Health News

Salmonella jams signals from bacteria-fighting mast cells

Date: Dec-17-2013
A protein in Salmonella inactivates mast cells -- critical players in the body's fight against bacteria and other pathogens -- rendering them unable to protect against bacterial spread in the body, according to researchers at Duke Medicine and Duke-National University of Singapore (Duke-NUS).The study, conducted in mice, was published Dec. 12, 2013, in the journal Immunity.

Exercise can reduce drug-related joint pain in breast cancer patients, study shows

Date: Dec-17-2013
Breast cancer survivors taking aromatase inhibitors (AIs) such as anastrozole, letrozole, and exemestane experienced a reduction in joint pain if they exercised while on treatment, according to results presented here at the 2013 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held Dec. 10-14.Five years of AI use after surgery or other primary treatment is recommended for postmenopausal women diagnosed with stages 1-3 hormone receptor-positive breast cancers, which account for nearly 70 percent of all newly diagnosed breast cancer cases.

Diet and physical activity may affect one's risk of developing kidney stones

Date: Dec-17-2013
Even small amounts of physical activity may decrease the risk of developing kidney stones, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN). The study also found that consuming too many calories may increase risk.Over the last 10 to 15 years, research has revealed that kidney stones are more of a systemic problem than previously thought. Their links with obesity, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and cardiovascular disease demonstrate that the process of stone formation involves more than just the kidneys.

Physical activity may slow kidney function decline in patients with kidney disease

Date: Dec-17-2013
Increased physical activity may slow kidney function decline in patients with kidney disease, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN). The findings suggest that exercise could have a powerful effect on maintaining patients' health.Approximately 60 million people globally have chronic kidney disease (CKD). In the past 20 years, few new interventions have been shown to be useful in slowing the progression of the disease.

From friend to foe: How benign bacteria evolve to virulent pathogens

Date: Dec-17-2013
Bacteria can evolve rapidly to adapt to environmental change. When the "environment" is the immune response of an infected host, this evolution can turn harmless bacteria into life-threatening pathogens. A study published on December 12 in PLOS Pathogens provides insight into how this happens.Isabel Gordo and colleagues from the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciencia in Oeira, Portugal, have for the first time devised an experimental system to observe and study the evolution of bacteria in response to encounters with cells of the mammalian immune system.

Partially blocking blood vessels' energy source may stop cancer growth, blindness & other conditions

Date: Dec-17-2013
Inhibiting the formation of new blood vessels is a common strategy for treating a range of conditions such as cancer, inflammatory diseases, and age-related macular degeneration. Unfortunately, drug inefficiency, resistance, and relapse have limited the success of this approach. Now new research published online December 12 in the Cell Press journal Cell Metabolism reveals that targeting the metabolism of blood vessels may be a way around these shortcomings.

New drug combination delayed disease progression for subgroup of women with metastatic breast cancer

Date: Dec-17-2013
Adding the drug dasatinib to a standard antihormone therapy, letrozole, doubled the time before disease progressed for women with hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer, according to results of a phase II clinical trial presented at the 2013 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held Dec. 10-14.Dasatinib is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of chronic myelogenous leukemia. One of the ways it works is by blocking the activity of a protein called Src, which has been recently implicated in the spread of breast cancer to bones.

First in-human trial of endoxifen shows promise as breast cancer treatment

Date: Dec-17-2013
A Phase I trial of endoxifen, an active metabolite of the cancer drug tamoxifen, indicates that the experimental drug is safe, with early evidence for anti-tumor activity, a Mayo Clinic study has found. The findings indicate that Z-endoxifen, co-developed by Mayo Clinic Cancer Center and the National Cancer Institute (NCI), may provide a new and better treatment for some women with estrogen positive breast cancer and, in particular, for those women who do not respond to tamoxifen and aromatase inhibitors.

High levels of maternal care has life-long impact on vulnerability to stress

Date: Dec-17-2013
A new study shows that high levels of maternal care during the early post-natal period in rodents can reduce the sensitivity of the offspring to stressful events during adulthood. Maternal care is shown to chemically modify and thereby re-program genes that control stress responses making them less likely to be activated. The findings have important implications for understanding early environment influences on stress-related disorders.

Worms and hot baths: Novel approaches to treating autism

Date: Dec-17-2013
A new study shows that two unusual treatment approaches may have beneficial effects on the symptoms of autism in children and adults with the disorder. Using a hot bath to raise body temperature and thereby mimic the effects of infection, or using worm eggs to stimulate the production of immunoregulatory factors in the gut to diminish inflammatory signals, both attenuated symptoms of autism. These findings support the idea that disruption of systems in the body that control inflammation may contribute to the disorder.