ScienceDaily: Health & Medicine News

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• Missing piece of pediatric cancer puzzle found
• Potential for MERS coronavirus to spread internationally
• Gene mutation in dogs offers clues for neural tube defects in humans
• Nighttime heat waves quadruple in Pacific Northwest
• New functions for autoimmune disease 'risk' gene identified
• Genetic key to conquering cholera
• Stem cell discovery furthers research on cell-based therapy and cancer
• New plan of attack in cancer fight: Two-drug combination, under certain circumstances, can eliminate disease
• Calcium linked to increased risk of heart disease and death in patients with kidney disease
• Drinking alcohol during pregnancy affects learning and memory function in offspring?
• Is sexual addiction the real deal?
• Nondrinkers may have higher mortality risk than light drinkers, but reasons for abstaining make a big difference
• Antibiotic-resistant bacteria widespread in Hudson River, study finds
• Eczema may play a key role in the development of food allergy in infants, study suggests
• Missed diagnoses and drug errors make up bulk of primary care malpractice claims
• 'Worrying' rise in alcohol deaths among young women in England and Scotland
• Tuberculosis genomes recovered from 200-year-old Hungarian mummy
• It's not just the heat, it's the ozone: Hidden heat wave dangers exposed
• More versatile approach to creating stem cells discovered
• Deadliest cancers may respond to new drug treatment strategy
• Want kids to eat healthier? Don’t tell them, show them
• Early detection and treatment of Alzheimer's disease prevents psychological and behavioural symptoms

Missing piece of pediatric cancer puzzle found Posted: 19 Jul 2013 05:41 PM PDT Most of the time, it takes decades of accumulating genetic errors for a tumor to develop. While this explains the general occurrence of cancer in adults, it leaves a gap in understanding of the cause of pediatric tumors.

Potential for MERS coronavirus to spread internationally Posted: 19 Jul 2013 01:22 PM PDT The life-threatening MERS coronavirus that has emerged in the Middle East could spread faster and wider during two international mass gatherings involving millions of people in the next few months, according to researchers who describe the most likely pathways of international spread based upon worldwide patterns of air travel.

Gene mutation in dogs offers clues for neural tube defects in humans Posted: 19 Jul 2013 11:00 AM PDT A gene related to neural tube defects in dogs has for the first time been identified. The gene may be an important risk factor for human neural tube defects, including anencephaly and spina bifida.

Nighttime heat waves quadruple in Pacific Northwest Posted: 19 Jul 2013 11:00 AM PDT Nighttime heat waves -- events where the nighttime low is unusually hot for at least three days in a row -- are becoming more common in western Washington and Oregon.

New functions for autoimmune disease 'risk' gene identified Posted: 19 Jul 2013 11:00 AM PDT Researchers have identified infection-fighting and inflammation-suppressing functions for a gene associated with human autoimmune disease. The discovery, centered on a gene known as PTPN22, could set into motion new treatment approaches for autoimmune diseases like lupus, rheumatoid arthritis and type 1 diabetes.

Genetic key to conquering cholera Posted: 19 Jul 2013 10:59 AM PDT Researchers have long understood that genetics can play a role in how susceptible people are to contracting cholera, but a team of scientists is now uncovering evidence of genetic changes that might also help protect some people from contracting the deadly disease.

Stem cell discovery furthers research on cell-based therapy and cancer Posted: 19 Jul 2013 10:57 AM PDT Stem-cell researchers have found a key role for a protein called BMI1 that may help scientists direct the development of tissues to replace damaged organs in the human body.

New plan of attack in cancer fight: Two-drug combination, under certain circumstances, can eliminate disease Posted: 19 Jul 2013 08:21 AM PDT New research shows that, under certain conditions, using two drugs in a "targeted therapy" -- a treatment approach designed to interrupt cancer's ability to grow and spread -- nearly all cancers could be effectively cured.

Calcium linked to increased risk of heart disease and death in patients with kidney disease Posted: 19 Jul 2013 08:21 AM PDT Kidney patients who take calcium supplements to lower their phosphorus levels may be at a 22 percent higher risk of death than those who take other non-calcium based treatments, according to a new study.

Drinking alcohol during pregnancy affects learning and memory function in offspring? Posted: 19 Jul 2013 07:49 AM PDT Maternal alcohol consumption during pregnancy has detrimental effects on fetal central nervous system development. Maternal alcohol consumption prior to and during pregnancy significantly affects cognitive functions in offspring, which may be related to changes in cyclin-dependent kinase 5 because it is associated with modulation of synaptic plasticity and impaired learning and memory.

Is sexual addiction the real deal? Posted: 19 Jul 2013 07:49 AM PDT Controversy exists over whether what some mental health experts call hypersexuality, or sexual addiction, is a mental disorder at all. Now researchers have measured how the brain responded in people who admitted having problems regulating their viewing of sex pictures, and found their brain responses were not predicted by any of the indicators that were proposed for a diagnosis of hypersexuality.

Nondrinkers may have higher mortality risk than light drinkers, but reasons for abstaining make a big difference Posted: 19 Jul 2013 05:52 AM PDT As a class, people who don't drink at all have a higher mortality risk than light drinkers. But nondrinkers are a diverse bunch, and the reasons people have for abstaining affects their individual mortality risk, in some cases lowering it on par with the risk for light drinkers, according to a new study. Scientists calculated the mortality risk for each subgroup compared with the mortality risk for light drinkers, and they found that the risks varied markedly.

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria widespread in Hudson River, study finds Posted: 19 Jul 2013 05:52 AM PDT The risk of catching some nasty germ in the Hudson River just started looking nastier. Disease-causing microbes have long been found swimming there, but now researchers have documented antibiotic-resistant strains in specific spots, from the Tappan Zee Bridge to lower Manhattan.

Eczema may play a key role in the development of food allergy in infants, study suggests Posted: 19 Jul 2013 05:51 AM PDT A breakdown of the skin barrier and inflammation in the skin that occurs in eczema could play a key role in triggering food sensitivity in babies, a new study reveals.

Missed diagnoses and drug errors make up bulk of primary care malpractice claims Posted: 19 Jul 2013 05:51 AM PDT Missed diagnoses -- particularly of cancer, heart attack, and meningitis -- and drug errors make up the bulk of malpractice claims brought against doctors in primary care, finds a new analysis.

'Worrying' rise in alcohol deaths among young women in England and Scotland Posted: 19 Jul 2013 05:51 AM PDT There has been a "worrying" increase in alcohol related deaths among young women in England and Scotland, since the middle of the last decade, finds new research.

Tuberculosis genomes recovered from 200-year-old Hungarian mummy Posted: 19 Jul 2013 05:39 AM PDT Researchers have recovered tuberculosis (TB) genomes from the lung tissue of a 215-year old mummy using a technique known as metagenomics.

It's not just the heat, it's the ozone: Hidden heat wave dangers exposed Posted: 19 Jul 2013 05:39 AM PDT During heat waves – when ozone production rises as plants' ozone absorption is curtailed -- more pollution is left in the air. This resulted in the loss of an estimated 460 lives in the UK in the hot summer of 2006.

More versatile approach to creating stem cells discovered Posted: 19 Jul 2013 05:36 AM PDT Stem cells are key to the promise of regenerative medicine: the repair or replacement of injured tissues with custom grown substitutes. Essential to this process are induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), which can be created from a patient's own tissues, thus eliminating the risk of immune rejection. However, Shinya Yamanaka's formula for iPSCs, for which he was awarded last year's Nobel Prize, uses a strict recipe that allows for limited variations in human cells, restricting their full potential for clinical application.

Deadliest cancers may respond to new drug treatment strategy Posted: 19 Jul 2013 05:36 AM PDT Researchers have found a way to knock down cancers caused by a tumor-driving protein called "myc," paving the way for patients with myc-driven cancers to enroll in clinical trials for experimental treatments.

Want kids to eat healthier? Don’t tell them, show them Posted: 19 Jul 2013 05:36 AM PDT If given the choice between eating a salad or a burger and fries most kids would likely pick the less healthful option. But instead of telling kids to eat better researchers found the trick may be to convince them visually.

Early detection and treatment of Alzheimer's disease prevents psychological and behavioural symptoms Posted: 18 Jul 2013 07:09 AM PDT Persons with Alzheimer's disease are able to manage their everyday activities longer and they suffer from less psychological and behavioral symptoms if the diagnosis is made and treatment begun at a very early phase of the disease, indicates a recent study.

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