ScienceDaily: Health & Medicine News

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• Rabbit virus improves bone marrow transplants, kills some cancer cells
• Autologous stem cell therapy helpful in traumatic brain injury
• Top salads with eggs to better absorb vegetables' carotenoids
• Babies who can resettle are more likely to 'sleep through the night'
• Strokes steal eight years' worth of brain function, new study suggests
• Biochemists devise snappy new technique for blueprinting cell membrane proteins
• Teachers' health: Healthy heart, stressed psyche
• Good eyes but poor vision: An indistinct world for one in 20
• An initiation mechanism for dendritic spines discovered
• Researchers targeting host rather than flu virus have success with new treatment in mice
• Memory loss among the elderly is lower than what was originally thought
• Missing teeth predict cardiovascular events
• New hope in the fight against tuberculosis
• Varicella-zoster virus: Using embryonic stem cells to test drugs
• Food labels nudge diners to eat healthier
• Despite abnormalities after concussion, sleep continues to aid memory and recall
• Preventive neuroradiology: Brain imaging bolsters efforts to lower Alzheimer's risk
• Parent-reported symptoms gauge features of the food allergic disease eosinophilic esophagitis
• Researchers pilot predictive medicine by studying healthy people's DNA
• What are Medicare costs for patients with oral cavity, pharyngeal cancers?
• Reprogramming of DNA observed in human germ cells for first time
• How bacteria survive antibiotics may improve treatment of infectious diseases
• Opa1 overexpression ameliorates the clinical phenotype of two mitochondrial disease mouse models
• When the evil assumes power: On the dominance of stem cell mutations in age
• Decaying RNA molecules tell a story
• Forks colliding: How DNA breaks during re-replication
• Panel Recommends Improvements in Estrogen Testing Accuracy
• Genetic variation of stress hormone receptor may affect vulnerability to major depression
• Attending breast cancer screening reduces risk of death by 40 percent

Rabbit virus improves bone marrow transplants, kills some cancer cells Posted: 05 Jun 2015 03:29 PM PDT For patients with blood cancers such as leukemia and multiple myeloma, a bone marrow transplant can be both curative and perilous. It replenishes marrow lost to disease or chemotherapy but raises the risk that newly transplanted white blood cells will attack the recipient's body. Now researcher have found that a rabbit virus can deliver a one-two punch, killing some kinds of cancer cells while eliminating a common and dangerous complication of bone marrow transplants.

Autologous stem cell therapy helpful in traumatic brain injury Posted: 05 Jun 2015 03:29 PM PDT The use of cell therapy after traumatic brain injury in children can reduce the amount of therapeutic interventions needed to treat the patient, as well as the amount of time the child spends in neurointensive care, according to research.

Top salads with eggs to better absorb vegetables' carotenoids Posted: 05 Jun 2015 03:28 PM PDT Adding eggs to a salad with a variety of raw vegetables is an effective method to improve the absorption of carotenoids, which are fat-soluble nutrients that help reduce inflammation and oxidative stress, according to research.

Babies who can resettle are more likely to 'sleep through the night' Posted: 05 Jun 2015 03:28 PM PDT Young infants who can 'resettle' themselves after waking up are more likely to sleep for prolonged periods at night, according to a video study. The researchers also looked for times when the infants woke up but were able to "resettle autonomously"--to go back to sleep without parental involvement.

Strokes steal eight years' worth of brain function, new study suggests Posted: 05 Jun 2015 03:19 PM PDT Having a stroke ages a person's brain function by almost eight years, new research finds -- robbing them of memory and thinking speed as measured on cognitive tests. In both black and white patients, having had a stroke meant that their score on a 27-item test of memory and thinking speed had dropped as much as it would have if they had aged 7.9 years overnight.

Biochemists devise snappy new technique for blueprinting cell membrane proteins Posted: 05 Jun 2015 07:29 AM PDT Biochemists have devised a new technique that will make the job of blueprinting certain proteins considerably faster, cheaper and easier. The breakthrough will make a big splash in the field of drug discovery and development, where protein blueprints help researchers understand how individual proteins work and allow drug developers to draw up specific battle plans in the fight against diseases and infections.

Teachers' health: Healthy heart, stressed psyche Posted: 05 Jun 2015 07:28 AM PDT As a result of their work, teachers suffer psychosomatic disorders such as exhaustion, fatigue, and headaches more frequently than other occupational groups, claims a new report.

Good eyes but poor vision: An indistinct world for one in 20 Posted: 05 Jun 2015 07:28 AM PDT Extremely poor vision can be caused by strabismus in early childhood or by a displaced optical axis. Amblyopia is caused not by organic damage to the eyes but by the brain incorrectly fitting together the images the eyes provide. As a result, the ability to see an object in sharp focus is severely limited. This occurs in more than one in 20 people, researchers report. The authors' study analyzed the visual acuity of over 3200 German individuals aged between 35 and 44 years and determined the frequency and causes of amblyopia.

An initiation mechanism for dendritic spines discovered Posted: 05 Jun 2015 06:14 AM PDT An initiation mechanism illuminates the molecular processes involved in learning and cognitive dysfunction. The discovery is important, as most of the neuronal connections, called synapses, are build to dendritic spines. In many central nervous system diseases, the dendritic spine density is altered.

Researchers targeting host rather than flu virus have success with new treatment in mice Posted: 05 Jun 2015 05:16 AM PDT People who die from the flu actually die from respiratory failure. A curious researcher wondered what would happen if someone developed a treatment that would prevent blood vessels from leaking into the lungs, and focused study on that.

Memory loss among the elderly is lower than what was originally thought Posted: 05 Jun 2015 05:16 AM PDT The capacity to recall specific facts deteriorates with age, but other types of memory do not, new research suggests. Elderly people remember fewer specific details than younger people and, in general, both groups retain concrete information about events experienced better than abstract information. The main difference is to be found in the capacity to remember more distant facts: youngsters remember them better.

Missing teeth predict cardiovascular events Posted: 05 Jun 2015 05:16 AM PDT Advanced tooth loss often indicates that a person has a history of inflammatory oral diseases. In an extensive cohort study, it was shown that tooth loss associate with future cardiovascular events, diabetes and death.

New hope in the fight against tuberculosis Posted: 04 Jun 2015 01:25 PM PDT Scientists have discovered a new target for the fight against multi-resistant mycobacteria, from a rejuvenated antibiotic series. Mycobacterium tuberculosis is the main cause of tuberculosis. The treatment for drug-susceptible tuberculosis consists of the daily administration of multiple drugs for a minimum of six months. Lack of adherence to this regimen can result in treatment failure and the emergence of drug resistance.

Varicella-zoster virus: Using embryonic stem cells to test drugs Posted: 04 Jun 2015 01:25 PM PDT Scientists report on a novel experimental model that, for the first time, successfully mimics the 'sleeping' and 'waking' of the varicella-zoster virus. Based on neurons generated from human embryonic stem cells, and not requiring the use of experimental animals, the model allows scientists to test drugs and develop therapies to prevent shingles. It may also contribute to the fight against other viruses -- such as herpes and polio -- that target the human nervous system.

Food labels nudge diners to eat healthier Posted: 04 Jun 2015 01:22 PM PDT When people know the calories and fat content in foods, they lean toward healthier fare, a study of food labels in dining halls shows. Despite municipal and federal legislation in the pipelines for large restaurants and dining facilities to put labels on their foods, there was very little hard data to show such labels are effective in helping people make healthier food choices, until now, the researchers say.

Despite abnormalities after concussion, sleep continues to aid memory and recall Posted: 04 Jun 2015 11:18 AM PDT After a concussion, a person can be left with disturbed sleep, memory deficits and other cognitive problems for years, but a new study suggests that despite these abnormalities, sleep still helps them to overcome memory deficits, and the benefit is equivalent to that seen in individuals without a history of mild traumatic brain injury, also known as concussion.

Preventive neuroradiology: Brain imaging bolsters efforts to lower Alzheimer's risk Posted: 04 Jun 2015 11:18 AM PDT Armed with new knowledge about how neurodegenerative diseases alter brain structures, increasing numbers of neurologists, psychiatrists and other clinicians are adopting quantitative brain imaging as a tool to measure and help manage cognitive declines in patients. These imaging findings can help spur beneficial lifestyle changes in patients to reduce risk for Alzheimer's disease.

Parent-reported symptoms gauge features of the food allergic disease eosinophilic esophagitis Posted: 04 Jun 2015 11:18 AM PDT Researchers have identified that parent-reported responses to a questionnaire called the Pediatric Eosinophilic Esophagitis Symptom Score correspond to clinical and biologic features of eosinophilic esophagitis -- a severe and often painful food allergy that renders children unable to eat a wide variety of foods.

Researchers pilot predictive medicine by studying healthy people's DNA Posted: 04 Jun 2015 11:18 AM PDT Scientists have turned traditional genomics research on its head. Instead of trying to find a mutation in the genome of a person with a genetic disease, they sequenced the genomes of healthy participants, and then analyzed the data to find presumed mutations that would almost certainly lead to a genetic condition. Of nearly 1,000 volunteers whose genomes were examined, about 100 had variants predicting a rare disease. Almost half actually had the disease.

What are Medicare costs for patients with oral cavity, pharyngeal cancers? Posted: 04 Jun 2015 11:17 AM PDT Medicare costs for older patients with oral cavity and pharyngeal cancers increased based on demographics, co-existing illnesses and treatment selection, according to a report.

Reprogramming of DNA observed in human germ cells for first time Posted: 04 Jun 2015 11:17 AM PDT A team of researchers has described for the first time in humans how the epigenome -- the suite of molecules attached to our DNA that switch our genes on and off -- is comprehensively erased in early primordial germ cells prior to the generation of egg and sperm. However, the study shows some regions of our DNA -- including those associated with conditions such as obesity and schizophrenia -- resist complete reprogramming.

How bacteria survive antibiotics may improve treatment of infectious diseases Posted: 04 Jun 2015 11:17 AM PDT Infectious diseases kill more people worldwide than any other single cause, but treatment often fails because a small fraction of bacterial cells can transiently survive antibiotics and recolonize the body. A study reveals that these so-called persisters form in response to adverse conditions through the action of a molecule called Obg, which plays an important role in all major cellular processes in multiple bacterial species.

Opa1 overexpression ameliorates the clinical phenotype of two mitochondrial disease mouse models Posted: 04 Jun 2015 11:16 AM PDT Scientists identify Opa1 as a potential therapeutic target to combat mitochondrial disease. OPA1 is a protein of the inner mitochondrial membrane, which shapes mitochondrial cristae, the structures where the respiratory complexes are located, thus regulating the efficiency of the respiratory chain.

When the evil assumes power: On the dominance of stem cell mutations in age Posted: 04 Jun 2015 11:16 AM PDT Aging is characterized by a decrease in regenerative capacity and organ maintenance as well as an increasing risk of cancer which coincide with mutations in stem and progenitor cells. In a working paper, researchers summarize and contrast international research results on the various cell-intrinsic mechanisms that lead to a clonal dominance of mutant stem and progenitor cells in aging tissues.

Decaying RNA molecules tell a story Posted: 04 Jun 2015 11:16 AM PDT Once messenger RNA (mRNA) has done its job – conveying the information to produce the proteins necessary for a cell to function – it is no longer required and is degraded. Scientists have long thought that the decay started after translation was complete and that decaying RNA molecules provided little biological information. Now researchers have shown that one end of the mRNA begins to decay while the other is still serving as a template for protein production. Thus, studying the decaying mRNA also provides a snapshot of how proteins are produced.

Forks colliding: How DNA breaks during re-replication Posted: 04 Jun 2015 11:15 AM PDT Leveraging a novel system designed to examine the double-strand DNA breaks that occur as a consequence of gene amplification during DNA replication, scientists are bringing new clarity to the causes of such genomic damage. Moreover, because errors arising during DNA replication and gene amplification result in chromosomal abnormalities often found in malignant cells, these new findings may bolster our understandings of certain drivers of cancer progression.

Panel Recommends Improvements in Estrogen Testing Accuracy Posted: 04 Jun 2015 11:14 AM PDT Unreliable estrogen measurements have had a negative impact on the treatment of and research into many hormone-related cancers and chronic conditions. To improve patient care, a panel of medical experts has called for accurate, standardized estrogen testing methods in a new statement.

Genetic variation of stress hormone receptor may affect vulnerability to major depression Posted: 03 Jun 2015 03:20 PM PDT Scientists are beginning to unwrap the biology behind why some people are more prone to major depression and other psychiatric disorders than others when experiencing stressful life events. The researchers found that cellular activity in response to stress hormone receptor activation differs from individual to individual.

Attending breast cancer screening reduces risk of death by 40 percent Posted: 03 Jun 2015 03:19 PM PDT Women aged 50-69 years who attend mammography screening reduce their risk of dying from breast cancer by 40 percent compared to women who are not screened -- according to a major international review of the latest evidence on breast cancer screening.

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