ScienceDaily: Health & Medicine News

---

• Arm is safer access point than groin for catheter-based heart procedures
• Acute coronary syndromes: Patients 80 years and older would benefit from aggressive treatment
• New metabolic mechanisms discovered that regulate the macrophage's role in immune response
• HIV not as infectious soon after transmission as thought
• A Single-Cell Breakthrough: newly developed technology dissects properties of single stem cells
• Language of gene switches unchanged across evolution
• Women retain insulin sensitivity better than men
• Assimilation may put Mexican-American children at higher risk of type 2 diabetes
• New cystic fibrosis research takes aim at deadly pathogen
• Macrophages may play critical role in melanoma resistance to BRAF inhibitors
• Chronic bowel inflammation is diagnosed too late in children, adolescents
• Recommendation for vitamin D intake was miscalculated, is far too low, experts say
• Doctors don't always agree on breast biopsies, and say women with aytpia or DCIS should seek second opinions
• Better breakfast, better grades
• Link between aspirin, NSAIDs and colon cancer prevention may hinge on genetic variations
• How rocket science may improve kidney dialysis
• Erectile dysfunction drug relieves nerve damage in diabetic mice
• Emerging diseases likely to be more harmful in similar species
• Diet soda linked to increases in belly fat in older adults
• New compound prevents type 1 diabetes in animal models, before it begins
• Medications used to treat diabetes may trigger heart failure, study finds
• Screening Diabetic Patients for Coronary Artery Calcification Improves Diagnosis, Treatment of Heart Disease
• New imaging tool to diagnose heart conditions is dramatically more accurate, less expensive and safer
• No mortality benefit of bypass surgery compared to latest generation of drug-coated stents

Arm is safer access point than groin for catheter-based heart procedures Posted: 17 Mar 2015 12:26 PM PDT Patients with acute coronary syndrome undergoing coronary angiogram, a procedure used to assess blockages in the heart's arteries, had a significantly lower risk of major bleeding and death if their interventional cardiologist accessed the heart through an artery in the arm rather than the groin, according to research.

Acute coronary syndromes: Patients 80 years and older would benefit from aggressive treatment Posted: 17 Mar 2015 12:26 PM PDT Patients over age 80 with acute coronary syndromes would likely benefit from more invasive tests and therapies that may otherwise be denied them due to their age, according to research.

New metabolic mechanisms discovered that regulate the macrophage's role in immune response Posted: 17 Mar 2015 12:24 PM PDT New metabolic mechanisms have been discovered that regulate macrophage polarization - the unique ability of these immune cells to change their specialization depending on the required task. The research opens new possibilities for the development of a new class of drugs based on controlling the metabolism of immune cells.

HIV not as infectious soon after transmission as thought Posted: 17 Mar 2015 12:24 PM PDT People who recently have been infected with HIV may not be as highly infectious as previously believed, a finding that could improve global efforts to prevent HIV transmission and save lives. In particular, the finding bolsters the strategy of treating patients with antiretroviral drugs before the onset of AIDS to prevent transmission.

A Single-Cell Breakthrough: newly developed technology dissects properties of single stem cells Posted: 17 Mar 2015 12:23 PM PDT Researchers figure out a way to isolate and grow thousands elusive intestinal stem cells at one time, a high throughput technological advance that could give scientists the ability to study stem cell biology gastrointestinal disorders like never before.

Language of gene switches unchanged across evolution Posted: 17 Mar 2015 10:51 AM PDT The language used in the switches that turn genes on and off has remained the same across millions of years of evolution, according to a new study. The findings indicate that the differences between animals reside in the content and length of the instructions that are written using this conserved language.

Women retain insulin sensitivity better than men Posted: 17 Mar 2015 10:45 AM PDT As people become overweight, their skeletal muscle develops insulin resistance that can lead to type two diabetes. Researchers found the activity of this protein, called PTEN (for Phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on chromosome 10), is different between men and women.

Assimilation may put Mexican-American children at higher risk of type 2 diabetes Posted: 17 Mar 2015 10:45 AM PDT Mexican-American children who assimilate into American culture are more likely to be at high risk for Type 2 diabetes than children who do not, a study has concluded. A national study projects a 49 percent increase in adolescents with Type 2 diabetes by 2050, and 50 percent of those cases are expected to be Hispanic.

New cystic fibrosis research takes aim at deadly pathogen Posted: 17 Mar 2015 09:28 AM PDT A new method of testing the most common cause of life-threatening infection in people with cystic fibrosis could improve efforts to study and combat the illness, researchers say. In cystic fibrosis, a serious genetic disease that causes recurring lung infections, bacteria colonize a patient's lungs, usually beginning in childhood, leading to difficulty breathing. One of the most dangerous of these bacteria is P. aeruginosa, which, within the unique mucus that forms in the lungs of a person with cystic fibrosis, develops into large, antibiotic-resistant colonies.

Macrophages may play critical role in melanoma resistance to BRAF inhibitors Posted: 17 Mar 2015 09:28 AM PDT Researchers have discovered one way in which melanoma becomes resistant to a particular form of targeted therapy, and understanding this phenomenon may lead to a new melanoma target or prompt new designs of these treatments, they say.

Chronic bowel inflammation is diagnosed too late in children, adolescents Posted: 17 Mar 2015 09:25 AM PDT Cramping abdominal pains, diarrhea, bloody stools—these are common symptoms of chronic inflammatory bowel disease. Every year, thousands of children and adolescents develop the disease. But chronic inflammatory bowel disease is mostly diagnosed too late in these patients, experts suggests. The average delay between initial symptoms and diagnosis is four to six months. In most cases, the inflammation will by then have spread further.

Recommendation for vitamin D intake was miscalculated, is far too low, experts say Posted: 17 Mar 2015 09:24 AM PDT Researchers are challenging the intake of vitamin D recommended by the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine saying their Recommended Dietary Allowance for vitamin D underestimates the need by a factor of ten.

Doctors don't always agree on breast biopsies, and say women with aytpia or DCIS should seek second opinions Posted: 17 Mar 2015 09:24 AM PDT While doctors almost always agree on a pathological diagnosis of invasive breast cancer, there is room for improvement when diagnosing atypia (or atypical ductal hyperplasia-ADH) and DCIS (ductal carcinoma in-situ), experts say.

Better breakfast, better grades Posted: 17 Mar 2015 08:20 AM PDT The connection between good nutrition and good grades has been reinforced by new research that finds that free school breakfasts help students from low-income families perform better academically.

Link between aspirin, NSAIDs and colon cancer prevention may hinge on genetic variations Posted: 17 Mar 2015 08:19 AM PDT The link between taking aspirin, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDS, and colorectal cancer prevention is well established, but the mechanisms behind the protective effect have not been understood. A new study suggests this protection differs according to variations in DNA.

How rocket science may improve kidney dialysis Posted: 17 Mar 2015 08:19 AM PDT Software from the aerospace industry has allowed an interdisciplinary team of U.K. researchers to design Arterio-Venous Fistulae with better, less unnatural flow patterns, which may reduce failure rates and improve clinical outcomes for patients with kidney failure who require dialysis.

Erectile dysfunction drug relieves nerve damage in diabetic mice Posted: 17 Mar 2015 07:41 AM PDT New animal studies found that sildenafil, a drug commonly used to treat erectile dysfunction, may be effective in relieving painful and potentially life-threatening nerve damage in men with long-term diabetes.

Emerging diseases likely to be more harmful in similar species Posted: 17 Mar 2015 06:32 AM PDT When viruses such as influenza and Ebola jump from one species to another, their ability to cause harm can change dramatically, but research shows that it may be possible to predict the virus's virulence by looking at how deadly it is in closely-related species.

Diet soda linked to increases in belly fat in older adults Posted: 17 Mar 2015 06:31 AM PDT Increasing diet soda intake is directly linked to greater abdominal obesity in adults 65 years of age and older. Findings raise concerns about the safety of chronic diet soda consumption, which may increase belly fat and contribute to greater risk of metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular diseases.

New compound prevents type 1 diabetes in animal models, before it begins Posted: 17 Mar 2015 06:26 AM PDT Scientists have successfully tested a potent synthetic compound that prevents type 1 diabetes in animal models of the disease. In a new study, researchers tested an experimental compound known as SR1001 in non-obese diabetic animal models. The compound targets a pair of nuclear receptors that play critical roles in the development of a specific population (Th17) of immune cells associated with the disease.

Medications used to treat diabetes may trigger heart failure, study finds Posted: 16 Mar 2015 06:48 PM PDT A comprehensive study examining clinical trials of more than 95,000 patients has found that glucose or sugar-lowering medications prescribed to patients with diabetes may pose an increased risk for the development of heart failure in these patients.

Screening Diabetic Patients for Coronary Artery Calcification Improves Diagnosis, Treatment of Heart Disease Posted: 16 Mar 2015 08:33 AM PDT A simple and inexpensive screening test can show which diabetic patients face an increased risk of heart disease, which can help them get the care they need, faster -- and proactively reduce their risk of heart disease, according to a new study.

New imaging tool to diagnose heart conditions is dramatically more accurate, less expensive and safer Posted: 16 Mar 2015 08:33 AM PDT New heart imaging technology to diagnose coronary heart disease and other heart disorders is significantly more accurate, less expensive and safer than traditional methods, according to a new study.

No mortality benefit of bypass surgery compared to latest generation of drug-coated stents Posted: 16 Mar 2015 08:33 AM PDT Newer drug-coated stents that keep arteries open have similar long-term rates of death compared with traditional bypass surgery for patients with more than one diseased coronary artery. Clinical practice in this area is still largely guided by past studies of bare-metal and first-generation drug-coated stents -- studies that found greater long-term risks of heart attack and death from the devices, compared to traditional bypass surgery.

You are subscribed to email updates from Health & Medicine News -- ScienceDaily To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States