ScienceDaily: Health & Medicine News

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• Canadians with cystic fibrosis living 20 years longer than they did 2 decades ago
• Software to automatically outline bones in x-rays
• Legally prescribed opioid use may increase mortality in chronic pain patients
• Oxytocin helps to better overcome fear
• Tiny Needles Offer Potential New Treatment for Two Major Eye Diseases
• Premature infants are exposed to unsafe levels of chemical in medical products used to save their lives
• Novel cancer vaccine approach for brain tumors
• Sharpening state spending on seniors
• Many dialysis patients unprepared for emergencies, disasters
• Cold-induced pain linked to the garlic, mustard receptor
• Genotype found in 30 percent of als patients speeds up disease progression
• Moms with rheumatoid arthritis more likely to give birth prematurely
• Facial motion a clue to difficulties in social interaction among autistic adults
• Architecture of a lipid transport protein revealed
• Scoring scheme predicts ability of cancer cells to spread to other parts of body
• Challenges of delivering critical care in resource-poor countries addressed by experts

Canadians with cystic fibrosis living 20 years longer than they did 2 decades ago Posted: 13 Nov 2014 08:03 AM PST Canadians with cystic fibrosis are living almost 20 years longer than they did two decades ago, according to a new research paper. In addition, the median age at which Canadians with cystic fibrosis die has risen to 32 years in 2012 from 21.7 years in 1990. The death rate declined from 1.4 deaths per year in 1990 to 0.99 deaths per year in 2012, authors report.

Software to automatically outline bones in x-rays Posted: 13 Nov 2014 08:00 AM PST Research into disorders such as arthritis will be helped by new software that automatically outlines bones – saving thousands of hours of manual work. "The idea of this software is to take the routine tasks out of human hands, so scientists can focus on drawing conclusions and developing treatments," developers said.

Legally prescribed opioid use may increase mortality in chronic pain patients Posted: 13 Nov 2014 08:00 AM PST Associations between opioid-related overdoses and increased prescription of opioids for chronic noncancer pain are well known. But some suggest that overdose occurs predominately in individuals who obtain opioids from nonmedical sources. In a new study, researchers found an increased risk of death associated with chronic pain without opioid treatment, as well as an even higher risk among those prescribed opioids for long-term use and a somewhat lower risk associated with short-term use.

Oxytocin helps to better overcome fear Posted: 13 Nov 2014 08:00 AM PST Frightening experiences do not quickly fade from memory. A team of researchers has now been able to demonstrate in a study that the bonding hormone oxytocin inhibits the fear center in the brain and allows fear stimuli to subside more easily. This basic research could also usher in a new era in the treatment of anxiety disorders.

Tiny Needles Offer Potential New Treatment for Two Major Eye Diseases Posted: 13 Nov 2014 07:55 AM PST Needles almost too small to be seen with the unaided eye could be the basis for new treatment options for two of the world's leading eye diseases: glaucoma and corneal neovascularization.

Premature infants are exposed to unsafe levels of chemical in medical products used to save their lives Posted: 13 Nov 2014 07:54 AM PST Hospitalized premature infants are exposed to unsafe levels of a chemical found in numerous medical products used to treat them, raising questions about whether critically ill newborns may be adversely affected by equipment designed to help save their lives.

Novel cancer vaccine approach for brain tumors Posted: 13 Nov 2014 07:54 AM PST Researchers unravel the mechanisms behind a novel cancer vaccine for brain tumors, paving the way for further development. Their new work drilled down to the cellular and molecular mechanisms behind the vaccine, paving the way for further development and refinement of this new experimental treatment.

Sharpening state spending on seniors Posted: 13 Nov 2014 07:54 AM PST As our society ages, a new study suggests the health system should be focusing on comorbidity and specific types of disabilities that are associated with higher health care costs for seniors, especially cognitive disabilities.

Many dialysis patients unprepared for emergencies, disasters Posted: 13 Nov 2014 07:54 AM PST Patients on dialysis are very vulnerable during emergencies or disasters, but many are unprepared for such situations. Dialysis patients are highly dependent on technologies to sustain their lives, with ongoing needs for transportation, electricity, and water for the dialysis apparatus. Interruption of these needs by a natural disaster can be devastating.

Cold-induced pain linked to the garlic, mustard receptor Posted: 13 Nov 2014 05:51 AM PST Some people experience cold not only as feeling cold, but actually as a painful sensation. This applies even to fairly mild temperatures -- anything below 20°C. A group of researchers has now identified the mechanism in the body that creates this connection between cold and pain. It turns out that it is the same receptor that reacts to the pungent substances in mustard and garlic.

Genotype found in 30 percent of als patients speeds up disease progression Posted: 13 Nov 2014 05:51 AM PST Mice bred to carry a gene variant found in a third of ALS patients have a faster disease progression and die sooner than mice with the standard genetic model of the disease, according to researchers. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease, is a degeneration of lower and upper motor neurons in the brainstem, spinal cord and the motor cortex. The disease, which affects 12,000 Americans, leads to loss of muscle control. People with ALS typically die of respiratory failure when the muscles that control breathing fail.

Moms with rheumatoid arthritis more likely to give birth prematurely Posted: 13 Nov 2014 04:51 AM PST Babies of women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or pre-clinical RA -- the period prior to symptoms -- are 1.5 times more likely to be born prematurely in Denmark. Findings indicate that body measurements of the baby at birth were only slightly lower in children exposed to maternal or preclinical RA compared to those with no exposure to the disease.

Facial motion a clue to difficulties in social interaction among autistic adults Posted: 13 Nov 2014 04:50 AM PST People on the autistic spectrum may struggle to recognize social cues, unfamiliar people or even someone's gender because of an inability to interpret changing facial expressions, new research has found.

Architecture of a lipid transport protein revealed Posted: 13 Nov 2014 04:50 AM PST The complex architecture of a protein that controls the transport of lipids between the two layers of a cell membrane has been described for the first time. With this structure, biochemists have now gained insight into processes that trigger blood coagulation.

Scoring scheme predicts ability of cancer cells to spread to other parts of body Posted: 13 Nov 2014 04:50 AM PST A new novel system opens up the possibility to explore new treatments that suppress the spread of cancer in patients, researchers report. This process was shown to play a role in a large number of cancer-related events, including cancer invasion, metastasis, and chemo-resistance. To date, there are no existing tools to systematically quantify the EMT status of tumors.

Challenges of delivering critical care in resource-poor countries addressed by experts Posted: 12 Nov 2014 05:33 PM PST Critical care is defined by life-threatening conditions, which require close evaluation, monitoring, and treatment by appropriately trained health professionals. Cardiovascular care bears these same requirements. In fact, cardiovascular disease will soon surpass even HIV as the leading cause of mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa. Researchers discuss the challenges of delivering critical care in resource-limited countries in a new article.

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