ScienceDaily: Health & Medicine News

---

• Turn down the iPod to save your hearing
• The impact of human activities on a selection of lakes in Tanzania
• Scientists map susceptibility to type 2 diabetes
• Brain cell malfunction in schizophrenia identified
• New way to ensure effectiveness of TB treatment?
• Scientists fixate on Ric-8 to understand trafficking of popular drug receptor targets
• Analysis does not support genetic test before use of anti-clotting drug
• Perception of inappropriate care frequent among ICU workers
• Tests for biomarker may help determine diagnosis of heart attack within hours
• Improved method for protein sequence comparisons is faster, more accurate, more sensitive
• MRI scan 'better' for heart patients
• How dengue infection hits harder the second time around
• Silk microneedles deliver controlled-release drugs painlessly
• Benefits of new U. S. air quality rules greatly outweigh costs
• Disease-causing strains of Fusarium prevalent in sink drains
• Supersized market economy, supersized belly: Wealthier nations have more fast food and more obesity
• Global view of how HIV/AIDS hijacks cells during infection
• Pathogenic landscape of HIV
• Rare genetic mutations linked to bipolar disorder
• New method of infant pain assessment
• New process could advance use of healthy cells or stem cells to treat disease
• New evidence that bacteria in large intestine have a role in obesity
• Some 'low-gluten' beer contains high levels of gluten
• Positive feedback and tumorigenesis

Turn down the iPod to save your hearing Posted: 28 Dec 2011 10:48 AM PST A new study clearly demonstrates that harmful music-listening habits among teens could result in hearing problems much earlier than expected from natural aging. She recommends that both schools and parents provide early education on hearing health to stem the risk.

The impact of human activities on a selection of lakes in Tanzania Posted: 28 Dec 2011 10:48 AM PST An increase in human activity is posing a threat to natural aquatic ecosystems in Tanzania and contributing to environmental damage and ecological changes. New research shows that agriculture and livestock farming leads to eutrophication in lakes and the proliferation of cyanobacteria which produce microcystins. New information about microcystins and other mycotoxins in Tanzanian lakes is useful for appraising the risk linked to drinking water and edible fish, which in turn affects the health of both humans and animals.

Scientists map susceptibility to type 2 diabetes Posted: 28 Dec 2011 10:48 AM PST New research has provided the first proof of molecular risk factors leading to type 2 diabetes, providing an "early warning" sign that could lead to new approaches to treating this and other human disease conditions.

Brain cell malfunction in schizophrenia identified Posted: 28 Dec 2011 08:17 AM PST Scientists have discovered that DNA stays too tightly wound in certain brain cells of schizophrenic subjects. The findings suggest that drugs already in development for other diseases might eventually offer hope as a treatment for schizophrenia and related conditions in the elderly.

New way to ensure effectiveness of TB treatment? Posted: 28 Dec 2011 08:17 AM PST A new study using a sophisticated "glass mouse" research model has found that multidrug-resistant tuberculosis is more likely caused in patients by speedy drug metabolism rather than inconsistent doses, as is widely believed.

Scientists fixate on Ric-8 to understand trafficking of popular drug receptor targets Posted: 28 Dec 2011 08:17 AM PST Half the drugs used today target a single class of proteins – and now scientists have identified an important molecular player critical to the proper workings of those proteins critical to our health. What you see, what you smell, how you feel – molecules known as G-protein coupled receptors and their prime targets, G proteins, are key to those and many other processes that are ubiquitous in our bodies, and Ric-8 plays a vital role.

Analysis does not support genetic test before use of anti-clotting drug Posted: 27 Dec 2011 06:07 PM PST Although the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recommended that a certain type of genetic testing (for the genotype CYP2C19) be considered before prescribing the drug clopidogrel to identify individuals who may be less responsive to the medication, a review and analysis of previous studies did not find an overall significant association between the CYP2C19 genotype and cardiovascular events.

Perception of inappropriate care frequent among ICU workers Posted: 27 Dec 2011 06:07 PM PST A survey of nurses and physicians in intensive care units (ICUs) in Europe and Israel indicated that the perception of inappropriate care, such as excess intensity of care for a patient, was common, and that these perceptions were associated with inadequate decision sharing, communication and job autonomy, according to a new study.

Tests for biomarker may help determine diagnosis of heart attack within hours Posted: 27 Dec 2011 06:07 PM PST For patients admitted to an emergency department with chest pain, use of a contemporary or highly sensitive test for levels of troponin I may help rule-out a diagnosis of heart attack, while changes in the measured levels of this biomarker at three hours after admission may be useful to confirm a diagnosis of heart attack, according to a new study.

Improved method for protein sequence comparisons is faster, more accurate, more sensitive Posted: 25 Dec 2011 04:47 PM PST Sequence comparisons are an essential tool for the prediction and analysis of the structure and functions of proteins. A new method developed by computational biologists permits sequence comparisons to be performed faster and more accurately than ever before.

MRI scan 'better' for heart patients Posted: 22 Dec 2011 04:50 PM PST A magnetic resonance imaging scan for coronary heart disease is better than the most commonly-used alternative, a major UK trial of heart disease patients has shown.

How dengue infection hits harder the second time around Posted: 21 Dec 2011 12:17 PM PST One of the most vexing challenges in the battle against dengue virus, a potentially fatal mosquito-borne virus, is that getting infected once can put people at greater risk for a more severe infection down the road. A new study details how the interaction between a person's immune response and a subsequent dengue infection could mean the difference between getting a mild fever and going into fatal circulatory failure.

Silk microneedles deliver controlled-release drugs painlessly Posted: 21 Dec 2011 11:07 AM PST Bioengineers have developed a silk-based microneedle system able to deliver precise amounts of drugs over time and without refrigeration. Because they are made under normal temperature and pressure and from water, they can be loaded with sensitive biochemical compounds and maintain their activity prior to use. They are also biodegradable and biocompatible. The new system addresses drug delivery challenges, and could be applied to other biological storage applications.

Benefits of new U. S. air quality rules greatly outweigh costs Posted: 21 Dec 2011 11:06 AM PST Scientists have written an expanded review of six new air quality regulations by the EPA. These include the first national standards in the U.S. for reducing dangerous emissions of mercury and other toxic pollutants from power plants. Though the cost of implementing is about $195 billion over the next two decades, the economic, environmental and health benefits amount to well over $1 trillion, considerably outweighing the control costs.

Disease-causing strains of Fusarium prevalent in sink drains Posted: 21 Dec 2011 11:04 AM PST A study examining the prevalence of the fungus Fusarium in bathroom sink drains suggests that plumbing systems may be a common source of human infections.

Supersized market economy, supersized belly: Wealthier nations have more fast food and more obesity Posted: 21 Dec 2011 11:04 AM PST New research suggests obesity can be seen as one of the unintended side effects of free market policies. A study of 26 wealthy nations shows that countries with a higher density of fast food restaurants per capita had much higher obesity rates compared to countries with a lower density of fast food restaurants per capita.

Global view of how HIV/AIDS hijacks cells during infection Posted: 21 Dec 2011 11:03 AM PST Scientists have identified how HIV -- the virus that causes AIDS -- hijacks the body's own defenses to promote infection. This discovery could one day help curb the spread of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Pathogenic landscape of HIV Posted: 21 Dec 2011 11:03 AM PST In perhaps the most comprehensive survey of the inner workings of HIV, an international team of scientists led by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco has mapped every apparent physical interaction the virus makes with components of the human cells it infects -- work that may reveal new ways to design future HIV/AIDS drugs.

Rare genetic mutations linked to bipolar disorder Posted: 21 Dec 2011 11:03 AM PST Scientists report that abnormal sequences of DNA known as rare copy number variants, or CNVs, appear to play a significant role in the risk for early onset bipolar disorder.

New method of infant pain assessment Posted: 21 Dec 2011 07:58 AM PST Recently, the accuracy of current methods of pain assessment in babies have been called into question. New research measures brain activity in infants to better understand their pain response.

New process could advance use of healthy cells or stem cells to treat disease Posted: 21 Dec 2011 07:58 AM PST In a discovery that may help speed use of "cell therapy" -- with normal cells or stem cells infused into the body to treat disease -- scientists are reporting development of a way to deliver therapeutic human cells to diseased areas within the body using a simple magnetic effect.

New evidence that bacteria in large intestine have a role in obesity Posted: 21 Dec 2011 07:58 AM PST Bacteria living in people's large intestine may slow down the activity of the "good" kind of fat tissue, a special fat that quickly burns calories and may help prevent obesity, scientists are reporting in a new study. The discovery could shed light on ways to prevent obesity and promote weight loss, including possible microbial and pharmaceutical approaches, the authors said.

Some 'low-gluten' beer contains high levels of gluten Posted: 21 Dec 2011 07:58 AM PST Beer tested in a new study, including some brands labeled "low-gluten," contains levels of hordein, the form of gluten present in barley, that could cause symptoms in patients with celiac disease, the autoimmune condition treated with a life-long gluten-free diet, scientists are reporting.

Positive feedback and tumorigenesis Posted: 21 Dec 2011 07:57 AM PST The protein c-MYC plays a central role in the regulation of basic cellular processes and is essential for cell proliferation. However, under certain circumstances, it can initiate a positive feedback loop which contributes to the formation of tumors, as researchers have now shown.

You are subscribed to email updates from ScienceDaily: Health & Medicine News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610