ScienceDaily: Health & Medicine News

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• Homicide, suicide outpace traditional causes of death in pregnant, postpartum women
• New insights into insulin resistance could lead to better drugs for diabetics
• Newly discovered reservoir of antibiotic resistance genes
• Women can self-test for HPV, easily and accurately, study suggests
• New drug strategies for Alzheimer's and multiple sclerosis
• Human norovirus in groundwater remains infective after two months
• Emerging public health crisis linked to mortgage default and foreclosure
• Autistic brains develop more slowly than healthy brains, researchers say
• West Nile virus transmission linked to land use patterns and 'super-spreaders'
• Novel therapeutic target identified to decrease triglycerides and increase 'good' cholesterol
• High to moderate levels of stress lead to higher mortality rate
• Improved living environments can reduce health problems for women and children
• U.S. government releases environmental, health, and safety research strategy for nanotechnology
• Calorie count plus points based on added sugars, sodium, and saturated and trans fats recommended as new front-of-package nutrition labeling system
• I vs. we: Individuals perform better when focused on team's effort
• New imaging agent improves detection of bladder cancer, experts say
• Neuroscientists unlock shared brain codes between people
• Hospital patients suffer in shift shuffle
• Can aromatherapy produce harmful indoor air pollutants?
• Combination of available tests helps predict Alzheimer's disease risk
• Autistic facial characteristics identified
• Cheaper and easier isn't necessarily better in new colon cancer screening procedures
• Preeclampsia: New blood test to assess risk of imminent delivery can reduce complications for mother and child, study suggests
• New role of vascular endothelial growth factor in regulating skin cancer stem cells
• Women do not get enough vitamin D during the menopause, Spanish study suggests
• Orthodontics: Fixed braces best and cheapest, research suggests
• Inflammation is controlled differently in brain and other tissues
• Genetic variant and autoantibodies linked to having a child with autism
• More evidence that allergies may help in fighting brain tumors
• The political effects of existential fear
• Heart failure hospital stays drop by 30 percent
• Alternating training improves motor learning: Study suggests varying practice sessions may benefit people with motor disorders
• Future-Directed Therapy helps depression patients cultivate optimistic outlook
• Early HIV treatment dramatically increases survival in patients co-infected with tuberculosis, study suggests
• Major advance in human antibody therapy against deadly Hendra virus
• Physicians use therapeutic cooling to treat cardiac arrest patients
• Health groups issue proposed cervical cancer screening guidelines
• New tool to help surgeons remove more cancer tissue during brain surgery
• Turning up the heat to kill cancer cells: The 'Lance Armstrong effect'
• After pregnancy loss, Internet forums help women understand they are not alone
• Could a probiotic be used to treat inflammatory bowel disease?
• Care for mentally ill veterans is as good or better than in other health systems, study finds
• Pre-term babies' exposure to steroids associated with impaired brain growth
• Bed bug insecticide resistance mechanisms identified
• Are acid-suppressing drugs prescribed too often in infants?
• Blame backbone fractures on evolution, not osteoporosis: Adaptation to upright walking leaves humans susceptible

Homicide, suicide outpace traditional causes of death in pregnant, postpartum women Posted: 20 Oct 2011 04:18 PM PDT Violent deaths are outpacing traditional causes of maternal mortality, such as hemorrhage and preeclampsia, and conflicts with intimate partner are often a factor, researchers report.

New insights into insulin resistance could lead to better drugs for diabetics Posted: 20 Oct 2011 01:41 PM PDT New research moves us closer to developing drugs that could mitigate diabetes. Diabetes afflicts an estimated 26 million Americans, while 79 million have prediabetes. In other words, one in three Americans confronts this disease. Diabetes raises the risk of heart disease and stroke by as much as fourfold, and it is the leading cause of blindness among adults 20-74. It is also the leading cause of kidney failure.

Newly discovered reservoir of antibiotic resistance genes Posted: 20 Oct 2011 01:40 PM PDT Waters polluted by the ordure of pigs, poultry, or cattle represent a reservoir of antibiotic resistance genes, both known and potentially novel. These resistance genes can be spread among different bacterial species by bacteriophage, bacteria-infecting viruses, according to new research.

Women can self-test for HPV, easily and accurately, study suggests Posted: 20 Oct 2011 01:39 PM PDT A team of German researchers has shown that women can accurately test themselves for human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, the most common cause of cervical cancer.

New drug strategies for Alzheimer's and multiple sclerosis Posted: 20 Oct 2011 01:13 PM PDT Researchers are recommending a new strategy for developing drugs to treat cancer, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's and cardiovascular diseases.

Human norovirus in groundwater remains infective after two months Posted: 20 Oct 2011 01:13 PM PDT Researchers have discovered that norovirus in groundwater can remain infectious for at least 61 days.

Emerging public health crisis linked to mortgage default and foreclosure Posted: 20 Oct 2011 01:13 PM PDT Researchers warn of a looming health crisis in the wake of rising mortgage delinquencies and home foreclosures. The study is the first long-term survey of the impact the current housing crisis is having on older Americans. The study focused on adults over 50 and found high rates of depression among those behind in their mortgage payments and a higher likelihood of making unhealthy financial tradeoffs regarding food and needed prescription medications.

Autistic brains develop more slowly than healthy brains, researchers say Posted: 20 Oct 2011 11:51 AM PDT Researchers have found a possible explanation for why autistic children act and think differently than their peers -- for the first time, they show that the connections between regions of the brain that are important for language and social skills grow much more slowly in boys with autism, when compared to healthy children.

West Nile virus transmission linked to land use patterns and 'super-spreaders' Posted: 20 Oct 2011 11:50 AM PDT After its initial appearance in New York in 1999, West Nile virus spread across the United States in just a few years and is now well established throughout North and South America. Researchers have found that in most places only a few key species of bird "hosts" and mosquito "vectors" are important in transmission of the virus.

Novel therapeutic target identified to decrease triglycerides and increase 'good' cholesterol Posted: 20 Oct 2011 09:24 AM PDT Researchers have shown for the first time the inhibition of both microRNA-33a and microRNA-33b with chemically modified anti-miR oligonucleotides markedly suppress triglyceride levels and cause a sustained increase in high density lipoprotein cholesterol "good" cholesterol.

High to moderate levels of stress lead to higher mortality rate Posted: 20 Oct 2011 09:24 AM PDT A new study concludes that men who experience persistently moderate or high levels of stressful life events over a number of years have a 50 percent higher mortality rate. In general, the researchers found only a few protective factors against these higher levels of stress -- people who self-reported that they had good health tended to live longer and married men also fared better. Moderate drinkers also lived longer than non-drinkers.

Improved living environments can reduce health problems for women and children Posted: 20 Oct 2011 09:24 AM PDT Low-income women with children who moved from high-poverty to lower-poverty neighborhoods experienced notable long-term improvements in aspects of their health; namely, reductions in diabetes and extreme obesity, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Chicago and partner institutions.

U.S. government releases environmental, health, and safety research strategy for nanotechnology Posted: 20 Oct 2011 09:24 AM PDT The U.S. government has just released a national strategy for ensuring that environmental, health, and safety research needs are fully identified and addressed in the fast-growing field of nanotechnology.

Calorie count plus points based on added sugars, sodium, and saturated and trans fats recommended as new front-of-package nutrition labeling system Posted: 20 Oct 2011 09:23 AM PDT Federal agencies should develop a new nutrition rating system with symbols to display on the front of food and beverage packaging that graphically convey calorie counts by serving size and a "point" value showing whether the saturated and trans fats, sodium, and added sugars in the products are below threshold levels. This new front-of-package system should apply to all foods and beverages and replace any other symbols currently being used on the front of packaging, added the committee that wrote the report.

I vs. we: Individuals perform better when focused on team's effort Posted: 20 Oct 2011 09:23 AM PDT Individuals perform better and are more confident when they practice motivational tactics focused not on them but on the team they belong to, according to researchers. The findings reveal that simply changing "I" to "we" in self-talk motivational statements has a significant impact on an individual's -- and thus a group's -- performance.

New imaging agent improves detection of bladder cancer, experts say Posted: 20 Oct 2011 09:23 AM PDT A select number of medical centers in the U.S. are offering a newly approved optical imaging agent for the detection of papillary cancer of the bladder in patients with known or suspected bladder cancer.

Neuroscientists unlock shared brain codes between people Posted: 20 Oct 2011 09:23 AM PDT Scientists have found that different individuals' brains use the same, common neural code to recognize complex visual images. Researchers have developed a new method called hyperalignment to create this common code and the parameters that transform an individual's brain activity patterns into the code.

Hospital patients suffer in shift shuffle Posted: 20 Oct 2011 09:22 AM PDT Shorter hours for residents and multiple patient care handovers result in poorer continuity of care.

Can aromatherapy produce harmful indoor air pollutants? Posted: 20 Oct 2011 09:22 AM PDT Spas that offer massage therapy using fragrant essential oils, called aromatherapy, may have elevated levels of potentially harmful indoor air pollutants such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and ultrafine particles, according to a new article.

Combination of available tests helps predict Alzheimer's disease risk Posted: 20 Oct 2011 07:59 AM PDT A team of physicians and scientists have described using a combination of broadly available medical tests to produce a much improved predictive picture of the likelihood of impending AD in patients with mild cognitive impairment -- an intermediate stage between the expected cognitive decline of normal aging and the more pronounced decline of dementia.

Autistic facial characteristics identified Posted: 20 Oct 2011 07:59 AM PDT Researchers have found distinct differences between the facial characteristics of children with autism compared to those of typically developing children. This knowledge could help researchers understand the origins of autism.

Cheaper and easier isn't necessarily better in new colon cancer screening procedures Posted: 20 Oct 2011 07:59 AM PDT The growing use of fecal immunochemical testing for colorectal cancer, "misses opportunities for cancer prevention," experts say.

Preeclampsia: New blood test to assess risk of imminent delivery can reduce complications for mother and child, study suggests Posted: 20 Oct 2011 06:43 AM PDT A blood test can help to assess whether a pregnant woman who suffers from pregnancy-induced hypertension, so-called preeclampsia, is at risk for an imminent delivery. This knowledge can be used to determine the due date as well as avoid complications for mother and child.

New role of vascular endothelial growth factor in regulating skin cancer stem cells Posted: 20 Oct 2011 06:43 AM PDT One of the key questions in cancer is the identification of the mechanisms that regulate cancer stem cells and tumor growth. Researchers have now identified a new role for vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in regulating skin cancer stem cells.

Women do not get enough vitamin D during the menopause, Spanish study suggests Posted: 20 Oct 2011 05:48 AM PDT A healthy diet is especially important during the menopause - a period in which the risk of suffering from health problems increases. Various studies analyze the diet of peri- and postmenopausal women in Spain alongside the troubles that come with this transition. The results show that all of those groups studied have a deficient intake of vitamin D.

Orthodontics: Fixed braces best and cheapest, research suggests Posted: 20 Oct 2011 05:48 AM PDT Society could save millions of crowns each year if more children were fitted with fixed braces. This is shown in unique studies performed by dentist and orthodontic specialist. Approximately ten percent of eight- and nine-year-olds in have so-called crossbite, Swedish research shows. This means that the children's upper and lower jaws are different in width and do not line up against each other when they bite their jaws together. If this problem is not corrected, the children can experience pain in the jaw, facial muscles, and jaw joints. Their face can also become asymmetrical.

Inflammation is controlled differently in brain and other tissues Posted: 20 Oct 2011 05:48 AM PDT Scientists have identified a new metabolic pathway for controlling brain inflammation, suggesting strategies for treating it.

Genetic variant and autoantibodies linked to having a child with autism Posted: 19 Oct 2011 11:58 PM PDT A new study has found that pregnant women with a particular gene variation are more likely to produce autoantibodies to the brains of their developing fetuses and that the children of these mothers are at greater risk of later being diagnosed with autism.

More evidence that allergies may help in fighting brain tumors Posted: 19 Oct 2011 11:57 PM PDT Subjects with somewhat elevated levels of antibodies produced to fight allergens were less likely to go on to develop brain tumors, according to a new study. The study adds to evidence from prior studies, but some questions still remain.

The political effects of existential fear Posted: 19 Oct 2011 11:57 PM PDT Why did the approval ratings of President George W. Bush -- who was perceived as indecisive before September 11, 2001 -- soar over 90 percent after the terrorist attacks? Because Americans were acutely aware of their own deaths.

Heart failure hospital stays drop by 30 percent Posted: 19 Oct 2011 11:57 PM PDT Being hospitalized for heart failure was about 30 percent less likely in 2008 than in 1998, according to a new study. The team also found that the rate of hospitalization for black men dropped at a lower rate, and that one-year mortality rates declined slightly during this period, but remained high.

Alternating training improves motor learning: Study suggests varying practice sessions may benefit people with motor disorders Posted: 19 Oct 2011 11:56 PM PDT Learning from one's mistakes may be better than practicing to perfection, according to new research. A study found that forcing people to switch from a normal walking pattern to an unusual one -- and back again -- made them better able to adjust to the unusual pattern the following day. The findings may help improve therapy for people relearning how to walk following stroke or other injury.

Future-Directed Therapy helps depression patients cultivate optimistic outlook Posted: 19 Oct 2011 11:54 PM PDT Patients with major depression do better by learning to create a more positive outlook about the future, rather than by focusing on negative thoughts about their past experiences, researchers say after developing a new treatment that helps patients do this.

Early HIV treatment dramatically increases survival in patients co-infected with tuberculosis, study suggests Posted: 19 Oct 2011 11:54 PM PDT Timing is everything when treating patients with both HIV and tuberculosis. Starting HIV therapy in such patients within two weeks of TB treatment, rather than two months as is the current practice, increases survival by 33 percent, according to a large-scale clinical trial.

Major advance in human antibody therapy against deadly Hendra virus Posted: 19 Oct 2011 11:52 PM PDT Scientists report a breakthrough in the development of an effective therapy against a deadly virus, Hendra virus.

Physicians use therapeutic cooling to treat cardiac arrest patients Posted: 19 Oct 2011 11:50 PM PDT Sudden cardiac arrest is the leading cause of death in the United States, and just 7 percent of victims survive that initial collapse. In addition, fewer than half of the small percentage of people whose hearts are restarted survive to leave the hospital, because they often suffer irreversible brain damage. New research provides guidance to physicians using therapeutic cooling to treat sudden cardiac arrest patients.

Health groups issue proposed cervical cancer screening guidelines Posted: 19 Oct 2011 11:50 PM PDT Experts have proposed new guidelines for the prevention and early detection of cervical cancer.

New tool to help surgeons remove more cancer tissue during brain surgery Posted: 19 Oct 2011 11:48 PM PDT Scientists are reporting development and successful initial testing of a new tool that tells whether brain tissue is normal or cancerous while an operation is underway, so that surgeons can remove more of the tumor without removing healthy tissue, improving patients' survival.

Turning up the heat to kill cancer cells: The 'Lance Armstrong effect' Posted: 19 Oct 2011 11:48 PM PDT The "Lance Armstrong effect" could become a powerful new weapon to fight cancer cells that develop resistance to chemotherapy, radiation and other treatments, scientists say.

After pregnancy loss, Internet forums help women understand they are not alone Posted: 19 Oct 2011 11:48 PM PDT An anonymous survey of more than 1,000 women on pregnancy loss message boards opens a new window into who is using the forums and why.

Could a probiotic be used to treat inflammatory bowel disease? Posted: 19 Oct 2011 11:47 PM PDT A new study has found a scientific "design" for a probiotic that could be used to treat inflammatory bowel disease, such as Crohn's disease.

Care for mentally ill veterans is as good or better than in other health systems, study finds Posted: 19 Oct 2011 11:44 PM PDT A major study of the quality of mental health care provided by the US Department of Veterans Affairs finds that the care provided by the VA is as good as or better than that reported by privately insured, Medicare or Medicaid populations. The study also finds that treating US veterans with mental illness and substance use disorders is more expensive than caring for veterans with other medical conditions, costing more than $12 billion in 2007.

Pre-term babies' exposure to steroids associated with impaired brain growth Posted: 19 Oct 2011 11:43 PM PDT Premature infants exposed after birth to drugs known as glucocorticoids are at increased risk for having impaired growth of the cerebellum, according to new findings. The cerebellum is a region of the brain associated with balance, motor learning, language and behavior.

Bed bug insecticide resistance mechanisms identified Posted: 19 Oct 2011 11:41 PM PDT Bed bugs, largely absent in the US since the 1950s, have returned with a hungry vengeance in the last decade in all 50 states. These insects have developed resistance to pyrethroids, one of the very few classes of insecticide used for their control. Researchers have discovered some of the genetic mechanisms for the bed bug's resistance to two of the most popular pyrethroids.

Are acid-suppressing drugs prescribed too often in infants? Posted: 19 Oct 2011 11:41 PM PDT Frequent spitting up, irritability, and unexplained crying in infants can be very distressing to parents. Pediatricians often prescribe acid-suppressing drugs for these symptoms in an effort to treat infants for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD); however, GERD is an uncommon cause of these symptoms in otherwise thriving infants. Experts now caution against the over-diagnosis of GERD and over-prescription of acid-suppressing drugs in infants.

Blame backbone fractures on evolution, not osteoporosis: Adaptation to upright walking leaves humans susceptible Posted: 19 Oct 2011 03:58 PM PDT Osteoporosis is blamed for backbone fractures. The real culprit could well be our own vertebrae, which evolved to absorb the pounding of upright walking, researchers say.

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