ScienceDaily: Health & Medicine News

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• Possible new treatment for Rett Syndrome
• The pupils are the windows to the mind
• Mind over matter: Patients' perceptions of illness make a difference
• Are we bad at forecasting our emotions? It depends on how you measure accuracy
• New information for flu fight: Researchers study RNA interference to determine host genes used by influenza for virus replication
• Most people fudge numbers on weight and height surveys
• Making memories last: Prion-like protein plays key role in storing long-term memories
• Grape seed extract kills head and neck cancer cells, leaves healthy cells unharmed
• New drug release mechanism utilizes 3-D superhydrophobic materials
• Discovery of new vaccine approach for treatment of cancer
• Research on vitamins could lead to the design of novel drugs to combat malaria
• Heart of silk: Scientists use silk from the tasar silkworm as a scaffold for heart tissue
• How cholera bacterium gains a foothold in the gut
• Genetic variation that raises risk of serious complication linked to osteoporosis drugs identified
• Bedwetting can be due to undiagnosed constipation
• Body location plays part in scratching pleasure
• Scientists illuminate cancer cells' survival strategy during dangerous dissemination
• Brain receptor in eyes may link epilepsy, cataracts and antidepressants
• Multiple births lead to weight gain, other problems for mouse moms and offspring
• Diagnostic brain tumor test could revolutionize care of patients with low-grade gliomas
• How a parent's education can affect the mental health of their offspring
• In the brain, signs of autism as early as 6 months old
• Genetic abnormalities may cause cerebral palsy, study suggests

Possible new treatment for Rett Syndrome Posted: 27 Jan 2012 02:48 PM PST Researchers have discovered that a molecule critical to the development and plasticity of nerve cells – brain-derived neurotrophic factor -- is severely lacking in brainstem neurons in mutations leading to Rett syndrome, a neurological developmental disorder. The finding has implications for the treatment of neurological disorders, including Rett syndrome that affects one in 10,000 baby girls.

The pupils are the windows to the mind Posted: 27 Jan 2012 01:28 PM PST The eyes are the window into the soul -- or at least the mind, according to a new article.

Mind over matter: Patients' perceptions of illness make a difference Posted: 27 Jan 2012 01:27 PM PST Whenever we fall ill, there are many different factors that come together to influence the course of our illness. Additional medical conditions, stress levels, and social support all have an impact on our health and well-being, especially when we are ill. But a new report suggests that what you think about your illness matters just as much, if not more, in determining your health outcomes.

Are we bad at forecasting our emotions? It depends on how you measure accuracy Posted: 27 Jan 2012 01:27 PM PST How will you feel if you fail that test? Awful, really awful, you say. Then you fail the test and, yes, you feel bad -- but not as bad as you thought you would. This pattern holds for most people, research shows. The takeaway message: People are lousy at predicting their emotions.

New information for flu fight: Researchers study RNA interference to determine host genes used by influenza for virus replication Posted: 27 Jan 2012 01:27 PM PST Influenza virus can rapidly evolve from one form to another, complicating the effectiveness of vaccines and anti-viral drugs used to treat it. By first understanding the complex host cell pathways that the flu uses for replication, researchers are finding new strategies for therapies and vaccines, according to a new study.

Most people fudge numbers on weight and height surveys Posted: 27 Jan 2012 01:24 PM PST When people in the U.S. are asked to provide their weight for research surveys, they underestimate their weight and overestimate their height, despite numerous public reports about increasing rates of obesity. Whites are more likely to do so than Blacks or Hispanics, finds a new study.

Making memories last: Prion-like protein plays key role in storing long-term memories Posted: 27 Jan 2012 01:24 PM PST Memories in our brains are maintained by connections between neurons called "synapses." But how do these synapses stay strong and keep memories alive for decades? Neuroscientists have discovered a major clue from a study in fruit flies: Hardy, self-copying clusters or oligomers of a synapse protein are an essential ingredient for the formation of long-term memory.

Grape seed extract kills head and neck cancer cells, leaves healthy cells unharmed Posted: 27 Jan 2012 11:09 AM PST In both cell lines and mouse models, grape seed extract kills head and neck squamous cell carcinoma cells, while leaving healthy cells unharmed, new research shows.

New drug release mechanism utilizes 3-D superhydrophobic materials Posted: 27 Jan 2012 11:09 AM PST There is a new mechanism of drug release using 3-D superhydrophobic materials that utilizes air as a removable barrier to control the rate at which drug is released.

Discovery of new vaccine approach for treatment of cancer Posted: 27 Jan 2012 11:05 AM PST Scientists have developed a new vaccine to treat cancer at the pre-clinical level. They developed a new approach for treating the disease based on manipulating the immune response to malignant tumors.

Research on vitamins could lead to the design of novel drugs to combat malaria Posted: 27 Jan 2012 10:59 AM PST New research could lead to the design of more effective drugs to combat malaria. The research will enable scientists to learn more about the nature of the enzymes required for vitamin biosynthesis by the malaria causing pathogen Plasmodium. Vitamins are essential nutrients required in small amounts, the lack of which leads to deficiencies. Many pathogenic microorganisms produce vitamins, and these biosynthetic pathways may provide suitable targets for development of new drugs.

Heart of silk: Scientists use silk from the tasar silkworm as a scaffold for heart tissue Posted: 27 Jan 2012 10:59 AM PST Damaged human heart muscle cannot be regenerated. Scar tissue grows in place of the damaged muscle cells. Scientists are seeking to restore complete cardiac function with the help of artificial cardiac tissue. They have succeeded in loading cardiac muscle cells onto a three-dimensional scaffold, created using the silk produced by a tropical silkworm.

How cholera bacterium gains a foothold in the gut Posted: 27 Jan 2012 10:59 AM PST Biologists have made an important advance in our understanding of the way cholera attacks the body. The discovery could help scientists target treatments for the globally significant intestinal disease which kills more than 100,000 people every year.

Genetic variation that raises risk of serious complication linked to osteoporosis drugs identified Posted: 27 Jan 2012 10:58 AM PST Researchers have identified a genetic variation that raises the risk of developing serious necrotic jaw bone lesions in patients who take bisphosphonates, a common class of osteoclastic inhibitors.

Bedwetting can be due to undiagnosed constipation Posted: 27 Jan 2012 10:57 AM PST Bedwetting isn't always due to problems with the bladder. Constipation is often the culprit; and if it isn't diagnosed, children and their parents must endure an unnecessarily long, costly and difficult quest to cure nighttime wetting.

Body location plays part in scratching pleasure Posted: 27 Jan 2012 10:57 AM PST New research from a world-renowned itch expert shows that how good scratching an itch feels is related to the itch's location.

Scientists illuminate cancer cells' survival strategy during dangerous dissemination Posted: 26 Jan 2012 07:39 PM PST Scientists have discovered key elements of a strategy commonly used by tumor cells to survive when they spread to distant organs. The finding could lead to drugs that could inhibit this metastasis in patients with tumors.

Brain receptor in eyes may link epilepsy, cataracts and antidepressants Posted: 26 Jan 2012 07:36 PM PST Researchers have discovered that the most common receptor for the major neurotransmitter in the brain is also present in the eye, which may explain links between cataracts, epilepsy and use of a number of antiepileptic and antidepressant drugs.

Multiple births lead to weight gain, other problems for mouse moms and offspring Posted: 26 Jan 2012 07:36 PM PST Study in model that mimics human effects of multiparity (giving birth more than once) finds mouse moms who gave birth 4 times accrued significantly more fat vs. primiparous females (those giving birth once) of similar age. Multiparous moms also had more liver inflammation.

Diagnostic brain tumor test could revolutionize care of patients with low-grade gliomas Posted: 26 Jan 2012 07:36 PM PST Researchers have developed what they believe to be the first clinical application of a new imaging technique to diagnose brain tumors.

How a parent's education can affect the mental health of their offspring Posted: 26 Jan 2012 10:39 AM PST Could depression in adulthood be tied to a parent's level of education? A new study by a medical sociologist suggests this is the case.

In the brain, signs of autism as early as 6 months old Posted: 26 Jan 2012 09:37 AM PST Measuring brain activity in infants as young as six months may help to predict the future development of autism symptoms. In their first year of life, babies who will go on to develop autism already show different brain responses when someone looks at or away from them. The findings suggest that direct brain measures might help to predict the future development of autism symptoms in infants as young as six months.

Genetic abnormalities may cause cerebral palsy, study suggests Posted: 26 Jan 2012 07:14 AM PST For years it was thought that a difficult birth and other perinatal factors were the leading causes of cerebral palsy (CP), a group of disorders that can involve brain and nervous system functions such as movement, learning, hearing, seeing and thinking. Now, researchers suggest that the majority of cerebral palsy causes may in fact be caused by genetic abnormalities.

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