ScienceDaily: Health & Medicine News

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• Is informed consent threatening biobank research?
• Smoking could lead to 40 million excess tuberculosis deaths by 2050
• Frequently used weight-loss method is light on evidence
• Regular exercise improves health of people with long-term kidney disease, study suggests
• Remitting multiple sclerosis: Natalizumab reduces relapses and disability, review suggests
• Sociability may depend upon brain cells generated in adolescence
• Efforts to defund or ban infant male circumcision are unfounded and potentially harmful, experts argue
• Compliance by children's hospitals with quality measure for asthma care not associated with reduced readmission rates
• Association between advance directives and U.S. Medicare end-of-life expenditures varies across regions
• Same-day discharge after elective PCI not associated with increased risk of death, rehospitalization, U.S. study shows
• How much should patients in intensive care eat?
• Hysterectomy is associated with increased levels of iron in the brain; Study suggests reducing iron may lower age-related brain disease risk
• Children with spina bifida need personal 'starter'
• Vitamin D could lower risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, study suggests
• Rendering engine built to generate high-quality images of brain simulations
• More children in Europe with Swedish family policy
• Newly identified gene may be risk factor for osteoporosis
• Does MRI pose more than minimal risk in pediatric research?
• Green tea helps mice keep off extra pounds
• Non-English speaking head and neck cancer patients have significantly worse outcomes
• Natural compound helps reverse diabetes in mice
• This is your brain on estrogen
• Why narcoleptics get fat
• Why fat cells fail: Mechanism causes fat cells to lose their ability to efficiently store and use energy
• Hormone fights fat with fat: Orexin prevents obesity in mice by activating calorie-burning brown fat
• Experiments suggest research avenues for treating excess fat storage and obesity
• HIV: Cell-penetrating peptides for drug delivery act like a Swiss Army Knife
• New findings validate the accuracy of autism diagnosis in children with Down syndrome
• Combination therapy beneficial for head and neck skin carcinomas, study suggests
• Circadian clock may impact organ transplant success
• A shot of cortisone stops traumatic stress, study suggests
• Alzheimer's might be transmissible in similar way as infectious prion diseases, research suggests
• Depression uncouples brain's 'hate circuit', MRI study finds
• Preterm infants exposed to stressors in neonatal intensive care unit display reduced brain size, study finds
• Telestroke, the next best thing
• Stroke rate 25 percent higher for Metis
• One quarter of seniors over 70 have had silent strokes

Is informed consent threatening biobank research? Posted: 04 Oct 2011 07:11 PM PDT Having to obtain informed consent for the use of leftover human tissue samples could be hampering essential biobank research says a research group.

Smoking could lead to 40 million excess tuberculosis deaths by 2050 Posted: 04 Oct 2011 07:11 PM PDT Between 2010 and 2050, smoking could be responsible for 40 million excess deaths from tuberculosis, according to new research.

Frequently used weight-loss method is light on evidence Posted: 04 Oct 2011 07:11 PM PDT Although the transtheoretical model stages of change (TTM SOC) method is frequently used to help obese and overweight people lose weight, a newly published systematic review indicates there is little evidence that it is effective.

Regular exercise improves health of people with long-term kidney disease, study suggests Posted: 04 Oct 2011 07:11 PM PDT There are many reasons why people with chronic kidney disease (CKD) often lose fitness and have increasing difficulty performing normal daily tasks, but new research shows scientific evidence for the benefits of regular exercise for people with CKD, including those with a kidney transplant. They can improve their physical fitness, walk further, have healthier blood pressures, healthier heart rates, higher health-related quality of life scores and better nutritional characteristics compared to those who don't exercise.

Remitting multiple sclerosis: Natalizumab reduces relapses and disability, review suggests Posted: 04 Oct 2011 07:11 PM PDT Taking the new generation anti-inflammatory drug natalizumab for two years lowers the number of remitting multiple sclerosis patients who experience relapses and progression of disability.

Sociability may depend upon brain cells generated in adolescence Posted: 04 Oct 2011 03:01 PM PDT Mice become profoundly anti-social when the creation of new brain cells is interrupted in adolescence, a surprising finding that may help researchers understand schizophrenia and other mental disorders, researchers report.

Efforts to defund or ban infant male circumcision are unfounded and potentially harmful, experts argue Posted: 04 Oct 2011 01:23 PM PDT Infectious disease experts say the medical benefits for male circumcision are clear and that efforts in an increasing number of states (currently 18) to not provide U.S. Medicaid insurance coverage for male circumcision, as well as an attempted ballot initiative in San Francisco earlier this year to ban male circumcision in newborns and young boys, are unwarranted.

Compliance by children's hospitals with quality measure for asthma care not associated with reduced readmission rates Posted: 04 Oct 2011 01:23 PM PDT Even though there has been high-compliance or improvement by children's hospitals regarding asthma care quality measures, improved compliance with providing a written home management plan upon discharge has not been associated with subsequent lower emergency department usage or asthma-related readmission rates, according to a new study.

Association between advance directives and U.S. Medicare end-of-life expenditures varies across regions Posted: 04 Oct 2011 01:23 PM PDT U.S. Medicare patients with advance directives specifying limits in treatment who lived in regions with higher levels of end-of-life spending were less likely to have an in-hospital death, averaged significantly lower end-of-life Medicare spending and had significantly greater odds of hospice use than decedents without advance directives in these regions, according to a new study.

Same-day discharge after elective PCI not associated with increased risk of death, rehospitalization, U.S. study shows Posted: 04 Oct 2011 01:23 PM PDT Among selected low-risk U.S. Medicare patients who underwent an elective percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI; procedures such as balloon angioplasty or stent placement used to open narrowed coronary arteries), same-day discharge was rarely implemented, but was not associated with an increased risk of being rehospitalized or having a higher risk of death at two days or at 30 days, than patients who remained in the hospital overnight, according to a new study.

How much should patients in intensive care eat? Posted: 04 Oct 2011 12:42 PM PDT Patients who are fed more calories while in intensive care have lower mortality rates than those who receive less of their daily-prescribed calories, according to a recent study of data from the largest critical care nutrition database in the world.

Hysterectomy is associated with increased levels of iron in the brain; Study suggests reducing iron may lower age-related brain disease risk Posted: 04 Oct 2011 12:16 PM PDT Men have more iron in their bodies and brains than women. These higher levels may be part of the explanation for why men develop these age-related neurodegenerative diseases at a younger age. But why do women have less iron in their systems than men? One possible explanation for the gender difference is that during menstruation, iron is eliminated through the loss of blood. Now, a new study confirms this suspicion and suggests strategies to reduce excess iron levels in both men and women.

Children with spina bifida need personal 'starter' Posted: 04 Oct 2011 10:28 AM PDT Children born with spina bifida often have difficulties to perform everyday activities. This is not primarily due to being confined to a wheelchair or to parental overprotection as was previously believed -- new research shows that it is down to an inability to initiate and complete a task towards a specific goal.

Vitamin D could lower risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, study suggests Posted: 04 Oct 2011 10:28 AM PDT Scientists have shown that people with a good vitamin D supply are at lower risk of developing Type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Rendering engine built to generate high-quality images of brain simulations Posted: 04 Oct 2011 10:27 AM PDT Researchers have developed a high-quality cerebral cortex image rendering engine. The rendered images are used to generate 3D videos and movies.

More children in Europe with Swedish family policy Posted: 04 Oct 2011 10:25 AM PDT European politicians who want women to have more children should consider the Swedish model with subsidized child care and paid parental leave.

Newly identified gene may be risk factor for osteoporosis Posted: 04 Oct 2011 10:25 AM PDT Researchers have identified a new gene that modulates bone mass and that could become a risk factor for developing osteoporosis.

Does MRI pose more than minimal risk in pediatric research? Posted: 04 Oct 2011 10:25 AM PDT Shedding light on a question that has baffled research ethics review boards, a new analysis of the use of magnetic resonance imaging in pediatric clinical trials finds that the risks of physical and psychological harm associated with this procedure are no greater than the risks that healthy children face from everyday activities. However, adding an intravenous contrast dye or sedation to an MRI increases the odds of harm to unacceptable levels.

Green tea helps mice keep off extra pounds Posted: 04 Oct 2011 09:38 AM PDT Green tea may slow down weight gain and serve as another tool in the fight against obesity, according to food scientists.

Non-English speaking head and neck cancer patients have significantly worse outcomes Posted: 04 Oct 2011 09:36 AM PDT Researchers have found that among advanced head and neck cancer patients receiving radiation-based treatment, being non-English speaking was a more significant predictor of treatment outcome than being of non-white race.

Natural compound helps reverse diabetes in mice Posted: 04 Oct 2011 09:36 AM PDT Researchers have restored normal blood sugar metabolism in diabetic mice using a compound the body makes naturally. The finding suggests that it may one day be possible for people to take the compound much like a daily vitamin as a way to treat or even prevent Type 2 diabetes.

This is your brain on estrogen Posted: 04 Oct 2011 09:36 AM PDT It's no secret that women often gain weight as they get older. The sex hormone estrogen has an important, if underappreciated, role to play in those burgeoning waistlines. Now, researchers have traced those hormonal effects on metabolism to different parts of the brain. The findings may lead to the development of highly selective hormone replacement therapies that could be used to combat obesity or infertility in women without the risks for heart disease and breast cancer, the researchers say.

Why narcoleptics get fat Posted: 04 Oct 2011 09:35 AM PDT People with narcolepsy are not only excessively sleepy, but they are also prone to gaining weight. In fact, narcoleptic patients will often pack on pounds even as they eat considerably less than your average person. Now researchers appear to have an answer as to why. It seems a deficiency of the neuropeptide hormone orexin, an ingredient that encourages hunger and wakefulness, may leave them with a lack of energy-burning brown fat.

Why fat cells fail: Mechanism causes fat cells to lose their ability to efficiently store and use energy Posted: 04 Oct 2011 09:35 AM PDT Yale University researchers have found one of the mechanisms that cause fat cells to lose their ability to efficiently store and use energy -- a scientific mystery and a phenomenon that contributes to a major public health problem.

Hormone fights fat with fat: Orexin prevents obesity in mice by activating calorie-burning brown fat Posted: 04 Oct 2011 09:35 AM PDT Researchers have discovered that the hormone orexin activates calorie-burning brown fat in mice. Orexin deficiency is associated with obesity, suggesting that orexin supplementation could provide a new therapeutic approach for the treatment of obesity and other metabolic disorders. An orexin-based therapy would represent a new class of fat-fighting drugs -- one that focuses on peripheral fat-burning tissue rather than the brain's appetite control center.

Experiments suggest research avenues for treating excess fat storage and obesity Posted: 04 Oct 2011 09:35 AM PDT Scientists have begun to unravel the complex process by which cells take in and store microscopic fat molecules, suggesting new directions for further research into solutions for obesity and its related conditions, such as heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and fatty liver disease.

HIV: Cell-penetrating peptides for drug delivery act like a Swiss Army Knife Posted: 04 Oct 2011 09:13 AM PDT Scientists have identified how HIV TAT peptides can have multiple interactions with the membrane, the actin cytoskeleton, and specific cell-surface receptors to produce multiple pathways of translocation under different conditions. Moreover, because they now know how cell penetrating peptides work, it is possible to have a general recipe for reprogramming normal peptides into cell penetrating peptides.

New findings validate the accuracy of autism diagnosis in children with Down syndrome Posted: 04 Oct 2011 09:13 AM PDT New findings from a 16-year study confirm that the Diagnostic and Statistic Manual of Mental Disorders, the gold-standard for the classification of mental health conditions, can be used to accurately identify autism spectrum disorders in children with Down syndrome, according to new research.

Combination therapy beneficial for head and neck skin carcinomas, study suggests Posted: 04 Oct 2011 09:12 AM PDT Patients who have high-risk non-melanoma skin carcinomas of the head and neck may benefit from concomitant radiotherapy and chemotherapy, according to a new study. Their study is the first to report on multiple patients with these skin carcinomas treated simultaneously with radio- and chemotherapy.

Circadian clock may impact organ transplant success Posted: 04 Oct 2011 09:12 AM PDT Health-care providers assess blood and tissue type as well as organ size and health to enhance transplant success. New research indicates that checklist might also need to include the circadian clock. While some human studies have shown the time of day transplant surgery is performed can influence the outcome, this study of mice with dysfunctional internal clocks is the first correlating circadian clocks with transplant success.

A shot of cortisone stops traumatic stress, study suggests Posted: 04 Oct 2011 08:38 AM PDT Scientists say that a single extra dose of cortisone -- which the body naturally produces just after a traumatic event -- reduces the chance that an individual will develop PTSD by 60 percent.

Alzheimer's might be transmissible in similar way as infectious prion diseases, research suggests Posted: 04 Oct 2011 08:37 AM PDT The brain damage that characterizes Alzheimer's disease may originate in a form similar to that of infectious prion diseases such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow) and Creutzfeldt-Jakob, according to newly published research.

Depression uncouples brain's 'hate circuit', MRI study finds Posted: 04 Oct 2011 08:37 AM PDT A new study using MRI scans has found that depression frequently seems to uncouple the brain's 'hate circuit'.

Preterm infants exposed to stressors in neonatal intensive care unit display reduced brain size, study finds Posted: 04 Oct 2011 08:37 AM PDT New research shows that exposure to stressors in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is associated with alterations in the brain structure and function of very preterm infants. According to the study, infants who experienced early exposure to stress displayed decreased brain size, functional connectivity, and abnormal motor behavior.

Telestroke, the next best thing Posted: 04 Oct 2011 08:37 AM PDT Telestroke saves lives and money. The use of long-distance video and data hookups to link remote community hospitals with stroke neurologists in large centers provides the same level of care as having everyone in the same room. Rural patients examined with the aid of a technology called Telestroke received an important stroke drug, tPA, at the same rate as patients treated in specialized urban centers.

Stroke rate 25 percent higher for Metis Posted: 04 Oct 2011 08:37 AM PDT The stroke rate among Manitoba Métis is nearly 25 percent higher than for other Manitobans, according to a new study. The higher stroke rate is driven by a 53 percent higher smoking rate, 34 percent higher rate of diabetes, and 13 percent higher rate of high blood pressure among Métis aged 40 years and older, compared to all other Manitobans. Steps are being taken to close the gap.

One quarter of seniors over 70 have had silent strokes Posted: 04 Oct 2011 08:37 AM PDT A new study found a quarter of seniors over 70 have had silent strokes. Recent imaging studies on the brains of people aged 65 and older show that 95 percent have brain small vessel disease and a quarter of healthy senior volunteers have evidence of small silent strokes.

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