Health News

Growing umbilical cord blood stem cells in lab before transplant boosts leukemia, lymphoma survival

Date: Dec-12-2013
Donated umbilical cord blood contains stem cells that can save the lives of patients with leukemia, lymphoma and other blood cancers.Now a study lead by a Loyola University Medical Center oncologist has found that growing cord blood stem cells in a laboratory before transplanting them into patients significantly improves survival.The cell-expansion technology potentially could boost the number of patients who could benefit from life-saving transplants of stem cells derived from umbilical cord blood, said Patrick Stiff, MD, lead author of the study.

Patients with non-Hodgkin lymphomas resistant to treatment benefit from drug-antibody pair

Date: Dec-12-2013
A toxin linked to a targeted monoclonal antibody has shown "compelling" antitumor activity in patients with non-Hodgkin lymphomas who were no longer responding to treatment, according to a report from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.The ongoing open-label phase 2 study presented at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) meeting was designed to test the activity of brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris) in relapsed or refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) including B-cell cancers such as diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL).

T372R mutation identified as potential target for diagnosis and treatment of insulinoma

Date: Dec-12-2013
Chinese researchers from Rui-Jin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao-Tong University School of Medicine, BGI and other institutes identified the recurrent T372R mutation in the transcription factor YY1 (Yin Yang 1) are related with insulinoma oncogenesis, implicating a potential marker for the diagnosis and treatment of functional pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PNETs). The latest study was published online in Nature Communications.Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors are classified into functional and nonfunctional tumors by hormone secretion and clinical symptoms.

Drug control program may not cope with antibiotic-resistant typhoid

Date: Dec-12-2013
Restricting the use of antibiotics is unlikely to stop the spread of drug resistance in typhoid fever, according to a study funded by the Wellcome Trust and published in the journal eLife.The findings reveal that antibiotic-resistant strains of Salmonella Typhi bacteria can out-compete drug sensitive strains when grown in the laboratory, even in the absence of antibiotics.Typhoid fever is transmitted by consuming food or drink that is contaminated with Salmonella Typhi bacteria and the disease is linked to poor sanitation and limited access to clean drinking water.

High rates of PTSD, depression suffered by contractors who worked in conflict zones

Date: Dec-12-2013
Private contractors who worked in Iraq, Afghanistan or other conflict environments over the past two years report suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and depression more often than military personnel who served in recent conflicts, according to a new RAND Corporation study.Researchers found that among the contractors studied, 25 percent met criteria for PTSD, 18 percent screened positive for depression and half reported alcohol misuse. Despite the troubles, relatively few get help either before or after deployment.

Recycled plastic turned into 'nanofibers' to attack fungal infection

Date: Dec-12-2013
Scientists say they have made a "nanomedicine breakthrough" by creating "antifungal nanofibers" from recycled plastic materials that are able to target and attack specific fungal infections. This is according to a study published in the journal Nature Communications.

MicroRNA response to bacterial infection affected by gut microbes

Date: Dec-12-2013
When it comes to fighting off pathogens like Listeria, your best allies may be the billions of microorganisms that line your gut, according to new research published in mBio®, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology. The study reveals that germ-free mice are more susceptible to infection with the foodborne pathogen Listeria monocytogenes than mice with conventional intestinal microbiota.

Breast cancer: older survivors benefit from exercise programs

Date: Dec-12-2013
New research suggests that breast cancer survivors of an older age should follow ongoing exercise programs involving resistance and impact training to build and maintain muscle strength and bone density. This is according to a follow-up study published in The Journal of Cancer Survivorship.According to the American Cancer Society, there are more than 2.8 million breast cancer survivors in the US alone. The majority of these women are over the age of 50.

Blows to the head could affect brain, memory and thinking

Date: Dec-12-2013
Repeated blows to the head are never a good idea, so it is not surprising that new research suggests that even when they do not cause concussion, blows may affect the brain's white matter and impact cognition, memory and thinking abilities.Head impacts may lead to worrying consequences, including increased susceptibility to concussion, long-term cognitive decline and chronic traumatic encephalopathy - a degenerative disease associated with people who have suffered multiple head injuries.

Thinking about time can strengthen morality whereas thinking about money may corrupt

Date: Dec-12-2013
Priming people to think about money makes them more likely to cheat, but priming them to think about time seems to strengthen their moral compass, according to new research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.The research, conducted by psychological scientists Francesca Gino of Harvard Business School and Cassie Mogilner of The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, shows that implicitly activating the concept of time reduces cheating behavior by encouraging people to engage in self-reflection.