Health News

Researchers find potential new treatment approach for pancreatic cancer

Date: Dec-23-2013
Scientists from The University of Manchester - part of Manchester Cancer Research Centre believe they have discovered a new way to make chemotherapy treatment more effective for pancreatic cancer patients.Pancreatic cancer is an aggressive cancer with poor prognosis and limited treatment options and is highly resistant to chemotherapy and radiotherapy.But researchers believe they have found an effective strategy for selectively killing pancreatic cancer while sparing healthy cells which could make treatment more effective.

Genetic variants linked with schizophrenia have impact in healthy carriers

Date: Dec-23-2013
Genetic variants associated with schizophrenia and autism still have an impact on cognitive skills and brain structure in people who carry the genes but do not suffer from these conditions. This is one of the main findings from new research published in the journal Nature by scientists from the NEWMEDS project, which is supported by the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI). The findings add to our understanding of the risk factors that contribute to these conditions and could make it easier to study the neural and biochemical foundations of cognitive abilities.

The renegades of cell biology: Researchers discover why K-RAS gene mutations prove so deadly in cancer

Date: Dec-23-2013
Cells with a mutation in the gene called K-Ras-found in close to 30% of all cancers, but mostly those with worst prognosis, such as pancreatic cancer, colon cancer, and lung cancer-behave in ways that subvert the normal mechanisms of cell death, according to a cell-culture study by researchers from Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) at the University of Utah. Normal cells need survival signals from the tissue that surrounds them to remain alive. Other research has shown cells with the K-Ras mutation can survive and direct their own fate without these signals.

Vanderbilt-led research identifies new gene fusions in melanoma

Date: Dec-23-2013
Cancer researchers, led by investigators at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, have identified two novel gene fusions in melanoma which may be responsive to existing cancer therapies. Melanoma is the most deadly form of skin cancer. The study was published in Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. "About 35 percent of melanomas are considered 'pan-negative,' which means they are devoid of any previously known driver mutations in the genes BRAF, NRAS, KIT, GNAQ and GNA11," said Jeffrey Sosman, M.D.

Innovation could lead to faster drug therapies and increased understanding of proteins on the microscopic level

Date: Dec-23-2013
Membrane proteins are the "gatekeepers" that allow information and molecules to pass into and out of a cell. Until recently, the microscopic study of these complex proteins has been restricted due to limitations of "force microscopes" that are available to researchers and the one-dimensional results these microscopes reveal. Now, researchers at the University of Missouri have developed a three-dimensional microscope that will yield unparalleled study of membrane proteins and how they interact on the cellular level.

Detecting radioactive material in nuclear waste water

Date: Dec-23-2013
The latest episode in the American Chemical Society's (ACS') award-winning Global Challenges/Chemistry Solutions podcast series features a new design for a highly sensitive device that can detect the radioactive materials uranium and plutonium in waste water.Based on a report by Jorge M. Seminario, Ph.D., and Narendra Kumar, Ph.D., in ACS' The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, the new podcast is available without charge at iTunes and from here.

Childhood abuse linked to poor health of Irish immigrants in England

Date: Dec-23-2013
The generally poor health of Irish immigrants to England during most of the 20th century was not caused primarily by difficulties of assimilation or tensions between the two nations, but by the abuse Irish expatriates suffered as children in their homeland, according to a new study.The findings published in the December issue of the academic journal Demography challenge the common view that the cause of the poor health of Irish immigrants to England is that conditions in England were very stressful for the Irish-born migrants.

Diagnosis of myopathy improved by new gene mutation

Date: Dec-23-2013
A new gene mutation which will help doctors give a more accurate diagnosis of a particular type of brain and muscle disease in children has been discovered for the first time by University of Leeds experts.Mitochondrial myopathy, as it is known, causes muscle weakness, movement problems and learning difficulties and affects more than 70,000 people in the UK.For the first time, mutations in a particular gene, MICU1, have been linked to myopathy. The discovery gives a better understanding of the genetic causes of the condition.

Greek economic crisis leads to air pollution crisis

Date: Dec-23-2013
In the midst of a winter cold snap, a study from researchers in the United States and Greece reveals an overlooked side effect of economic crisis - dangerous air quality caused by burning cheaper fuel for warmth.The researchers, led by Constantinos Sioutas of the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, show that the concentration of fine air particles in one of Greece's economically hardest hit areas has risen 30 percent since the financial crisis began, leading to potential long-term health effects.These fine particles - measuring less than 2.

Radiation therapy to treat uterine cancer linked with increased risk of bladder cancer later in life

Date: Dec-23-2013
Radiation therapy used to treat uterine cancer may increase a patient's risk of developing bladder cancer. That is the conclusion of a recent study published in BJU International. The findings indicate the importance of monitoring patients for potential signs of bladder cancer to ensure early diagnosis and treatment.In the United States, uterine cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women, with an estimated 49,560 women diagnosed in 2013. In addition to surgery, 38 percent of patients undergo pelvic radiation therapy to decrease uterine cancer recurrence.