ScienceDaily: Health & Medicine News

---

• Training in 'concrete thinking' can be self-help treatment for depression, study suggests
• What bacteria don't know can hurt them
• How Legionnaires' bacteria proliferate, cause disease
• How heart attack can lead to heart rupture
• Scientists identify potential malaria drug candidates
• Molecules on branched-polymer surfaces can capture rare tumor cells in blood
• Smart swarms of bacteria inspire robotics: Adaptable decision-making found in bacteria communities
• Targeting bacterial gas defenses allow for increased efficacy of numerous antibiotics
• Dual-acting class of antimalarial compounds discovered with potential to prevent and treat malaria
• 'Silent' stroke risk factors for children with sickle cell anemia
• Nanoparticles used as additives in diesel fuels can travel from lungs to liver
• Paving the way for better prevention and management of delirium
• Heart disease treatment: A new stent design may put patients at risk
• Protecting our brains: Tackling delirium
• Unraveling how a mutation can lead to psychiatric illness
• Rehabilitating vacant lots improves urban health and safety
• New class of antimalarial compounds discovered
• The fat-burning zone: News on burning fat

Training in 'concrete thinking' can be self-help treatment for depression, study suggests Posted: 17 Nov 2011 05:29 PM PST Research provides the first evidence that depression can be treated by only targeting an individual's style of thinking through repeated mental exercises in an approach called cognitive bias modification. The study suggests an innovative psychological treatment called 'concreteness training' can reduce depression in just two months and could work as a self-help therapy for depression in primary care.

What bacteria don't know can hurt them Posted: 17 Nov 2011 01:37 PM PST Bacteria enter a self-protective mode when they sense nutrients are low. Starving bacteria resist killing by nearly every antibiotic, even ones they have never been exposed to before. By keeping bacteria that have congregated into a biofilm from warning each other of nutrient shortages, scientists increased the infection-fighting effectiveness of currently available antibiotics.

How Legionnaires' bacteria proliferate, cause disease Posted: 17 Nov 2011 01:37 PM PST Scientist have determined for the first time how the bacterium that causes Legionnaires' disease manipulates our cells to generate the amino acids it needs to grow and cause infection and inflammation in the lungs.

How heart attack can lead to heart rupture Posted: 17 Nov 2011 12:46 PM PST A new study pinpoints a single protein as the key player in the biochemical cascade that leads to cardiac rupture. The findings suggest that blocking the action of this protein, known as CaM kinase, may help prevent cardiac rupture and reduce the risk of death.

Scientists identify potential malaria drug candidates Posted: 17 Nov 2011 12:46 PM PST Researchers have discovered a group of chemical compounds that might one day be developed into drugs that can treat malaria infection in both the liver and the bloodstream.

Molecules on branched-polymer surfaces can capture rare tumor cells in blood Posted: 17 Nov 2011 11:40 AM PST The removal of rare tumor cells circulating in the blood might be possible with the use of biomolecules bound to dendrimers, highly branched synthetic polymers, which could efficiently sift and capture the diseased cells, according to new research.

Smart swarms of bacteria inspire robotics: Adaptable decision-making found in bacteria communities Posted: 17 Nov 2011 11:40 AM PST Scientists have now discovered how bacteria collectively gather information to learn about their environment and find an optimal path to growth. This research will allow scientists to design a new generation of "smart robots" that can form intelligent swarms and aid in the development of medical micro-robots used to treat diseases in the human body.

Targeting bacterial gas defenses allow for increased efficacy of numerous antibiotics Posted: 17 Nov 2011 11:40 AM PST Although scientists have known for centuries that many bacteria produce hydrogen sulfide (H2S) it was thought to be simply a toxic by-product of cellular activity. Now, researchers have discovered H2S in fact plays a major role in protecting bacteria from the effects of numerous different antibiotics.

Dual-acting class of antimalarial compounds discovered with potential to prevent and treat malaria Posted: 17 Nov 2011 11:39 AM PST The discovery of a new class of dual-acting antimalarial compounds that target both liver and blood infections, attacking the Plasmodium parasite at both stages in its reproduction cycle, to publish. Scientists developed a novel assay to determine liver stage activity of candidate small molecules, then used the assay and other tools to identify and optimize a chemical scaffold with activity on both blood- and liver-stage parasites in malaria mouse models.

'Silent' stroke risk factors for children with sickle cell anemia Posted: 17 Nov 2011 11:12 AM PST Factors such as low hemoglobin levels, increased systolic blood pressure, and male gender are linked to a higher risk of silent cerebral infarcts, or silent strokes, in children with sickle cell anemia, according to results from a large, first-of-its-kind study.

Nanoparticles used as additives in diesel fuels can travel from lungs to liver Posted: 17 Nov 2011 11:11 AM PST Recent studies have demonstrated that nanoparticles of cerium oxide -- common diesel fuel additives used to increase the fuel efficiency of automobile engines -- can travel from the lungs to the liver and that this process is associated with liver damage.

Paving the way for better prevention and management of delirium Posted: 17 Nov 2011 11:04 AM PST Important clues to the prevention and management of delirium, a condition affecting an estimated seven million hospitalized Americans, are being ignored, according to a new study.

Heart disease treatment: A new stent design may put patients at risk Posted: 17 Nov 2011 11:04 AM PST Some stents that keep blood vessels open to treat heart disease are poorly designed to resist shortening, according to new research.

Protecting our brains: Tackling delirium Posted: 17 Nov 2011 11:04 AM PST A new national plan of action provides a roadmap for improving the care of patients with delirium, a poorly understood and often unrecognized brain condition that affects approximately seven million hospitalized Americans each year.

Unraveling how a mutation can lead to psychiatric illness Posted: 17 Nov 2011 11:04 AM PST A new study demonstrates how DISC1 variants impair signaling pathways and disrupt brain development.

Rehabilitating vacant lots improves urban health and safety Posted: 17 Nov 2011 11:04 AM PST Greening of vacant urban land may affect the health and safety of nearby residents. In a decade-long comparison of vacant lots and improved vacant lots, greening was linked to significant reductions in gun assaults across most of Philadelphia and significant reductions in vandalism in one section of the city. Vacant lot greening was also associated with residents in certain sections of the city reporting significantly less stress and more exercise.

New class of antimalarial compounds discovered Posted: 17 Nov 2011 10:57 AM PST Scientists have discovered a family of chemical compounds that could lead to a new generation of antimalarial drugs capable of not only alleviating symptoms but also preventing the deadly disease.

The fat-burning zone: News on burning fat Posted: 16 Nov 2011 07:38 AM PST Obesity-related diseases are an increasing health problem. Researchers have now uncovered a central component of fat metabolism.

You are subscribed to email updates from ScienceDaily: Health & Medicine News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610