ScienceDaily: Health & Medicine News

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• Study investigates whether it is safe for GPs to prescribe fewer antibiotics
• Seeing RNA at the nanoscale
• New technique helps link complex mouse behaviors to genes that influence them
• Immune-based therapy in mice shows promise against pancreatic cancer
• Researchers reveal dominant player in human T helper cell maturation
• Study shows how genes affect immunity in response to pathogens
• Researchers reveal new therapeutic avenue in the fight against cancer
• HPV vaccine reduced cervical abnormalities in young women
• New screening tool to help physicians tell if a fainting episode heralds something serious
• New research to prevent blindness
• Mitochondrial DNA levels as a marker of embryo viability in IVF
• Still no strong evidence that adjunctive treatment with human growth hormone in IVF improves results
• How lifestyle intervention for weight loss affects birth rates in women with a high BMI
• Robotic rectum may aid prostate cancer diagnosis
• Many elderly are prescribed antihypertensive medication despite already having low blood pressure
• New insights for personalized cancer treatment
• Fine-tuning prosthetics for cyclists
• Rapid test identifies disease pathogens
• New probiotic identified in fermented Japanese vegetable: Enzyme improves colon health in rats
• Formation of the browning pigment melanin decoded
• Endometrial scratch appears beneficial in couples trying to conceive
• Three in four women starting fertility treatment will have a baby within five years
• Genetically engineered mice suggest new model for how Alzheimer's causes dementia
• Scientists discover maleness gene in malaria mosquitoes

Study investigates whether it is safe for GPs to prescribe fewer antibiotics Posted: 04 Jul 2016 07:34 PM PDT A new study has found that reducing antibiotic prescribing for respiratory tract infections -- such as coughs, colds, sore throats and ear infections -- is not linked to an increase in the most serious bacterial complications, such as bacterial meningitis. The study investigated whether reducing antibiotic prescribing for people attending their GP with respiratory tract infections could have an effect on safety.

Seeing RNA at the nanoscale Posted: 04 Jul 2016 11:57 AM PDT A technique known as expansion microscopy has been adapted to visualize RNA molecules at high resolution in tissue samples. They have also made the technique easier to use, with off-the-shelf components.

New technique helps link complex mouse behaviors to genes that influence them Posted: 04 Jul 2016 11:57 AM PDT Mice are one of the most commonly used laboratory organisms, widely used to study everything from autism to infectious diseases. Yet genomic studies in mice have lagged behind those in humans. In a study, researchers used 1,200 outbred mice, which are more similar to a natural population, to test a new cost-effective technique to search for specific genes linked with 66 different physical and behavioral traits.

Immune-based therapy in mice shows promise against pancreatic cancer Posted: 04 Jul 2016 11:57 AM PDT While immune therapy has proven effective in treating certain types of cancer, especially lung cancer and melanoma, tumors of the pancreas remain among the most difficult to treat and, so far, are impervious to immune-based therapies. Now, a new study in mice has shown that immunotherapy against pancreatic cancer can be effective when given in conjunction with drugs that break up the fibrous tissue in these tumors.

Researchers reveal dominant player in human T helper cell maturation Posted: 04 Jul 2016 11:57 AM PDT A powerful arm of the immune system is production of antibodies that circulate through the blood and neutralize invading pathogens. Although B cells actually manufacture antibody proteins, the process is aided by neighboring T cells, which shower B cells with cytokines to make them churn out high-quality antibody proteins -- and remember how to do so. Given the essential function of 'helper' T cells, researchers have long sought to define biological signals that encourage their development.

Study shows how genes affect immunity in response to pathogens Posted: 04 Jul 2016 11:57 AM PDT A study that is first of its kind has looked at how far genetic factors control the immune cell response to pathogens in healthy individuals. A team investigated the response of immune cells from 200 healthy volunteers when stimulated with a comprehensive list of pathogens ex vivo, and has correlated these responses with 4 million genetic variants.

Researchers reveal new therapeutic avenue in the fight against cancer Posted: 04 Jul 2016 11:57 AM PDT A team of researchers has identified NEAT1, a non-coding RNA, as a potential therapeutic target in the fight against cancer. Researchers have shown that NEAT1 plays an important role in the survival of highly dividing cells -- and in particular of cancer cells. These findings can help develop new drugs that target NEAT1, in order to kill cancer cells more effectively.

HPV vaccine reduced cervical abnormalities in young women Posted: 04 Jul 2016 11:57 AM PDT Young women who received the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine through a school-based program had fewer cervical cell anomalies when screened for cervical cancer, found a new Canadian study.

New screening tool to help physicians tell if a fainting episode heralds something serious Posted: 04 Jul 2016 11:57 AM PDT A simple nine-question tool could help emergency physicians uncover the sometimes dangerous hidden conditions that cause some people to faint, according to a new study.

New research to prevent blindness Posted: 04 Jul 2016 11:42 AM PDT A researcher has been awarded a new award that enables the scientist to expand the field of stem cell-based tissue engineering applications in the eye.

Mitochondrial DNA levels as a marker of embryo viability in IVF Posted: 04 Jul 2016 07:11 AM PDT Despite the claims and counter-claims for new embryo assessment techniques introduced over the past two decades, the search for the holy grail of assisted reproduction -- the key to the embryo destined to implant -- continues. Genetic screening techniques so far have relied largely on the assessment of one component of the embryo's genetic constitution, the number of chromosomes in its cells.

Still no strong evidence that adjunctive treatment with human growth hormone in IVF improves results Posted: 04 Jul 2016 07:11 AM PDT Despite its occasional use as an adjunct in IVF, human growth hormone appears of little benefit to women having difficulty conceiving. Indeed, in an Australian/New Zealand collaborative placebo-controlled randomised trial, live birth rates were no better in poor-responding patients (under the age of 41) given growth hormone as a supplement than in those given placebo.

How lifestyle intervention for weight loss affects birth rates in women with a high BMI Posted: 04 Jul 2016 07:11 AM PDT Women who are overweight or obese pose an ongoing challenge for the fertility clinic. Many studies show that these patients are at increased risk of infertility and are less likely than normal-weight women to conceive after fertility treatment.

Robotic rectum may aid prostate cancer diagnosis Posted: 04 Jul 2016 05:30 AM PDT A robotic rectum may help doctors and nurses detect prostate cancer. The technology, which consists of prosthetic buttocks and rectum with in-built robotic technology.

Many elderly are prescribed antihypertensive medication despite already having low blood pressure Posted: 04 Jul 2016 05:29 AM PDT A significant proportion of patients over 70 remain on antihypertensive medication despite having low blood pressure, new research reveals. This, the study argues, has a significant effect on increased mortality rates and admissions to hospital.

New insights for personalized cancer treatment Posted: 04 Jul 2016 05:28 AM PDT Doctors increasingly work with large quantities of digitized patient data – and yet the insights it contains often remain unexploited. Researchers have now developed a software program that allows doctors to extract information from multiple patient files to quickly obtain new pointers for the treatment of prostate cancer.

Fine-tuning prosthetics for cyclists Posted: 04 Jul 2016 05:28 AM PDT Disabled cyclists will be among those competing at the Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in September 2016. Ensuring top performance calls for prosthetics of superior design, but tailoring them to handle the combination of movements cyclists make has always been a problem. Now, in a new movement lab, a test prosthesis is helping to quickly and precisely optimize these artificial limbs.

Rapid test identifies disease pathogens Posted: 04 Jul 2016 05:28 AM PDT At present, bacteria, fungi or viruses can generally only be detected with certainty by way of elaborate laboratory tests or animal experiments. The food and pharmaceutical industries would like to have faster tests to check their products. Researchers are now developing a stick that works like a pregnancy test and quickly delivers a result. In the future, it is also to be used for detecting allergens and disease pathogens in the blood.

New probiotic identified in fermented Japanese vegetable: Enzyme improves colon health in rats Posted: 04 Jul 2016 05:28 AM PDT An enzyme produced by fermenting a vegetable common in Japanese cuisine may be responsible for increasing the amount of at least one beneficial bacterium associated with healthy colons in a study using rats.

Formation of the browning pigment melanin decoded Posted: 04 Jul 2016 05:28 AM PDT Researchers have uncovered the molecular mechanism behind the synthesis of melanin using a technique involving mutation of the relevant enzyme tyrosinase.

Endometrial scratch appears beneficial in couples trying to conceive Posted: 04 Jul 2016 05:27 AM PDT There is a much disputed claim that 'injury' to the lining of the uterus -- whether inadvertent or deliberate -- increases the chance of embryo implantation and thus the chance of pregnancy in certain groups of women having IVF.

Three in four women starting fertility treatment will have a baby within five years Posted: 04 Jul 2016 05:27 AM PDT Three in four women starting fertility treatment will have a baby within five years, whether as a result of the treatment or following natural conception. The figures emerged from a large cohort study analysing the birth records of almost 20,000 women having fertility treatment in Denmark between 2007 and 2010. The majority of these women (57%) had their baby as a result of the treatment, but a significant proportion (14%) conceived spontaneously without treatment. More than half (57%) gave birth within two years.

Genetically engineered mice suggest new model for how Alzheimer's causes dementia Posted: 04 Jul 2016 05:26 AM PDT Using a novel, newly developed mouse model that mimics the development of Alzheimer's disease in humans, researchers say they have been able to determine that a one-two punch of major biological 'insults' must occur in the brain to cause the dementia that is the hallmark of the disease.

Scientists discover maleness gene in malaria mosquitoes Posted: 30 Jun 2016 11:44 AM PDT Scientists have isolated a gene, which determines maleness in the species of mosquito that is responsible for transmitting malaria. The research describes identification and characterization of a gene, named Yob by the authors, which is the master regulator of the sex determination process in the African malaria mosquito, Anopheles gambiae, and determines the male sex.

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