Health News

Test shown to reduce early chronic lymphocytic leukemia deaths is now available to patients

Date: Nov-30-2013
SignatureCLL have announced that the first laboratory test ever shown in a clinical trial to improve one year survival rates in cancer is now available to patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (also called CLL). The U.S. cancer physician who invented the test and the British scientist who used it to make discoveries in leukemia will offer the test under the trade name SignatuRx™ through their own, newly-formed laboratory company.

UN develops innovative early warning tool for drought prone Asia-Pacific regions

Date: Nov-30-2013
Senior officials from governments across the Asia-Pacific region have agreed on aset of collective priorities and ground-breaking initiatives that willbuild resilience to natural disasters and further enhance regionalcooperation, at a meeting convened by the United Nations Economic andSocial Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) in Bangkok.

Two-thirds of parents unaware of opportunities for their children in medical research

Date: Nov-30-2013
Almost half of parents said they'd allow their children to take part if their child had the disease being studied, according to U-M's National Poll on Children's Health To improve healthcare for children, medical research that involves kids is a must. Yet, only five percent of parents say their children have ever participated in any type of medical research, according to a new University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health.

Report: infant HIV decreases, but teen AIDS-related deaths increase

Date: Nov-29-2013
A new report from children's charity UNICEF has revealed that more than 850,000 infants have been saved from contracting HIV since 2005 in low- and middle-income countries, and that new adolescent infections could be halved by 2020 with more focus on interventions.The 2013 Stocktaking Report on Children and AIDS analyzed the prevalence of HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) and AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) worldwide, what impact past inventions have had, and whether increased investment in these is likely to reduce prevalence of the infection going forward.

Tongue piercing-controlled wheelchair performs 'three times better'

Date: Nov-29-2013
A new device shows that tongue piercings can be more than just an expression of one's style. They can also help those who have lost the use of their arms and legs move. In a recent clinical trial, the device, called the Tongue Drive System, performed much better than the most widely used system.The study, which was led by Associate Professor Maysam Ghovanloo, from the Georgia Institute of Technology, was recently published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

High-fat diets in puberty linked to breast cancer

Date: Nov-29-2013
Young women approaching puberty could reduce their risk of breast cancer if they avoid high-fat diets, researchers from Michigan State University claim.The research, published in the current online issue of Breast Cancer Research, suggests that eating a diet high in saturated animal fats not only speeds up the development of breast cancer, but also may increase the risk of developing the disease.

Aggressive new HIV strain leads to AIDS more quickly

Date: Nov-29-2013
New research from Lund University in Sweden suggests that a new aggressive strain of HIV develops more rapidly into AIDS than other current strains.From first infection with HIV to developing AIDS can be as short as 5 years - the shortest known for HIV-1 types - say the researchers.The new strain is a "recombinant" virus - a cross of two viruses that meet in an infected person.The two viruses, known as 02AG and A3, are the two most common strains in Guinea-Bissau, West Africa. The recombinant strain is called A3/02 and so far has only been seen in the region.

Bone grafts may be better with new sea coral material

Date: Nov-29-2013
Bone grafts could one day incorporate sea coral more extensively, thanks to a small clinical study that found refining its properties makes it more compatible and degradable than a currently used derivative.Dr. Zhidao Xia, a specialist in regenerative medicine at Swansea University in the UK, and colleagues from the UK and China describe their findings in the latest online issue of the journal Biomedical Materials.

Vision prescription differs between eyes for many seniors

Date: Nov-29-2013
Follow-up in older adults shows a high rate of anisometropia, or differing levels of visual abnormalities between eyes, reports a study in Optometry and Vision Science, official journal of the American Academy of Optometry. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health."Uncorrected anisometropia is likely to lead to disturbances in binocular vision and stereopsis, which in turn may contribute to falls in the elderly," concludes the new research, led by Gunilla Haegerstrom-Portnoy, OD, PhD, FAAO, of University of California, Berkeley.

Childhood exercise 'may reduce effects of maternal obesity'

Date: Nov-29-2013
A new animal study suggests that children of obese mothers could reduce their risk of developing negative health effects linked to obesity by exercising during childhood. This is according to a study published in the American Journal of Physiology - Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology.Obesity during pregnancy can lead to many health problems for a mother, including gestational diabetes, preeclampsia and thrombosis. It also increases the risk of the child developing obesity-related conditions as an adult, such as heart disease or diabetes.