ScienceDaily: Health & Medicine News

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• Pediatricians warn that cuts to SNAP program will harm children
• Step-forward in mission to tackle parasitic worm infections
• Data-driven machine learning effectively flags risk for post-stroke dangers
• Obesity suppresses cellular process critical to kidney health
• Warmer oceans could raise mercury levels in fish
• Aggressive fungal pathogen causes mold in fruits, vegetables
• Brain stimulation affects compliance with social norms
• Sieving through 'junk' DNA reveals disease-causing genetic mutations
• Three hours is enough to help prevent mental health issues in teens
• Nothin' to sneeze at: New treatment for common allergies
• New advances in the study of human mitochondrial DNA
• Updated systemic sclerosis criteria improve disease classification
• Scientists identify potential new drug for inherited cancer
• International study shows efficacy of new gastric cancer drug
• New MRI technique detects genetic condition that attacks the heart, brain, nerves
• Certain type of fat could help humans lose weight
• 'Cupcake bans' rare, but policies may reduce overexposure to sugary treats
• Depression may increase your risk of Parkinson’s disease
• Long-term cognitive impairment too common after critical illness
• Incident rates rising for post-partum depression among women, risk factor for suicide
• Imaging system can help diagnose disease, monitor hazardous substances
• Genetic anti-inflammatory defect predisposes children to lymphoma
• Radiofrequency ablation effectively treats Barrett's esophagus
• Researchers regenerate a fully functional bioengineered lacrimal gland
• Researchers regenerate a fully functional bioengineered salivary gland
• New theory in neuroscience: common mechanisms in Fragile X and Down Syndrome
• Babies born at 37 and 38 weeks at higher risk for adverse health outcomes
• Predictors of substance abuse identified in teens with bipolar disorder
• Free head, neck cancer screenings have positive impact in urban areas
• Skin of patients with psoriasis protects itself from virus infections
• Key mechanism behind herpes revealed by researchers
• Progress in the prediction of epilepsy surgery
• Novel biomarker in spit linked to stress, resilience
• Association between high BMI and cardiovascular disease is stronger among east Asians than south Asians
• Decoding sound's source
• Mom's weight gain during pregnancy tied to childhood obesity

Pediatricians warn that cuts to SNAP program will harm children Posted: 03 Oct 2013 05:50 PM PDT Pediatricians call the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly the Food Stamp Program), one of America's most cost-effective and successful public health programs in the country. According to the authors, not only does it make life much better for children and families, it also saves society money.

Step-forward in mission to tackle parasitic worm infections Posted: 03 Oct 2013 05:50 PM PDT Gastrointestinal parasitic infections, which are worm infections in the intestine, affect nearly one quarter of the world population and normally result in a chronic, long-lived infection associated with poor quality of life and health problems. A team of researchers has identified a pathway that seems to be important in driving the chronic infection and that could now potentially be targeted for therapy.

Data-driven machine learning effectively flags risk for post-stroke dangers Posted: 03 Oct 2013 05:49 PM PDT A team of experts in neurocritical care, engineering, and informatics have devised a new way to detect which stroke patients may be at risk of a serious adverse event following a ruptured brain aneurysm.

Obesity suppresses cellular process critical to kidney health Posted: 03 Oct 2013 05:49 PM PDT Unlike in normal-weight mice with kidney disease, a degradation process called autophagy is suppressed in obese mice with kidney disease. This suppression leads to kidney cell damage. In obese people the same with kidney disease, suppressed autophagy.

Warmer oceans could raise mercury levels in fish Posted: 03 Oct 2013 01:29 PM PDT Rising ocean surface temperatures caused by climate change could make fish accumulate more mercury, increasing the health risk to people who eat seafood, researchers report.

Aggressive fungal pathogen causes mold in fruits, vegetables Posted: 03 Oct 2013 01:29 PM PDT A research team has discovered the mechanism by which an aggressive fungal pathogen infects almost all fruits and vegetables. The team discovered a novel virulence mechanism of Botrytis cinerea, a pathogen that can infect more than 200 plant species, causing serious gray mold disease on almost all fruits and vegetables that have been around, even at times in the refrigerator, for more than a week.

Brain stimulation affects compliance with social norms Posted: 03 Oct 2013 12:51 PM PDT Neuroeconomists have identified a specific brain region that controls compliance with social norms. They discovered that norm compliance is independent of knowledge about the norm and can be increased by means of brain stimulation.

Sieving through 'junk' DNA reveals disease-causing genetic mutations Posted: 03 Oct 2013 11:23 AM PDT Scientists have revealed nearly 100 genetic variants implicated in the development of cancers such as breast cancer and prostate cancer. The new method designed by the team identified these variants in the under-explored regions of DNA that do not code for proteins, but instead influence activity of other genes. As even more whole genome sequences become available, this approach can be applied to find any potential disease-causing variant in the non-coding regions of the genome.

Three hours is enough to help prevent mental health issues in teens Posted: 03 Oct 2013 08:31 AM PDT The incidence of mental health issues amongst 509 British youth was reduced by 25 to 33% over the 24 months following two 90-minute group therapy sessions. Almost one-in-four American 8 to 15 year olds has experienced a mental health disorder over the past year. We know that these disorders are associated with a plethora of negative consequences. This study shows that teacher delivered interventions that target specific risk factors for mental health problems can be immensely effective at reducing the incidence of depression, anxiety and conduct disorders in the long term.

Nothin' to sneeze at: New treatment for common allergies Posted: 03 Oct 2013 08:11 AM PDT Researchers have successfully tested treatments for people with allergies to grasses and to dust mites. The treatments are from a new class of therapy, known as 'synthetic peptide immuno-regulatory epitopes', or SPIREs. Positive results, first with a cat allergy therapy and now with house dust mite and grass allergy treatments, suggest that this approach may be used for many common allergies.

New advances in the study of human mitochondrial DNA Posted: 03 Oct 2013 06:30 AM PDT A study concerning the evolution of mitochondrial DNA has allowed researchers to determine the frequency and pattern of heteroplasmy in the complete mitochondrial genome using a representative sample of the European population. This phenomenon, which indicates the presence of different mitochondrial DNA types in a cell or an individual, can be found in more than half of the population. The data indicates that many of the newly arising mutations found never reach fixation at the population level due to the effect of evolutionary mechanisms such as genetic drift or selection. The study may open a new perspective on medical, evolutionary and forensic research.

Updated systemic sclerosis criteria improve disease classification Posted: 03 Oct 2013 06:30 AM PDT New classification criteria for systemic sclerosis have just been published and are more sensitive than the 1980 criteria, enabling earlier identification and treatment of this disabling autoimmune disease.

Scientists identify potential new drug for inherited cancer Posted: 03 Oct 2013 06:25 AM PDT Scientists have identified a new drug candidate for an inherited form of cancer with no known cure.

International study shows efficacy of new gastric cancer drug Posted: 02 Oct 2013 06:22 PM PDT The phase III study of a new drug to treat gastric cancer shows that an antibody ramucirumab inhibits the action of various proteins involved in tumour growth, prolonging survival of patients with advanced gastric cancer.

New MRI technique detects genetic condition that attacks the heart, brain, nerves Posted: 02 Oct 2013 03:56 PM PDT A genetic condition that attacks multiple organs and usually results in fatal heart problems can be detected using a new MRI technique. The discovery of this new diagnostic tool has resulted in updated clinical guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of Fabry disease in Canada.

Certain type of fat could help humans lose weight Posted: 02 Oct 2013 03:52 PM PDT After studying genetically modified mice, the discovery of a fat that could help people lose weight could lead to supplements and a diet regime that will increase metabolism and decrease muscle fatigue in humans.

'Cupcake bans' rare, but policies may reduce overexposure to sugary treats Posted: 02 Oct 2013 03:52 PM PDT School district policies and state laws discouraging sugary foods and beverages at classroom parties can affect school practices.

Depression may increase your risk of Parkinson’s disease Posted: 02 Oct 2013 03:52 PM PDT People who are depressed may have triple the risk of developing Parkinson's disease, according to a new study.

Long-term cognitive impairment too common after critical illness Posted: 02 Oct 2013 03:52 PM PDT Patients treated in intensive care units across the globe are entering their medical care with no evidence of cognitive impairment but oftentimes leaving with deficits similar to those seen in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) or mild Alzheimer's disease (AD) that persists for at least a year.

Incident rates rising for post-partum depression among women, risk factor for suicide Posted: 02 Oct 2013 10:14 AM PDT The annual incidence rates for diagnoses of post-partum depression during the 12-months post-delivery period among active component service women who gave birth for the first time increased from 2007 to 2012, according to a new study.

Imaging system can help diagnose disease, monitor hazardous substances Posted: 02 Oct 2013 08:24 AM PDT To meet demands for ever smaller imaging systems, researchers are working to create entirely unconventional ways of focusing light. In pursuit of this vision, engineers have built a novel type of imaging system inspired by the elegance and relative mechanical simplicity of the human eye.

Genetic anti-inflammatory defect predisposes children to lymphoma Posted: 02 Oct 2013 07:33 AM PDT New research shows that children with an inherited genetic defect in a critical anti-inflammatory pathway have a genetic predisposition to lymphoma.

Radiofrequency ablation effectively treats Barrett's esophagus Posted: 02 Oct 2013 07:33 AM PDT Radiofrequency ablation leads to remission for 91 percent of patients with dysplastic Barrett's esophagus, according to new figures.

Researchers regenerate a fully functional bioengineered lacrimal gland Posted: 02 Oct 2013 07:23 AM PDT Organ replacement regenerative therapy has been proposed as having the potential to enable the replacement of organs that have been damaged by disease, injury or aging. A research group signals a substantial advancement in the development of next-generation organ replacement regenerative therapies for dry eye disorders.

Researchers regenerate a fully functional bioengineered salivary gland Posted: 02 Oct 2013 07:23 AM PDT The ultimate goal of regenerative therapy is to develop fully functional bioengineered tissues that can replace lost or damaged organs following disease, injury or aging. A research group has provided a proof-of-concept for bioengineered mature organ replacement as a regenerative therapy.

New theory in neuroscience: common mechanisms in Fragile X and Down Syndrome Posted: 02 Oct 2013 07:23 AM PDT A new common mechanism in Fragile X and Down Syndrome has been identified by scientists.

Babies born at 37 and 38 weeks at higher risk for adverse health outcomes Posted: 02 Oct 2013 06:26 AM PDT Babies considered "early-term," born at 37 or 38 weeks after a mother's last menstrual period, may look as healthy as full-term babies born at 39-41 weeks, but a study has found that many of them are not.

Predictors of substance abuse identified in teens with bipolar disorder Posted: 02 Oct 2013 06:26 AM PDT A study has found that approximately one in three teens with bipolar disorder developed substance abuse, for the first time, during 4 years of follow-up. The study also identified several risk factors that predicted who among these teens was most likely to develop substance abuse.

Free head, neck cancer screenings have positive impact in urban areas Posted: 02 Oct 2013 06:26 AM PDT Offering free head and neck cancer screenings annually to the community not only has the possibility of early detection, but also the opportunity -- particularly in an urban city -- to increase a person's understanding of risk factors that cause cancer, according to a new study.

Skin of patients with psoriasis protects itself from virus infections Posted: 02 Oct 2013 06:22 AM PDT Researchers have discovered why patients with psoriasis are less susceptible to viral infections than patients suffering from atopic dermatitis (atopic eczema). The reason for this is the larger quantity of special proteins present in psoriatic skin, which inhibit viral replication.

Key mechanism behind herpes revealed by researchers Posted: 02 Oct 2013 06:21 AM PDT Researchers have for the first time managed to measure the internal pressure that enables the herpes virus to infect cells in the human body. The discovery paves the way for the development of new medicines to combat viral infections. The results indicate good chances to stop herpes infections in the future.

Progress in the prediction of epilepsy surgery Posted: 02 Oct 2013 06:21 AM PDT According to new research, personality style, intelligence quotient and hemisphere of seizure origin are factors that would help to predict success of surgeries as epilepsy treatment. Researchers reached these conclusions by using predictive models based on machine learning techniques.

Novel biomarker in spit linked to stress, resilience Posted: 01 Oct 2013 07:12 PM PDT Spit conjures a variety of sayings and images for most people, but for some researchers, spit is also serious business. In a recent study, scientists tracked the release of nerve growth factor in saliva (sNGF), finding for the first time that this protein typically linked to the survival, development or function of neurons may be an important player in understanding the body's response to stress.

Association between high BMI and cardiovascular disease is stronger among east Asians than south Asians Posted: 01 Oct 2013 04:21 PM PDT A study has found that the association between body fat and mortality due to cardiovascular disease differs between south and east Asians, a finding that has important implications for global health recommendations.

Decoding sound's source Posted: 01 Oct 2013 04:21 PM PDT Researchers have gained new insight into how localized hearing works in the brain.

Mom's weight gain during pregnancy tied to childhood obesity Posted: 01 Oct 2013 04:20 PM PDT Women who gain excessive weight in pregnancy are more likely to have overweight and obese children.

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