ScienceDaily: Health & Medicine News

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• U.S. Healthcare: Newly insured patients may have trouble finding primary care physicians
• Study links improved consumer welfare to increased prescription drug advertising efforts
• Dramatic rise in autism prevalence parallels research explosion
• Scientists image brain structures that deteriorate in Parkinson's
• Automated phone and mail notices increase medication adherence
• Preventive screening for sudden cardiac death in young athletes debated
• Autism risk for developing children exposed to air pollution: Infant brain may be affected by air quality
• Metabolic protein launches sugar feast that nurtures brain tumors
• Did you see that? How could you miss it?
• This week's forecast: Sunny with a 40 percent chance of flu
• New hope for setback-dogged cancer treatment
• Use of stem cells in personalized medicine
• To get the best look at a person's face, look just below the eyes
• Gastric bypass surgery helps diabetes but doesn't cure it, study suggests
• Brain area's role in learning identified
• Students at cooperative schools are more engaged
• Possible new treatment for Ewing sarcoma
• Survival gene may be key to controlling HIV and hepatitis
• Seizures linked to surgery drugs can be prevented by anesthetics, experts say
• BioMAP screening procedure could streamline search for new antibiotics
• Lack of nutrients and metabolic syndrome linked to different subtypes of depression
• Combination of two pharmaceuticals proves effective in the treatment of multiple sclerosis, study suggests
• Fertility: Putrescine water may be fountain of youth for human eggs
• Grapefruit–medication interactions increasing
• Risk of hemorrhage from warfarin higher in clinical practice than clinical trials show
• Burning more calories is easier when working out with someone you perceive as better
• Drugs limiting excess mucus could save lives
• First 'breathing lung' transplant in United States
• Alarming 15-fold increase in inflatable bouncer-related injuries among children
• Impaired blood vessel function found in cystic fibrosis patients
• Microbial 'missing link' discovered after man impales hand on tree branch
• Risk aversity visible in the brain
• Using computational biology for the annotation of proteins
• Mmolecular mechanisms leading to basal cell carcinoma initiation uncovered
• New biomaterials promote neuroregeneration after a brain injury
• Cognitive behaviour therapy improves quality of life in children with asthma and anxiety
• Brain compensates after traumatic injury, evidence shows
• Old habits die hard: Helping cancer patients stop smoking
• Scanning innovation can reduce radiation exposure and improve personalized medicine

U.S. Healthcare: Newly insured patients may have trouble finding primary care physicians Posted: 26 Nov 2012 01:44 PM PST A significant percentage of the primary care physicians most likely to care for newly insured patients may be not be accepting new patients. The investigators note that strategies designed to increase and support these "safety-net" physicians could help ensure that newly covered patients have access to primary care.

Study links improved consumer welfare to increased prescription drug advertising efforts Posted: 26 Nov 2012 01:44 PM PST More people are better off thanks to the impact of an influx of direct-to-consumer advertising spending than they would be without those marketing efforts, according to a new study.

Dramatic rise in autism prevalence parallels research explosion Posted: 26 Nov 2012 01:43 PM PST A researcher has described the dramatic progress in autism research paralleling increased recognition of autism's prevalence and financial impact. She notes funding for autism research hasn't kept pace with the increasing scale of the public health challenges posed by autism and more research is needed on prenatal and early postnatal brain development, on gene and environmental risk factors, treatment and adults with autism.

Scientists image brain structures that deteriorate in Parkinson's Posted: 26 Nov 2012 01:43 PM PST A new imaging technique developed at MIT offers the first glimpse of the degeneration of two brain structures affected by Parkinson's disease.

Automated phone and mail notices increase medication adherence Posted: 26 Nov 2012 01:43 PM PST Patients newly prescribed a cholesterol-lowering medication were more likely to pick it up from the pharmacy if they received automated phone and mail reminders, according to a new study.

Preventive screening for sudden cardiac death in young athletes debated Posted: 26 Nov 2012 01:42 PM PST While ensuring the safety of high school and college athletes is hardly controversial, the method and associated costs of doing so are hotly debated. Conducting electrocardiographic screenings of all young competitive athletes in the United States would cost up to $69 billion over 20 years and save about 4,813 lives, making the cost per life saved over $10 million, according to a new study.

Autism risk for developing children exposed to air pollution: Infant brain may be affected by air quality Posted: 26 Nov 2012 01:42 PM PST Scientists have demonstrated that polluted air -- whether regional pollution or coming from local traffic sources -- is associated with autism.

Metabolic protein launches sugar feast that nurtures brain tumors Posted: 26 Nov 2012 01:40 PM PST PKM2 slips into nucleus to promote cancer; potential biomarker and drug approach discovered.

Did you see that? How could you miss it? Posted: 26 Nov 2012 12:10 PM PST A psychology study shows that people do not recall things they have seen -- or at least walked by -- hundreds of times.

This week's forecast: Sunny with a 40 percent chance of flu Posted: 26 Nov 2012 12:10 PM PST Scientists have developed a system to predict the timing and severity of seasonal influenza outbreaks that could one day help health officials and the general public better prepare for them. The system adapts techniques used in modern weather prediction to turn real-time, web-based estimates of influenza infection into local forecasts of seasonal flu.

New hope for setback-dogged cancer treatment Posted: 26 Nov 2012 12:10 PM PST Several drugs companies have ineffectively tried to produce antibodies that bind to the IGF-1 receptor on the cell surface, which has a critical part to play in the development of cancer. Scientists have now ascertained how these antibodies work, and can explain why only some cancer patients are helped by IGF-1 blockers during clinical tests. The researchers also present a means by which drugs of this kind could help more cancer patients.

Use of stem cells in personalized medicine Posted: 26 Nov 2012 12:10 PM PST Researchers report concrete steps in the use of human stem cells to test how diseased cells respond to drugs. Their success highlights a pathway toward faster, cheaper drug development for some genetic illnesses, as well as the ability to pre-test a therapy's safety and effectiveness on cultured clones of a patient's own cells.

To get the best look at a person's face, look just below the eyes Posted: 26 Nov 2012 11:29 AM PST They say that the eyes are the windows to the soul. However, to get a real idea of what a person is up to, according to new research, the best place to check is right below the eyes.

Gastric bypass surgery helps diabetes but doesn't cure it, study suggests Posted: 26 Nov 2012 11:29 AM PST After gastric bypass surgery, diabetes goes away for some people -- often even before they lose much weight. So does that mean gastric surgery "cures" diabetes? Not necessarily, according to the largest community-based study of long-term diabetes outcomes after bariatric surgery. For most people, diabetes either never remitted after gastric surgery or relapsed within five years.

Brain area's role in learning identified Posted: 26 Nov 2012 11:29 AM PST An area of the brain called the orbitofrontal cortex is responsible for decisions made on the spur of the moment, but not those made based on prior experience or habit, according to a new study from substance abuse researchers. The distinction is critical to understanding the neurobiology of decision-making, particularly with regard to substance abuse.

Students at cooperative schools are more engaged Posted: 26 Nov 2012 11:29 AM PST Student engagement is not independent of the type of school attended. Nor is it independent of the organizational development of the school. The school's organizational style affects the work of its teaching staff, which, in turn, has repercussions on the performance and engagement of their students.

Possible new treatment for Ewing sarcoma Posted: 26 Nov 2012 11:28 AM PST Discovery of a new drug with high potential to treat Ewing sarcoma, an often deadly cancer of children and young adults, and the previously unknown mechanism behind it, come hand-in-hand in a new study.

Survival gene may be key to controlling HIV and hepatitis Posted: 26 Nov 2012 10:13 AM PST A newly discovered gene that is essential for embryo survival could also hold the key to treating and potentially controlling chronic infections such as HIV, hepatitis and tuberculosis. The gene, called Arih2, is fundamental to the function of the immune system -- making critical decisions about whether to switch on the immune response to an infection.

Seizures linked to surgery drugs can be prevented by anesthetics, experts say Posted: 26 Nov 2012 10:13 AM PST Two drugs commonly given during cardiac surgery can lead to convulsive seizures, but anesthetics can help cut the risk, according to new research.

BioMAP screening procedure could streamline search for new antibiotics Posted: 26 Nov 2012 10:13 AM PST Researchers have developed a new strategy for finding novel antibiotic compounds, using a diagnostic panel of bacterial strains for screening chemical extracts from natural sources.

Lack of nutrients and metabolic syndrome linked to different subtypes of depression Posted: 26 Nov 2012 10:12 AM PST A low intake of folate and vitamin B12 increases the risk of melancholic depressive symptoms, according to a study among nearly 3,000 middle-aged and elderly Finnish subjects.

Combination of two pharmaceuticals proves effective in the treatment of multiple sclerosis, study suggests Posted: 26 Nov 2012 10:12 AM PST A new substance class for the treatment of multiple sclerosis and other neurodegenerative diseases now promises increased efficacy paired with fewer side effects. To achieve this, a team of scientists have combined two already approved pharmaceutical substances with each other using a chemical linker structure. The objectives of this combination are to ensure maximum brain cell protection on the one hand and the suppression of unwanted side effects on the other.

Fertility: Putrescine water may be fountain of youth for human eggs Posted: 26 Nov 2012 10:11 AM PST A scientist has discovered a critical reason why women experience fertility problems as they get older. The breakthrough also points to a simple solution that could increase the viability of egg cells for women in their late 30s and older -- putrescine water.

Grapefruit–medication interactions increasing Posted: 26 Nov 2012 10:11 AM PST The number of prescription drugs that can have serious adverse effects from interactions with grapefruit are markedly increasing, yet many physicians may be unaware of these effects, states a new article.

Risk of hemorrhage from warfarin higher in clinical practice than clinical trials show Posted: 26 Nov 2012 10:11 AM PST Rates of hemorrhage for older patients on warfarin therapy are much higher than rates reported in clinical trials, found a study published in Canadian Medical Association Journal.

Burning more calories is easier when working out with someone you perceive as better Posted: 26 Nov 2012 10:09 AM PST Research finds burning more calories is easier when working out with someone you perceive as better.

Drugs limiting excess mucus could save lives Posted: 26 Nov 2012 10:09 AM PST Respiratory conditions that restrict breathing such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are common killers worldwide. But no effective treatments exist to address the major cause of death in these conditions – excess mucus production. Now, researchers have described the molecular pathway responsible for excess mucus in airway cells and have used that information to design a series of new drugs that inhibit that pathway.

First 'breathing lung' transplant in United States Posted: 26 Nov 2012 10:09 AM PST Experimental technology could transform field of lung transplantation. First there was the "heart in a box," a revolutionary experimental technology that allows donor hearts to be delivered to transplant recipients warm and beating rather than frozen in an ice cooler. Now that same technology is being used to deliver "breathing lungs."

Alarming 15-fold increase in inflatable bouncer-related injuries among children Posted: 26 Nov 2012 08:09 AM PST Researchers found that from 1995 to 2010 there was a 15-fold increase in the number of inflatable bouncer-related injuries that were treated in US emergency departments among children younger than 18 years of age. In 2010 alone, more than 30 children per day, or about one child every 45 minutes, were treated in hospital emergency departments for injuries associated with inflatable bouncers.

Impaired blood vessel function found in cystic fibrosis patients Posted: 26 Nov 2012 08:07 AM PST The first evidence of blood vessel dysfunction has been found in a small cohort of generally healthy young people with cystic fibrosis, researchers report.

Microbial 'missing link' discovered after man impales hand on tree branch Posted: 26 Nov 2012 08:07 AM PST Two years ago, a 71-year-old Indiana man impaled his hand on a branch after cutting down a dead tree. The wound caused an infection that led scientists to discover a new bacterium and solve a mystery about how bacteria came to live inside insects.

Risk aversity visible in the brain Posted: 26 Nov 2012 08:06 AM PST Some people live their lives by the motto "no risk - no fun!" and relish risk-taking. Others are clearly more cautious and focus primarily on safety when investing and for other business activities. Scientists have studied the attitudes towards risk in a group of 56 subjects. They found that in people who preferred safety, certain regions of the brain show a higher level of activation when they are confronted with quite unforeseeable situations.  In addition, they do not distinguish as clearly as risk takers whether a situation is more or less risky than expected.

Using computational biology for the annotation of proteins Posted: 26 Nov 2012 08:06 AM PST New research has employed computational techniques to improve the characterization of proteins. The system has allowed scientists to predict, for example, the relationship between two human proteins and telomeres, which led to their possible implication in cellular aging and the development of cancer; this awaits experimental verification.

Mmolecular mechanisms leading to basal cell carcinoma initiation uncovered Posted: 26 Nov 2012 08:05 AM PST Researchers have uncovered the molecular mechanisms leading to basal cell carcinoma initiation. One of the most outstanding and unresolved questions in cancer biology is the identification of cells at the origin of cancer and the understanding of the molecular changes that occur in tumor initiating cells from the first oncogenic mutation to the development of invasive cancer.

New biomaterials promote neuroregeneration after a brain injury Posted: 26 Nov 2012 08:05 AM PST A new study looks at the compatibility of polymeric biomaterials in the brain and neuroregeneration potential in areas with some kind of damage or brain injury.

Cognitive behaviour therapy improves quality of life in children with asthma and anxiety Posted: 26 Nov 2012 08:05 AM PST Researchers have found that a programme of cognitive behaviour therapy delivered by nurses to children who had asthma and anxiety improved the children's quality of life scores and reduced the risk of escalation of treatment.

Brain compensates after traumatic injury, evidence shows Posted: 26 Nov 2012 08:04 AM PST Researchers have found that a special magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique may be able to predict which patients who have experienced concussions will improve. The results suggest that, in some patients, the brain may change to compensate for the damage caused by the injury.

Old habits die hard: Helping cancer patients stop smoking Posted: 26 Nov 2012 08:04 AM PST It's a sad but familiar scene near the grounds of many medical campuses: hospital-gowned patients, some toting rolling IV poles, huddled in clumps under bus shelters or warming areas, smoking cigarettes.

Scanning innovation can reduce radiation exposure and improve personalized medicine Posted: 26 Nov 2012 08:04 AM PST New combinations of medical imaging technologies hold promise for improved early disease screening, cancer staging, therapeutic assessment, and other aspects of personalized medicine. The integration of multiple major tomographic scanners into a single framework is a new way of thinking in the biomedical imaging world and is evolving into a grand fusion of many imaging modalities known as omni-tomography.

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