Health News

Promising breast cancer drugs put on fast track

Date: Dec-19-2013
The first investigator results from an unprecedented nationwide effort to test promising new breast cancer drugs before the tumor is removed were presented during the 2013 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.The research initiative, called I-SPY 2, employs an innovative clinical trial design in the curative setting that is enabling researchers to quickly drop drugs and drug combinations that don't work, while fast-tracking effective regimens for further study.

Pre-participation screening to prevent cardiovascular complications in sports

Date: Dec-19-2013
Echocardiography with conventional M-mode and 2D modalities is a simple and cost effective way to increase the accuracy of pre-participation sports screening, according to research presented at EuroEcho-Imaging 2013 by Dr Alexander Kisko from Presov, Slovakia.EuroEcho-Imaging 2013 is the official annual meeting of the European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging (EACVI), a registered branch of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). It took place during December in Istanbul, Turkey, at the Istanbul Lutfi Kırdar Convention & Exhibition Centre (ICEC).

Adding drug to standard chemo shows promise for women with triple-negative breast cancer

Date: Dec-19-2013
In a nationwide study of women with "triple-negative" breast cancer, adding the chemotherapy drug carboplatin or the angiogenesis inhibitor Avastin to standard chemotherapy drugs brought a sharp increase in the number of patients whose tumors shrank away completely, investigators reported at the 2013 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.The results are especially promising in the case of carboplatin, study leaders say, as Avastin has shown little effectiveness as a long-term preventer of cancer recurrence.

For women with chemo-resistant breast cancer, bisphosphonate treatment fails to improve outcomes

Date: Dec-19-2013
Treatment with the bisphosphonate zoledronate did not improve outcomes for women with chemoresistant breast cancer, according to initial results of a phase III clinical trial presented at the 2013 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.Many patients with breast cancer are treated with chemotherapy prior to surgery. In some patients who receive this form of treatment, which is called neoadjuvant therapy, no residual invasive cancer can be detected in breast tissue samples and lymph nodes removed during surgery.

Exercise in middle age protects against sarcopenia and helps maintain muscle strength and physical performance

Date: Dec-19-2013
A cross-sectional study by investigators from Tokyo University has found that exercising in middle age is a protective factor against sarcopenia and effective in maintaining muscle strength and physical performance. Sarcopenia is a disease associated with the ageing process, resulting in loss of skeletal muscle mass and muscle strength and/or function in the elderly. The multiple adverse health outcomes include physical disability, poor quality of life and premature death.

Increased mortality following second hip fracture

Date: Dec-19-2013
Research presented at the 4th Asia-Pacific Osteoporosis Meeting showed that second hip fractures are more deadly than first hip fractures. Based in Hong Kong, the study evaluated the overall incidence of a second hip fracture and subsequent mortality in 43,832 patients, aged 65 or above, with operatively treated first hip fracture during the years 2000-2011. The patients' mean age was 82±7.38 and the male to female ratio was 3:7. A total of 2,399 second hip fractures were identified.On average, second hip fractures occurred 2 years and 8 months after the primary hip fracture.

Massive neuron death in Alzheimer's may be caused by raw ingredients of plaques & tangles working in concert

Date: Dec-19-2013
Much of the debate in Alzheimer's disease (AD) has focused on whether the protein amyloid-beta or the tau protein is the symptom or the cause of the disease.But George Bloom, Ph.D., and colleagues at the University of Virginia (UVA) have pursued another hypothesis: much earlier interactions between the two proteins them drive adult neurons into the forbidden pathway of "cell cycle re-entry" (CCR).Dr. Bloom presented additional evidence supporting the role of CCR in AD at the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) annual meeting in New Orleans.

New high blood pressure guidelines released by committee

Date: Dec-18-2013
Members appointed to the Eighth Joint National Committee have released new guidelines for managing high blood pressure, including nine recommendations and a flow chart to help doctors treat patients with hypertension.Published online in JAMA, the guidelines address three major questions related to hypertension - the most common primary care condition, which can lead to heart attack, stroke, kidney failure and death.In a linked editorial to the guidelines, Dr.

An apple a day keeps vascular mortality at bay, study suggests

Date: Dec-18-2013
We all know the saying, "an apple a day keeps the doctor away." And this may prove true after new research suggests that eating an apple once a day may be just as beneficial as daily statin use when it comes to preventing vascular deaths in individuals over the age of 50. This is according to a study published in the BMJ.Researchers from the University of Oxford in the UK say that in order to prevent heart disease, lifestyle changes are the first port of call.

Cancer death risk increases with chronic kidney disease

Date: Dec-18-2013
Cancer sufferers are more likely to die from their condition if their kidneys are not functioning properly, a new study published online in the American Journal of Kidney Diseases claims.Dr. Germaine Wong from the University of Sydney led the research, which shows that even mild to moderate reduction in kidney function increased the rate of cancer mortality.According to the National Kidney Foundation, 26 million Americans have kidney disease, but as it does not have symptoms until it is advanced, it often goes undiagnosed. Dr.