ScienceDaily: Health & Medicine News

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• Corticosteroid treatment not associated with improvement in vision after bacterial corneal ulcers, studies find
• Family history may have more important role than previously thought in development of Alzheimer disease
• UK experts question merits of extending competition to improve hospital care
• Gene signature predicts oral cancer recurrence
• Seeking superior stem cells: 100-fold increase in efficiency in reprogramming human cells to induced stem cells
• Effect of aging on the brain
• Alzheimer disease: Medication gantenerumab associated with reduction in brain amyloid levels related to AD, small study finds
• Behavioral and educational interventions appear to be effective for patients with poorly controlled diabetes
• Certain dietary supplements associated with increased risk of death in older women, study suggests
• Can antivirulence drugs stop infections without causing resistance?
• Restless legs syndrome may raise high blood pressure risk in middle-aged women
• Cancer: Molecule found to inhibit metastasis in colon and melanoma cancers
• Crossing legs after severe stroke may be a good sign of recovery
• Failure to thrive in childhood often result of an underlying organic disease
• New insight into the cellular defects in Huntington's disease
• Combination therapies for drug-resistant cancers
• Almost half of cancer survivors have ill health in later years, Northern Ireland study finds
• Northern Ireland students help rebuild lives of Congo’s child soldiers
• Water channels in the body help cells remain in balance
• New strategy to accelerate blood vessel maturation has therapeutic potentials for ischemic diseases
• Experimental vaccine protects monkeys from blinding trachoma
• Tooth movement an alternative to bone transplants
• Drug prevents bone loss side effects of breast cancer medication
• Exercise just as good as drugs at preventing migraines, Swedish study suggests
• Media habits of young people may make them drink more; What should be done?
• Next stage of heart function testing: New highly sensitive technique gives better clues to future cardiac events in heart patients
• Smoking cannabis increases risk of depression in the case of genetic vulnerability, study finds
• Distinct types of stem cells contribute to mammary gland development and maintenance

Corticosteroid treatment not associated with improvement in vision after bacterial corneal ulcers, studies find Posted: 10 Oct 2011 06:46 PM PDT Topical corticosteroids do not appear to be effective for improving visual acuity (sharpness of vision) in patients with bacterial corneal ulcers, according to two reports.

Family history may have more important role than previously thought in development of Alzheimer disease Posted: 10 Oct 2011 06:45 PM PDT Family history of Alzheimer disease is associated with several age-related changes that appear to influence Alzheimer disease (AD) biomarker abnormalities beyond the increased risk of the APOE4 gene, according to a new report.

UK experts question merits of extending competition to improve hospital care Posted: 10 Oct 2011 06:20 PM PDT More research is needed before conclusions can be drawn about the effect of recent reforms on hospital quality, let alone about the merits of the coalition government's proposals to extend competition, warn UK experts.

Gene signature predicts oral cancer recurrence Posted: 10 Oct 2011 06:20 PM PDT Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is responsible for nearly a quarter of all head and neck cancers. It is one of the leading causes of cancer death -- largely due to the failure of current histological procedures in predicting the recurrence of the disease. New research shows that a four-gene signature may accurately predict which patients are at higher risk of OSCC recurrence.

Seeking superior stem cells: 100-fold increase in efficiency in reprogramming human cells to induced stem cells Posted: 10 Oct 2011 02:30 PM PDT Researchers have announced a new technique to reprogram human cells into stem cells. Their process increases the efficiency of reprogramming by 100-fold and generates cells of a higher quality at a faster rate. By adding two protein factors to the current mix of four, scientists brought about dramatic improvement in the efficiency of reprogramming and the robustness of stem cell development.

Effect of aging on the brain Posted: 10 Oct 2011 02:30 PM PDT Biologists have discovered that under stressful conditions, such as neurodegeneration due to Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease, synapses grow excessively, potentially contributing to dysfunction.

Alzheimer disease: Medication gantenerumab associated with reduction in brain amyloid levels related to AD, small study finds Posted: 10 Oct 2011 02:30 PM PDT Although it is a small study and more clinical trials are needed, treatment with the medication gantenerumab appeared to result in a reduction in brain amyloid levels in patients with Alzheimer disease, according to a new report.

Behavioral and educational interventions appear to be effective for patients with poorly controlled diabetes Posted: 10 Oct 2011 02:30 PM PDT Three randomized controlled trials examine the effectiveness of behavioral and educational interventions for patients with poorly controlled diabetes.

Certain dietary supplements associated with increased risk of death in older women, study suggests Posted: 10 Oct 2011 02:30 PM PDT Consuming dietary supplements, including multivitamins, folic acid, iron and copper, among others, appears to be associated with an increased risk of death in older women, according to a new report.

Can antivirulence drugs stop infections without causing resistance? Posted: 10 Oct 2011 02:30 PM PDT Antivirulence drugs disarm pathogens rather than kill them, and although they could be effective in theory, antivirulence drugs have never been tested in humans. A new study reveals these drugs have the potential to fight infection while avoiding the pitfalls of drug resistance.

Restless legs syndrome may raise high blood pressure risk in middle-aged women Posted: 10 Oct 2011 02:30 PM PDT Middle-aged women with restless legs syndrome have an increased risk of hypertension. As symptoms of restless legs syndrome increase, the prevalence of high blood pressure increases.

Cancer: Molecule found to inhibit metastasis in colon and melanoma cancers Posted: 10 Oct 2011 02:30 PM PDT Researchers have shown that a protein can inhibit metastasis of colon and melanoma cancers. CXCL12 proteins effectively blocked metastasis of the colon cancer and dramatically improved survival time, with the dimer showing effectiveness in blocking melanoma metastasis as well, a new study shows.

Crossing legs after severe stroke may be a good sign of recovery Posted: 10 Oct 2011 02:30 PM PDT People who are able to cross their legs soon after having a severe stroke appear to be more likely to have a good recovery compared to people who can't cross their legs. That's according to new research.

Failure to thrive in childhood often result of an underlying organic disease Posted: 10 Oct 2011 10:30 AM PDT Failure to thrive in childhood is often the result of an underlying organic disease. Researchers now provide an overview of diagnoses and treatment options.

New insight into the cellular defects in Huntington's disease Posted: 10 Oct 2011 09:21 AM PDT Huntington disease is a devastating neurogenerative disorder caused by a mutant HTT gene. Although this has been known for many years, the functions of normal Htt protein and the mechanisms by which mutant Htt protein causes disease are not well understood. But now, researchers have now uncovered a new function for normal Htt protein and determined that this function is disrupted in a mouse model of Huntington's disease and in patients with the disorder.

Combination therapies for drug-resistant cancers Posted: 10 Oct 2011 09:21 AM PDT Some cancers can be effectively treated with drugs inhibiting proteins known as receptor tyrosine kinases, but not those cancers caused by mutations in the KRAS gene. However, researchers have now identified a potential way to effectively use receptor tyrosine kinases inhibitors to treat individuals with KRAS mutant colorectal cancers -- combine them with inhibitors of the MEK/ERK signaling pathway.

Almost half of cancer survivors have ill health in later years, Northern Ireland study finds Posted: 10 Oct 2011 07:40 AM PDT Forty-five per cent of cancer survivors in Northern Ireland suffer from physical and mental health problems years after their treatment has finished, according to new research.

Northern Ireland students help rebuild lives of Congo’s child soldiers Posted: 10 Oct 2011 07:40 AM PDT Two postgraduate students from Northern Ireland have completed the first phase of a pioneering trip to assist in the treatment of psychological distress among child soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Water channels in the body help cells remain in balance Posted: 10 Oct 2011 06:29 AM PDT Water channels exist not only in nature – microscopical water channels are also present in the cells of the body, where they ensure that water can be transported through the protective surface of the cell. Scientists have discovered that one type of the body's water channels can be modified such that it becomes more stable, which may be significant in the treatment of several diseases.

New strategy to accelerate blood vessel maturation has therapeutic potentials for ischemic diseases Posted: 10 Oct 2011 06:28 AM PDT Researchers have described a new mechanism to enhance the restoration of the blood flow in ischemic diseases, which are among the leading causes of death worldwide. The scientists demonstrate that blocking the protein PhD2 in white blood cells accelerates the maturation of blood vessels.

Experimental vaccine protects monkeys from blinding trachoma Posted: 10 Oct 2011 06:27 AM PDT An attenuated, or weakened, strain of Chlamydia trachomatis bacteria can be used as a vaccine to prevent or reduce the severity of trachoma, the world's leading cause of infectious blindness, suggest new findings from a study in monkeys.

Tooth movement an alternative to bone transplants Posted: 10 Oct 2011 05:34 AM PDT Although replacing lost teeth often involves artificially building up the jaw, researchers in Sweden are now showcasing a new method whereby teeth are instead moved into the toothless area using a brace, giving patients the chance of having more teeth.

Drug prevents bone loss side effects of breast cancer medication Posted: 10 Oct 2011 04:55 AM PDT A new study has found that an osteoporosis drug protects against the bone damaging side effects of certain breast cancer medications. The study indicates that some breast cancer patients could take zoledronic acid in addition to their anti-cancer medications to maintain bone health.

Exercise just as good as drugs at preventing migraines, Swedish study suggests Posted: 10 Oct 2011 04:55 AM PDT Although exercise is often prescribed as a treatment for migraine, there has not previously been sufficient scientific evidence that it really works. However, research from Sweden has now shown that exercise is just as good as drugs at preventing migraines.

Media habits of young people may make them drink more; What should be done? Posted: 10 Oct 2011 04:54 AM PDT Media companies are increasingly targeting adolescents with TV shows that feature violence, alcohol and drugs. An interdisciplinary research project, with researchers from Sweden and colleagues from the UK, is looking closer at how society and other actors should react to the link between young people's media habits and their alcohol consumption.

Next stage of heart function testing: New highly sensitive technique gives better clues to future cardiac events in heart patients Posted: 10 Oct 2011 04:49 AM PDT A new non-invasive technique for measuring how well the heart and blood vessels function in patients already suffering from coronary artery disease could, in a single test, identify which abnormally narrowed blood vessels are the most likely to lead to further cardiovascular complications.

Smoking cannabis increases risk of depression in the case of genetic vulnerability, study finds Posted: 10 Oct 2011 04:48 AM PDT Young people who are genetically vulnerable to depression should be extra careful about using cannabis: smoking cannabis leads to an increased risk of developing depressive symptoms, according to a new study carried out by researchers in the Netherlands. Two-thirds of the population have the gene variant that makes one sensitive to depression.

Distinct types of stem cells contribute to mammary gland development and maintenance Posted: 10 Oct 2011 04:48 AM PDT One of the key questions in biology is the identification of stem cells responsible for tissue morphogenesis and regeneration. In a new study, researchers in Belgium have identified novel classes of breast stem cells that ensure the development and expansion of the different cell lineages of the mammary gland during pregnancy.

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