ScienceDaily: Health & Medicine News

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• Coffee and cigarettes may protect against liver disease
• Evolution on molecular level
• New tech lets cholesterol-tracking smartphone users take lifesaving selfies
• New link found between obesity, early decline in kidney function
• New screening strategy to prevent cardiovascular complications in sports
• New presurgery treatment combination more effective for women with triple-negative breast cancer
• Bisphosphonate treatment fails to improve outcomes for women with chemoresistant breast cancer
• New combination therapy fails to delay progression of advanced breast cancer
• Changing chemo not beneficial for metastatic breast cancer patients with elevated circulating tumor cells
• Antihormone therapy anastrozole may provide new option for breast cancer prevention
• New drug combination delayed disease progression for subgroup of women with metastatic breast cancer
• Ceratin gene mutations make breast cancers treatment-resistant
• Cancer diagnosis more likely to limit careers for patients from rural areas
• Effects of migrations, 'closed holdings' on DNA of Alpine peoples
• New device implanted for patients at risk for sudden cardiac arrest

Coffee and cigarettes may protect against liver disease Posted: 14 Dec 2013 11:48 AM PST Coffee and cigarette smoking may protect against the rare liver disease Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (PSC), study shows.

Evolution on molecular level Posted: 13 Dec 2013 05:10 PM PST Researchers describe the evolution of various forms of the enzyme "dihydrofolate reductase" as it occurred from bacteria to humans. Their paper may prove useful to scientists in the design of future drugs and catalysts.

New tech lets cholesterol-tracking smartphone users take lifesaving selfies Posted: 13 Dec 2013 01:11 PM PST With a new smartphone device, you can now take an accurate iPhone camera selfie that could save your life -- it reads your cholesterol level in about a minute.

New link found between obesity, early decline in kidney function Posted: 13 Dec 2013 01:11 PM PST A new study of nearly 3,000 individuals links obesity to the development of kidney disease.

New screening strategy to prevent cardiovascular complications in sports Posted: 13 Dec 2013 06:48 AM PST Echocardiography with conventional M-mode and 2D modalities is a simple and cost effective way to increase the accuracy of pre-participation sports screening, according to research.

New presurgery treatment combination more effective for women with triple-negative breast cancer Posted: 13 Dec 2013 06:48 AM PST Adding the chemotherapy drug carboplatin and/or the antibody therapy bevacizumab to standard presurgery chemotherapy increased the number of women with triple-negative breast cancer who had no residual cancer detected at surgery, according to results of a randomized, phase II clinical trial.

Bisphosphonate treatment fails to improve outcomes for women with chemoresistant breast cancer Posted: 13 Dec 2013 06:47 AM PST Treatment with the bisphosphonate zoledronate did not improve outcomes for women with chemoresistant breast cancer, according to initial results of a phase III clinical trial.

New combination therapy fails to delay progression of advanced breast cancer Posted: 13 Dec 2013 06:47 AM PST Adding the antibody therapy ramucirumab to the chemotherapy drug docetaxel did not delay disease progression for patients with HER2-negative, advanced breast cancer, according to results of a placebo-controlled, randomized, phase III clinical trial.

Changing chemo not beneficial for metastatic breast cancer patients with elevated circulating tumor cells Posted: 13 Dec 2013 06:47 AM PST For women with metastatic breast cancer who had elevated amounts of circulating tumor cells in their blood after a first line of chemotherapy, switching immediately to a different chemotherapy did not improve overall survival or time to progression, according to the results of a phase III clinical trial.

Antihormone therapy anastrozole may provide new option for breast cancer prevention Posted: 12 Dec 2013 06:59 AM PST Breast cancer incidence among postmenopausal women at high risk for developing the disease was significantly reduced by the antihormone therapy anastrozole, indicating that the drug may be an effective new option for breast cancer prevention for this group of women, according to initial results of a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial.

New drug combination delayed disease progression for subgroup of women with metastatic breast cancer Posted: 12 Dec 2013 06:59 AM PST Adding the drug dasatinib to a standard antihormone therapy, letrozole, doubled the time before disease progressed for women with hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer, according to results of a phase II clinical trial.

Ceratin gene mutations make breast cancers treatment-resistant Posted: 12 Dec 2013 06:59 AM PST Women with breast cancer characterized by high levels of the protein HER2 and hormone receptors gained much less benefit from presurgery treatment with chemotherapy and HER2-targeted therapies if their cancer had one or more mutations in the PIK3CA gene, according to study results.

Cancer diagnosis more likely to limit careers for patients from rural areas Posted: 12 Dec 2013 06:58 AM PST Compared to their counterparts in cities, cancer patients living in rural areas tend to retire early after being diagnosed, and are less likely to go on paid disability leave while receiving treatment. These are some of the insights drawn from research in the US to determine if living in a rural or urban area influences the impact of cancer diagnosis on employment.

Effects of migrations, 'closed holdings' on DNA of Alpine peoples Posted: 12 Dec 2013 06:58 AM PST A genetic study sheds light on the history of the populations, indicating that the genetic make-up of human beings is a result of their biological evolution, which is also influenced by geographical and socio-cultural factors such as environmental features and marriage customs. This is the outcome of a study that reconstructed the genetic structure of the populations of the eastern Italian Alps on the basis of bio-molecular analyses.

New device implanted for patients at risk for sudden cardiac arrest Posted: 12 Dec 2013 06:49 AM PST For patients at risk for sudden cardiac arrest, a new defibrillator is like the standby ambulance and medical team they need when their hearts abruptly stop. Treatment within minutes is the critical difference between life and death. Now a Florida hospital offers the advanced technology designed for patients unable to receive a traditional defibrillator.

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