ScienceDaily: Health & Medicine News

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• First comprehensive review of European breast cancer screening programs finds benefits outweigh harm
• Antidepressants, sleeping pills and anxiety drugs may increase driving risk
• Protection against whooping cough waned during the five years after fifth dose of DTaP
• Single gene cause of insulin sensitivity may offer insight for treating diabetes
• Expert recommendations ignore vital issues for patients, study suggests
• Belly button kidney removal boosts living-donor satisfaction
• Novel non-antibiotic agents against MRSA and strep infections
• Sinusitis linked to microbial diversity
• Popular pain-relieving medicines linked to hearing loss in women
• Studies shed light on how to reduce the amount of toxins in plant-derived foods
• Gut microbes help the body extract more calories from food
• Marijuana use implicated in pregnancy problems
• Genetic test predicts risk for autism spectrum disorder
• Symposium highlights treatment advances for early breast cancer
• Concussion awareness helps reduce long-term complications
• Detection and characterization of norovirus in outbreaks of gastroenteritis
• Mathematical model may lead to safer chemotherapy
• Scientists discover how the brain ages
• Uncertain about health outcomes, male stroke survivors more likely to suffer depression than females
• Molecular switches in the cellular power plants: Researchers discover a new basic principle of the architecture of mitochondria
• A carefully scheduled high-fat diet resets metabolism and prevents obesity, researchers find
• Genetic make-up of children explains how they fight malaria infection
• Age, not underlying diagnosis, key factor in weight gain in children after tonsillectom
• What's the main cause of obesity -- our genes or the environment?
• Hundreds more bleeding trauma patients could be saved if tranexamic acid was used more widely, study suggests
• Active follow-up with telephone help can reduce deaths in chronic heart failure patients
• Comic relief for stressed emergency teams
• World’s first registry of pregnancy and heart disease reveals important differences between countries and heart conditions

First comprehensive review of European breast cancer screening programs finds benefits outweigh harm Posted: 12 Sep 2012 04:28 PM PDT A major review of breast cancer screening services in Europe has concluded that the benefits of screening in terms of lives saved outweigh the harms caused by over-diagnosis.

Antidepressants, sleeping pills and anxiety drugs may increase driving risk Posted: 12 Sep 2012 04:25 PM PDT Drugs prescribed to treat anxiety, depression and insomnia may increase patients' risk of being involved in motor vehicle accidents, according to a recent study. Based on the findings, the researchers suggested doctors should consider advising patients not to drive while taking these drugs. Psychotropic drugs affect the way the brain functions and can impair a driver's ability to control their vehicle.

Protection against whooping cough waned during the five years after fifth dose of DTaP Posted: 12 Sep 2012 03:45 PM PDT Protection against whooping cough (also called pertussis) waned during the five years after the fifth dose of the combined diphtheria, tetanus, acellular pertussis (DTaP) vaccine, according to researchers. The fifth dose of the DTaP is routinely given to 4- to 6-year-old children prior to starting kindergarten.

Single gene cause of insulin sensitivity may offer insight for treating diabetes Posted: 12 Sep 2012 03:45 PM PDT The first single gene cause of increased sensitivity to the hormone insulin has been discovered. The opposite condition – insulin resistance – is a common feature of type 2 diabetes, so finding this cause of insulin sensitivity could offer new opportunities for pursuing novel treatments for diabetes.

Expert recommendations ignore vital issues for patients, study suggests Posted: 12 Sep 2012 03:43 PM PDT In the medical world, where decisions invariably involve risk and uncertainty, physicians note that experts generally base their recommendations on the outcome of death, which is "readily determined, easily quantified, concrete."

Belly button kidney removal boosts living-donor satisfaction Posted: 12 Sep 2012 01:19 PM PDT Living donors who had a kidney removed through a single port in the navel report higher satisfaction in several key categories, compared to donors who underwent traditional multiple-port laparoscopic removal, a new study shows.

Novel non-antibiotic agents against MRSA and strep infections Posted: 12 Sep 2012 01:19 PM PDT Medical researchers have discovered novel antivirulence drugs that, without killing the bacteria, render Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) and Streptococcus pyogenes, commonly referred to as strep, harmless by preventing the production of toxins that cause disease.

Sinusitis linked to microbial diversity Posted: 12 Sep 2012 01:19 PM PDT A common bacteria ever-present on the human skin and previously considered harmless, may, in fact, be the culprit behind chronic sinusitis, a painful, recurring swelling of the sinuses that strikes more than one in ten Americans each year, according to a new study.

Popular pain-relieving medicines linked to hearing loss in women Posted: 12 Sep 2012 09:58 AM PDT Women who took ibuprofen or acetaminophen two or more days per week had an increased risk of hearing loss, according to new research.

Studies shed light on how to reduce the amount of toxins in plant-derived foods Posted: 12 Sep 2012 09:55 AM PDT A number of environmental toxins pose considerable health threats to humans, and the heavy metal cadmium (Cd) ranks high on the list. Most of us are exposed to it through plant-derived foods such as grains and vegetables. Now, new research offers ways in which investigators can reduce the amount of Cd found in the food we eat.

Gut microbes help the body extract more calories from food Posted: 12 Sep 2012 09:51 AM PDT In a study using zebrafish, researchers reveal how microbes in the intestine aid the uptake of fats -- and suggest how diet may influence our bodies' microbial communities.

Marijuana use implicated in pregnancy problems Posted: 12 Sep 2012 07:18 AM PDT New research indicates marijuana-like compounds called endocannabinoids alter genes and biological signals critical to the formation of a normal placenta during pregnancy and may contribute to pregnancy complications like preeclampsia. A new study offers evidence that abnormal biological signaling by endocannabinoid lipid molecules produced by the body disrupts the movement of early embryonic cells important to a healthy pregnancy.

Genetic test predicts risk for autism spectrum disorder Posted: 12 Sep 2012 06:38 AM PDT A team of Australian researchers has developed a genetic test that is able to predict the risk of developing autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Symposium highlights treatment advances for early breast cancer Posted: 12 Sep 2012 06:32 AM PDT Four new studies on the treatment of early breast cancer, spanning from diagnosis through surgery, were released today in advance of the 2012 Breast Cancer Symposium, which will take place September 13-15, 2012, in San Francisco.

Concussion awareness helps reduce long-term complications Posted: 12 Sep 2012 06:31 AM PDT Soccer, football, cheerleading, gymnastics and other sports run an increased risk of concussion because of the rigorous demands of today's play and practice. Any type of traumatic brain injury, including concussion, requires a monitored approach to complete healing to avoid long-term secondary complications that can affect memory, behavior, anxiety and ability to focus and concentrate.

Detection and characterization of norovirus in outbreaks of gastroenteritis Posted: 12 Sep 2012 06:30 AM PDT Researchers conducted a study on norovirus (NoV) in lettuces. The virus causes outbreaks of Gastroenteritis among children below age 5 in Malaysia.

Mathematical model may lead to safer chemotherapy Posted: 12 Sep 2012 05:50 AM PDT A new study explains why certain patients develop severe infections after chemotherapy and points to ways of averting this side-effect.

Scientists discover how the brain ages Posted: 12 Sep 2012 05:50 AM PDT Researchers have revealed the mechanism by which neurons, the nerve cells in the brain and other parts of the body, age. The research opens up new avenues of understanding for conditions where the aging of neurons are known to be responsible, such as dementia and Parkinson's disease.

Uncertain about health outcomes, male stroke survivors more likely to suffer depression than females Posted: 12 Sep 2012 05:47 AM PDT Post-stroke depression is a major issue affecting approximately 33% of stroke survivors. A new study reports that the level to which survivors are uncertain about the outcome of their illness is strongly linked to depression. The relationship is more pronounced for men than for women.

Molecular switches in the cellular power plants: Researchers discover a new basic principle of the architecture of mitochondria Posted: 12 Sep 2012 05:47 AM PDT A team of scientists has achieved groundbreaking new insights into the structure of mitochondria. Mitochondria are the microscopic power plants of the cell that harness the energy stored in food, thus enabling central life functions.

A carefully scheduled high-fat diet resets metabolism and prevents obesity, researchers find Posted: 12 Sep 2012 05:44 AM PDT New research shows that a carefully scheduled high-fat diet can lead to a reduction in body weight and a unique metabolism in which ingested fats are not stored, but rather used for energy at times when no food is available.

Genetic make-up of children explains how they fight malaria infection Posted: 12 Sep 2012 05:35 AM PDT Researchers have identified several novel genes that make some children more efficient than others in the way their immune system responds to malaria infection.

Age, not underlying diagnosis, key factor in weight gain in children after tonsillectom Posted: 12 Sep 2012 05:35 AM PDT Potentially worrisome weight gains following tonsillectomy occur mostly in children under the age of 6, not in older children, a study by experts in otolaryngology- head and neck surgery shows.

What's the main cause of obesity -- our genes or the environment? Posted: 11 Sep 2012 05:05 PM PDT The ongoing obesity epidemic is creating an unprecedented challenge for healthcare systems around the world, but what determines who gets fat? Two experts debate the issue.

Hundreds more bleeding trauma patients could be saved if tranexamic acid was used more widely, study suggests Posted: 11 Sep 2012 05:05 PM PDT The clot stabilizer drug tranexamic acid can be administered safely to a wide range of patients with traumatic bleeding and should not be restricted to the most severe cases, a new study suggests.

Active follow-up with telephone help can reduce deaths in chronic heart failure patients Posted: 11 Sep 2012 05:05 PM PDT Chronic heart failure patients are less likely to have died a year after discharge if they are involved in a programme of active follow-up once they have returned home than patients given standard care, according to a new Cochrane systematic review. These patients were also less likely to need to go back into hospital in the six months that follow discharge.

Comic relief for stressed emergency teams Posted: 11 Sep 2012 05:01 PM PDT Researchers in the UK have created a comic influenced by the Japanese manga style to help busy medical staff who treat patients suffering from bleeding.

World’s first registry of pregnancy and heart disease reveals important differences between countries and heart conditions Posted: 11 Sep 2012 05:01 PM PDT Results from the world's first registry of pregnancy and heart disease have shown that most women with heart disease can go through pregnancy and delivery safely, so long as they are adequately evaluated, counselled and receive high quality care.

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