ScienceDaily: Health & Medicine News

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• An engineered protein can disrupt tumor-promoting 'messages' in human cells
• New therapeutic targets for small cell lung cancer identified
• How the immune system might evolve to conquer HIV
• Football concussion update: Player-on-player hits cause more serious head impacts
• Biologists home in on paleo gut for clues to our evolutionary history
• New mechanism of tuberculosis infection
• More doesn't mean better when it comes to trauma centers
• Large protein nanocages could improve drug design and delivery
• Researchers discuss challenges, successes of HIV cure research in science
• Physical declines begin earlier than expected among U.S. adults
• Researchers temporarily turn off brain area to better understand function
• Researchers find first direct evidence that A. aegypti mosquito transmits Zika virus
• One-third of students report elevated psychological distress, survey shows
• Chronic low back pain linked to higher rates of illicit drug use
• Wrist fractures linked to poor balance in elderly patients
• Prevalence, severity of tinnitus in the US
• New intellectual disability syndrome caused by genetic damage to single gene
• Diabetes could be due to failure of beta cell 'hubs'
• Hospital more than four times as likely for under-6s after laundry pod detergent contact
• HD monkeys display full spectrum of symptoms seen in humans
• Immune-enhancing treatment may destabilize HIV reservoirs
• Preventive therapy in brain-injured patients lowers risk of pulmonary embolism, DVT
• Stop the rogue ADAM gene and you stop asthma
• Brains of college athletes with prior concussion show physical changes months, years later
• Lyme disease: You can't blame the deer
• Virtual development of real drugs
• Researchers discover genetic causes of higher melanoma risk in men
• New mechanisms in taste perception
• Glutamate levels in the brain may be linked to alcohol craving
• Diversifying clinical science to represent diverse populations
• Exercise as effective as surgery for middle aged patients with knee damage
• Imaging after thyroid cancer treatment does not necessarily mean better outcomes
• To protect yourself from malaria sleep with a chicken next to your bed
• Hormone therapy for brain performance: No effect, whether started early or late
• One third of women with ADHD have anxiety disorders, almost half have considered suicide, study finds

An engineered protein can disrupt tumor-promoting 'messages' in human cells Posted: 21 Jul 2016 03:03 PM PDT A team of researchers have unveiled an engineered protein that they designed to repress a specific cancer-promoting message within cells.

New therapeutic targets for small cell lung cancer identified Posted: 21 Jul 2016 03:03 PM PDT Researchers have identified a protein termed ASCL1 that is essential to the development of small cell lung cancer and that, when deleted in the lungs of mice, prevents the cancer from forming.

How the immune system might evolve to conquer HIV Posted: 21 Jul 2016 03:03 PM PDT Scientists have mathematically modeled the coevolutionary processes that describe how antibodies and viruses interact and adapt to one another over the course of a chronic infection, such as HIV/AIDS.

Football concussion update: Player-on-player hits cause more serious head impacts Posted: 21 Jul 2016 12:15 PM PDT In football, player-vs.-player hits will likely cause more severe head impacts than other impacts, according to a new study.

Biologists home in on paleo gut for clues to our evolutionary history Posted: 21 Jul 2016 12:14 PM PDT A new study of the gut microbiomes of humans, chimps, bonobos and gorillas shows that at least two major groups of bacteria have cospeciated with these hosts, with a lineage going back at least 15 million years to our last common ancestor. Researchers hope to reconstruct the ancestral 'paleo gut' that went with our paleo diet, and use the gut bacteria to track human migration.

New mechanism of tuberculosis infection Posted: 21 Jul 2016 12:14 PM PDT Researchers have identified a new way that tuberculosis bacteria get into the body, revealing a potential therapeutic angle to explore.

More doesn't mean better when it comes to trauma centers Posted: 21 Jul 2016 12:14 PM PDT For the first time, research shows that changes over time in the volume of patients seen by trauma centers influence the likelihood of seriously injured patients living or dying. The findings mean that changes in patient volume across all affected centers should be considered when designating a new trauma center in a region.

Large protein nanocages could improve drug design and delivery Posted: 21 Jul 2016 12:12 PM PDT Using novel computational and biochemical approaches, scientists have designed and built from scratch 10 large protein icosahedra that are similar to viral capsids that carry viral DNA.

Researchers discuss challenges, successes of HIV cure research in science Posted: 21 Jul 2016 12:12 PM PDT A better understanding of HIV latency is the key to eradicating the virus, researchers write in a new article. Worldwide, 37 million people are living with HIV. A cure has proved elusive due to viral latency -- a period when the virus remains alive, but dormant in body thereby eluding the immune system.

Physical declines begin earlier than expected among U.S. adults Posted: 21 Jul 2016 11:48 AM PDT Physical declines begin sooner in life than typically detected, often when people are still in their 50s, according to a new study that focused on a large group of U.S. adults across a variety of age groups.

Researchers temporarily turn off brain area to better understand function Posted: 21 Jul 2016 11:41 AM PDT Capitalizing on experimental genetic techniques, researchers have demonstrated that temporarily turning off an area of the brain changes patterns of activity across much of the remaining brain.

Researchers find first direct evidence that A. aegypti mosquito transmits Zika virus Posted: 21 Jul 2016 11:39 AM PDT Researchers have now directly connected the Aedes aegypti mosquito with Zika transmission in the Americas, during an outbreak in southern Mexico. The findings will help scientists to better target efforts for controlling the population of mosquitoes carrying the Zika virus.

One-third of students report elevated psychological distress, survey shows Posted: 21 Jul 2016 11:39 AM PDT More than one in three -- an estimated 328,000 -- students in grades seven to 12 report moderate-to-serious psychological distress, according to new survey results in Ontario, Canada. Girls are twice as likely as boys to experience psychological distress, the study indicates.

Chronic low back pain linked to higher rates of illicit drug use Posted: 21 Jul 2016 11:39 AM PDT People living with chronic low back pain (cLBP) are more likely to use illicit drugs -- including marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine -- compared to those without back pain, reports a study.

Wrist fractures linked to poor balance in elderly patients Posted: 21 Jul 2016 11:38 AM PDT Elderly patients suffering a low energy wrist (distal radius) fracture are more likely to have difficulties with balance, placing them at risk for future injuries, according to a new study.

Prevalence, severity of tinnitus in the US Posted: 21 Jul 2016 11:28 AM PDT Approximately one in 10 adults in the US have tinnitus, and durations of occupational and leisure time noise exposures are correlated with rates of tinnitus and are likely targetable risk factors, according to a study.

New intellectual disability syndrome caused by genetic damage to single gene Posted: 21 Jul 2016 11:27 AM PDT Scientists have found a gene responsible for an intellectual disability disorder and proven how it works. The research, details the role of a gene called BCL11A in a new intellectual disability syndrome.

Diabetes could be due to failure of beta cell 'hubs' Posted: 21 Jul 2016 11:27 AM PDT The significant role of beta cell 'hubs' in the pancreas has been demonstrated for the first time, suggesting that diabetes may due to the failure of a privileged few cells, rather than the behavior of all cells.

Hospital more than four times as likely for under-6s after laundry pod detergent contact Posted: 21 Jul 2016 07:46 AM PDT Children under the age of 6 are four times as likely to end up in hospital after contact with laundry pod detergent as children exposed to other types of detergent, finds new research.

HD monkeys display full spectrum of symptoms seen in humans Posted: 21 Jul 2016 07:44 AM PDT Transgenic Huntington's disease monkeys display a full spectrum of symptoms resembling the human disease, strengthening the case that they could be used to evaluate emerging treatments before launching human clinical trials.

Immune-enhancing treatment may destabilize HIV reservoirs Posted: 21 Jul 2016 07:44 AM PDT Although antiretroviral therapy (ART) can reduce the amount of HIV in the blood to an undetectable level in most chronically infected people, it cannot eliminate reservoirs of HIV that persist in latently infected immune cells. Recent findings suggest that combining ART with an immune-enhancing treatment may destabilize viral reservoirs in macaques infected with SIV, the monkey equivalent of HIV.

Preventive therapy in brain-injured patients lowers risk of pulmonary embolism, DVT Posted: 21 Jul 2016 07:38 AM PDT People who sustain a traumatic brain injury (TBI) are at high risk for developing deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism. But blood-thinning medications started within 72 hours of hospital arrival have a significant protective effect against these conditions in patients with severe TBI and do not increase risk of bleeding complications or death, say investigators.

Stop the rogue ADAM gene and you stop asthma Posted: 21 Jul 2016 07:38 AM PDT A potential and novel way of preventing asthma at the origin of the disease has now been discovered by researchers, a finding that could challenge the current understanding of the condition.

Brains of college athletes with prior concussion show physical changes months, years later Posted: 21 Jul 2016 07:38 AM PDT University athletes with a history of concussion had changes in the size, blood flow and connections in their brains months and even years after the injury -- changes not seen in athletes without prior concussions, a new study has found.

Lyme disease: You can't blame the deer Posted: 21 Jul 2016 04:28 AM PDT The last decades the disease Lyme borreliosis that is spread by ticks has been increasing, but this increase cannot be explained by the increasing deer population only, say researchers.

Virtual development of real drugs Posted: 21 Jul 2016 04:27 AM PDT Inside the human body, the same drug can interact with multiple molecules. This phenomenon is known as 'polypharmacology' and, according to the interaction, a drug can cure a disease or cause side effects in the patient. It is therefore critical to create a drug that can hit the right molecular target, minimizing the risk of undesired molecular interactions. The current process to screen for this is time consuming and expensive. systemsDock is a new, free on-line resource that makes screening for drugs faster and more accurate.

Researchers discover genetic causes of higher melanoma risk in men Posted: 21 Jul 2016 04:27 AM PDT A new study has identified one of the genetic causes underlying the higher rate of melanoma in men. The research group focused their study on the differences between men and women in terms of pigmentation (eye, hair and skin) and sun response, i.e. history of sunburn, and the presence irregular moles and freckles caused by sun exposure.

New mechanisms in taste perception Posted: 21 Jul 2016 04:27 AM PDT Researchers have discovered that the extracellular domain of taste receptor proteins undergoes a change in structure by binding together taste substances. This structure change is thought to transmit the extracellular binding of taste substances to taste cells. The findings will contribute to our basic understanding of taste mechanisms and the development of a new taste evaluation system that makes use of the screening and detection of taste receptor structure changes.

Glutamate levels in the brain may be linked to alcohol craving Posted: 20 Jul 2016 06:54 PM PDT Craving consists of cognitive, emotional, and behavioral elements related to a desire to drink alcohol, and can be experienced during intoxication, withdrawal, and/or prior to relapse. Different types of craving are hypothesized to be associated with different neurotransmitter systems. For example, reward craving may be mediated by dopamine and opioids, obsessive craving by serotonin, and relief craving by glutamate. A new study used magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) to examine the correlation between craving and glutamate levels in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (LDLPFC) of patients with alcohol use disorders (AUDs).

Diversifying clinical science to represent diverse populations Posted: 20 Jul 2016 06:53 PM PDT Despite increasing attention to issues of diversity in scientific research, participant populations in behavioral science tend to be relatively homogeneous. A special series in Clinical Psychological Science highlights the importance of broadening the traditional scope of clinical science research, advancing the field so that it can adequately address the needs and concerns of diverse populations.

Exercise as effective as surgery for middle aged patients with knee damage Posted: 20 Jul 2016 06:51 PM PDT Exercise therapy is as effective as surgery for middle aged patients with a common type of knee injury known as meniscal tear (damage to the rubbery discs that cushion the knee joint), finds a new study.

Imaging after thyroid cancer treatment does not necessarily mean better outcomes Posted: 20 Jul 2016 06:51 PM PDT More imaging after thyroid cancer treatment identifies recurrence, but it does not always improve survival, a new study suggests. More people are being diagnosed with low-risk thyroid cancer, but the use of imaging among these patients has skyrocketed disproportionately. Thyroid cancer generally has a high survival rate -- roughly 96 percent of patients are alive 10 years later. But a small number of thyroid cancers are more aggressive and likely to return.

To protect yourself from malaria sleep with a chicken next to your bed Posted: 20 Jul 2016 06:51 PM PDT For the first time, scientists have shown that malaria-transmitting mosquitoes actively avoid feeding on certain animal species such as chickens, using their sense of smell. Odors emitted by species such as chickens could provide protection for humans at risk of mosquito-transmitted diseases, according to a study.

Hormone therapy for brain performance: No effect, whether started early or late Posted: 20 Jul 2016 06:51 PM PDT Hormone therapy has a negligible effect on verbal memory and other mental skills regardless of how soon after menopause a woman begins therapy, new research shows.

One third of women with ADHD have anxiety disorders, almost half have considered suicide, study finds Posted: 20 Jul 2016 09:28 AM PDT Women with ADHD are much more likely to have a wide range of mental and physical health problems in comparison to women without ADHD, according to a new study.

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