Health News

Researchers seek a unified theory of aging

Date: Dec-11-2013
New demographic data show how diversely different species age - biologists cannot explain whyDespite aging being one of the hottest topics in the media recently, scientists have no coherent explanation for it. New demographic data on humans, animals and plants for the first time unveil such an extraordinary diversity of aging processes that no existing evolutionary theory can account for. Both life spans and mortalities vary from species to species. The fact that the probability of dying rises with age applies to humans, but is not principally true.

Clinical trial of vitamin' D for multiple sclerosis

Date: Dec-11-2013
In mice with a rodent form of multiple sclerosis (MS), vitamin D appears to block damage-causing immune cells from migrating to the central nervous system, offering a potential explanation for why the so-called "sunshine vitamin" may prevent or ease symptoms of the neurodegenerative disease, according to results of a study at Johns Hopkins.A report on the findings, published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, offers new insight into the widely suspected benefits of vitamin D in people with MS.

Discovery of CXCR4 mutations in Waldenstrom's Macroglobulinemia helps identify which patients are more likely to benefit from ibrutinib

Date: Dec-11-2013
In nearly one-third of patients with Waldenstrom's Macroglobulinemia, a specific genetic mutation switches on the disease, and a new drug that blocks the defective gene can arrest the disease in animal models, researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and allied institutions reported at the 2013 annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH). The finding may open the way to clinical trials of the drug in Waldenstrom's patients whose tumor cells carry the mutation.Waldenstrom's is a form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma diagnosed in 2,000 to 3,000 people in the United States each year.

In rat model researchers use neural prosthesis to restore behavior after brain injury

Date: Dec-11-2013
Scientists from Case Western Reserve University and University of Kansas Medical Center have restored behavior - in this case, the ability to reach through a narrow opening and grasp food - using a neural prosthesis in a rat model of brain injury.Ultimately, the team hopes to develop a device that rapidly and substantially improves function after brain injury in humans. There is no such commercial treatment for the 1.

Fear conditioning likely cause of acute stress related to prolonged viewing of media coverage of Boston Marathon bombings

Date: Dec-11-2013
Stepping away from the television, computer screen or smartphone in the aftermath of terrorist attacks or mass shootings may be beneficial to your mental health. That's the takeaway from a new study by UC Irvine researchers showing that six or more daily hours of exposure to media coverage of the Boston Marathon bombings in the week afterward was linked to more acute stress than having been at or near the marathon. Acute stress symptoms increased with each additional hour of bombing-related media exposure via television, social media, videos, print or radio.

ACP issues policy paper on prescription drug abuse; Guidelines recommend wider statin use among adults with chronic kidney disease

Date: Dec-11-2013
1. American College of Physicians issues policy calling for tighter management of prescription drugsIn a new policy paper published in Annals of Internal Medicine, the American College of Physicians (ACP) recommends clinical and administrative changes that will make it harder for prescription drugs, such as those prescribed for pain, sleep disorders, and weight loss, to be abused or diverted for sale on the street.

In murine osteoporosis, choloroquine reduces formation of bone resorbing cells

Date: Dec-11-2013
Bone homeostasis requires precise balance between deposition of new bone by osteoblasts and resorption of old bone by osteoclasts. Bone diseases, including osteoporosis and rheumatoid arthritis, are the result of increased osteoclast activity and formation, which allows bone resorption to outpace deposition. In this issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Brendan Boyce and colleagues at the University of Rochester evaluated the role of TNF receptor-associated receptor 3 (TRAF3) in promoting osteoclast formation.

€4.9m project to help Europeans manage their weight

Date: Dec-11-2013
Researchers and businesses are joining forces to develop innovative techniques to help people manage their weight and increase their physical fitness with the use of emerging technology and information systems. A three-year project, dubbed DAPHNE, comes at a time when more than 70% of adults and a third of children in some EU countries are overweight.* The multi-centre collaboration involves ten universities and technology companies, with a total budget of €4.9m.

Stem cell transplantation outcomes 'improved with new drug regime'

Date: Dec-11-2013
New research suggests that outcomes for patients who have undergone stem cell transplants from unrelated or mismatched donors could be improved with the use of a drug called bortezomib, also known as velcade. This is according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology.Stem cell transplants are treatments carried out in an attempt to cure some cancers affecting the body's bone marrow, such as leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma.

New technique could help bring cancer biomarkers to clinic

Date: Dec-11-2013
An international team of scientists led by Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center cancer proteomics expert Amanda Paulovich, M.D., has demonstrated the feasibility of large-scale, standardized protein measurements, which are necessary for validation of disease biomarkers and drug targets.The study, published online in the journal Nature Methods, shows that the scientists' targeted protein-detection approach has the potential to systematically and reliably measure the entire human repertoire of proteins, known as the proteome.