ScienceDaily: Health & Medicine News

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• Consistent blood pressure control may cut rate of second stroke in half
• Antidepressants during pregnancy linked to preterm birth
• Cancer researchers find key protein link
• Adult cancer drugs show promise against an aggressive childhood brain tumor
• Biomarkers predict effectiveness of radiation treatments for cancer
• Chronic stress in early life causes anxiety, aggression in adulthood, neurobiologists find
• New guidance system could improve minimally invasive surgery
• Four in 10 infants lack strong parental attachments
• Inspiration linked to bipolar disorder risk
• To grow or not to grow: A step forward in adult vertebrate tissue regeneration
• 'Mini heart' invented to help return venous blood
• Potential Target for Treating Mitochondrial Disorders
• New function for important player in immune response uncovered
• UK health workers 'inadequately' trained to treat minority ethnic groups
• People unwilling to swallow soda tax, size restrictions
• Dying cells in fruit fly alert neighboring cells to protect themselves: As a result, neighbors become harder to kill
• Natural plant compounds may assist chemotherapy
• Dentist shortage bites California as more choose to practice out of state
• Immunotherapy approach to Alzheimer's studied in fly models
• Gene mutations in flies, humans produce similar epilepsy syndromes
• Inherited muscle diseases: 'Sunday driver' gene headed the wrong way
• Smoke-free air policies seem to protect the heart
• Drug strengthens analgesic effect of opioids without increasing constipation
• One gene, many tissues
• Gen X obesity a major problem for healthcare, workforce
• Function of cancer-causing gene explored by researchers
• Some breast cancer tumors hijack patient epigenetic machinery to evade drug therapy
• Brain degeneration in Huntington's disease caused by amino acid deficiency
• First comprehensive atlas of human gene activity
• Certain genetic variants may put bladder cancer patients at increased risk of recurrence

Consistent blood pressure control may cut rate of second stroke in half Posted: 27 Mar 2014 02:00 PM PDT Stroke survivors who consistently control their blood pressure may reduce the likelihood of a second stroke by more than 50 percent. Less than a third of stroke survivors maintained consistent blood pressure control more than 75 percent of the time. Researchers determined results after controlling for age, sex and prior history of stroke, heart disease and other factors. Blood pressure was considered "controlled" at 140 mmHg over 90 mmHg or lower.

Antidepressants during pregnancy linked to preterm birth Posted: 27 Mar 2014 11:01 AM PDT Antidepressant medications taken by pregnant women are associated with increased rates of preterm birth, research shows. This finding reinforces the notion that antidepressants should not be used by pregnant women in the absence of a clear need that cannot be met through alternative approaches, say researchers.

Cancer researchers find key protein link Posted: 27 Mar 2014 11:00 AM PDT A new understanding of proteins at the nexus of a cell's decision to survive or die has implications for researchers who study cancer and age-related diseases. Experiments and computer analysis of two key proteins revealed a previously unknown binding interface that could be addressed by medication.

Adult cancer drugs show promise against an aggressive childhood brain tumor Posted: 27 Mar 2014 10:57 AM PDT The quest to improve survival of children with a high-risk brain tumor has investigators to two drugs already used to treat adults with breast, pancreatic, lung and other cancers. Researchers demonstrated that the drugs pemetrexed and gemcitabine killed cells from mouse and human brain tumors, called group 3 medulloblastoma, growing in the laboratory. Medulloblastoma is diagnosed in about 400 children annually in the U.S., making it the most common pediatric brain tumor.

Biomarkers predict effectiveness of radiation treatments for cancer Posted: 27 Mar 2014 09:37 AM PDT The effectiveness of radiation treatments for patients with squamous cell cancer of the head and neck has been reviewed by an international team of researchers. They identified two biomarkers that were good at predicting a patient's resistance to radiation therapy. "While our findings are encouraging, and a step toward personalized medicine, we hope to do more of this research with a larger, randomized trial," the authors conclude.

Chronic stress in early life causes anxiety, aggression in adulthood, neurobiologists find Posted: 27 Mar 2014 09:36 AM PDT In experiments to assess the impacts of social stress upon adolescent mice, both at the time they are experienced and during adulthood, a Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory team conducted many different kinds of stress tests and means of measuring their impacts. The research indicates that a 'hostile environment in adolescence disturbs psychoemotional state and social behaviors of animals in adult life,' the team says.

New guidance system could improve minimally invasive surgery Posted: 27 Mar 2014 09:36 AM PDT A computerized process that could make minimally invasive surgery more accurate and streamlined using equipment already common in the operating room has been developed by researchers.

Four in 10 infants lack strong parental attachments Posted: 27 Mar 2014 09:35 AM PDT In a study of 14,000 US children, 40 percent lack strong emotional bonds -- what psychologists call 'secure attachment' -- with their parents that are crucial to success later in life, according to a new report. The researchers found that these children are more likely to face educational and behavioral problems.

Inspiration linked to bipolar disorder risk Posted: 27 Mar 2014 09:33 AM PDT Inspiration has been linked with people at risk of developing bipolar disorder for the first time in a study. For generations, artists, musicians, poets and writers have described personal experiences of mania and depression, highlighting the unique association between creativity and bipolar disorder -- experiences which are backed up by recent research. But, until now, the specific links between inspiration -- the generation of ideas that form the basis of creative work -- and bipolar disorder has received little attention.

To grow or not to grow: A step forward in adult vertebrate tissue regeneration Posted: 27 Mar 2014 09:33 AM PDT The reason why some animals can regenerate tissues after severe organ loss or amputation while others, such as humans, cannot renew some structures has always intrigued scientists. In a study, a research group provided new clues to solve this central question by investigating regeneration in an adult vertebrate model: the zebrafish.

'Mini heart' invented to help return venous blood Posted: 27 Mar 2014 09:31 AM PDT A new organ to help return blood flow from veins lacking functional valves has been invented in an American lab.

Potential Target for Treating Mitochondrial Disorders Posted: 27 Mar 2014 09:31 AM PDT Mitochondria are essential for proper cellular functions. Mitochondrial defects are often observed in a variety of diseases, including cancer, Alzheimer's disease, and Parkinson's disease, and are the hallmarks of a number of untreatable genetic mitochondrial disorders whose manifestations range from muscle weakness to organ failure. Scientists have identified a protein whose inhibition could hold the key to alleviating suffering caused by such disorders.

New function for important player in immune response uncovered Posted: 27 Mar 2014 08:17 AM PDT A new function of AID, a crucial enzyme for the immune response has been uncovered by researchers. The discovery helps explain a rare genetic disorder that causes an immunodeficiency syndrome. AID initiates a mechanism whereby a break occurs in the DNA, within the antibody genes, and a segment is removed. The free ends on either side of the removed fragment must be rejoined to repair the DNA strand and, thus, produce a new class of antibody.

UK health workers 'inadequately' trained to treat minority ethnic groups Posted: 27 Mar 2014 08:15 AM PDT UK health professionals are suffering from severe professional anxiety because they are being inadequately trained to treat minority ethnic groups – with their treatment often based on cultural stereotypes, research has found. Researchers have urged an overhaul of the system so health visitors are taught about different cultures. They have warned the current system could result in patients being treated incorrectly and increase the likelihood of inequality within society because of the lack of dialogue or understanding of different cultures.

People unwilling to swallow soda tax, size restrictions Posted: 27 Mar 2014 08:15 AM PDT Those hoping to dilute Americans' taste for soda, energy drinks, sweetened tea, and other sugary beverages should take their quest to school lunchrooms rather than legislative chambers, according to a recent study by media and health policy experts. Soda taxes and beverage portion size restrictions were unpalatable to the 1,319 U.S. adults questioned in a fall 2012 survey as part of a study.

Dying cells in fruit fly alert neighboring cells to protect themselves: As a result, neighbors become harder to kill Posted: 27 Mar 2014 08:12 AM PDT Cells usually self-destruct when irreparable glitches occur in their DNA. Programmed cell death, or apoptosis, helps insure that cells with damaged DNA do not grow and replicate to produce more mutated cells. Apoptosis thereby helps protect and insure the survival of the organism. Scientists now report that a dying Drosophila melanogaster larvae cell alerts neighboring cells that they are in danger of suffering a similar fate.

Natural plant compounds may assist chemotherapy Posted: 27 Mar 2014 07:15 AM PDT Plant compounds present in carrots and parsley may one day support more effective delivery of chemotherapy treatments, new research has found. Specific plant compounds are able to inhibit transport mechanisms in the body that select what compounds are absorbed into the body, and eventually into cells. These same transport mechanisms are known to interfere with cancer chemotherapy treatment.

Dentist shortage bites California as more choose to practice out of state Posted: 27 Mar 2014 07:15 AM PDT A lingering recession, the elimination of Medicaid dental reimbursements and a glut of established dentists in wealthier, populated areas may be why more new dentists are practicing outside California, according to a new policy brief.

Immunotherapy approach to Alzheimer's studied in fly models Posted: 27 Mar 2014 07:15 AM PDT The results of using fly models to investigate passive immunotherapy to block amyloid-²42 peptides of amyloid plaques that damage the brain cells of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) are now presented by researchers. The scientists are investigating passive immunotherapy, one of the most promising approaches to blocking the amyloid-β42 (Aβ42) peptide, the main component of the amyloid plaques that damage the brain cells of patients with AD.

Gene mutations in flies, humans produce similar epilepsy syndromes Posted: 27 Mar 2014 07:14 AM PDT New findings that build on and expand a previous discovery that mutations in the 'prickle' gene in Drosophila were responsible for much more than merely altering the bristles on the fly's body to point them in the wrong direction are now presented by researchers.

Inherited muscle diseases: 'Sunday driver' gene headed the wrong way Posted: 27 Mar 2014 07:14 AM PDT Skeletal muscle cells with unevenly spaced nuclei, or nuclei in the wrong location, are telltale signs of inherited muscle diseases. Scientists now report on findings from research to determine what goes wrong during myogenesis, the formation and maintenance of muscle tissue, to produce these inherited muscle diseases.

Smoke-free air policies seem to protect the heart Posted: 27 Mar 2014 07:08 AM PDT Policies prohibiting tobacco smoking in workplaces and other public spaces may substantially improve public health by reducing heart disease and death, according to a new study on the impact of Michigan's statewide smoking ban. In their study, researchers found a statistically significant reduction in cardiovascular disease and death with related hospitalizations decreasing by 2.03 percent from 65,329 to 64,002.

Drug strengthens analgesic effect of opioids without increasing constipation Posted: 27 Mar 2014 07:06 AM PDT Scientists have developed a new drug that multiplies the analgesic effect of opioids (drugs for treating intense pain), without increasing constipation, one of the most common side-effects of these drugs, among which is morphine.

One gene, many tissues Posted: 27 Mar 2014 07:03 AM PDT Genes are the "code" for building the biological elements that form an organism. The DNA that makes up genes contains the instructions to synthesize proteins, but it's wrong to think that, for a given gene, these instructions are always the same for all parts of the organisms. In actual fact, the gene varies depending on the tissue where it is located (cerebral cortex, cerebellum, olfactory epithelium, etc.); in particular, what varies is the point in the "string" of code at which protein synthesis starts.

Gen X obesity a major problem for healthcare, workforce Posted: 27 Mar 2014 06:59 AM PDT If current trends continue, Australia's Generation X will overtake Baby Boomers for poor health, including rates of obesity and diabetes, which could have huge implications for healthcare and the workforce. Researchers compared the health status of Baby Boomers (born from 1946-1965) and Generation X (1966-1980) at the same age range of 25-44 years and found that Generation X had significantly poorer levels of self-rated health, and higher levels of obesity and diabetes compared with Boomers, with no real difference in physical activity between the two groups.

Function of cancer-causing gene explored by researchers Posted: 26 Mar 2014 03:22 PM PDT Developmental biologists are discovering new roles for a specific gene known as Max's Giant Associated protein, or MGA. A little studied protein, MGA appears to control a number of developmental processes, and also may be connected to cancer development.

Some breast cancer tumors hijack patient epigenetic machinery to evade drug therapy Posted: 26 Mar 2014 12:37 PM PDT A breast cancer therapy that blocks estrogen synthesis to activate cancer-killing genes sometimes loses its effectiveness because the cancer takes over epigenetic mechanisms, including permanent DNA modifications in the patient's tumor, once again allowing tumor growth, according to an international team of scientists.

Brain degeneration in Huntington's disease caused by amino acid deficiency Posted: 26 Mar 2014 11:16 AM PDT Working with genetically engineered mice, neuroscientists report they have identified what they believe is the cause of the vast disintegration of a part of the brain called the corpus striatum in rodents and people with Huntington's disease: loss of the ability to make the amino acid cysteine. They also found that disease progression slowed in mice that were fed a diet rich in cysteine, which is found in foods such as wheat germ and whey protein.

First comprehensive atlas of human gene activity Posted: 26 Mar 2014 11:16 AM PDT Researchers have produced the first comprehensive, detailed map of the way genes work across the major cells and tissues of the human body. The findings describe the complex networks that govern gene activity, and the new information could play a crucial role in identifying the genes involved with disease.

Certain genetic variants may put bladder cancer patients at increased risk of recurrence Posted: 26 Mar 2014 06:25 AM PDT In the Western world, bladder cancer is the fourth most common cancer in men and the eighth most common in women, with many patients experiencing recurrence after treatment. A new study indicates that inheriting certain DNA sequences can affect a patient's prognosis. The findings may help physicians identify sub-groups of bladder cancer patients who should receive intensive treatment and monitoring.

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