Health News

Chemical modification discovered in human malaria parasite DNA

Date: Dec-13-2013
Say "malaria" and most people think "mosquito," but the buzzing, biting insect is merely the messenger, delivering the Plasmodium parasites that sickened more than 200 million people globally in 2010 and killed about 660,000. Worse, the parasite is showing resistance to artemisinin, the most effective drug for treating infected people.

Dramatic rise expected in hip fractures as Hong Kong's over 70s population increases

Date: Dec-13-2013
A new report issued by the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) shows that broken bones due to osteoporosis pose a major and growing health problem in the Asia-Pacific. With its rapidly ageing population, Hong Kong will be among the areas most affected in the near future.Hip fractures in particular will have a major and costly socio-economic impact. Currently, 52 million USD is spent annually in Hong Kong for surgery and hospital care.

New strain of bird flu packs a punch even after becoming drug-resistant

Date: Dec-13-2013
Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai reported that a virulent new strain of influenza - the virus that causes the flu - appears to retain its ability to cause serious disease in humans even after it develops resistance to antiviral medications. The finding was included in a study that was published in the journal Nature Communications.It is not uncommon for influenza viruses to develop genetic mutations that make them less susceptible to anti-flu drugs.

Early brain development influenced by poverty

Date: Dec-13-2013
Poverty may have direct implications for important, early steps in the development of the brain, saddling children of low-income families with slower rates of growth in two key brain structures, according to researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.By age 4, children in families living with incomes under 200 percent of the federal poverty line have less gray matter - brain tissue critical for processing of information and execution of actions - than kids growing up in families with higher incomes."This is an important link between poverty and biology.

Identifying aggressive breast cancers in black women

Date: Dec-13-2013
African-American women who get breast cancer often get more aggressive forms of the disease and at younger ages than other women.But a Georgia State University researcher has found a way to identify these aggressive cancers in black women, which would let their doctors customize their treatment.Ritu Aneja, associate professor of biology, has been studying a protein called HSET. Earlier studies have linked elevated levels of HSET to the spread of lung cancer to the brain.

Scientists reveal choreographed stages of salmonella infection

Date: Dec-13-2013
Scientists have used a new method to map the response of every salmonella gene to conditions in the human body, providing new insight into how the bacteria triggers infection.In a world first, the scientists exposed salmonella to 22 lab environments that mimic conditions that the bacterium finds when it enters the human body and discovered the effects of these conditions on individual genes in the bacteria.After people eat salmonella, the microbes enter the stomach, and intestine, and then invade human cells.

Severe asthma: new guidelines and updated definition of the disease

Date: Dec-13-2013
A new guideline has provided an updated definition of severe asthma along with new recommendations for treating the condition.Produced by a joint task force of the European Respiratory Society and the American Thoracic Society, the guideline was published online in the European Respiratory Journal.Although severe asthma is estimated to account for less than 10% of all asthmatics, these patients have the greatest burden and require a disproportionate amount of healthcare costs to be spent on treating their condition, which is harder to control.

Seasonal affective disorder: could you spot the signs?

Date: Dec-13-2013
Winter is well and truly upon us. For many regions, this means miserable weather, less sunlight and darker days. Although we would much prefer our days to be filled with warmth and sunshine, many of us adapt to seasonal changes. But for others, the change in seasons may trigger a form of depression.First described in 1984 by Dr. Norman Rosenthal from the US, seasonal affective disorder (SAD), also known as seasonal adjustment disorder, is a form of depression that can occur at certain times of the year.

James Bond: 'shaken, not stirred' due to alcohol-induced tremor?

Date: Dec-13-2013
Fictional British spy James Bond is well known for requesting his martinis to be "shaken, not stirred." But new research published in the BMJ suggests that his excessive alcohol consumption means he would have had no choice but to have his martinis shaken, as he may have developed an alcohol-induced tremor.To reach their findings, researchers from the UK, led by Dr. Patrick Davis of the Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, read all 14 original James Bond novels by Ian Fleming between January and July 2013.

Effectiveness of influenza vaccines may be significantly improved by brief laser-light treatment

Date: Dec-13-2013
Pretreating the site of intradermal vaccination - vaccine delivered into the skin rather than to muscles beneath the skin - with a particular wavelength of laser light may substantially improve vaccine effectiveness without the adverse effects of chemical additives currently used to boost vaccine efficacy.