ScienceDaily: Health & Medicine News

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• Surprising pathway implicated in stuttering
• Dendritic cells protect against acute pancreatitis
• Physical activity impacts overall quality of sleep
• Head and neck cancer: Study identifies factors associated with increased risk of death among two-year survivors
• Hope for muscle wasting disease
• New strategy could lead to dose reduction in X-ray imaging
• New design for mechanical heart valves
• Tumor-specific pathway identified
• Psychological intervention reduces disability and depression in adolescents with fibromyalgia
• P-Rex1 protein key to melanoma metastasis
• Jaw size linked to diet: Could too soft a diet cause lower jaw to stay too short and cause orthodontic problems?
• Babies who eat fish before nine months are less likely to suffer pre-school wheeze, study suggests
• Abnormal levels of caffeine in water indicate human contamination
• Laser removal may be advantageous for treating precancerous skin lesions
• Mortality rates for pharynx and mouth cancers have decreased, with greater declines among patients with more education
• Importance of treatment process and outcomes varies among patients with psoriasis
• Treatment of acne using oral antibiotics associated with reporting symptoms of sore throat
• Study examines racial disparities in surgical outcomes among patients with diverticulitis
• Body mass index associated with short-term mortality rates following surgery

Surprising pathway implicated in stuttering Posted: 22 Nov 2011 01:28 PM PST Researchers have obtained new evidence that at least some persistent stuttering is caused by mutations in a gene governing not speech, but a metabolic pathway involved in recycling old cell parts. Beyond a simple association, the study provides the first evidence that mutations affecting cellular recycling centers called lysosomes actually play a role in causing some people to stutter.

Dendritic cells protect against acute pancreatitis Posted: 22 Nov 2011 12:38 PM PST Researchers have discovered the novel protective role dendritic cells play in the pancreas. The new study shows dendritic cells can safeguard the pancreas against acute pancreatitis, a sudden dangerous swelling and inflammation of the pancreas gland.

Physical activity impacts overall quality of sleep Posted: 22 Nov 2011 11:33 AM PST People sleep significantly better and feel more alert during the day if they get at least 150 minutes of exercise a week, a new study concludes.

Head and neck cancer: Study identifies factors associated with increased risk of death among two-year survivors Posted: 22 Nov 2011 08:55 AM PST Among patients with head and neck cancer, poor overall quality of life, pain, and continued tobacco use appear to be associated with poorer outcomes and higher mortality rate two years after diagnosis, according to a new study.

Hope for muscle wasting disease Posted: 22 Nov 2011 08:32 AM PST A health supplement used by bodybuilders could be the key to treating a life-threatening muscular dystrophy affecting tens of thousands of children world-wide, new research shows. The amino acid L-tyrosine had a "rapid and dramatic impact" on Nemaline Myopathy in laboratory tests on mice, significantly improving symptoms of the muscle-wasting disease, medical researchers found.

New strategy could lead to dose reduction in X-ray imaging Posted: 22 Nov 2011 08:32 AM PST For more than a century, the use of X-rays has been a prime diagnostic tool when it comes to human health. As it turns out, X-rays also are a crucial component for studying and understanding molecules, and a new approach may dramatically improve what researchers can learn using the technique.

New design for mechanical heart valves Posted: 22 Nov 2011 08:32 AM PST The heart's valves are asymmetrical. Mechanical heart valves, are symmetrical. Could an asymmetric design improve blood flow?

Tumor-specific pathway identified Posted: 22 Nov 2011 08:30 AM PST Scientists have identified an atypical metabolic pathway unique to some tumors, possibly providing a future target for drugs that could reduce or halt the spread of cancer.

Psychological intervention reduces disability and depression in adolescents with fibromyalgia Posted: 22 Nov 2011 08:30 AM PST A recent trial shows cognitive-behavioral therapy reduces functional disability and depressive symptoms in adolescents with juvenile fibromyalgia. The psychological intervention was found to be safe and effective, and proved to be superior to disease management education.

P-Rex1 protein key to melanoma metastasis Posted: 22 Nov 2011 08:29 AM PST Researchers have identified a protein, called P-Rex1, that is key to the movement of cells called melanoblasts. When these cells experience uncontrolled growth, melanoma develops.

Jaw size linked to diet: Could too soft a diet cause lower jaw to stay too short and cause orthodontic problems? Posted: 22 Nov 2011 08:20 AM PST New research suggests that many of the common orthodontic problems experienced by people in industrialized nations is due to their soft modern diet causing the jaw to grow too short and small relative to the size of their teeth.

Babies who eat fish before nine months are less likely to suffer pre-school wheeze, study suggests Posted: 22 Nov 2011 08:20 AM PST Children who started eating fish before nine months of age are less likely to suffer from pre-school wheeze, but face a higher risk if they were treated with broad spectrum antibiotics in the first week of life or their mother took paracetamol during pregnancy. Recurrent wheeze is a very common clinical problem in preschool children and there is a need for better medical treatment and improved understanding of the underlying mechanisms.

Abnormal levels of caffeine in water indicate human contamination Posted: 22 Nov 2011 08:20 AM PST Researchers have discovered that traces of caffeine are a useful indicator of the contamination of our water by sewers.

Laser removal may be advantageous for treating precancerous skin lesions Posted: 21 Nov 2011 04:39 PM PST Carbon dioxide laser ablation may have a role as an alternative treatment for a common precancerous skin lesion known as lentigo maligna when surgery or radiation therapy is not feasible, according to a new study.

Mortality rates for pharynx and mouth cancers have decreased, with greater declines among patients with more education Posted: 21 Nov 2011 04:39 PM PST Death rates have declined among US patients with cancer of the mouth and pharynx from 1993 to 2007, with the greatest decreases seen among men and women with at least 12 years of education, according to a report in the November issue of the Archives of Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Importance of treatment process and outcomes varies among patients with psoriasis Posted: 21 Nov 2011 04:39 PM PST Among patients with moderate to severe psoriasis, treatment options that are most compatible with their personal and professional life appear to be most important, and treatment location appears more important than probability and magnitude of treatment outcome, according to a new study.

Treatment of acne using oral antibiotics associated with reporting symptoms of sore throat Posted: 21 Nov 2011 04:39 PM PST Taking oral antibiotics for treatment of acne appears to be associated with reporting symptoms of pharyngitis, according to a new study.

Study examines racial disparities in surgical outcomes among patients with diverticulitis Posted: 21 Nov 2011 04:39 PM PST Among older Medicare beneficiaries who underwent surgical treatment for diverticulitis, black race was associated with increased risk of urgent/emergency surgery, high risk of in-hospital mortality and higher total hospital charges, according to a new study.

Body mass index associated with short-term mortality rates following surgery Posted: 21 Nov 2011 04:39 PM PST Body Mass Index appears to be associated with 30-day mortality risk following surgical procedures, and patients with a BMI of less than 23.1 appear to be at highest risk of death, according to a new study.

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