ScienceDaily: Health & Medicine News

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• Method developed to detect stealthy, 'hypervirulent' Salmonella strains
• Strain of common toxoplasma gondii parasite linked to severe illness in US newborns
• Deep sequencing reveals potentially toxic, trade-restricted ingredients in some traditional Chinese medicines
• Engineered stem cells seek out and kill HIV in living mice
• Breakthrough discovery unveils master switches in colon cancer
• How cells distinguish between disease-causing and innocuous invaders
• Genetic adaptation of fat metabolism key to development of human brain
• Determining a stem cell's fate: Biologists scour mouse genome for genes and markers that lead to T cells
• Kinase test may yield big gains for drug-resistant cancers
• Targeting glucagon pathway may offer a new approach to treating diabetes
• Nearly 30 percent of all college athlete injuries a result of 'overuse'
• High levels of phthalates can lead to greater risk for type-2 diabetes
• Could stem cells be the cells' default state?
• New advances in the understanding of cancer progression
• Left hand – right hand, premature babies make the link
• Data mining opens the door to predictive neuroscience
• The Tamiflu story continued: Full reports from clinical trials should be made publicly available, experts argue
• New study examines risks and benefits of the first line treatment for diabetes

Method developed to detect stealthy, 'hypervirulent' Salmonella strains Posted: 12 Apr 2012 03:23 PM PDT A recent discovery of "hypervirulent" Salmonella bacteria has given researchers a means to potentially prevent food poisoning outbreaks from these particularly powerful strains.

Strain of common toxoplasma gondii parasite linked to severe illness in US newborns Posted: 12 Apr 2012 03:23 PM PDT Scientists have identified which strains of the Toxoplasma gondii parasite, the cause of toxoplasmosis, are most strongly associated with premature births and severe birth defects in the United States. The researchers used a new blood test to pinpoint T. gondii strains that children acquire from their acutely infected mothers while in the womb.

Deep sequencing reveals potentially toxic, trade-restricted ingredients in some traditional Chinese medicines Posted: 12 Apr 2012 03:23 PM PDT Researchers have used new DNA sequencing technology to reveal the animal and plant composition of traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs). Some of the TCM samples tested contained potentially toxic plant ingredients, allergens, and traces of endangered animals.

Engineered stem cells seek out and kill HIV in living mice Posted: 12 Apr 2012 03:22 PM PDT Expanding on previous research providing proof-of-principal that human stem cells can be genetically engineered into HIV-fighting cells, a team of researchers have now demonstrated that these cells can actually attack HIV-infected cells in a living organism.

Breakthrough discovery unveils master switches in colon cancer Posted: 12 Apr 2012 11:18 AM PDT Researchers have identified a new mechanism by which colon cancer develops. By focusing on segments of DNA located between genes, or so-called "junk DNA," the team has discovered a set of master switches, i.e., gene enhancer elements, that turn "on and off" key genes whose altered expression is defining for colon cancers.

How cells distinguish between disease-causing and innocuous invaders Posted: 12 Apr 2012 10:31 AM PDT The specific mechanisms by which humans and other animals are able to discriminate between disease-causing microbes and innocuous ones in order to rapidly respond to infections have long been a mystery to scientists. But a study conducted on roundworms has uncovered some important clues to finally answering that question.

Genetic adaptation of fat metabolism key to development of human brain Posted: 12 Apr 2012 10:30 AM PDT About 300,000 years ago humans adapted genetically to be able to produce larger amounts of Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids. This adaptation may have been crucial to the development of the unique brain capacity in modern humans. In today's life situation, this genetic adaptation contributes instead to a higher risk of developing disorders like cardiovascular disease.

Determining a stem cell's fate: Biologists scour mouse genome for genes and markers that lead to T cells Posted: 12 Apr 2012 09:14 AM PDT What happens to a stem cell at the molecular level that causes it to become one type of cell rather than another? In studies that mark a major step forward in our understanding of stem cells' fates, scientists have traced the stepwise developmental process that ensures certain stem cells will become T cells -- cells of the immune system that help destroy invading pathogens.

Kinase test may yield big gains for drug-resistant cancers Posted: 12 Apr 2012 09:13 AM PDT Scientists have developed the first broad-based test for activation of protein kinases "en masse", enabling measurement of the mechanism behind drug-resistant cancer and rational prediction of successful combination therapies.

Targeting glucagon pathway may offer a new approach to treating diabetes Posted: 12 Apr 2012 09:12 AM PDT Maintaining the right level of sugar in the blood is the responsibility not only of insulin, which removes glucose, but also of a hormone called glucagon, which adds glucose. For decades, treatments for type II diabetes have taken aim at insulin, but a new study suggests that a better approach may be to target glucagon's sweetening effect.

Nearly 30 percent of all college athlete injuries a result of 'overuse' Posted: 12 Apr 2012 08:37 AM PDT Overuse injuries -- found most often in low-contact sports that involve long training sessions or where the same movement is repeated numerous times -- make up nearly 30 percent of all injuries sustained by collegiate athletes. And a majority of overuse injuries (62 percent) occurred in females athletes, according to a new study.

High levels of phthalates can lead to greater risk for type-2 diabetes Posted: 12 Apr 2012 08:35 AM PDT There is a connection between phthalates found in cosmetics and plastics and the risk of developing diabetes among seniors. Even at a modest increase in circulating phthalate levels, the risk of diabetes is doubled.

Could stem cells be the cells' default state? Posted: 12 Apr 2012 07:58 AM PDT In spite of considerable research efforts around the world, we still do not know the determining factors that confer stem cells their main particular features: capacity to self-renew and to divide and proliferate. Scientists now ask if perhaps we have the wrong approach.

New advances in the understanding of cancer progression Posted: 12 Apr 2012 07:58 AM PDT Researchers have discovered that the protein LOXL2 has a function within the cell nucleus thus far unknown. They have also described a new chemical reaction of this protein on histone H3 that is involved in gene silencing, and implicated in the progression of breast, larynx, lung and skin tumors.

Left hand – right hand, premature babies make the link Posted: 12 Apr 2012 07:54 AM PDT From the 31st week of pregnancy, preterm babies are capable of recognizing with one hand an object they have already explored with the other. This ability, known as "intermanual transfer", has been demonstrated in premature infants. These results show that the corpus callosum, also known as the colossal commissure, i.e. the brain structure involved in information transfer, is functional from this early age.

Data mining opens the door to predictive neuroscience Posted: 11 Apr 2012 05:54 PM PDT The discovery, using state-of-the-art informatics tools, increases the likelihood that it will be possible to predict much of the fundamental structure and function of the brain without having to measure every aspect of it. That in turn makes the Holy Grail of modeling the brain in silico -- the goal of the proposed Human Brain Project -- a more realistic, less Herculean, prospect.

The Tamiflu story continued: Full reports from clinical trials should be made publicly available, experts argue Posted: 10 Apr 2012 06:09 PM PDT The full clinical study reports of drugs that have been authorized for use in patients should be made publicly available in order to allow independent re-analysis of the benefits and risks of such drugs, according to leading international experts who base their assertions on their experience with Tamiflu (oseltamivir).

New study examines risks and benefits of the first line treatment for diabetes Posted: 10 Apr 2012 06:09 PM PDT Although the drug metformin is considered the gold standard in the management of type 2 diabetes, a study by a group of French researchers suggests that the long-term benefits of this drug compared with the risks are not clearly established -- an important finding given that currently, thousands of people around the world are regularly taking metformin to help control their blood sugar levels in the belief that it also has long-lasting health benefits.

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