ScienceDaily: Health & Medicine News

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• What could possibly go wrong? A lot: Injuries from the Tough Mudder
• Molecule critical to healing wounds identified
• HIV protein may impact neurocognitive impairment in infected patients
• Can certain herbs stave off Alzheimer's disease?
• Chronic diseases hinder good cancer survival rates
• Vivax malaria may be evolving around natural defense
• Team-based approaches needed to fight high blood pressure
• Multicenter study underscores need for uniform approach to bladder cancer
• Enrollment in SNAP does not substantially improve food security, dietary quality
• Study shows bariatric surgery may turn back the effects of aging
• Researchers home in on roots of Caribbean populations using new DNA analysis method
• Key links between consumption, climate change
• New technique for developing drugs to treat serious illnesses
• Treatment of pelvic nodes individualized by inclusion of sentinel nodes is feasible
• Understanding a protein's role in familial Alzheimer's disease
• Close social proximity to gunshot victim may increase own risk of victimization
• New avian flu virus emerges in Taiwan: researchers working to prevent infection
• Starting dialysis after conception may improve birth rates
• Pediatric ICU nurses with more experience, education cut inpatient mortality
• Late afternoon, early evening caffeine can disrupt sleep at night
• New hope offered to patients with severe aortic stenosis
• Smartphone apps to help smokers quit come up short
• Cuts to local health departments hurt communities
• Immune-modulating drug unexpectedly benefits mice with fatal mitochondrial defect
• New function of two molecules involved in metastasis
• Anthrax bacteria play hide and seek
• Nicotine withdrawal traced to very specific group of brain cells
• Toxin produced by bacteria could serve as model for next-generation antibiotics
• Copper intake makes tumors breathe
• Low-dose treatment may block malaria transmission
• Toddlers can learn verbs even in non-social contexts
• Topical treatment for psoriasis targets deeper layers of the skin, improves healing
• Novel microbicide gel for vagina, rectum shows potential for HIV prevention
• Primary care key to management of patients with HIV infection

What could possibly go wrong? A lot: Injuries from the Tough Mudder Posted: 15 Nov 2013 12:45 PM PST The Tough Mudder, an extreme sports event that bills itself as "probably the toughest event on the planet," resulted in injuries ranging from multiple electrical burns to seizure-induced Todd's paralysis. A case series of serious injuries sustained by participants in one such race was reported in a new article.

Molecule critical to healing wounds identified Posted: 15 Nov 2013 10:03 AM PST Skin provides a first line of defense against viruses, bacteria and parasites that might otherwise make people ill. When an injury breaks that barrier, a systematic chain of molecular signaling launches to close the wound and re-establish the skin's layer of protection. A study now shows that the molecule FOX01 is critical to the wound-healing process.

HIV protein may impact neurocognitive impairment in infected patients Posted: 15 Nov 2013 10:02 AM PST A protein shed by HIV-infected brain cells alters synaptic connections between networks of nerve cells, according to new research. The findings could explain why nearly half of all patients infected with the AIDS virus experience some level of neurocognitive impairment.

Can certain herbs stave off Alzheimer's disease? Posted: 15 Nov 2013 08:15 AM PST Researchers have found that antioxidant extracts from spearmint and rosemary fight mild cognitive impairment in an animal model.

Chronic diseases hinder good cancer survival rates Posted: 15 Nov 2013 07:47 AM PST For bowel cancer patients with several other diseases, the one-year survival rate is 46 percent. For those without other diseases it is 80 percent. The same disparity characterizes other major types of cancer, shows new research based on figures from the Central Denmark Region.

Vivax malaria may be evolving around natural defense Posted: 15 Nov 2013 06:49 AM PST Researchers have discovered recent genetic mutations in a parasite that causes over 100 million cases of malaria annually -- changes that may render tens of millions of Africans who had been considered resistant, susceptible to infection.

Team-based approaches needed to fight high blood pressure Posted: 15 Nov 2013 06:49 AM PST Despite proven treatments, blood pressure control is still a challenge in the United States. Local, regional and national programs that use coordinated care and multiple resources, including an evidence-based hypertension treatment algorithm, are needed to reduce and control blood pressure.

Multicenter study underscores need for uniform approach to bladder cancer Posted: 15 Nov 2013 06:49 AM PST A new study involving eight Italian research centers concluded that an aligned approach to the treatment of advanced bladder cancer is much needed, while confirming previously published results on survival estimates of associated salvage therapies.

Enrollment in SNAP does not substantially improve food security, dietary quality Posted: 15 Nov 2013 06:37 AM PST In the past, SNAP has been shown to reduce poverty among the poorest Americans and generate economic activity. However, according to a new study, SNAP benefits alone may not be enough to provide its beneficiaries with the long-term food security or dietary quality they need.

Study shows bariatric surgery may turn back the effects of aging Posted: 15 Nov 2013 06:37 AM PST Researchers say surgical weight loss may turn back the effects of aging at a genetic level, in the first study of its kind.

Researchers home in on roots of Caribbean populations using new DNA analysis method Posted: 14 Nov 2013 04:33 PM PST Those of us who want to learn about our ancestors -- who they were, where they came from and how they mingled (or didn't) with others around them -- often turn to historical records or elderly family members for answers. But a new study indicates that the answers can also be found within our own genes.

Key links between consumption, climate change Posted: 14 Nov 2013 04:32 PM PST Models of future climate scenarios have taken insufficient account of population patterns and trends, according to a review. The review examines the interconnections between population growth and climate change, from the perspective of global health.

New technique for developing drugs to treat serious illnesses Posted: 14 Nov 2013 04:32 PM PST Researchers exploit the power of evolution to create designer proteins to build drugs for the treatment of serious illnesses.

Treatment of pelvic nodes individualized by inclusion of sentinel nodes is feasible Posted: 14 Nov 2013 04:32 PM PST Treatment of pelvic nodes individualized by inclusion of sentinel nodes (SN) can be easily integrated into an IMRT-based treatment strategy, according to the new study conducted by a group of researchers. The target volume concept seems to correctly cover individual pelvic nodes, which is indicated by the absence of any nodal recurrence within five years of follow-up.

Understanding a protein's role in familial Alzheimer's disease Posted: 14 Nov 2013 04:32 PM PST Researchers have used genetic engineering of human induced pluripotent stem cells to specifically and precisely parse the roles of a key mutated protein in causing familial Alzheimer's disease, discovering that simple loss-of-function does not contribute to the inherited form of the neurodegenerative disorder.

Close social proximity to gunshot victim may increase own risk of victimization Posted: 14 Nov 2013 04:32 PM PST New research finds that within a high-crime African-American community, the closer an individual was to a gunshot victim socially, the greater their risk of also becoming a victim.

New avian flu virus emerges in Taiwan: researchers working to prevent infection Posted: 14 Nov 2013 04:31 PM PST A novel strain of influenza A, H6N1, has been reported in a 20-year old woman in Taiwan. Health officials fear the virus, which is very similar in structure to the H7N9 avian flu virus which killed 45 and infected 139 people in China last year, may infect more people.

Starting dialysis after conception may improve birth rates Posted: 14 Nov 2013 04:31 PM PST Compared with women with advanced kidney disease who conceived after starting dialysis, women who conceived and then started dialysis during the pregnancy had a much better live birth rate (91% vs 63%), and their infants were of similar birth weight and gestational age. In both groups of women with kidney disease, babies were likely to be premature and of low birth-weight, which reflects the high-risk nature of these pregnancies.

Pediatric ICU nurses with more experience, education cut inpatient mortality Posted: 14 Nov 2013 12:58 PM PST Nursing leaders from 38 children's hospitals demonstrated that nursing education and experience significantly impact outcomes for patients who underwent cardiac surgery. The researchers recommend that there be no more than 20 percent of nurses with less than two years of clinical experience in pediatric ICUs to decrease mortality rates.

Late afternoon, early evening caffeine can disrupt sleep at night Posted: 14 Nov 2013 12:58 PM PST A new study shows that caffeine consumption even six hours before bedtime can have significant, disruptive effects on sleep.

New hope offered to patients with severe aortic stenosis Posted: 14 Nov 2013 12:57 PM PST The Heart Hospital Baylor Plano became the first in the nation to treat a patient with the catheter-based SAPIEN 3 heart valve using the transapical approach (through the ribs). This new phase of a clinical trial, also known as Partner II, may offer older patients with inoperable heart valve conditions a second chance at life.

Smartphone apps to help smokers quit come up short Posted: 14 Nov 2013 12:57 PM PST Most popular smartphone apps do not include evidence-based practices known to help smokers quit, finds a new study.

Cuts to local health departments hurt communities Posted: 14 Nov 2013 12:57 PM PST A new study finds that many local health departments aren't able to meet goals to increase health care access.

Immune-modulating drug unexpectedly benefits mice with fatal mitochondrial defect Posted: 14 Nov 2013 11:21 AM PST In a lab devoted to increasing healthy lifespans, the transplant anti-rejection drug rapamycin showed unexpected health benefits and increased survival in a mouse model of a fatal mitochondrial defect. Children with the untreatable condition suffer from brain damage and muscle weakness, and rarely live beyond 6 or 7 years. The drug enables the body to bypass the mitochondrial defect by switching its metabolism to burn fats and amino acids instead of glucose, and thereby reduces toxic byproducts.

New function of two molecules involved in metastasis Posted: 14 Nov 2013 09:20 AM PST Researchers have described a new function for two key molecules involved in tumor progression. Transcription factor SNAIL1 and enzyme LOXL2 are essential to Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition, meaning the process by which tumor cells are able to move and reach other tissues. The study places LOXL2 as a possible therapeutic target to treat cancers such as breast, lung or skin cancer.

Anthrax bacteria play hide and seek Posted: 14 Nov 2013 09:20 AM PST An anthrax infection can be fatal even when the infectious agent is no longer detected. Research reveals the way its lethal factor manages to turn invisible to the immune system.

Nicotine withdrawal traced to very specific group of brain cells Posted: 14 Nov 2013 09:20 AM PST Nicotine withdrawal might take over your body, but it doesn't take over your brain. The symptoms of nicotine withdrawal are driven by a very specific group of neurons within a very specific brain region, according to a report. Although caution is warranted, the researchers say, the findings in mice suggest that therapies directed at this group of neurons might one day help people quit smoking.

Toxin produced by bacteria could serve as model for next-generation antibiotics Posted: 14 Nov 2013 09:20 AM PST The recent rise in antibiotic-resistant bacteria is a serious public health threat, and there is a need for new therapeutic strategies to combat these infections. A study has revealed a new toxin that inhibits bacterial growth by blocking the DNA replication machinery, which is not targeted by currently available antibiotics. The findings open new therapeutic avenues for developing the next generation of antibiotics.

Copper intake makes tumors breathe Posted: 14 Nov 2013 07:25 AM PST Copper imbalances have been associated with a number of pathological conditions, including cancer. Scientists have found that copper in drinking water -- given at the maximum levels permitted in public water supplies -- accelerated the growth of tumors in mice. On the other hand, reducing copper levels reduced tumor growth. The study strongly suggests that copper is an essential factor for the growth of tumors in humans as well.

Low-dose treatment may block malaria transmission Posted: 14 Nov 2013 07:25 AM PST Lower doses of the antimalarial drug primaquine are as effective as higher doses in reducing malaria transmission, according to a study.

Toddlers can learn verbs even in non-social contexts Posted: 14 Nov 2013 07:19 AM PST Language acquisition has traditionally been considered a social, interactive process, however new research reveals that toddlers are able to acquire the meanings of words even in "socially impoverished contexts" where social or visual information is absent.

Topical treatment for psoriasis targets deeper layers of the skin, improves healing Posted: 14 Nov 2013 07:19 AM PST A novel combination anti-psoriasis therapy has potential for superior and longer-lasting therapeutic effects than current topical treatments by targeting genetic abnormalities in deeper layers of the skin.

Novel microbicide gel for vagina, rectum shows potential for HIV prevention Posted: 14 Nov 2013 07:19 AM PST Researchers developed a first-of-its-kind microbicide gel formulation that shows promise for safe vaginal and rectal administration to prevent the sexual transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

Primary care key to management of patients with HIV infection Posted: 14 Nov 2013 06:49 AM PST The HIV Medicine Association of the Infectious Diseases Society of America has updated its HIV care guidelines to reflect the fact that people with HIV are now living normal life spans, and their physicians need to focus on preventive care, including screening for high cholesterol, diabetes and osteoporosis.

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