Health News

Regulation of Cancer-Causing Protein Could Lead to New Therapeutic Targets

Date: Dec-20-2013
Researchers with the Cincinnati Cancer Center (CCC) and the University of Cincinnati Cancer Institute have discovered a new regulation for the cancer-causing protein KRas which may help with the development of targeted therapies for patients with a KRas mutation.

Toxicity associated with Lou Gehrig's disease reduced in animal models

Date: Dec-20-2013
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, better known as Lou Gehrig's disease, is a devastating illness that gradually robs sufferers of muscle strength and eventually causes a lethal, full-body paralysis. The only drug available to treat the disease extends life spans by a meager three months on average.In a new study published in Nature Genetics, University of Pennsylvania researchers and colleagues have made inroads into the mechanism by which ALS acts.

Manufacturing low-cost artificial cells

Date: Dec-20-2013
Easily manufactured, low-cost artificial cells manufactured using microprinting may one day serve as drug and gene delivery devices and in biomaterials, biotechnology and biosensing applications, according to a team of Penn State biomedical engineers. These artificial cells will also allow researchers to explore actions that take place at the cell membrane."In a natural cell, so much is going on inside that it is extremely complex," said Sheereen Majd, assistant professor of biomedical engineering.

A year in medicine: review of 2013

Date: Dec-20-2013
What has this last year delivered for medicine and health, and has 2013 shone more light on an area that interests you? Perhaps there has been radical change affecting a particular medical condition this year. Could it even be that medicine as a whole took a big step forward over the last 12 months?The medical community has certainly reported major changes and offered many glimpses into tomorrow's world - and 2014 could be just as exciting.This passing year happens to mark MNT's first decade on the web.

Continuing decrease in deaths from lung cancer

Date: Dec-20-2013
The Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, covering the period 1975-2010, showed death rates for lung cancer, which accounts for more than one in four cancer deaths, dropping at a faster pace than in previous years. The recent larger drop in lung cancer deaths is likely the result of decreased cigarette smoking prevalence over many years, and is now being reflected in mortality trends.

Sexual harassment behavior associated with degrading TV portrayals of women

Date: Dec-20-2013
A new study in Psychology of Women Quarterly considers whether objectifying women in television and harassment are causally linked. Researchers Silvia Galdi, Anne Maass, and Mara Cadinu designed two experimental studies that used video materials of actual TV shows to investigate the causal relationship between TV exposure and harassing conduct.

Pregnant women accurately judge the space needed to accommodate their growing bodies

Date: Dec-20-2013
Despite their changed body size, pregnant women are just as good as other people at judging whether they are able to fit through openings, such as doorways, or not. This is thanks to a process called perceptual-motor recalibration that helps people to adjust their spatial awareness of their environment based on changes in their body's size and abilities, says John Franchak and Karen Adolph of New York University in the US.

What are the health benefits of chocolate?

Date: Dec-20-2013
Next time you eat a piece of chocolate, you should not have to feel overly guilty about it.Despite its bad reputation for causing weight gain, there are a number of health benefits associated with this delicious treat.Chocolate is made from tropical Theobroma cacao tree seeds. The earliest use of chocolate dates back to the Olmec civilization in Mesoamerica.1After the discovery of the Americas, chocolate became very popular in Europe, and its demand exploded.

New therapies for cancer likely following discovery of ancient chemical bond

Date: Dec-20-2013
A chemical bond discovered by Vanderbilt University scientists that is essential for animal life and which hastened the "dawn of the animal kingdom" could lead to new therapies for cancer and other diseases.The report, published online by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences(PNAS), was co-authored by 83 participants in the "Aspirnaut" K-20 STEM pipeline program for diversity. Six were middle school students when the study was conducted, 42 were high school students, 30 were college undergraduates and five were graduate students.

Pancreatic cancer cell growth promoted by retinoblastoma dysfunction

Date: Dec-20-2013
Indiana University cancer researchers have discovered that a protein that normally suppresses tumors actually promotes the growth and spread of pancreatic cancer.Murray Korc, M.D., the Myles Brand Professor of Cancer Research at the Indiana University School of Medicine and a researcher at the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center, and colleagues have shown that the retinoblastoma protein, a tumor suppressor, often malfunctions in pancreatic cancer. That dysfunction enables an inhibitory protein to promote pancreatic cancer growth.