Health News

Hospital quality associated with racial disparities in cardiac surgery

Date: Jan-09-2014
Hospital quality was associated with racial disparities in outcomes after coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery in a study by Govind Rangrass, M.D., of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and colleagues.Racial disparities in mortality rates after CABG surgery are well established, but it is less known how receiving care at high-mortality, low-quality hospitals may contribute to racial disparities in surgical outcomes, according to the study background.Researchers used the national Medicare database to identify 173,925 patients who underwent CABG surgery, of whom 14,882 (8.

Molecular, protein targeting therapies may be best treatment for certain lung cancer

Date: Jan-09-2014
University of Cincinnati (UC) Cancer Institute researchers have found that using therapies specifically targeting the molecular profile of non-small-cell lung cancer with the mutated cancer-causing protein KRas is the most effective treatment strategy for patients with the condition.These findings are being presented via poster at the American Association for Cancer Research - International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer Joint Conference on the Molecular Origins of Lung Cancer, Jan. 6-9, 2014, in San Diego.

Ketamine may act as an antidepressant by boosting serotonin activity in brain areas involved in motivation

Date: Jan-09-2014
Ketamine is a potent anesthetic employed in human and veterinary medicine, and sometimes used illegally as a recreational drug. The drug is also a promising candidate for the fast treatment of depression in patients who do not respond to other medications. New research from the RIKEN Center for Life Science Technologies in Japan demonstrates using PET imaging studies on macaque monkeys that ketamine increases the activity of serotoninergic neurons in the brain areas regulating motivation.

Preventing casualties in India via new phone alerts for extreme weather

Date: Jan-09-2014
When Cyclone Phailin hit India in late 2013 it became the largest storm to batter the subcontinent in over a decade. The storm, officially classified as a Category 5 tropical cyclone, affected more than 12 million people in India and neighboring countries, and required mass evacuations.These evacuations revealed an urgent need for an effective alert system which could forewarn the majority of the population.

New study shows ability to make living human cells from Alzheimer's patients' biobanked brain tissue

Date: Jan-09-2014
Scientists at The New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF) Research Institute, working in collaboration with scientists from Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC), for the first time generated induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells lines from non-cryoprotected brain tissue of patients with Alzheimer's disease.These new stem cell lines will allow researchers to "turn back the clock" and observe how Alzheimer's develops in the brain, potentially revealing the onset of the disease at a cellular level long before any symptoms associated with Alzheimer's are displayed.

Enhanced ability to make new connections retained in some brain regions

Date: Jan-09-2014
In adults, some brain regions retain a "childlike" ability to establish new connections, potentially contributing to our ability to learn new skills and form new memories as we age, according to new research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle.The scientists arrived at the new findings by comparing gene activity levels in different regions of the brain. They identified adult brain regions where genes linked to the construction of new connections between cells have higher activity levels.

Vitamin E may offer protection against memory disorders

Date: Jan-09-2014
Elderly people with high serum vitamin E levels are less likely to suffer from memory disorders than their peers with lower levels, according to a study published recently in Experimental Gerontology. According to the researchers, various forms of vitamin E seem to play a role in memory processes. The study was carried out in cooperation between the University of Eastern Finland, the Finnish National Institute for Health and Welfare, Karolinska Institutet, and the University of Perugia.

Risk for asthma in childhood may be increased by low diversity of gut bacteria

Date: Jan-09-2014
Low gut microbial diversity in the intestines of infants can increase the risk for asthma development. These are the findings of the age 7 follow-up in a multi-year study led by researchers at Linkoping University.In 2011 the results of a comprehensive survey of the intestinal microbiota of allergic and healthy children were published. In the samples from the infancy period, the degree of variation and diversity of the bacteria strains was significantly lower among those who had developed allergic eczema when they were two years old.

Stem cells and specialisation

Date: Jan-09-2014
Scientists at the University of Copenhagen have gained new insight into how both early embryonic cells and embryonic stem cells are directed into becoming specialised cell types, like pancreatic and liver cells. The results have just been published in the scientific journal eLife. This latest research from the Danish Stem Cell Center (Danstem) at the University of Copenhagen, helps identify how stem cells create so called pathways and roads supporting their own specialisation.

Survey of UK dog owners looks at dog aggression towards people

Date: Jan-09-2014
Aggressive dogs represent a serious risk to human health, tragically causing fatalities in rare cases. The development of aggression can also impact on a dog's welfare, because of a breakdown of the human-pet bond, euthanasia or relinquishment. New research has estimated the prevalence of human-directed aggression in different situations, and examined the potential risk factors for dogs showing aggression towards people.