ScienceDaily: Health & Medicine News

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• Gene therapy treats all muscles in the body in muscular dystrophy dogs
• Study reveals why malaria vaccine only partially protected children, infants
• Advocating for raising the smoking age to 21
• Unhealthy pregnancy weight gain tips the scales for mothers seven years later
• Study combats 'anxiety' as barrier to breast cancer screening
• C-section delivery does not decrease at-birth fracture rates in infants with rare bone disease
• Implant procedure helps patients with sacroiliac joint pain
• Biologists unravel drug-resistance mechanism in tumor cells
• Plague in humans 'twice as old' but didn't begin as flea-borne, ancient DNA reveals
• Zebrafish study offers insights into nerve cell repair mechanisms
• Racial differences in outcomes, costs of care in older men with prostate cancer
• Cardiac muscle cells as good as progenitors for heart repair
• New model helps zero in on harmful genetic mutations
• Scientists discover protein factories hidden in human jumping genes
• Thyroid function may be restored through patient-derived human cells
• Blocking differentiation is enough to give cells 'stemness'
• Study uses gene editing to take brakes off lab-based red blood cell production
• Biomarker for premature death
• Could a drug engineered from bananas fight many deadly viruses? New results show promise
• Some antibiotics work by stressing bacteria out (metabolically)
• Alzheimer's disease: Plaques impair memory formation during sleep
• For young patients with spina bifida, smartphone app improves self-management
• New gene a key to fighting sepsis
• Subliminal effect of facial color on fearful faces
• New technique permits cell-specific examination of proteins in alzheimer's disease brain tissue
• New depression diagnosis and treatment
• Music listening habits tell about mental health
• Antidepressants, Alzheimer's disease drugs might boost recovery in stroke patients
• Taking less asthma medicine can be done safely with guidance, study shows
• Middle schoolers may benefit academically from extracurricular activities
• Common shoulder dislocation can heal just as well without surgery
• Many US physicians communicate with parents in ways that may discourage HPV vaccination
• Dehydration in older people could be detected by routine blood tests
• Chemists invent ‘tool’ for assembling life molecules
• Children who take antibiotics gain weight faster than kids who don't
• Diamonds -- a tooth's best friend?

Gene therapy treats all muscles in the body in muscular dystrophy dogs Posted: 22 Oct 2015 11:17 AM PDT Muscular dystrophy, which affects approximately 250,000 people in the US, occurs when damaged muscle tissue is replaced with fibrous, fatty or bony tissue and loses function. For years, scientists have searched for a way to successfully treat the most common form of the disease, Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), which primarily affects boys. Now, a team of researchers has successfully treated dogs with DMD and say that human clinical trials are being planned in the next few years.

Study reveals why malaria vaccine only partially protected children, infants Posted: 22 Oct 2015 11:17 AM PDT Using new, highly sensitive genomic sequencing technology, an international team of researchers has found new biological evidence to help explain why the malaria vaccine candidate RTS,S/AS01 (called RTS,S) provided only moderate protection among vaccinated children during clinical testing. The researchers found that genetic variability in the surface protein targeted by the RTS,S vaccine likely played a significant role.

Advocating for raising the smoking age to 21 Posted: 22 Oct 2015 11:17 AM PDT A physician, who during his 31-year career in medicine has seen the harmful effects of smoking on his patients, advocates for raising the smoking age to 21. He says the move would help curb access to tobacco products at an early age and lead to reductions in smoking prevalence.

Unhealthy pregnancy weight gain tips the scales for mothers seven years later Posted: 22 Oct 2015 11:17 AM PDT For the first time, researchers studied the association between gestational weight gain and long-term weight retention among a multi-ethnic urban population. Results show that mothers with excessive weight gain during pregnancy weighed more and had greater body fat seven years after delivery if they began pregnancy at normal or at slight overweight and suggest that excessive gestational weight gain has long-term consequences for women who are normal weight or a little overweight before pregnancy.

Study combats 'anxiety' as barrier to breast cancer screening Posted: 22 Oct 2015 09:57 AM PDT A new article describes a successful intervention to decrease anxiety accompanying breast cancer screening, lessening this barrier to mammography.

C-section delivery does not decrease at-birth fracture rates in infants with rare bone disease Posted: 22 Oct 2015 09:47 AM PDT Cesarean delivery was not associated with decrease in the at-birth fracture rates in infants with osteogenesis imperfecta, a rare bone disorder, reports a consortium of researchers.

Implant procedure helps patients with sacroiliac joint pain Posted: 22 Oct 2015 09:47 AM PDT A minimally invasive implant procedure is highly effective in reducing pain and disability for patients with sacroiliac joint dysfunction, reports a new clinical trial.

Biologists unravel drug-resistance mechanism in tumor cells Posted: 22 Oct 2015 09:45 AM PDT Cancer biologists have discovered that targeting the RNA-binding protein that promotes drug-resistance could lead to better cancer therapies.

Plague in humans 'twice as old' but didn't begin as flea-borne, ancient DNA reveals Posted: 22 Oct 2015 09:45 AM PDT New research dates plague back to the early Bronze Age, showing it had been endemic in humans across Eurasia for millennia prior to first recorded global outbreak, and that ancestral plague mutated into its bubonic, flea-borne form between the 2nd and 1st millennium BC.

Zebrafish study offers insights into nerve cell repair mechanisms Posted: 22 Oct 2015 09:45 AM PDT A hormone called serotonin -- better known for its role as a mood booster -- can help zebrafish to recover from a spinal cord injury, scientists have found. The findings could aid research into motor neuron disease and paralysis caused by spinal cord injury.

Racial differences in outcomes, costs of care in older men with prostate cancer Posted: 22 Oct 2015 09:45 AM PDT Older black men with localized prostate cancer were more likely to have poorer quality care, incur higher costs and have worse postoperative outcomes than white men but that did not translate to worse overall or cancer-specific survival, according to an article.

Cardiac muscle cells as good as progenitors for heart repair Posted: 22 Oct 2015 09:45 AM PDT Stem cell therapies for post-heart attack tissue repair have had modest success at best. Clinical trials have primarily used bone marrow cells, which can promote the growth of new blood vessels, but many studies have shown no benefit. A better alternative may be to use human heart muscle cells (cardiomyocytes), suggests a new study.

New model helps zero in on harmful genetic mutations Posted: 22 Oct 2015 09:45 AM PDT A new model and publicly available Web tool can more accurately predict which genetic mutations significantly change how genes splice and warrant increased attention from disease researchers and drug developers.

Scientists discover protein factories hidden in human jumping genes Posted: 22 Oct 2015 09:45 AM PDT Scientists have discovered a previously unknown wellspring of genetic diversity in humans, chimps and most other primates. This diversity arises from a new component of itinerant sections of genetic code known as jumping genes.

Thyroid function may be restored through patient-derived human cells Posted: 22 Oct 2015 09:45 AM PDT A discovery has been made that could one day restore thyroid function in patients with cancer whose thyroids have been surgically removed or in children born with congenital hypothyroidism.

Blocking differentiation is enough to give cells 'stemness' Posted: 22 Oct 2015 09:43 AM PDT Researchers have found that in immune cells, simply blocking a transcription factor that leads to differentiation is sufficient to keep cells in a multipotent stem cell-like state where they can continue to proliferate and can later differentiate into various cell types.

Study uses gene editing to take brakes off lab-based red blood cell production Posted: 22 Oct 2015 09:43 AM PDT Turning off a single gene leads to a roughly three-to-five-fold gain in the yield of laboratory methods for producing red blood cells from stem cells, says a multi-institutional team. These findings suggest a way to cost-effectively manufacture red blood cells from stem cells; the patients who might benefit include those who cannot use blood currently available in blood banks.

Biomarker for premature death Posted: 22 Oct 2015 09:43 AM PDT A single blood test could reveal whether an otherwise healthy person is unusually likely to die of pneumonia or sepsis within the next 14 years. Based on an analysis of 10,000 individuals, researchers have identified a molecular byproduct of inflammation, called GlycA, which seems to predict premature death due to infections.The findings suggest that high GlycA levels in the blood indicate a state of chronic inflammation.

Could a drug engineered from bananas fight many deadly viruses? New results show promise Posted: 22 Oct 2015 09:43 AM PDT A banana a day may not keep the doctor away, but a substance originally found in bananas and carefully edited by scientists could someday fight off a wide range of viruses, new research suggests. And the process used to create the virus-fighting form may help scientists develop even more drugs, by harnessing the 'sugar code' that our cells use to communicate. That code gets hijacked by viruses and other invaders.

Some antibiotics work by stressing bacteria out (metabolically) Posted: 22 Oct 2015 09:43 AM PDT Learning how antibiotics actually work can help scientists and doctors use them more wisely -- an urgent need at a time of mounting resistance. A new study found that three different antibiotics killed somewhat subtly by disrupting bacterial metabolism and causing a buildup of oxidative stress.

Alzheimer's disease: Plaques impair memory formation during sleep Posted: 22 Oct 2015 08:13 AM PDT Alzheimer's patients frequently suffer from sleep disorders, mostly even before they become forgetful. Furthermore, it is known that sleep plays a very important role in memory formation. Researchers have now been able to show for the first time how the pathological changes in the brain act on the information-storing processes during sleep. Using animal models, they were able to decode the exact mechanism and alleviate the impairment with medicinal agents.

For young patients with spina bifida, smartphone app improves self-management Posted: 22 Oct 2015 07:39 AM PDT A system incorporating a smartphone app may help adolescents and young adults with spina bifida to improve their daily self-management skills, suggests a new paper.

New gene a key to fighting sepsis Posted: 22 Oct 2015 07:35 AM PDT Scientists have identified a gene that could potentially open the door for the development of new treatments of the lethal disease sepsis. Sepsis is a severe whole-body infection that kills an estimated one million people in the United States alone each year. It occurs as a complication to an existing infection, and if not treated quickly can lead to septic shock and multiple organ failure, with death rates as high as 50 per cent.

Subliminal effect of facial color on fearful faces Posted: 22 Oct 2015 07:35 AM PDT Facial color affects early stage of subliminal processing of facial expression, say researchers, providing the first neurophysiological evidence showing the effects of facial color on emotional expression perception. This finding may contribute to promoting emotional interaction using avatars in virtual reality-world.

New technique permits cell-specific examination of proteins in alzheimer's disease brain tissue Posted: 22 Oct 2015 06:54 AM PDT Using 10-year-old archival brain tissue from patients with Alzheimer's disease, a research team has developed a novel method to examine the structure and function of proteins at the cell level -- providing greater means to study protein changes found in Alzheimer's disease.

New depression diagnosis and treatment Posted: 22 Oct 2015 06:52 AM PDT Major depression is now believed to be caused by abnormalities in immune cells of the brain. New research may be set to revolutionize next-generation psychiatric medication treatment, according to researchers.

Music listening habits tell about mental health Posted: 22 Oct 2015 06:49 AM PDT Brain imaging reveals how neural responses to different types of music really affect the emotion regulation of individuals. The study proves that especially men who process negative feelings with music react negatively to aggressive and sad music.

Antidepressants, Alzheimer's disease drugs might boost recovery in stroke patients Posted: 22 Oct 2015 06:45 AM PDT Evidence is mounting that drugs used to treat depression and Alzheimer's disease also can help patients recover from strokes. Speech and physical therapies traditionally have been the mainstays of stroke rehabilitation programs, say researchers, but more than half of stroke survivors are left with some neurological impairment.

Taking less asthma medicine can be done safely with guidance, study shows Posted: 22 Oct 2015 06:45 AM PDT Stepping down asthma medicines can be done safely and at less cost for patients says a new study. The team studied more than 4,000 patients (adults and children) who were taking daily asthma medicines and focused their analysis on two groups: patients who had stable asthma for at least one year who stayed on their same daily asthma medicine and patients who had stable asthma for at least one year who stepped down their daily asthma medicine.

Middle schoolers may benefit academically from extracurricular activities Posted: 22 Oct 2015 06:45 AM PDT Activities outside the classroom -- especially community engagement and sports -- may help low-income, urban youth academically as they transition into middle school, according to a new study.

Common shoulder dislocation can heal just as well without surgery Posted: 22 Oct 2015 06:44 AM PDT Acromio-clavicular joint dislocation is one of the most common shoulder injuries orthopedic surgeons treat. Severe dislocations are often treated with surgery, but patients who opt for non-surgical treatment typically experience fewer complications and return to work sooner, according to new research.

Many US physicians communicate with parents in ways that may discourage HPV vaccination Posted: 22 Oct 2015 06:44 AM PDT In a national sample, many pediatricians and primary care physicians reported communicating about HPV vaccination with parents in ways that likely discourage them from getting their children vaccinated.

Dehydration in older people could be detected by routine blood tests Posted: 21 Oct 2015 06:59 PM PDT Dehydration in older people could be accurately identified as part of routine blood testing according to new research. The best test for diagnosing dehydration, known as a serum osmolality test, is expensive and not currently viable for wide-scale NHS screening. But new research published today reveals how routine blood tests for sodium, potassium, urea and glucose could be used to screen for dehydration.

Chemists invent ‘tool’ for assembling life molecules Posted: 21 Oct 2015 12:16 PM PDT Researchers report a single chemical reaction that couples two constituent chemicals into a carbon-carbon bond, while simultaneously introducing a nitrogen component.

Children who take antibiotics gain weight faster than kids who don't Posted: 21 Oct 2015 08:52 AM PDT Kids who receive antibiotics throughout the course of their childhoods gain weight significantly faster than those who do not, according to new research.

Diamonds -- a tooth's best friend? Posted: 21 Oct 2015 08:51 AM PDT Gold, silver and porcelain are among the many materials dentists can use to fix damaged teeth. Soon diamonds -- at least tiny, microscopic ones -- could be added to that list. Scientists have developed a new material with nanodiamonds that has the potential to improve current root canal therapies and help prevent future infection.

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