Exercise Protects From ColdsA moderate exercise program may reduce the occurence rate of colds. A study reported in the recent issue of The American Journal of Medicine, led by scientists at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, observed that otherwise sedentary women who engaged in moderate exercise had fewer colds over a one year period than a control group.
Subjects in a group of 115 overweight and obese, sedentary, postmenopausal women were randomly assigned to........Go to the Health-blog (Added on 10/26/2006 4:43:20 AM)
Predicting Risk for Recurrent StrokePeople who have just suffered their first ischemic stroke, a blood clot in the brain, often have elevated inflammatory biomarkers in their blood that indicate their likelihood of having another stroke or an increased risk of dying, as per Columbia University Medical Center scientists at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.
Reported in the Oct. 23 Archives of Internal Medicine, results of the new study indicate that these inflammatory markers are........Go to the Health-blog (Added on 10/24/2006 5:55:50 PM)
Novel Studies Of Human InfectionA new type of laboratory mouse developed at UT Southwestern Medical Center can fight certain infections the same way humans do, making the rodents very useful for novel studies of human-pathogen interaction and developing disease therapies.
Normal mice are not susceptible to human-specific viruses, such as Epstein Barr virus and HIV, making it hard to study and craft drugs to target the viruses. Epstein Barr is a virus that causes........Go to the News-blog (Added on 10/22/2006 11:03:10 PM)
How To Seal DNA BreaksResearchers investigating an important DNA-repair enzyme now have a better picture of the final steps of a process that glues together, or ligates, the ends of DNA strands to restore the double helix.
The enzyme, DNA ligase, repairs the millions of DNA breaks generated during the normal course of a cell's life, for example, linking together the abundant DNA fragments formed during replication of the genetic material in dividing cells.
........Go to the Cancer-blog (Added on 10/22/2006 8:40:42 PM)
Reducing Knee Pain And Reliance On PainkillersOlder people with knee pain who receive their main care from physiotherapists and pharmacists are more likely to experience improvements in pain levels and knee function, and are less likely to need NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, eg asprin and ibuprofen), according to a BMJ study.
Researchers from Keele University undertook a study involving over 300 people with knee pain. The participants (aged over 55), were split into........Go to the Health-blog (Added on 10/19/2006 9:41:44 PM)
How Pathogens Spread In Human BodyScientists at the University of Cambridge have discovered a new, more accurate, method of mapping how bacteria spread within the body, a breakthrough that could lead to more effective therapys and prevention of certain bacterial infections.
Dr. Pietro Mastroeni, Professor Duncan Maskell at the Centre for Veterinary Science, and their teams have pioneered the integration of mathematical models with observational data to predict the spread of........Go to the Health-blog (Added on 10/19/2006 9:30:37 PM)
Targeted Tumor TherapyTargeted tumor treatment lobs toxic payloads directly into tumors to destroy cancer cells while leaving normal cells unharmed. In the case of radiotherapy, these missiles, which should unerringly home in on the target and make it implode, consist of radioactive bullets guided by small molecules--known as agonists--that recognize and then activate specific receptors over-expressed on the surface of tumor cells.
But a team including scientists........Go to the Cancer-blog (Added on 10/19/2006 8:47:51 PM)
Hospital food not good enoughMontclair, NJ - October 18, 2006 -- Substantial nutrient loss in food occurs in hospital foodservice operations, according to research recently published in the Journal of Foodservice. The study quantifies how much Vitamin C, as a marker of nutrient quality, is retained at various stages of processing at two New Jersey hospitals.
The nutrient quality of Vitamin C was significantly reduced as a food sample progressed to patients by as much........Go to the Health-blog (Added on 10/18/2006 10:44:20 PM)
Regular Exercise Keeps Breast-cancer AwayPostmenopausal women who want to significantly decrease their breast-cancer risk would be wise to exercise regularly and keep their weight within a normal range for their height, according to new findings from the Women's Health Initiative would be published in the journal Obesity.
The multicenter team of researchers, led by Anne McTiernan, M.D., Ph.D., of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, found that women who had the lowest body-mass........Go to the Cancer-blog (Added on 10/17/2006 9:49:18 PM)
Bacteria Increase Risk Of Stomach CancerThe bacteria Helicobacter pylori substantially increase the risk of cancer in the lower stomach, but it may decrease the risk of cancer near the junction between the esophagus and the stomach, according to a study in the October 19 Journal of the National Cancer Institute. This finding may help explain the changing rates and distributions of these cancers in Western countries over the past century.
Infection with H. pylori, which is known to........Go to the News-blog (Added on 10/17/2006 9:30:53 PM)
How Ebola And Marburg Cause DiseaseResearchers in the Greene Infectious Disease Laboratory at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Caribbean Primate Research Center have discovered a key mechanism by which the Filoviruses, Ebola and Marburg, cause disease. The identification of an amino acid sequence in Filoviruses that results in the rapid depression of immunological response is described in the December........Go to the Health-blog (Added on 10/16/2006 10:06:39 PM)
Women On Hormone Therapy Sensitive To Negative EventsOlder women on hormone treatment are more sensitive to negative events, confirming speculation that age-related estrogen loss affects the brain's ability to process emotion, an Oregon Health & Science University study shows.
But that sensitivity to negative emotional events, such as viewing a photograph of a dead person, doesn't necessarily mean women taking estrogen remember those events any better.
In the study by scientists in the........Go to the Health-blog (Added on 10/16/2006 9:53:35 PM)
Same Gene For Cleft Lip And Skin BiologyFollowing up on an earlier discovery that a gene called IRF6 is involved in the common birth defect cleft lip and palate, scientists at the University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine and their colleagues have identified the function of the gene. Their latest findings, published online Oct. 15 in Nature Genetics, reveal an unexpected role for IRF6 in the growth and development of skin cells, a discovery that may have........Go to the Health-blog (Added on 10/15/2006 7:17:18 PM)
Friendly Bacteria To Fight Food AllergiesFeeding babies alcoholic milk may help to protect against some food allergies. Kefir, a traditional fermented drink, is consumed in Eastern Europe as a health food, and is often used to wean babies, as it is easily digested. Food allergy prevalence is particularly high in children under the age of three, with around 5-8% of infants at risk. Currently the only therapy is avoidance of the problematic food.
"Friendly" bacteria in kefir may play........Go to the Health-blog (Added on 10/15/2006 7:04:07 PM)
Studying Pediatric AIDS VaccineScientists at Makerere University, in Kampala, Uganda, along with scientists from Johns Hopkins and other institutions worldwide, have begun the first clinical safety trial in Africa of a vaccine to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV through breastfeeding. Breast milk is a leading route of infection in the developing world, according to the United Nations World Health Organization, which estimates that each day 1,800 newborns are........Go to the Health-blog (Added on 10/13/2006 4:54:37 AM)
Algae Provide Clues To CancerA microscopic green alga helped researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies identify a novel function for the retinoblastoma protein (RB), which is known for its role as a tumor suppressor in mammalian cells. By coupling cell size with cell division, RB ensures that cells stay within an optimal size range.
Their findings, which would be reported in the October 13 online edition of PLoS Genetics, show that RB blocks cells from........Go to the Cancer-blog (Added on 10/12/2006 10:12:43 PM)
Potential New Drug For Multiple SclerosisVirginia Commonwealth University researchers have identified a unique mechanism of action of a new drug that shows great promise for the treatment of multiple sclerosis.
The researchers report the unique action of FTY720, or Fingolimod, an immunosuppressant drug that was already known to affect the functioning of the immune system by preventing the egress of white blood cells from the lymph nodes into the blood. The article was pre-published........Go to the News-blog (Added on 10/12/2006 5:11:51 AM)
Innovative Surgery Corrects VisionChildren with cerebral palsy and other neurological problems often have extremely poor eyesight. Their ability to read, pick up objects and "see" the world is so impaired and complicated to treat that many go untreated, even though they may be legally blind.
Janice Brunstrom, M.D., assistant professor of neurology and pediatrics at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Loius and a neurologist at St. Louis Children's Hospital, saw........Go to the Health-blog (Added on 10/11/2006 5:22:46 AM)
Progress In HIV ResearchHow a harmless virus called GB Virus type C (GBV-C) protects against HIV infection is now better understood. Researchers at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Iowa City Health Care System and the University of Iowa have identified a protein segment that strongly inhibits HIV from growing in cell models.
The team found that an 85-amino acid segment within a GBV-C viral protein called NS5A greatly slows down HIV from replicating in cells........Go to the Health-blog (Added on 10/9/2006 9:14:52 PM)
Genome Id Method Against CancerA mathematical discovery has extended the reach of a novel genome mapping method to humans, potentially giving cancer biology a faster and more cost-effective tool than traditional DNA sequencing.
A student-led group from the laboratory of Michael Waterman, USC University Professor in molecular and computational biology, has developed an algorithm to handle the massive amounts of data created by a restriction mapping technology known as........Go to the Cancer-blog (Added on 10/9/2006 8:48:32 PM)
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Insight Into Posttraumatic Stress DisorderNew research into Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is leading to a better understanding of its underlying neurobiology, risk factors and long-term implications. The findings are published in a recent issue of Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences and were revealed at a conference jointly sponsored by the New York Academy of Sciences and the Mount Sinai School of Medicine.
Researchers are studying a number of previously unexplored........Go to the Health-blog (Added on 10/26/2006 5:08:56 AM)
Virtual Colonoscopy More ExpensiveWake Forest University Baptist Medical Center scientists have observed that "virtual" colonoscopy using a computer tomography (CT) scanner is considerably more expensive than the traditional procedure due to the detection of suspicious images outside of the colon.
"Virtual colonoscopy will certainly play a role in the future of colon cancer screening," said gastroenterologist Richard S. Bloomfeld, M.S., M.D., assistant professor of medicine........Go to the News-blog (Added on 10/24/2006 5:48:58 PM)
Choosing Chemotherapy Using GenomicsResearchers at Duke University's Institute for Genome Sciences & Policy have developed a panel of genomic tests that analyzes the unique molecular traits of a malignant tumor and determines which chemotherapy will most aggressively attack that patient's cancer.
In experiments published in the November 2006 issue of the journal Nature Medicine, the scientists applied the genomic tests to cells derived from tumors of cancer patients. They........Go to the Cancer-blog (Added on 10/22/2006 11:23:30 PM)
Excalia Combination Therapy To Treat ObesityOREXIGENTM Therapeutics, Inc., a privately held clinical-stage neuroscience company developing novel strategic approaches to the treatment of obesity, today announced that ExcaliaTM, a combination of two centrally-acting medications intended to provide and sustain clinically important weight loss, demonstrated significant weight loss in a six month, double-blind, phase IIa clinical study. The magnitude of weight reduction........Go to the Health-blog (Added on 10/22/2006 10:59:06 PM)
Heart Surgery For Atrial Fibrillation SimplifiedHeart surgeons at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have helped usher in a new era in the surgical therapy of atrial fibrillation. Using radiofrequency devices - rather than a scalpel - they've greatly shortened the surgery and made it significantly easier to perform.
"Because of the devices, the procedure - called the Cox-Maze procedure - has gone from an operation that hardly anyone was doing to one that 80 to 90........Go to the Health-blog (Added on 10/22/2006 8:13:32 PM)
Fusion In The Fast LaneUsing fast digital imaging, researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces in Potsdam, Gera number of, together with scientists from Collge de France, have succeeded in developing two different protocols by which one can initiate the fusion process in a controlled manner and observe the subsequent fusion dynamics with a temporal resolution in the microsecond regime. For both protocols, the opening of the fusion necks was........Go to the News-blog (Added on 10/19/2006 9:22:36 PM)
Affymetrix 500K Array And Memory GeneAffymetrix Inc. announced recently that researchers at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) in Phoenix, Arizona have used the Affymetrix 500K Array to discover a gene--called Kibra--associated with memory performance in humans. The team's findings may be used to develop new medicines for memory-based diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's by providing scientists with a better understanding of how memory works at the........Go to the Health-blog (Added on 10/19/2006 8:59:32 PM)
Cancer Stem Cells Linked To Radiation ResistanceCertain types of brain cancer cells, called cancer stem cells, help brain tumors to buffer themselves against radiation therapy by activating a "repair switch" that enables them to continue to grow unchecked, scientists at Duke University Medical Center have found.
The scientists also identified a method that appears to block the cells' ability to activate the repair switch following radiation therapy. This finding may lead to the........Go to the Cancer-blog (Added on 10/18/2006 10:39:41 PM)
New Research To Cut Animal TestingScientists at The University of Manchester have been awarded £130,000 to develop new techniques to reduce the need for animals in drug testing.
Current checks to establish whether a new drug is carcinogenic can be inconclusive and require further testing on live animals to establish whether they are harmful or not.
Dr Richard Walmsley and his colleagues at the University spin-out company he founded, Gentronix, have developed techniques........Go to the Health-blog (Added on 10/17/2006 9:43:02 PM)
Virtual Colonoscopy saves livesThree-dimensional computed tomography (CT) colonography, also known as virtual colonoscopy, is an accurate screening method for colorectal cancer, as per a research studyreported in the recent issue of the journal Radiology. In addition, when covered by third-party payers, virtual colonoscopy may entice more people to be screened.
"Our positive experience with virtual colonoscopy screening covered by health insurance demonstrates its........Go to the Health-blog (Added on 10/17/2006 9:22:41 PM)
New Hope For Children With LeukemiaClinicians at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have successfully demonstrated an improved technique for blood stem cell transplantations in children that shows promise for those most likely to fail standard treatment for leukemia.
The St. Jude technique allows blood stem cells to come from parents or unmatched adult siblings; and it avoids the aggressive, toxic treatments that usually must accompany the transplant. This allows the........Go to the Cancer-blog (Added on 10/17/2006 4:43:54 AM)
Physicians Hinder Use Of Cutting Edge Technology In DiabetesDiabetic patients who use newer technologies such as insulin pumps and blood glucose monitoring devices are better able to manage their disease and adhere to treatment regimens, with less daily pain, than with conventional treatments, according to Duke University researchers. Yet researchers have found that the newer methods to manage diabetes are not being widely used because physicians may be reluctant to prescribe them, and even patients who........Go to the Health-blog (Added on 10/15/2006 7:38:42 PM)
Novel Therapy For Prostate CancerA team of University of Iowa Health Care scientists has launched an important clinical trial of a novel therapeutic that may eventually lead to new therapys for men diagnosed with prostate cancer.
The Ad5-TRAIL gene treatment for prostate cancer research trial is a Phase I study designed to test the optimal dosage at which the therapeutic agent can safely be given to patients.
The clinical study is being co-led by Thomas Griffith, Ph.D.,........Go to the Cancer-blog (Added on 10/15/2006 7:32:05 PM)
New Mechanisms For Dopamine ReleaseThe neurotransmitter dopamine continues to be released for nearly an hour after neurons are stimulated, suggesting the existence of secondary mechanisms that allow for sustained availability of dopamine in different regions of the brain including areas critical for memory consolidation, drug induced plasticity and maintaining active networks during working memory, according to a University of Pittsburgh study being presented today at the 36th........Go to the Health-blog (Added on 10/15/2006 6:42:01 PM)
Leading Reason For Corneal TransplantsGuided by families with an unusual number of cases, researchers at Johns Hopkins have discovered the genetic origins of at least one form of Fuchs corneal dystrophy, FCD, the leading reason for corneal transplantation in the United States.
In one form or another, FCD's trademark deterioration of the cells covering the clear, outermost lens of the eye affects more than 4 percent of the population over 40. Late in life, the dystrophy causes........Go to the Health-blog (Added on 10/12/2006 10:17:07 PM)
Geometry Of Breast Cell InvasionApropos of National Breast Cancer Awareness month, scientists with the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have created a first-of-its-kind model for studying how breast tissue is shaped and structured during development. The model may shed new light on how the misbehavior of only a few cells can facilitate metastatic invasion because it shows that the development of breast tissue, normal or........Go to the Cancer-blog (Added on 10/12/2006 10:04:08 PM)
Researchers Refocus Studies On Patients With HIV, Hepatitis"People are living longer with HIV now, but then we see people developing complications from liver disease due to hepatitis," says Dr. Mamta Jain, assistant professor of internal medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center. "Before we had effective HIV therapy, there was no interest in treating hepatitis C because the thought was the patient would die of AIDS. Well, they're not dying of AIDS, so we are making an effort to try to treat more........Go to the Health-blog (Added on 10/12/2006 4:47:42 AM)
Allergy Runs In The FamilyInfants whose parents have allergies that produce symptoms like wheezing, asthma, hay fever or hives risk developing allergic sensitization much earlier in life than previously reported, as per a research studyby Cincinnati researchers.
The study suggests that the current practice of avoiding skin testing for airborne allergens before age 4 or 5 should be reconsidered, so children in this high-risk group can be detected early and monitored........Go to the Health-blog (Added on 10/11/2006 8:21:59 PM)
New Hope For Borderline Personality DisorderFor the first time, a major outcome study has shown that a high percentage of patients with Borderline Personality Disorder can achieve full recovery across the complete range of symptoms. The controlled study, appearing in a recent issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry published by the American Medical Association, shows that a new approach -- Schema Therapy -- is more than twice as effective as a widely practiced psychodynamic........Go to the Health-blog (Added on 10/10/2006 10:18:56 PM)
About Antibiotic Resistance In HospitalsIn one of the first national studies on guidelines that control antibiotics and antibiotic resistance in hospitals, scientists from the Indiana University School of Medicine, the Regenstrief Institute, Inc. and the Richard Roudebush Veterans.
Administration Medical Center report that hospitals that follow national guidelines on controlling antibiotic use have lower rates of antibiotic resistance.
As per a research findings reported in the........Go to the Health-blog (Added on 10/9/2006 8:37:08 PM)
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