ScienceDaily: Health & Medicine News

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• Antibodies reverse type 1 diabetes in new immunotherapy animal study
• Bioengineers discover single cancer cell can produce up to five daughter cells
• Child diabetes levels almost four times higher in China than in US
• Jekyll and Hyde bacteria helps or kills, depending on chance
• miR loss may power maligant transformation in chronic leukemia
• Novel nanotherapeutic delivers clot-busting drugs directly to obstructed blood vessels
• Like it or not, Facebook and friends can be used to influence health behavior
• Origins of key immune cells discovered
• The key (proteins) to self-renewing skin
• Gene linked to facial, skull and cognitive impairment identified
• Critical process in stem cell development identified
• Diabetes drug makes brain cells grow
• How a protein meal tells your brain you're full
• Scientists identify critical 'quality control' for cell growth
• Single dose radiation at time of surgery helps women with early stage breast cancer forego 6-7 week radiation regimen
• First robot-assisted distal pancreatectomy performed
• Higher doses of vitamin D are effective in fracture risk reduction in older adults, study suggests
• Music to my eyes: Device converting images into music helps visually impaired find things with ease
• Future Dengue forecast: intricate relationships between mosquitoes, virus and climate change found
• Groundbreaking discovery of mechanism that controls obesity, atherosclerosis
• Robot vision: Muscle-like action allows camera to mimic eye movement
• Simple exercises are an easy and cost-effective treatment for persistent dizziness
• Rewiring DNA circuitry could help treat asthma
• New clues explaining tendon injury
• Platelet drug shows clinical benefits for severe, unresponsive aplastic anemia
• New study maps hotspots of human-animal infectious diseases and emerging disease outbreaks
• Postoperative delirium in cardiac surgery patients associated with prolonged cognitive impairment
• Developing world has less than 5% chance of meeting UN child hunger target, study estimates
• Discovery improves understanding of early onset inflammatory disease
• Next front in worldwide AIDS battle: Stretching use of anti-HIV drugs

Antibodies reverse type 1 diabetes in new immunotherapy animal study Posted: 05 Jul 2012 10:37 PM PDT Scientists have used injections of antibodies to rapidly reverse the onset of Type I diabetes in mice genetically bred to develop the disease. Moreover, just two injections maintained disease remission indefinitely without harming the immune system.

Bioengineers discover single cancer cell can produce up to five daughter cells Posted: 05 Jul 2012 04:41 PM PDT Conventional biology expects the process of mammalian cell division, mitosis, to occur by the equal partition of a mother cell into two daughter cells. Bioengineers have developed a platform that mechanically confines cells, simulating the in vivo three-dimensional environments in which they divide. Upon confinement they have discovered that cancer cells can divide a large percentage of the time into three or more daughter cells instead.

Child diabetes levels almost four times higher in China than in US Posted: 05 Jul 2012 04:41 PM PDT Chinese teenagers have a rate of diabetes nearly four times greater than their counterparts in the United States. The rise in the incidence of diabetes parallels increases in cardiovascular risk, researchers say, and is the result of a Chinese population that is growing increasingly overweight.

Jekyll and Hyde bacteria helps or kills, depending on chance Posted: 05 Jul 2012 04:41 PM PDT Living in the guts of worms are seemingly innocuous bacteria that contribute to their survival. With a flip of a switch, however, these same bacteria transform from harmless microbes into deadly insecticides. Scientists have revealed how a bacteria flips a DNA switch to go from an upstanding community member in the gut microbiome to deadly killer in insect blood.

miR loss may power maligant transformation in chronic leukemia Posted: 05 Jul 2012 03:12 PM PDT This study shows that loss of a particular molecule in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) shuts down normal cell metabolism and turns up alternative mechanisms that enable cancer cells to produce the energy needed to proliferate and invade neighboring tissue. The study shows that the molecule, miR-125b, is often lost in CLL, and that the loss is associated with a characteristic of cancer cells called the Warburg effect.

Novel nanotherapeutic delivers clot-busting drugs directly to obstructed blood vessels Posted: 05 Jul 2012 03:12 PM PDT Researchers have developed a novel biomimetic strategy that delivers life-saving nanotherapeutics directly to obstructed blood vessels, dissolving blood clots before they cause serious damage or even death. This new approach enables thrombus dissolution while using only a fraction of the drug dose normally required, thereby minimizing bleeding side effects that currently limit widespread use of clot-busting drugs.

Like it or not, Facebook and friends can be used to influence health behavior Posted: 05 Jul 2012 03:12 PM PDT Whether the goal is to curb smoking at a local school or to reduce the spread of sexually transmitted diseases within a community, it is important to understand the social structure of the group and the dynamics of influence at play, according to public health research.

Origins of key immune cells discovered Posted: 05 Jul 2012 03:09 PM PDT Neuropathologists have solved the puzzle surrounding the origins of follicular dendritic cells – cells of lymphoid organs that play an important role in many autoimmune and infectious diseases. The research team has demonstrated that follicular dendritic cells originate in cells located in the walls of blood vessels. Thanks to these findings, scientists now have the means to investigate key features of the development of autoimmune diseases, chronic inflammation, tumors, and prion infections.

The key (proteins) to self-renewing skin Posted: 05 Jul 2012 03:09 PM PDT Scientists have discovered how human epidermal progenitor cells and stem cells control transcription factors to avoid premature differentiation, preserving their ability to produce new skin cells throughout life.

Gene linked to facial, skull and cognitive impairment identified Posted: 05 Jul 2012 02:20 PM PDT A gene whose mutation results in malformed faces and skulls as well as mental retardation has been found by scientists.

Critical process in stem cell development identified Posted: 05 Jul 2012 02:20 PM PDT Scientists have discovered that environmental factors critically influence the growth of a type of stem cell--called an iPS cell -- that is derived from adult skin cells. This discovery offers newfound understanding of how these cells form, while also advancing science closer to stem cell-based therapies to combat disease.

Diabetes drug makes brain cells grow Posted: 05 Jul 2012 02:20 PM PDT The widely used diabetes drug metformin comes with a rather unexpected and alluring side effect: it encourages the growth of new neurons in the brain, according to researchers. Their study also finds that those neural effects of the drug also make mice smarter.

How a protein meal tells your brain you're full Posted: 05 Jul 2012 02:20 PM PDT Feeling full involves more than just the uncomfortable sensation that your waistband is getting tight. Investigators have now mapped out the signals that travel between your gut and your brain to generate the feeling of satiety after eating a protein-rich meal. Understanding this back and forth loop between the brain and gut may pave the way for future approaches in the treatment and/or prevention of obesity.

Scientists identify critical 'quality control' for cell growth Posted: 05 Jul 2012 02:20 PM PDT Scientists have identified a series of intricate biochemical steps that lead to the successful production of proteins, the basic working units of any cell.

Single dose radiation at time of surgery helps women with early stage breast cancer forego 6-7 week radiation regimen Posted: 05 Jul 2012 02:19 PM PDT INTRABEAM radiotherapy is an innovative radiation treatment delivered in a single dose at the time of surgery.

First robot-assisted distal pancreatectomy performed Posted: 05 Jul 2012 02:19 PM PDT Minimally invasive procedure to remove part of pancreas offers a shorter hospital stay and faster recovery.

Higher doses of vitamin D are effective in fracture risk reduction in older adults, study suggests Posted: 05 Jul 2012 02:19 PM PDT Based on the results of a pooled analysis of 11 unrelated randomized clinical trials investigating vitamin D supplementation and fracture risk in more than 31,000 older adults, scientists say higher doses of Vitamin D may be the most beneficial in reducing bone fractures in this age group.

Music to my eyes: Device converting images into music helps visually impaired find things with ease Posted: 05 Jul 2012 01:12 PM PDT Sensory substitution devices (SSDs) use sound or touch to help the visually impaired perceive the visual scene surrounding them. The ideal SSD would assist not only in sensing the environment but also in performing daily activities based on this input. For example, accurately reaching for a coffee cup, or shaking a friend's hand. In a new study, scientists trained blindfolded sighted participants to perform fast and accurate movements using a new SSD, called EyeMusic.

Future Dengue forecast: intricate relationships between mosquitoes, virus and climate change found Posted: 05 Jul 2012 12:12 PM PDT Northern states could face longer outbreak seasons than the Southern region.

Groundbreaking discovery of mechanism that controls obesity, atherosclerosis Posted: 05 Jul 2012 11:46 AM PDT Scientists have discovered a new signalling pathway that controls both obesity and atherosclerosis. They have demonstrated that mice deficient in the Wip1 gene were resistant to weight gain and atherosclerosis via regulation of the Ataxia telangiectasia mutated gene and its downstream signalling molecule mTor. These groundbreaking findings may provide significant new avenues for therapeutic interventions for obesity and atherosclerosis.

Robot vision: Muscle-like action allows camera to mimic eye movement Posted: 05 Jul 2012 11:44 AM PDT Using piezoelectric materials, researchers have replicated the muscle motion of the human eye to control camera systems in a way designed to improve the operation of robots. This new muscle-like action could help make robotic tools safer and more effective for MRI-guided surgery and robotic rehabilitation.

Simple exercises are an easy and cost-effective treatment for persistent dizziness Posted: 05 Jul 2012 10:39 AM PDT New research has shown that patients with persistent dizziness can benefit from a booklet of simple exercises.

Rewiring DNA circuitry could help treat asthma Posted: 05 Jul 2012 10:39 AM PDT Reprogramming asthma-promoting immune cells in mice diminishes airway damage and inflammation, and could potentially lead to new treatments for people with asthma, researchers have found. The researchers were able to reprogram the asthma-promoting cells (called Th2 [T-helper 2] cells) after identifying an enzyme that modifies the DNA of these cells. The enzyme could be a target for the development of new treatments for chronic inflammatory diseases, in particular allergic asthma, caused by an excess of Th2 cells.

New clues explaining tendon injury Posted: 05 Jul 2012 10:38 AM PDT Scientists have identified a component of tendons which could lead to the development of tests and treatments to target tendon disorders.

Platelet drug shows clinical benefits for severe, unresponsive aplastic anemia Posted: 05 Jul 2012 10:38 AM PDT Eltrombopag, a drug that was designed to stimulate production of platelets from the bone marrow and thereby improve blood clotting, can raise blood cell levels in some people with severe aplastic anemia who have failed all standard therapies. The findings of this new clinical study suggest eltrombopag could be a second-line therapeutic option for this disease.

New study maps hotspots of human-animal infectious diseases and emerging disease outbreaks Posted: 05 Jul 2012 10:38 AM PDT A new global study mapping human-animal diseases like tuberculosis and Rift Valley fever finds that an "unlucky" 13 zoonoses are responsible for 2.4 billion cases of human illness and 2.2 million deaths per year. The vast majority occur in low- and middle-income countries.

Postoperative delirium in cardiac surgery patients associated with prolonged cognitive impairment Posted: 05 Jul 2012 10:38 AM PDT Postoperative delirium has been linked to prolonged loss of cognitive function in cardiac surgery patients. The findings suggest that interventions to prevent delirium in advance of surgery could help cardiac patients avoid long-term cognitive consequences.

Developing world has less than 5% chance of meeting UN child hunger target, study estimates Posted: 05 Jul 2012 10:37 AM PDT Insufficient progress has been made in most developing countries to meet the United Nations' target of halving the proportion of children who suffer from hunger by 2015 compared with 1990 levels, according to a systematic analysis of data on children's height and weight. Although the nutritional status of children under five has improved overall since 1985, one in five infants and children in developing countries is still moderately or severely underweight, amounting to an estimated 110 million children worldwide. Another 148 million are mildly underweight.

Discovery improves understanding of early onset inflammatory disease Posted: 05 Jul 2012 10:37 AM PDT Scientists have discovered a 'constant cloud' of potent inflammatory molecules surrounding the cells responsible for diseases such as thickening of the arteries and rheumatoid arthritis.

Next front in worldwide AIDS battle: Stretching use of anti-HIV drugs Posted: 05 Jul 2012 10:35 AM PDT Medical researchers say it is possible to stretch the use of anti-HIV drugs. More efficient and cheaper manufacturing methods, better drug formulations, lower-dose prescriptions and shorter treatment periods are all feasible, safe and potentially effective. Implementation of these efforts would, they say, make the drugs more accessible to the remaining two-thirds of people with HIV disease, most of them living in poor sub-Saharan Africa and unable to afford or get access to treatment on their own.

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