ScienceDaily: Health & Medicine News

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• Factors associated with discrimination in specialty care access for children with public insurance examined in new study
• Acupuncture may ease severe nerve pain associated with cancer treatment, study suggests
• Kids born just a few weeks early at risk of behavioral problems, study suggests
• 'Label-free' imaging tool tracks nanotubes in cells, blood for biomedical research
• Headaches after traumatic brain injury highest in adolescents and girls, study finds
• Dust storms affect subsequent emergency hospital admissions, study finds
• Defensive measures: Toward a vaccine for Ebola
• Neurotransmitter dopamine might improve the treatment of cancer, new study suggests
• Infectious fungus, thought to be asexual, isn't
• Lessons learned from yeast about human leukemia: The power of basic model organisms in human health
• Researchers evaluate rice as a source of fetal arsenic exposure
• American Society of Clinical Oncology issues annual report on progress against cancer
• Trends in quality of care and health care spending for depression examined in new study
• Post-partum psychiatric episodes associated with increased risk of developing bipolar affective disorder, study finds
• State policies mandating physical education and recess associated with increase in overall in-school physical activity among children
• Childhood maltreatment associated with cerebral gray matter reductions in adolescents
• Few parents recall being told by doctors that their child is overweight
• Physical fitness trumps body weight in reducing death risks, study finds
• Young women may reduce heart disease risk eating fish with omega 3 fatty acids, study finds
• Chinese health coverage increases with new government efforts, study finds
• Past abuse leads to loss of gray matter in brains of adolescents
• More young people are becoming nurses; Trend may help ease future nursing shortage in U.S.
• Memory and attention problems may follow preemies into adulthood
• Mothers are not reaching breastfeeding goals: What needs to change?
• Prolonged fatigue for those who had chemotherapy for breast cancer, follow-up study finds
• Preoperative aspirin therapy can benefit cardiac surgery patients, study finds
• Veterinarians find infections faster by monitoring blood compound; Blood test for dogs could lead to similar human test
• Scientists discover how brain corrects bumps to body
• Autism may involve disordered white matter in the brain
• Orphaned children exhibit genetic changes that require nurturing parents, study finds
• Child abuse changes the brain, study finds
• Acquired traits can be inherited via small RNAs
• Snakebite victims absent in health system as most consult traditional healers, research finds
• Blood protein EPO involved in origin and spread of cancer
• Plasma-based treatment goes viral
• 'Encouraging' skin cancer discovery
• New biochemical changes found in children with ADHD
• Tiny genetic variation can predict ovarian cancer outcome
• How muscle fatigue originates in the head
• If a fat tax is coming, here's how to make it efficient, effective
• Researchers find MK1775 active against sarcomas

Factors associated with discrimination in specialty care access for children with public insurance examined in new study Posted: 05 Dec 2011 04:46 PM PST In a study in which researchers posing as mothers attempted to schedule appointments for children at specialty clinics, affiliation of the clinic with an academic medical center was associated with fewer denials of appointments for children with Medicaid-CHIP coverage versus children with commercial insurance, according to a new study.

Acupuncture may ease severe nerve pain associated with cancer treatment, study suggests Posted: 05 Dec 2011 04:17 PM PST Acupuncture may help ease the severe nerve pain associated with certain cancer drugs, suggests a small preliminary study.

Kids born just a few weeks early at risk of behavioral problems, study suggests Posted: 05 Dec 2011 04:17 PM PST Children born just a few weeks too early are significantly more likely to have behavioral and/or emotional problems in the pre-school years, new research suggests.

'Label-free' imaging tool tracks nanotubes in cells, blood for biomedical research Posted: 05 Dec 2011 02:02 PM PST Researchers have demonstrated a new imaging tool for tracking structures called carbon nanotubes in living cells and the bloodstream, which could aid efforts to perfect their use in biomedical research and clinical medicine.

Headaches after traumatic brain injury highest in adolescents and girls, study finds Posted: 05 Dec 2011 02:00 PM PST In a new study, researchers analyzed the prevalence of headaches three and 12 months after mild, moderate or severe traumatic brain injury in children ages 5 to 17, and discovered the risk of headache was higher in adolescents (ages 13 to 17) and in girls.

Dust storms affect subsequent emergency hospital admissions, study finds Posted: 05 Dec 2011 02:00 PM PST A new study reveals that dust storms have an adverse effect on emergency hospital admission for chronic lung disease, often known as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Defensive measures: Toward a vaccine for Ebola Posted: 05 Dec 2011 02:00 PM PST Researchers have made progress toward a vaccine against the deadly Ebola virus. They have demonstrated that a plant-derived vaccine for Ebola provided strong immunological protection in a mouse model. If early efforts bear fruit, an Ebola vaccine could be stockpiled for use in the United States, should the country fall victim to a natural outbreak or a bioterrorism event in which a weaponized strain of the virus were unleashed on soldiers or the public.

Neurotransmitter dopamine might improve the treatment of cancer, new study suggests Posted: 05 Dec 2011 01:59 PM PST A new study found that injections of the neurotransmitter dopamine can improve blood flow to tumors and delivery of an anticancer drug, doubling the amount of drug reaching tumors and increasing its effectiveness. Dopamine also raised tumor oxygen levels, which typically improves the effectiveness of both chemotherapy and radiation therapy. The study suggests a use for dopamine in treating cancer and perhaps other disorders in which normalizing abnormal blood vessels might improve therapeutic responses.

Infectious fungus, thought to be asexual, isn't Posted: 05 Dec 2011 01:59 PM PST Candida tropicalis turns out to have sex, making it the second medically important member of the genus to be capable of mating. Sex may improve the survival of the species, particularly when it's under pressure. It may also mean the species can achieve greater virulence or drug resistance more quickly than previously thought.

Lessons learned from yeast about human leukemia: The power of basic model organisms in human health Posted: 05 Dec 2011 01:59 PM PST The trifecta of biological proof is to take a discovery made in a simple model organism like baker's yeast and track down its analogs or homologs in "higher" creatures right up the complexity scale to people, in this case, from yeast to fruit flies to humans. In a pair of related studies, scientists have hit such a trifecta, closing a circle of inquiry that they opened over a decade ago.

Researchers evaluate rice as a source of fetal arsenic exposure Posted: 05 Dec 2011 01:59 PM PST A new study advances our understanding of the sources of human exposure to arsenic and focuses attention on the potential for consuming harmful levels of arsenic via rice. Arsenic occurs naturally in the environment and in elevated concentrations it can be harmful to human health. Rice is susceptible to arsenic contamination due to its ability to extract arsenic from the environment into the rice plant.

American Society of Clinical Oncology issues annual report on progress against cancer Posted: 05 Dec 2011 01:58 PM PST The American Society of Clinical Oncology has released Clinical Cancer Advances 2011: ASCO's Annual Report on Progress Against Cancer, an independent review of the advances in cancer research that have had the greatest impact on patient care this year. The report also identifies the most promising trends in oncology and provides insights from experts on where the future of cancer care is heading.

Trends in quality of care and health care spending for depression examined in new study Posted: 05 Dec 2011 01:58 PM PST Over a 10-year period, spending for Medicaid-enrolled patients with depression increased substantially but only minimal improvements in quality of care were observed, according to a new study.

Post-partum psychiatric episodes associated with increased risk of developing bipolar affective disorder, study finds Posted: 05 Dec 2011 01:58 PM PST Experiencing a psychiatric episode within the first 30 days post-partum appears to be associated with an increased risk of developing bipolar affective disorder, according to a new study.

State policies mandating physical education and recess associated with increase in overall in-school physical activity among children Posted: 05 Dec 2011 01:58 PM PST State and school district-level policies mandating minimum requirements for in-school physical education and recess time are associated with increased odds of schools in those states and districts meeting physical activity recommendations for students, according to a new study.

Childhood maltreatment associated with cerebral gray matter reductions in adolescents Posted: 05 Dec 2011 01:51 PM PST Childhood maltreatment is associated with reductions in cerebral gray matter volume, and even if adolescents reporting exposure to maltreatment do not have symptoms that meet full criteria for psychiatric disorders, they may have cerebral gray matter changes that place them at risk for behavioral difficulties, according to a new study.

Few parents recall being told by doctors that their child is overweight Posted: 05 Dec 2011 01:51 PM PST A new study finds that among parents of overweight children, less than 25 percent recall ever being told by a doctor or other health care provider that their child is overweight.

Physical fitness trumps body weight in reducing death risks, study finds Posted: 05 Dec 2011 01:51 PM PST Maintaining or improving physical fitness is linked to lower death risks even after controlling for BMI change, according to a new study. Becoming less fit is associated with higher death risks, regardless of BMI changes. BMI change was not associated with death risks.

Young women may reduce heart disease risk eating fish with omega 3 fatty acids, study finds Posted: 05 Dec 2011 01:51 PM PST Women who seldom or never eat fish may be increasing their risk of cardiovascular disease by 50 percent or more, according to the first population-based study among younger women. Those who ate fish most often, especially fish rich in omega 3 fatty acids, had 90 percent lower risk than those who ate little or no fish. The link with cardiovascular disease was evident, even among women in their 30s.

Chinese health coverage increases with new government efforts, study finds Posted: 05 Dec 2011 01:51 PM PST A new study of health insurance in nine Chinese provinces shows that individual coverage surged within a two-year time frame, from 2004-2006, coinciding with new government interventions designed to improve access to health care. The changes were most dramatic in rural areas.

Past abuse leads to loss of gray matter in brains of adolescents Posted: 05 Dec 2011 01:51 PM PST Adolescents who were abused and neglected have less gray matter in some areas of the brain than young people who have not been maltreated, a new study shows. The brain areas impacted by maltreatment may differ between boys and girls, may depend on whether the youths had been exposed to abuse or neglect, and may be linked to whether the neglect was physical or emotional.

More young people are becoming nurses; Trend may help ease future nursing shortage in U.S. Posted: 05 Dec 2011 01:51 PM PST The number of young people becoming registered nurses has grown sharply since 2002, a trend that should ease some of the concern about a looming nursing shortage in the United States.

Memory and attention problems may follow preemies into adulthood Posted: 05 Dec 2011 01:51 PM PST Babies born at a very low birth weight are more likely to have memory and attention problems when they become adults than babies born at a low to normal weight, according to a new study.

Mothers are not reaching breastfeeding goals: What needs to change? Posted: 05 Dec 2011 01:50 PM PST More mothers are breastfeeding their newborns, but for too short a duration to gain the maximum benefits of breastfeeding for both mothers and infants. New observations and a variety of strategies for encouraging women to breastfeed longer are presented in a collection of articles.

Prolonged fatigue for those who had chemotherapy for breast cancer, follow-up study finds Posted: 05 Dec 2011 11:06 AM PST In a follow-up study, researchers have found that patients who receive chemotherapy for breast cancer might experience prolonged fatigue years after their therapy. The new study is a follow-up to a study on fatigue and chemotherapy and radiotherapy for breast cancer.

Preoperative aspirin therapy can benefit cardiac surgery patients, study finds Posted: 05 Dec 2011 11:06 AM PST Aspirin taken within five days of cardiac surgery is associated with a significant decrease in the risk of major postoperative complications, including renal failure, a lengthy intensive care unit stay and even early death, according to a study by researchers at Thomas Jefferson University and UC Davis Medical Center set to appear in the journal Annals of Surgery.

Veterinarians find infections faster by monitoring blood compound; Blood test for dogs could lead to similar human test Posted: 05 Dec 2011 11:06 AM PST In pets and people, the time it takes to diagnose an infection may mean life or death. Now, a veterinarian is identifying ways to diagnose pet infections in approximately a third of the current diagnosis time.

Scientists discover how brain corrects bumps to body Posted: 05 Dec 2011 11:05 AM PST Researchers have identified the area of the brain that controls our ability to correct our movement after we've been hit or bumped -- a finding that may have implications for understanding why subjects with stroke often have severe difficulties moving.

Autism may involve disordered white matter in the brain Posted: 05 Dec 2011 11:05 AM PST It's still unclear what's different in the brains of people with autism spectrum disorders, but evidence from genetic and cell studies points to abnormalities in how brain cells, connect to each other. A new study now provides visual evidence associating autism with a disorganized structure of brain connections, as well as defects in myelin -- the fatty, insulating coating that helps nerve fibers conduct signals and that makes up the brain's white matter.

Orphaned children exhibit genetic changes that require nurturing parents, study finds Posted: 05 Dec 2011 11:05 AM PST Children who experience the stress of separation at birth from biological parents and are brought up in orphanages undergo biological consequences such as changes in their genome functioning, researchers report in a new study.

Child abuse changes the brain, study finds Posted: 05 Dec 2011 11:04 AM PST When children have been exposed to family violence, their brains become increasingly "tuned" for processing possible sources of threat, a new study reports. The findings reveal the same pattern of brain activity in these children as seen previously in soldiers exposed to combat.

Acquired traits can be inherited via small RNAs Posted: 05 Dec 2011 07:27 AM PST Researchers have found the first direct evidence that an acquired trait can be inherited without any DNA involvement. The findings suggest that Lamarck, whose theory of evolution was eclipsed by Darwin's, may not have been entirely wrong.

Snakebite victims absent in health system as most consult traditional healers, research finds Posted: 05 Dec 2011 07:26 AM PST Fatal snakebites are a bigger-than-acknowledged global health problem that has been vastly under-reported, according to new research. A key reason for the low count is that many snakebite victims are treated or die without seeking or reaching health facilities.

Blood protein EPO involved in origin and spread of cancer Posted: 05 Dec 2011 07:23 AM PST Researchers have demonstrated that a growth hormone, PDGF-BB, and the blood protein EPO are involved in the development of cancer tumors and that they combine to help the tumors proliferate in the body. These new preclinical findings offer new potential for inhibiting tumor growth and bypassing problems of resistance that exist with many drugs in current use.

Plasma-based treatment goes viral Posted: 05 Dec 2011 07:23 AM PST Life-threatening viruses such as HIV, SARS, hepatitis and influenza, could soon be combated in an unusual manner as researchers have demonstrated the effectiveness of plasma for inactivating and preventing the replication of adenoviruses.

'Encouraging' skin cancer discovery Posted: 05 Dec 2011 07:23 AM PST Scientists have made an important discovery in the fight against malignant melanoma, the most dangerous form of skin cancer.

New biochemical changes found in children with ADHD Posted: 05 Dec 2011 07:23 AM PST A new study shows that children with ADHD have nearly 50 percent less of a protein that is important for attention and learning. The finding may mean that there are other biochemical disturbances in the brains of individuals with ADHD than was previously believed.

Tiny genetic variation can predict ovarian cancer outcome Posted: 05 Dec 2011 05:22 AM PST Yale Cancer Center researchers have shown that a tiny genetic variation predicts chances of survival and response to treatment for patients with ovarian cancer.

How muscle fatigue originates in the head Posted: 05 Dec 2011 05:16 AM PST Researchers have now studied in detail what sportsmen and women know from experience: The head plays a key role in tiring endurance performances. They have discovered a mechanism in the brain that triggers a reduction in muscle performance during tiring activities and ensures that one's own physiological limits are not exceeded. For the first time, the study demonstrates empirically that muscle fatigue and changes in the interaction between neuronal structures are linked.

If a fat tax is coming, here's how to make it efficient, effective Posted: 02 Dec 2011 12:57 PM PST A "sin tax" applied to sweetened goods on store shelves is not the most efficient, effective method of lowering caloric intake from sweet food and would be more disruptive to consumers than necessary, according to new research.

Researchers find MK1775 active against sarcomas Posted: 02 Dec 2011 12:57 PM PST MK1775, a small, selective inhibitor molecule, has been found to be active against many sarcomas. This finding suggests that a badly needed new agent against sarcomas -- especially sarcomas affecting children -- may be at hand.

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