scientists discover how sodium controls opioid receptor signaling

Date: Jan-14-2014
Researchers have spent 40 years trying to find out how the chemical element sodium controls the signaling of opioid receptors in the brain - a class of receptors that play an important role in pain disorders and addictions. Now, scientists from The Scripps Research Institute and the University of North Carolina say they have finally uncovered the mechanism.The research team, led by Dr. Gustavo Fenalti of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), says their findings could lead to the development of new drugs for an array of brain-related medical conditions.

Google Glass 'could transform the way surgery is performed'

Date: Jan-14-2014
Google Glass - a wearable computer that resembles a pair of glasses - may be set to transform the medical world, after the device has been used once again during two surgical procedures.Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Selene Parekh recently used the technology as he conducted foot and ankle surgery during the Indo-US conference in Jaipur, India. And in December last year, the device was worn by plastic surgeon Dr. Anil Shah as he carried out rhinoplasty on a patient who broke her nose.These surgeons are the latest to use the technology in the operating room.

Ocean bacteria deliver food parcels to marine organisms

Date: Jan-14-2014
New research from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology reveals that marine cyanobacteria, whose body mass forms the base of the ocean food chain, also feed marine organisms in another way - they deliver "food parcels" packed with carbon and other nutrients.The bacteria release lipid vesicles - spherical sacs containing proteins and genetic material in the form of DNA - and RNA, which the researchers suggest provide a means of gene transfer in bacterial communities and could also act as decoys for viruses.

Non-coding DNA may affect type 2 diabetes risk

Date: Jan-14-2014
Once thought of as "junk" DNA because it does not contain genes that encode proteins, scientists are starting to discover non-coding DNA can nevertheless influence the effect of coding DNA, such as switching genes on and off.Now, a new study led by Imperial College London in the UK suggests variations in these non-coding sections of the genome may play a key role in people's risk for type 2 diabetes.The study, one of the first to implicate non-coding DNA in disease risk, is published in a recent online issue of Nature Genetics.

ACH researchers lead study linking mitochondrial dysfunction to autism

Date: Jan-14-2014
The number of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is alarmingly high and appears to be continuing to rise. The Centers for Disease Control's Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network estimates that about 1 in 88 children has been identified with an ASD. Despite decades of research the cause of autism is not clear.