ScienceDaily: Health & Medicine News

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• Researchers define unique group of high-risk lymphoma patients
• Clot-removal devices now recommended for some stroke patients
• Blood test for lung cancer a step closer
• First-ever possible treatments for MERS; two promising candidates
• Children from high conflict homes process emotion differently, could face social challenges
• Sugary drinks linked to high death tolls worldwide
• Vaccine to protect global communities from malaria under development
• Treatment with PI3K inhibitors may cause cancers to become more aggressive and metastatic
• New family of small RNAs boosts cell proliferation in cancer
• Genes responsible for increased activity during the summer
• Experts cover Korean MERS outbreak in new article
• Recommendations for left atrial appendage occlusion
• Discovery could lead to personalized colon cancer treatment approach
• Flatworms could replace mammals for some toxicology tests
• Upsetting a fragile alliance triggers a deadly childhood disease
• Using bacterial 'fight clubs' to find new drugs
• Specialized therapy can aid traumatized children in developing nations
• New role for Twitter: Early warning system for bad drug interactions
• Scoring system can help trauma centers improve care during surges in trauma cases
• New knowledge on bone tissue, its role in bone strength or weakness
• Scientists develop more accurate whole genome variant discovery, interpretation
• Wait times for health care services differ greatly throughout US
• Tamper-resistant opioids will not solve opioid addiction problem, study suggests
• Predicting which glioblastoma patients may benefit from drug treatment
• More than a third of children were physically assault in the last year
• Neighborhood environments and risk for type 2 diabetes
• Rare gene variant associated with middle ear infections
• Most plastic surgeons now use fat grafting as part of facelift surgery
• Two techniques of temporal migraine surgery are 'equally effective'
• Researchers map important enzyme in fight against cancer
• UK general practitioners and the Fit for Work scheme
• Reassurance can be as important as waiting times for ambulance patients
• Infant mortality rates could be lowered through improved medicine packaging designs
• Too exhausted to fight, immune system may harm the body they are supposed to protect
• Fundamental differences in how pain is processed in males and females
• Brain and spine surgery no more risky when physicians-in-training participate
• Genes leave some kids prone to weakness in wrist bones
• 'Drink when thirsty' to avoid fatal drops in blood sodium levels during exercise
• Microtubule 'roadway' in the retina helps provide energy for vision
• Helping scientists prioritize protein modification research
• Interest in child-specific nurse practitioner programs dwindling despite strong job market for graduates
• Getting high in senior year: Researchers examine whether reasons for smoking pot are associated
• Muscadine grape seed oil may help reduce obesity
• Lean but not hungry: Molecular switch for a healthy metabolism discovered
• Umbilical cord 'milking' improves blood flow in preterm infants
• Is marriage good or bad for the figure?
• How a newborn baby sees you
• Genes add risk to depression
• Running with prosthetic lower-limbs: Advantage or disadvantage?
• Pioneering study may explain origin of several digestive diseases
• How to banish children's fussy eating: Three steps
• Osteoporosis linked with heart disease in older people
• New detection method for a key drug resistant hepatitis C virus mutation
• Risk score developed for life expectancy of hospital patients
• Particulate matter from modern gasoline engines damages our lungs
• Pupillary reflex enhanced by light inside blind spot
• Mechanism of T cell self/non-self 'education'

Researchers define unique group of high-risk lymphoma patients Posted: 29 Jun 2015 03:01 PM PDT About 20 percent of follicular lymphoma patients consistently experience their disease coming back within two years of being treated with the latest therapies. New research confirms that patients in this group have very poor survival outcomes; 50 percent die in five years. People who relapse early may have a disease with distinctly different biology and should not be approached the same at diagnosis nor at the time of relapse in terms of therapies, scientists report.

Clot-removal devices now recommended for some stroke patients Posted: 29 Jun 2015 02:59 PM PDT Updated stroke treatment recommendations include using a stent retrieval device to remove blood clots from large arteries in select patients. Clot-busting medication -- tPA -- continues to be the gold standard for treating clot-caused stroke. Clot busters and/or clot-removal procedures must be administered within a few hours of stroke symptoms, so everyone needs to know to call 9-1-1 and seek immediate help if they occur.

Blood test for lung cancer a step closer Posted: 29 Jun 2015 01:26 PM PDT Two oncologists and a research scientist are helping pave the way to an easier, more accurate, less invasive way to screen for the most common form of lung cancer. Lung cancer is the most common cancer in men worldwide and the number one cancer killer in the United States.

First-ever possible treatments for MERS; two promising candidates Posted: 29 Jun 2015 01:26 PM PDT As the South Korean MERS outbreak continues, researchers have discovered and validated two therapeutics that show early promise in preventing and treating the disease, which can cause severe respiratory symptoms, and has a death rate of 40 percent.

Children from high conflict homes process emotion differently, could face social challenges Posted: 29 Jun 2015 01:26 PM PDT Children of parents who are frequently in conflict process emotional interactions differently and may face social challenges later in life compared with children from low conflict homes. The findings are based on measuring research subjects' brain activity during a psychological test.

Sugary drinks linked to high death tolls worldwide Posted: 29 Jun 2015 01:26 PM PDT Consumption of sugary drinks may lead to an estimated 184,000 adult deaths each year worldwide, according to research. In the first detailed global report on the impact of sugar-sweetened beverages, researchers estimated deaths and disabilities from diabetes, heart disease, and cancers in 2010. In this analysis, sugar sweetened beverages were defined as any sugar-sweetened sodas, fruit drinks, sports/energy drinks, sweetened iced teas, or homemade sugary drinks such as frescas, that contained at least 50 kcal per 8oz serving. 100 percent fruit juice was excluded.

Vaccine to protect global communities from malaria under development Posted: 29 Jun 2015 01:22 PM PDT A professor studying malaria mosquito interaction has discovered a new mosquito protein for the development of a vaccine that is expected to stop the spread of the disease in areas where it is considered endemic. Malaria is transmitted by mosquitoes, and it infects millions of people in Africa, Asia and South America every year, causing a global health crisis. Local populations, US military personnel stationed in these areas and travelers to these malaria-prone areas are at risk of becoming infected.

Treatment with PI3K inhibitors may cause cancers to become more aggressive and metastatic Posted: 29 Jun 2015 12:27 PM PDT The enzyme PI3K appears to be exploited in almost every type of human cancer, making it the focus of considerable interest as a therapeutic target. However, PI3K inhibitors have only shown modest clinical activity. Now, new research shows that treatment with PI3K inhibitors alone may actually make a patient's cancer even worse by promoting more aggressive tumor cell behavior and increasing the cancer's potential of spreading to other organs.

New family of small RNAs boosts cell proliferation in cancer Posted: 29 Jun 2015 12:27 PM PDT Rather than cellular trash, half of a transfer RNA (tRNA) molecule appears to actively spur cell proliferation in breast and prostate cancers, suggesting a new role for tRNA and a possible target for a new class of therapy.

Genes responsible for increased activity during the summer Posted: 29 Jun 2015 12:24 PM PDT A thermosensory gene changes behavior in warmer climates, new research reveals. Researchers have explored how the biological clock can be affected by the environment by examining the fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster, which shows 24 hour biological cycles and is used as a model organism for studies into human rhythms.

Experts cover Korean MERS outbreak in new article Posted: 29 Jun 2015 12:22 PM PDT An overview and analysis of the factors underlying the recent Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus outbreak in Korea has been published by experts.

Recommendations for left atrial appendage occlusion Posted: 29 Jun 2015 12:22 PM PDT Experts have released a new overview on the implantation of left atrial appendage occlusion devices. The implantation of left atrial appendage occlusion devices may lower the risk of stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation, researchers note.

Discovery could lead to personalized colon cancer treatment approach Posted: 29 Jun 2015 11:22 AM PDT Researchers report their findings of just how a certain tumor-suppressing protein helps prevent colon cancer. With this discovery, researchers believe they've found a possible drug target for colon cancer patients who lack the tumor suppressor.

Flatworms could replace mammals for some toxicology tests Posted: 29 Jun 2015 11:21 AM PDT Laboratories that test chemicals for neurological toxicity could reduce their use of laboratory mice and rats by replacing these animal models with tiny aquatic flatworms known as freshwater planarians, scientists say.

Upsetting a fragile alliance triggers a deadly childhood disease Posted: 29 Jun 2015 11:21 AM PDT SMA is a devastating neuromuscular disorder that robs children of their ability to walk, eat, or breathe. Mostly caused by an inherited flaw in the Survival Motor Neuron (SMN) gene, SMA is presently without a cure. Scientists have shown that fruit flies and brewer's yeast can reveal clues about this disorder.

Using bacterial 'fight clubs' to find new drugs Posted: 29 Jun 2015 11:21 AM PDT Chemists have demonstrated that creating bacterial 'fight clubs' is an effective way to discover natural molecules with the potential to become new drugs. The "fight club" approach applies analytical tools to analyze what happens when microbes compete.

Specialized therapy can aid traumatized children in developing nations Posted: 29 Jun 2015 11:21 AM PDT A specific type of talk therapy dispensed in the developing world to orphans and other vulnerable children who experienced trauma such as sexual and domestic abuse showed dramatic results, despite being administered by workers with little education, new research shows.

New role for Twitter: Early warning system for bad drug interactions Posted: 29 Jun 2015 10:25 AM PDT A new technique for discovering potentially dangerous drug interactions--before they show up in medical databases like PubMed-- has been developed by researchers. It includes the searching millions of tweets on Twitter.

Scoring system can help trauma centers improve care during surges in trauma cases Posted: 29 Jun 2015 10:24 AM PDT A scoring system that can identify periods of high activity and increased trauma patient deaths in hospital emergency rooms may help hospitals better prepare for surges in trauma patient volume that come with catastrophic events like the Boston Marathon bombing (April 2013) or disasters like the Amtrak train crash (May 2015) in Philadelphia, according to a study.

New knowledge on bone tissue, its role in bone strength or weakness Posted: 29 Jun 2015 10:24 AM PDT Leading experts in the field present the latest research on material properties of bone and how these can impart resilience or fragility to the skeleton. This new knowledge will aide in understanding both the hierarchical structure of bone and its importance to overall bone health.

Scientists develop more accurate whole genome variant discovery, interpretation Posted: 29 Jun 2015 10:24 AM PDT Conventional next-generation sequencing (NGS) techniques are able to accurately detect certain types of variation, such as single nucleotide variants and small insertions or deletions, but miss many large or complex forms of genomic variation that are associated with human disease. Now, a new approach to build nearly complete genomes by combining high-throughput DNA sequencing with genome mapping has been developed by researchers.

Wait times for health care services differ greatly throughout US Posted: 29 Jun 2015 10:24 AM PDT Tremendous variability in wait times for health care appointments exists throughout the United States, ranging from same day service to several months, says a new report.

Tamper-resistant opioids will not solve opioid addiction problem, study suggests Posted: 29 Jun 2015 10:24 AM PDT Governments in Canada and the United States are promoting tamper-resistant drugs, which are more difficult to crush, snort or inject, to prevent addiction and other harms. Opioid users may tamper with prescribed tablets, capsules or patches for a faster "high." However, a research group argues, tamper-resistant formulations of drugs will not solve the problems of opioid addiction and overdose.

Predicting which glioblastoma patients may benefit from drug treatment Posted: 29 Jun 2015 09:45 AM PDT Clinicians testing the drug dasatinib, approved for several blood cancers, had hoped it would slow the aggressive growth of the deadly brain cancer glioblastoma; however, clinical trials to date have not found any benefit. Researchers who conducted one of those clinical trials, believe they know why dasatinib failed — and what to do about it.

More than a third of children were physically assault in the last year Posted: 29 Jun 2015 09:34 AM PDT More than a third of children and teens 17 and younger experienced a physical assault in the last year, primarily at the hands of siblings and peers, according to a new article.

Neighborhood environments and risk for type 2 diabetes Posted: 29 Jun 2015 09:34 AM PDT Neighborhood resources to support greater physical activity and, to a lesser extent, healthy diets appear to be associated with a lower incidence of type 2 diabetes, although the results vary by the method of measurement used, according to a new article.

Rare gene variant associated with middle ear infections Posted: 29 Jun 2015 09:34 AM PDT Researchers may have taken the first step on the road to understanding why only some people get frequent painful or chronic middle ear infections. The culprit may be rare genetic variants in a gene called A2ML1.

Most plastic surgeons now use fat grafting as part of facelift surgery Posted: 29 Jun 2015 08:10 AM PDT In recent years, a large majority of US plastic surgeons have adopted fat grafting techniques as part of their approach to facelift surgery, reports a study. Fat grafting—transferring small amounts of the patient's own fat in strategic areas—has become a common technique utilized by most surgeons today performing facial rejuvenation, researchers report.

Two techniques of temporal migraine surgery are 'equally effective' Posted: 29 Jun 2015 08:10 AM PDT Two migraine surgery techniques targeting a specific "trigger site" are both highly effective in reducing the frequency and severity of migraine headaches, according to a randomized trial.

Researchers map important enzyme in fight against cancer Posted: 29 Jun 2015 08:10 AM PDT Researchers have discovered what regulates an enzyme that is central to the growth of cancer tumors. This could be of great value to future cancer treatment, they suggest.

UK general practitioners and the Fit for Work scheme Posted: 29 Jun 2015 08:10 AM PDT An editorial by primary care researchers analyses the GP role in the sickness certification process and the new Fit for Work scheme and suggests that GPs are key to supporting individuals to maintain the hope and belief that they can work, 'rather than adding to the numbers of individuals off work on long term sickness who may have been able to work.'

Reassurance can be as important as waiting times for ambulance patients Posted: 29 Jun 2015 08:08 AM PDT Ambulance services should be assessed on how reassured patients and their families feel during an emergency as well as on response times, researchers have found. Offering reassurance to patients and their families alleviates anxiety, fear or panic. These aspects of care can be as important as other performance measures such as response times, the study said.

Infant mortality rates could be lowered through improved medicine packaging designs Posted: 29 Jun 2015 08:08 AM PDT The usage of key medicines in developing countries could be significantly increased through improved packaging appearance.

Too exhausted to fight, immune system may harm the body they are supposed to protect Posted: 29 Jun 2015 08:08 AM PDT An 'exhausted' army of immune cells may not be able to fight off infection, but if its soldiers fight too hard they risk damaging the very body they are meant to be protecting, suggests new research.

Fundamental differences in how pain is processed in males and females Posted: 29 Jun 2015 08:08 AM PDT New animal research reveals fundamental sex differences in how pain is processed. These findings have far-reaching implications for our basic understanding of pain, how we develop the next generation of medications for chronic pain -- which is by far the most prevalent human health condition -- and the way we execute basic biomedical research using mice.

Brain and spine surgery no more risky when physicians-in-training participate Posted: 29 Jun 2015 07:09 AM PDT An analysis of the results of more than 16,000 brain and spine surgeries suggests patients have nothing to fear from having residents — physicians-in-training — assist in those operations. The contributions of residents, who work under the supervision and alongside senior physicians, do nothing to increase patients' risks of postoperative complications or of dying within 30 days of the surgery, the analysis showed.

Genes leave some kids prone to weakness in wrist bones Posted: 29 Jun 2015 07:09 AM PDT Pediatric researchers have discovered gene locations affecting bone strength in wrist bones, the most common site for fractures in children. Children with these genetic variants could especially benefit from activities and diets promoting bone strength.

'Drink when thirsty' to avoid fatal drops in blood sodium levels during exercise Posted: 29 Jun 2015 07:09 AM PDT For hikers, football players, endurance athletes, and a growing range of elite and recreational exercisers, the best approach to preventing potentially serious reductions in blood sodium level is to drink when thirsty, according to an updated consensus statement on exercise-associated hyponatremia (EAH).

Microtubule 'roadway' in the retina helps provide energy for vision Posted: 29 Jun 2015 07:08 AM PDT Researchers have discovered a thick band of microtubules in certain neurons in the retina that they believe acts as a transport road for mitochondria that help provide energy required for visual processing.

Helping scientists prioritize protein modification research Posted: 29 Jun 2015 06:27 AM PDT Researchers have developed a new informatics technology that analyzes existing data repositories of protein modifications and 3D protein structures to help scientists identify and target research on "hotspots" most likely to be important for biological function.

Interest in child-specific nurse practitioner programs dwindling despite strong job market for graduates Posted: 29 Jun 2015 06:26 AM PDT While the number of graduates from family or adult nurse practitioner programs continues to rise, student applications to pediatric and neonatal nurse practitioner programs are falling, a new study indicates.

Getting high in senior year: Researchers examine whether reasons for smoking pot are associated Posted: 29 Jun 2015 06:26 AM PDT A new study examines how reasons for illicit marijuana use relates to the use of other drugs individually, rather than grouping them into a single "illicit drug" group.

Muscadine grape seed oil may help reduce obesity Posted: 29 Jun 2015 06:26 AM PDT Most of the seeds and skin from grapes used for wine production winds up in waste streams. But scientists have found that the oil extracted from Muscadine grape seeds produces a form of Vitamin E, which can help reduce fat.

Lean but not hungry: Molecular switch for a healthy metabolism discovered Posted: 29 Jun 2015 06:23 AM PDT The protein complex mTORC1 is a central regulator of cell metabolism. In the active state, it stimulates anabolic processes and increases the production and storage of proteins and lipids. Researchers have discovered a mechanism how mTORC1 regulates metabolism: It controls the expression of a specific variant of the transcriptional regulator C/EBP?. Elimination of this variant in mice results in a healthy metabolism, leanness and improved insulin sensitivity. The study may provide a basis for novel strategies for the treatment of metabolic diseases such as obesity and type II diabetes.

Umbilical cord 'milking' improves blood flow in preterm infants Posted: 29 Jun 2015 05:02 AM PDT A technique to increase the flow of blood from the umbilical cord into the infant's circulatory system improves blood pressure and red blood cell levels in preterm infants delivered by Cesarean section, according to a study.

Is marriage good or bad for the figure? Posted: 29 Jun 2015 05:02 AM PDT It is generally assumed that marriage has a positive influence on health and life expectancy. But does this "marriage bonus" also apply to the health indicator of body weight? Researchers have investigated this question in cooperation with the market research institute GfK. Specifically, they compared the body mass index of married couples with that of singles in nine European countries.

How a newborn baby sees you Posted: 29 Jun 2015 05:02 AM PDT A newborn infant can see its parents' expressions at a distance of 30 cm. For the first time, researchers have managed to reconstruct infants visual perception of the world.

Genes add risk to depression Posted: 29 Jun 2015 05:01 AM PDT People born with a particular gene variant have a greater risk of developing depressions, a recent study shows. Depression has been relatively under-researched, and clinicians are not, generally, good at treating depression, authors say, noting that only about 60 per cent of patients get better with treatment, regardless of which treatment they get.

Running with prosthetic lower-limbs: Advantage or disadvantage? Posted: 29 Jun 2015 04:59 AM PDT Researchers have been looking at the impact of lower-limb prosthetics on competitive running, specifically looking at whether athletes with prosthesis are at an unfair advantage when running against athletes without prosthetics.

Pioneering study may explain origin of several digestive diseases Posted: 29 Jun 2015 04:59 AM PDT The tridimensional characterization of the calcium phosphate formed in the stomach is shown for the first time in a new study, revealing its internal structure, morphology and real functionality. This study has succeeded in taking one more step towards discovering the origin of certain diseases, although there is still a lot of work ahead before we can combat these diseases that would appear to be associated with a calcium deficiency.

How to banish children's fussy eating: Three steps Posted: 29 Jun 2015 04:59 AM PDT Parents could banish their children's fussy eating habits by following three simple steps, a new study suggests.

Osteoporosis linked with heart disease in older people Posted: 29 Jun 2015 04:59 AM PDT Scientists have discovered a link between coronary heart disease and osteoporosis, suggesting both conditions could have similar causes. In one of the first studies of its kind to use a special scanning technique, researchers found that people with a history of heart disease had substantially lower cortical volumetric bone mineral density in their wrist bone (the distal radius) than those without.

New detection method for a key drug resistant hepatitis C virus mutation Posted: 29 Jun 2015 04:59 AM PDT A rapid, sensitive, and accurate method to detect drug resistant hepatitis C virus (HCV) mutants has been developed. Researchers have established a system to rapidly and accurately measure the presence of HCV Y93H drug resistant mutant strains, and evaluate the proportion of patients harboring this mutation prior to treatment. Even in serum samples with low HCV titers, Y93H drug resistant mutation could be successfully detected in more than half of the samples. This new system for detecting mutant strains may provide important pre-treatment information valuable not only for treatment decisions but also for prediction of disease progression in HCV genotype 1b patients.

Risk score developed for life expectancy of hospital patients Posted: 29 Jun 2015 04:59 AM PDT The world's first prognosis scoring system (PANDORA score) for hospital patients, and their life expectancy within the next 30 days, has been developed by scientists. To determine the score, patients are asked about simple parameters such as their age, height and weight. They are also asked for a personal estimate of their mobility and eating behavior -- as well as their general condition. Using a weighted points system, a general risk score can be derived which can be used in the hospital to ensure quality, for studies and for the purposes of evaluation.

Particulate matter from modern gasoline engines damages our lungs Posted: 29 Jun 2015 04:59 AM PDT Particulate matter from gasoline engines is harmful to our airways, regardless of whether the engines are a bit older or comply with environmental standards. Fine dust particles allow pathogens to enter the lungs easier. Researchers have shown this conducting a realistic laboratory experiment.

Pupillary reflex enhanced by light inside blind spot Posted: 29 Jun 2015 04:58 AM PDT The human retina contains some 100 million photoreceptor cells. When these are stimulated with light, they communicate that information to the brain and we perceive light. Researchers have now discovered that when light impinges on the photoreceptor-free blind spot alone the pupillary reflex does not occur, but the pupillary reflex is enhanced in response to bright illumination in a normal part of the retina when blue or white light containing shorter wavelengths is simultaneously delivered inside the blind spot.

Mechanism of T cell self/non-self 'education' Posted: 29 Jun 2015 04:57 AM PDT A protease only found in the thymus produces special peptides that promote positive selection of T cells that can detect non-self antigens, a process that allows immature T cells to develop to maturity, researchers have discovered. This finding may further contribute to the development of therapies for infectious diseases, cancers and immune diseases.

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