Health News

Life-saving formula a step closer to human trials

Date: Dec-23-2013
A global innovation that has the potential to prevent women in developing countries from the fatal loss of blood after childbirth will move a step closer to human trials, following a $500,000 gift from Australia's Planet Wheeler Foundation.Monash University's Dr Michelle McIntosh has been - and remains - on a crusade to raise millions of dollars to fund an innovation that could save an extraordinary number of lives.Over the past decade more than one million women in developing countries have died of excessive bleeding during pregnancy.

Two thirds of UK carers will not get a break this Christmas, survey reveals

Date: Dec-23-2013
As the UK looks forward to the Christmas festivities, a new survey by disability charity Vitalise has found that over two thirds (69%) of carers will not get a break from caring this Christmas and that half have never had a break over the Christmas period.Worse, an astonishing 39% of carers have not taken a single day off from caring in the last year, the survey found.The study painted a stark picture of the emotional and physical strain on carers who fail to take breaks from their caring duties.

Marriage is not the answer to child disadvantage - UL study

Date: Dec-23-2013
A study by researchers at the University of Limerick using the 'Growing Up in Ireland' data has found that the apparent benefits of marriage, in relation to child development, are not related to marriage per se but to the background characteristics of the parents.This is the key finding to emerge from the most detailed statistical study to-date of the effects of family structure on child development, which was published in Dublin by the Family Support Agency.

Wide disparities in diagnosis time for childhood lupus identified

Date: Dec-23-2013
New research has found that a child's symptoms and the doctor they are referred by can affect the time taken to diagnose juvenile systemic lupus erythematosus (JSLE). The research, which shows substantial disparities in the time to diagnosis for JSLE in the UK, was published in the peer-reviewed journal Rheumatology.Typically the time between symptom onset and diagnosis of JSLE is 4-5 months, but the research found that diagnosis can take much longer for some children.

GRU researcher develops moisturizing lozenges for dry mouth

Date: Dec-23-2013
A researcher at Georgia Regents University has developed moisturizing lozenges for dry mouth.Dr. Stephen Hsu, Professor of Oral Biology in the GRU College of Dental Medicine, has created MighTeaFlow® lozenges with a clinically tested all-natural green tea formula with xylitol to treat dry mouth, adding to his growing line of green tea products.

ERA-EDTA and EuroPD: Using synergies to promote peritoneal dialysis in Europe

Date: Dec-23-2013
Peritoneal dialysis (PD) is an important form of treatment for patients with end-stage kidney failure requiring renal replacement therapy, yet the percentage of patients treated with PD is still low in Europe, ranging from 4% in Austria, Norway and parts of Spain to 11% in Denmark and Romania [1]. From the medical perspective, the outcomes of haemodialysis and PD are equivalent, and some specific patient groups, e.g. the young, may even gain by starting their renal replacement therapy on PD. PD also has the major advantage of being a home dialysis therapy.

Scientists look to tackle bacterium that is major cause of diarrhea, vomiting

Date: Dec-23-2013
Scientists want to make a chink in the armor of a bacterium that has little name recognition yet is the number-one bacterial cause of the diarrhea, vomiting and stomach pain Americans experience annually. While Salmonella is likely quicker to sound an alarm, infection with Campylobacter jejuni is at least 25 times more common. Americans report about 42,000 cases of Salmonella sickness each year compared with approximately 1.3 million cases of Campylobacter infection, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

New gene responsible for cleft lip and palate syndrome identified

Date: Dec-23-2013
An international team led by researchers from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden has identified a new gene related to the Van der Woude syndrome, the most common syndrome with cleft lip and palate. The study is published in the scientific periodical American Journal of Human Genetics and can lead the way to improved genetic diagnostic of individuals and families with orofacial clefts.Cleft lip and palate is one of the most common birth defects and can be found in the form of cleft lip or cleft palate alone; or cleft lip and palate together.

Family centred approach reduces weight in South Asians

Date: Dec-23-2013
Modest lifestyle changes made by South Asian families could help to improve their health and wellbeing, a clinical trial shows. Making moderate improvements to diet and levels of physical activity, gave trial participants a better chance of losing enough weight to lower their risk of developing type 2 diabetes. The study, carried out in participants' homes as opposed to hospital clinics, is the first of its kind in the UK to look specifically at South Asian cultures.

New method for determining protein structure has major implications for drug development

Date: Dec-23-2013
Research involving scientists from Trinity College Dublin has led to a major breakthrough that could streamline the process used to determine the structure of proteins in cell membranes. This will have major implications for drug-related research because almost 50% of drugs on the market target these proteins.Proteins in cell membranes are vital for the everyday functioning of complex cellular processes.