Health News

Key findings for the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and potential cure for acute myeloid leukemia

Date: Nov-27-2013
Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a group of heterogeneous diseases with considerable diversity in terms of genetic abnormalities. Mutations of CEBPA, a tumour suppressor, are found in about 10 per cent of human AML patients. In two separate studies on CEBPA mutations in AML subtypes, researchers successfully identified and validated a gene known as Sox4 as a potential therapeutic target and a class of anti-cancer drugs, histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors, as potential candidates in the treatment of certain AML.

Improving understanding of the long term co-evolution among retroviruses and host species

Date: Nov-27-2013
Retroviruses are important pathogens capable of crossing species barriers to infect new hosts, but knowledge of their evolutionary history is limited. By mapping endogenous retroviruses (ERVs), retroviruses whose genes have become part of the host organism's genome, researchers at Uppsala University, Sweden, can now provide unique insights into the evolutionary relationships of retroviruses and their host species. The findings will be published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Awe-inspiring sights increase belief in the supernatural

Date: Nov-27-2013
Awe-inspiring moments - like the sight of the Grand Canyon or the Aurora Borealis - might increase our tendency to believe in God and the supernatural, according to new research.The new findings - published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science - suggest that awe-inspiring sights increase our motivation to make sense of the world around us, and may underlie a trigger of belief in the supernatural.

HIV progression 'delayed' with micronutrients and multivitamins

Date: Nov-27-2013
New research suggests that multivitamin supplements taken long-term, alongside a micronutrient called selenium, delay HIV progression in patients with early stages of the disease and reduce the risk of immune decline and illness. This is according to a study published in JAMA.Investigators from Florida International University in Miami, led by Marianna K. Baum, note that micronutrient deficiencies are known to influence immune function, are common before the development of symptoms of HIV (human immunodeficiency virus), and are linked to increased HIV progression.

Changes in cognition, mood, largely unrelated to postmenopausal estrogen decline

Date: Nov-27-2013
A new study led by a Stanford University School of Medicine researcher shows that decreased estrogen levels after menopause are largely unrelated to changes in cognitive ability and mood. It did find, however, a possible link between levels of another hormone - progesterone - and cognition among younger postmenopausal women.

Weight loss aided by embolization procedure

Date: Nov-27-2013
A new study reports that individuals who underwent embolization of the left gastric artery for gastrointestinal bleeding experienced a 7.9 percent decrease in body weight three months after the procedure. Results of the study, which offer a potential new avenue for obesity research, will be presented next week at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).Transarterial embolization is a common interventional procedure used to treat a variety of medical conditions.

Brain cancer destroyed by killer cocktail in mouse model

Date: Nov-27-2013
A novel immune-boosting drug combination eradicates brain cancer in mice, according to a study in The Journal of Experimental Medicine.Glioblastoma is the most aggressive form of brain cancer, and current treatments only modestly prolong patient survival. Immune cells called T cells have the capacity to attack and kill tumor cells, but tumors can counteract this attack by creating an environment that dampens T cell activity. T cells have ways of limiting their own activation (and thus autoimmunity), one of which is to express inhibitory cell surface proteins upon activation.

Lupus patients may benefit from identification of targets of autoantibodies

Date: Nov-27-2013
Patients with the autoimmune disease systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) produce autoantibodies that target can cause damage to multiple organ systems. The host factors that are targeted by autoantibodies produced by SLE patients are not fully understood.In this issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Jordan Price and colleagues at Stanford University developed a microarray to identify cytokines, chemokines, and other circulating proteins as potential targets of the autoantibodies produced by SLE patients.

Neuronal cell function maintained by circadian clock proteins

Date: Nov-27-2013
The circadian clock synchronizes the molecular activity of cells to their environment. The "core clock" of the circadian system is made up of a group of proteins that autonomously activate and repress each other. BMAL1, one of the activating core clock proteins, is critical for maintaining circadian rhythm and for controlling oxidative stress, normal aging and cognitive ability.

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma patient response to radiation therapy predicted

Date: Nov-27-2013
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) affects cells lining the nasopharynx. The majority of NPC cases can be cured by radiation therapy, however ~20% are resistant to radiation treatment.In this issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Yu-Sun Chang and colleagues at Chang Gung University sought to find a way to predict which individual cases of NPC would be sensitive to radiation therapy. The authors compared the levels of various serum factors between NPC patients that responded to radiation therapy and patients that were resistant to therapy.