ScienceDaily: Health & Medicine News

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• Treatment of silent acid reflux does not improve asthma in children, study finds
• Food fried in olive or sunflower oil is not linked to heart disease, Spanish study finds
• More on legal remedies for ghostwriting
• Availability and use of sanitation reduces by half the likelihood of parasitic worm infections
• Tobacco smoking and high blood pressure are biggest killers of Japanese adults, study finds
• Increased exposure to compound widely used in food packaging associated with reduced immune response to vaccinations for children
• Women with certain type of ovarian cancer and BRCA gene mutation have improved survival at 5 years
• Addition of proton pump inhibitor to treatment of poorly controlled asthma in children does not improve symptoms
• Acid reflux drug does not improve asthma in children, study finds
• School obesity programs may promote worrisome eating behaviors and physical activity in kids
• Off-campus college party hosts drink more than attendees, research suggests
• Membrane fusion a mystery no more
• High levels of fructose consumption by adolescents may put them at cardiovascular risk, evidence suggests
• Therapeutically useful stem cell derivatives in need of stability
• Brown fat burns calories in adult humans
• Genetic variation increases risk of metabolic side effects in children on some antipsychotics
• Genetically modified food safe, animal study suggests
• Entry point for hepatitis C infection identified
• Children with ADHD benefit from healthy lifestyle options as first-line treatment
• A parent's survival guide to lice
• The impact of deleting five personality disorders in the new DSM-5
• Possible new pathway can overcome glioblastoma resistance
• Foot and ankle structure differs between sprinters and non-sprinters
• Spotting dyslexia before a child starts school
• Love of a dog or cat helps women cope with HIV/AIDS
• How Fic proteins regulate their potentially lethal enzyme activity
• The price of your soul: How the brain decides whether to 'sell out'
• Inflammatory mediator promotes colorectal cancer by stifling protective genes

Treatment of silent acid reflux does not improve asthma in children, study finds Posted: 24 Jan 2012 03:42 PM PST Adding the acid reflux drug lansoprazole to a standard inhaled steroid treatment for asthma does not improve asthma control in children who have no symptom of acid reflux, according to a new study. Lansoprazole therapy slightly increased the risk of sore throats and other respiratory problems in children, however.

Food fried in olive or sunflower oil is not linked to heart disease, Spanish study finds Posted: 24 Jan 2012 03:41 PM PST Eating food fried in olive or sunflower oil is not linked to heart disease or premature death, a new study finds. The authors stress, however, that their study took place in Spain, a Mediterranean country where olive or sunflower oil is used for frying and their results would probably not be the same in another country where solid and re-used oils were used for frying.

More on legal remedies for ghostwriting Posted: 24 Jan 2012 03:41 PM PST In an essay that expands on a previous proposal to use the courts to prosecute those involved in ghostwriting on the basis of it being legal fraud, Xavier Bosch from the University of Barcelona, Spain and colleagues lay out three outline specific areas of legal liability in this week's PLoS Medicine.

Availability and use of sanitation reduces by half the likelihood of parasitic worm infections Posted: 24 Jan 2012 03:41 PM PST Access to sanitation facilities, such as latrines, reduces by half the risk of becoming infected by parasitic worms that are transmitted via soil, according to a new study.

Tobacco smoking and high blood pressure are biggest killers of Japanese adults, study finds Posted: 24 Jan 2012 03:41 PM PST The life expectancy of a person born in Japan is among the highest in the world (82.9 years) yet tobacco smoking and high blood pressure are still the major risk factors for death among adults in Japan, emphasizing the need to reduce tobacco smoking and to improve ongoing programs designed to help people manage multiple cardiovascular risk factors, including high blood pressure, according to a new study.

Increased exposure to compound widely used in food packaging associated with reduced immune response to vaccinations for children Posted: 24 Jan 2012 01:23 PM PST Elevated exposures in children to perfluorinated compounds, which are widely used in manufacturing and food packaging, were associated with lower antibody responses to routine childhood immunizations, according to a new study.

Women with certain type of ovarian cancer and BRCA gene mutation have improved survival at 5 years Posted: 24 Jan 2012 01:23 PM PST Among women with invasive epithelial ovarian cancer, patients having a germline (gene change in a reproductive cell that could be passed to offspring) mutation in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes was associated with improved five-year overall survival, with BRCA2 carriers having the best prognosis, according to a new study.

Addition of proton pump inhibitor to treatment of poorly controlled asthma in children does not improve symptoms Posted: 24 Jan 2012 01:23 PM PST Children without symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux whose asthma was being poorly controlled with anti-inflammatory treatment did not have an improvement in symptoms or lung function with the added treatment of the proton pump inhibitor lansoprazole, compared to patients who received placebo, according to a new study. Use of lansoprazole was associated with increased adverse events.

Acid reflux drug does not improve asthma in children, study finds Posted: 24 Jan 2012 01:23 PM PST A randomized clinic trial found that the addition of lansoprazole does not improve asthma symptoms or the control of asthma in children and may increase the risk for upper respiratory infections and other adverse events.

School obesity programs may promote worrisome eating behaviors and physical activity in kids Posted: 24 Jan 2012 12:12 PM PST In a new poll, 30% of parents report at least one worrisome behavior in their children that could be associated with the development of eating disorders.

Off-campus college party hosts drink more than attendees, research suggests Posted: 24 Jan 2012 11:48 AM PST On any given weekend, at least 10 percent of students at a single college could be hosting a party, research suggests. How much hosts drink depends on whether they are on or off campus.

Membrane fusion a mystery no more Posted: 24 Jan 2012 11:03 AM PST The many factors that contribute to how cells communicate and function at the most basic level are still not fully understood, but researchers have uncovered a mechanism that helps explain how intracellular membranes fuse, and in the process, created a new physiological membrane fusion model.

High levels of fructose consumption by adolescents may put them at cardiovascular risk, evidence suggests Posted: 24 Jan 2012 11:03 AM PST Evidence of cardiovascular disease and diabetes risk is present in the blood of adolescents who consume a lot of fructose, a scenario that worsens in the face of excess belly fat, researchers report.

Therapeutically useful stem cell derivatives in need of stability Posted: 24 Jan 2012 11:03 AM PST Human stem cells capable of giving rise to any fetal or adult cell type are known as pluripotent stem cells. It is hoped that human embryonic stem cells can be used to generate cell populations with therapeutic utility. In this context, neural derivatives of hESCs are being tested in clinical trials. However, researchers in France have now generated cautionary data that suggest that additional quality controls need to be put in place to ensure that neural derivatives of hESCs are not genomically unstable, a common characteristic of cancer cells.

Brown fat burns calories in adult humans Posted: 24 Jan 2012 11:03 AM PST Brown fat burns calories to generate body heat in rodents and newborn humans. Recently, adult humans have also been found to possess brown fat, leading to the suggestion that increasing the amount of brown fat a person has will make them slimmer. However, it has never been shown definitively that adult human brown fat burns energy. But now, researchers in Canada have provided this evidence.

Genetic variation increases risk of metabolic side effects in children on some antipsychotics Posted: 24 Jan 2012 11:03 AM PST Researchers have found a genetic variation predisposing children to six-times greater risk of developing metabolic syndrome when taking second-generation anti-psychotic medications. Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of conditions that are risk factors for cardiovascular disease. The study showed a close association with two conditions in particular: high blood pressure and elevated fasting blood sugar levels, which is a precursor to diabetes.

Genetically modified food safe, animal study suggests Posted: 24 Jan 2012 11:01 AM PST A three year feeding study has shown no adverse health effects in pigs fed genetically modified (GM) maize.  The maize, which is a Bt-maize bred for its insect resistant properties, was sourced from Spain.

Entry point for hepatitis C infection identified Posted: 24 Jan 2012 10:44 AM PST A molecule embedded in the membrane of human liver cells that aids in cholesterol absorption also allows the entry of hepatitis C virus, the first step in hepatitis C infection, according to new research.

Children with ADHD benefit from healthy lifestyle options as first-line treatment Posted: 24 Jan 2012 10:44 AM PST Every year between 3 and 10 percent of school-age children in this country are diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Increasingly, families are using natural or complementary therapies to improve their child's attention or behavior, and often seek advice from an integrative pediatrician, according to a new study.

A parent's survival guide to lice Posted: 24 Jan 2012 10:44 AM PST They're small, creepy and suck your blood. Every parent dreads it, but it's inevitable -- the "lice letter." Though a lice infestation is about as common as a cold, trying to rid your life of them can be as much of a head-scratcher as those disgusting bugs themselves. A pediatrician now gives tips for dealing with lice.

The impact of deleting five personality disorders in the new DSM-5 Posted: 24 Jan 2012 08:30 AM PST Researchers report on the impact to patients if five personality disorders are removed from the upcoming DSM-5. Based on their study, the researchers believe these changes could result in false-negative diagnoses for patients.

Possible new pathway can overcome glioblastoma resistance Posted: 24 Jan 2012 08:29 AM PST Glioblastoma, a lethal brain cancer, is one of the most resistant to available therapies and patients typically live approximately 15 months. Previous research has focused on the activation of the apoptosis, or cell death, pathway using therapeutic agents such as tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL); however, the vast majority of these experiments have been stymied by resistance. Researchers have now identified a possible new pathway for targeted therapies.

Foot and ankle structure differs between sprinters and non-sprinters Posted: 24 Jan 2012 08:21 AM PST The skeletal structure of the foot and ankle differs significantly between human sprinters and non-sprinters, according to researchers. Their findings not only help explain why some people are faster runners than others, but also may be useful in helping people who have difficulty walking, such as older adults and children with cerebral palsy.

Spotting dyslexia before a child starts school Posted: 23 Jan 2012 12:25 PM PST Children at risk for dyslexia show differences in brain activity on MRI scans even before they begin learning to read, finds a new study. Since developmental dyslexia responds to early intervention, diagnosing children at risk before or during kindergarten could head off difficulties and frustration in school, the researchers say.

Love of a dog or cat helps women cope with HIV/AIDS Posted: 23 Jan 2012 08:55 AM PST A spoonful of medicine goes down a lot easier if there is a dog or cat around. Having pets is helpful for women living with HIV/AIDS and managing their chronic illness, according to a new study.

How Fic proteins regulate their potentially lethal enzyme activity Posted: 23 Jan 2012 06:44 AM PST Researchers have been able to elucidate a regulatory mechanism conserved throughout evolution which forces the largely unexplored enzyme family of Fic proteins into an inactive resting state. The researchers could demonstrate that through the alteration of one single amino acid this inhibition of enzyme activity can be relieved. Their findings will enable to investigate the physiological role of the potentially lethal function of Fic proteins in bacteria and higher organisms in the future.

The price of your soul: How the brain decides whether to 'sell out' Posted: 22 Jan 2012 05:12 PM PST A neuro-imaging study shows that personal values people refuse to disavow, even when offered cash, are processed differently in the brain than those values that are willingly sold. The experiment found that the realm of the sacred -- whether a strong religious belief, national identity or code of ethics -- is a distinct cognitive process, and prompts greater activation of a brain area associated with rules-based, right-or-wrong thought processes, as opposed to regions linked to costs-versus-benefits thought.

Inflammatory mediator promotes colorectal cancer by stifling protective genes Posted: 22 Jan 2012 12:25 PM PST Chronic inflammation combines with DNA methylation, a process that shuts down cancer-fighting genes, to promote development of colorectal cancer, scientists have discovered.

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