ScienceDaily: Health & Medicine News

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• Scientists discover link between common medications and serious falls in older men
• Switching off street lights at night does not increase car crashes, crime
• Tailored mobile health technologies may help patients take their medications appropriately
• New tool uses 'drug spillover' to match cancer patients with treatments
• Coffee consumption habits impact the risk of mild cognitive impairment
• More secondary schools serve healthier lunches
• World's first bilateral hand transplant on child
• Autism costs estimated to reach nearly $500 billion, potentially $1 trillion, by 2025
• Parents' health literacy affects child weight-loss tactics, study finds
• Sleepy fruitflies get mellow
• Effects over time of tobacco tax increases in New Zealand
• Anti-inflammatory drug acts against ovarian cancer, scientists find
• Neurology researchers evaluate evidence base for tests for clinical cognitive assessment
• How age, other factors influence online health information searches
• Immune cells in the skin remember, defend against parasites
• Firms 'underinvest' in long-term cancer research, experts say
• Identifying biomarkers key to early intervention in Alzheimer's disease
• New eye-tracker method shows 'preferred retinal location' in both eyes
• Pygmies show growth plasticity is key to human evolution
• Illuminating mechanisms of repetitive thinking
• National study of deep brain stimulation for depression fails to demonstrate efficacy
• Doctor warns about lead poisoning risk from recycling older electronic equipment
• Early evidence suggests hybrid cochlear implants may benefit millions with common form of hearing loss
• Diabetics who skip breakfast provoke hazardous blood sugar spikes
• Marked improvement in health, healthcare for Medicare patients
• Experimental MERS vaccine shows promise in animal studies
• Cancer healthcare disparities exist in LGBTQ community, say researchers
• Two new tests may make diagnosing and monitoring diabetes easier and more affordable
• Hair samples may offer new insights into the relationship between asthma, cortisol, and complications in pregnancy
• Hormones influence unethical behavior, experts say
• Link between intestinal bacteria, depression found
• Pharmacy expenditures for children with serious chronic illness
• Report examines Medicare, Medicaid programs at 50 years and challenges ahead
• Findings question measures used to assess hospital quality
• ACA Open Enrollment periods associated with improved coverage, access to care and health
• Link between mood, pain in rheumatoid arthritis patients
• Race, institutional factors play an important role in pharmacogenomic trial participation
• Stress hormone reduces heroin cravings
• Understanding molecular origin of epigenetic markers
• Less is more when treating rare eye condition
• Fatty acid increases performance of cellular powerhouse
• Hepatitis B continues to be a global health problem
• Role of genes in disease revealed in major European mouse study
• High-fat maternal diet changes newborn heart 'tastebuds'
• Cystic fibrosis microorganisms survive on little to no oxygen
• Dog sledding offers a healthy dose of adventure for children with cancer
• Ewing's sarcoma: A dangerous liaison
• Flexible future of point-of-care disease diagnostic
• Researchers create promising new mouse model for lung injury repair
• New drug for blood cancers now in five phase II clinical trials
• Report documents an unmet need for expanded family planning services at CHCs
• Technology helps personalized medicine, enabling epigenomic analysis with a mere 100 cells
• New treatment may help neonatal liver disease associated with parenteral nutrition
• Omega-3 fatty acids may help improve treatment, quality of life in cancer patients
• Ancient proteins involved in DNA repair could shed light on tumor development
• Brain disease scenarios revised by step-by-step imaging of toxic aggregation
• Specific cardiovascular risk factors may predict Alzheimer's disease
• Very early birth linked to introversion, neuroticism, risk aversion in adulthood
• Clinical validation for LOXO-101 against TRK fusion cancer

Scientists discover link between common medications and serious falls in older men Posted: 28 Jul 2015 04:49 PM PDT A significant link between serious falls causing injury in older men and a particular group of commonly used medicines has been identified by a group of researchers. Many medicines which are commonly prescribed for older people for bladder problems, depression, psychosis, insomnia, and respiratory problems, have anti-cholinergic effects. The medications affect the brain by blocking a key chemical called acetylcholine which is involved in passing messages between nerve cells. This can lead to side effects including blurred vision, increased heart rate, sedation and confusion.

Switching off street lights at night does not increase car crashes, crime Posted: 28 Jul 2015 04:49 PM PDT Reduced street lighting in England and Wales is not associated with road traffic collisions or crime, according to research. The study suggests that local authorities can safely reduce street lighting at night, saving energy costs and reducing carbon emissions.

Tailored mobile health technologies may help patients take their medications appropriately Posted: 28 Jul 2015 04:49 PM PDT There was only a 5 percent error rate when patients with chronic kidney disease used mobile health technologies designed to help them use medications appropriately.

New tool uses 'drug spillover' to match cancer patients with treatments Posted: 28 Jul 2015 01:52 PM PDT A new article describes a new tool that improves the ability to match drugs to disease: the Kinase Addiction Ranker predicts what genetics are truly driving the cancer in any population of cells and chooses the best 'kinase inhibitor' to silence these dangerous genetic causes of disease.

Coffee consumption habits impact the risk of mild cognitive impairment Posted: 28 Jul 2015 01:25 PM PDT A new study estimates the association between change or constant habits in coffee consumption and the incidence of mild cognitive impairment (MCI), evaluating 1,445 individuals recruited from 5,632 subjects, aged 65-84 year old, from the Italian Longitudinal Study on Aging a population-based sample from eight Italian municipalities with a 3.5-year median follow-up.

More secondary schools serve healthier lunches Posted: 28 Jul 2015 01:24 PM PDT Secondary students found healthier foods on more lunch menus in 2013 than in 2011, resulting in fewer nutrition disparities for small schools or those with racially diverse student bodies.

World's first bilateral hand transplant on child Posted: 28 Jul 2015 01:24 PM PDT Surgeons recently completed the world's first bilateral hand transplant on a child. Earlier this month, the surgical team successfully transplanted donor hands and forearms onto 8-year-old Zion Harvey who, several years earlier, had undergone amputation of his hands and feet and a kidney transplant following a serious infection.

Autism costs estimated to reach nearly $500 billion, potentially $1 trillion, by 2025 Posted: 28 Jul 2015 01:24 PM PDT Health economists have for the first time projected the total costs of caring for all people with autism spectrum disorder in the United States for the current calendar year and in 10 years if effective interventions and preventive treatments for the condition are not identified and widely available.

Parents' health literacy affects child weight-loss tactics, study finds Posted: 28 Jul 2015 01:24 PM PDT Parents who are less health literate may choose weight-loss strategies for their children that are unhealthy or not recommended. Governmental weight-control info may not be reaching families who need it most.

Sleepy fruitflies get mellow Posted: 28 Jul 2015 01:24 PM PDT Whether you're a human, a mouse, or even a fruitfly, losing sleep is a bad thing, leading to physiological effects and behavioral changes. Researchers used fruitflies to probe deeper into the cellular and molecular mechanisms that govern aggression and sleep and found that sleep deprivation reduces aggression in fruitflies and affects their reproductive fitness. They identified a related molecular pathway that might govern recovery of normal aggressive behaviors.

Effects over time of tobacco tax increases in New Zealand Posted: 28 Jul 2015 01:24 PM PDT Annual 10 percent tobacco tax increases in New Zealand over the next 20 years should lead to health gains, net health system cost savings and modest reductions of about 2 percent to 3 percent in health inequalities between indigenous and non-indigenous people, according to a new study.

Anti-inflammatory drug acts against ovarian cancer, scientists find Posted: 28 Jul 2015 09:37 AM PDT A non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) called ketorolac helped women with ovarian cancer to survive longer, researchers report. Ketorolac, marketed as Toradol®, is approved for clinical use in the United States for pain after surgery.

Neurology researchers evaluate evidence base for tests for clinical cognitive assessment Posted: 28 Jul 2015 09:36 AM PDT Researchers have been conducting evidence-based reviews of testing used for five domains -- attention, language, memory, spatial cognition, and executive function. New recommendations for improving this clinical cognitive testing have been provided by the researchers.

How age, other factors influence online health information searches Posted: 28 Jul 2015 09:36 AM PDT A new study aims to evaluate the types of search strategies that Internet users adopt when trying to solve a complicated health problem.

Immune cells in the skin remember, defend against parasites Posted: 28 Jul 2015 09:36 AM PDT For the first time, researchers have found resident T cells in a tissue in response to a parasite infection. The finding could help inform efforts to develop an effective vaccine for leishmaniasis, as well as other diseases such as tuberculosis and leprosy.

Firms 'underinvest' in long-term cancer research, experts say Posted: 28 Jul 2015 09:36 AM PDT Pharmaceutical firms 'underinvest' in long-term research to develop new cancer-fighting drugs due to the greater time and cost required to conduct such research, according to a newly published study.

Identifying biomarkers key to early intervention in Alzheimer's disease Posted: 28 Jul 2015 09:03 AM PDT Researchers are looking for biomarkers that might serve as an early warning system for Alzheimer's disease. The process is not without complications, but these scientists possess a collective "Rosie the Riveter" spirit.

New eye-tracker method shows 'preferred retinal location' in both eyes Posted: 28 Jul 2015 09:03 AM PDT Eyes with central vision loss adapt by developing a new fixation point in a different part of the retina, called the preferred retinal location (PRL). Now for the first time, a new method makes it possible to identify PRLs in both eyes simultaneously.

Pygmies show growth plasticity is key to human evolution Posted: 28 Jul 2015 09:03 AM PDT While the stature of pygmies is well-suited to tropical rainforests, the mechanisms underlying their growth remain poorly understood. In order to decipher these mechanisms, a team of scientists studied a group of Baka pygmies in Cameroon. Their findings revealed that their growth rate differed completely from that of another pygmy cluster, despite a similar adult height, which implies that small stature appeared independently in the two clusters.

Illuminating mechanisms of repetitive thinking Posted: 28 Jul 2015 09:03 AM PDT The ability to engage in mental time travel is a unique and central part of the human experience. And yet this very ability can have detrimental consequences for both physical and mental well-being when it becomes repetitive and uncontrolled. New research investigates this kind of repetitive thinking, exploring the core psychological processes that underlie maladaptive thought processes like worry and rumination.

National study of deep brain stimulation for depression fails to demonstrate efficacy Posted: 28 Jul 2015 09:03 AM PDT Depression is a leading cause of disability worldwide, and treatment-resistant symptoms of depression have a terrible personal and societal cost. They can devastate lives, careers, and families. Some severely ill patients may be unable to attend to even the basic elements of self-care, while others attempt or complete suicide. Now researchers report the results of the first large-scale, randomized, sham-controlled trial of deep brain stimulation treatment for treatment-resistant symptoms of depression.

Doctor warns about lead poisoning risk from recycling older electronic equipment Posted: 28 Jul 2015 09:02 AM PDT The disposal and recycling of electronic devices has increased exposure to lead and other toxicants and created 'an emerging health concern,' according to a pediatrician who has expertise in the area.

Early evidence suggests hybrid cochlear implants may benefit millions with common form of hearing loss Posted: 28 Jul 2015 09:02 AM PDT People with a common form of hearing loss not helped by hearing aids achieved significant and sometimes profound improvements in their hearing and understanding of speech with hybrid cochlear implant devices, according to a new multicenter study.

Diabetics who skip breakfast provoke hazardous blood sugar spikes Posted: 28 Jul 2015 09:01 AM PDT A new study reveals how skipping breakfast affects people with type-2 diabetes. According to the researchers, pancreatic beta cells which produce insulin lose their "memory" due to the prolonged period between one evening's dinner and the next day's lunch. In other words, they "forget" their vital role.

Marked improvement in health, healthcare for Medicare patients Posted: 28 Jul 2015 09:01 AM PDT In a 15-year study of older Medicare patients, researchers saw an estimated 20 percent drop in mortality, about 30 percent fewer hospitalizations, and 40 percent reduction in deaths after hospitalization.

Experimental MERS vaccine shows promise in animal studies Posted: 28 Jul 2015 09:01 AM PDT A two-step regimen of experimental vaccines against MERS prompted immune responses in mice and rhesus macaques. Vaccinated mice produced broadly neutralizing antibodies against multiple strains of the MERS coronavirus, while vaccinated macaques were protected from severe lung damage when later exposed to MERS-CoV. The findings suggest that the current approach, in which vaccine design is guided by an understanding of structure of viral components and their interactions with host cells, holds promise for developing a similar human MERS vaccine regimen.

Cancer healthcare disparities exist in LGBTQ community, say researchers Posted: 28 Jul 2015 08:08 AM PDT The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender/Transsexual, Queer/Questioning (LGBTQ) community is a growing and medically-underserved minority population in the United States, with 3 to 12 percent of the population estimated to identify as LGBTQ. Researchers have now published one of the first articles that describe the current knowledge about cancers that may disproportionately affect the LGBTQ community, and also offered suggestions for improving their healthcare.

Two new tests may make diagnosing and monitoring diabetes easier and more affordable Posted: 28 Jul 2015 08:08 AM PDT Researchers have successfully tested two new potential methods for diagnosing and monitoring diabetes in its standard and gestational forms. These findings may lead to easier, timelier, and more affordable ways of identifying and treating this chronic disease.

Hair samples may offer new insights into the relationship between asthma, cortisol, and complications in pregnancy Posted: 28 Jul 2015 08:08 AM PDT Hair samples can be used to measure the effects of asthma on the cortisol levels of women during pregnancy, according to new research. This research also shows that levels of cortisol, a stress-related hormone, tend to be lower among pregnant women with asthma than among pregnant women without the chronic, inflammatory lung disease.

Hormones influence unethical behavior, experts say Posted: 28 Jul 2015 08:08 AM PDT Hormones play a two-part role in encouraging and reinforcing cheating and other unethical behavior, according to new research. With cheating scandals a persistent threat on college campuses and financial fraud costing businesses more than $3.7 trillion annually, researchers looked to hormones for more answers, specifically the reproductive hormone testosterone and the stress hormone cortisol.

Link between intestinal bacteria, depression found Posted: 28 Jul 2015 08:07 AM PDT The complex mechanisms of interaction and dynamics between the gut microbiota and its host have been illuminated by recent research. Data show that relatively minor changes in microbiota profiles or its metabolic activity induced by neonatal stress can have profound effects on host behavior in adulthood.

Pharmacy expenditures for children with serious chronic illness Posted: 28 Jul 2015 08:07 AM PDT In an analysis of expenditures for outpatient pharmacy products used by publicly insured children with serious chronic illness in California, treating hemophilia accounted for about 40 percent of expenditures but included just 0.4 percent of the group studied, suggesting a need to improve pricing for this and other effective yet high-cost medications, according to a study.

Report examines Medicare, Medicaid programs at 50 years and challenges ahead Posted: 28 Jul 2015 08:07 AM PDT Although Medicare and Medicaid are playing a role in health care payment and delivery reform innovation, it will be difficult to enact large-scale program changes because of the conflicting priorities of beneficiaries, health practitioners and organizations, and policy makers, according to an article.

Findings question measures used to assess hospital quality Posted: 28 Jul 2015 08:07 AM PDT Hospitals that were penalized more frequently in the Hospital-Acquired Condition (HAC) Reduction Program offered advanced services, were major teaching institutions and had better performance on other publicly reported process-of-care and outcome measures, according to a study.

ACA Open Enrollment periods associated with improved coverage, access to care and health Posted: 28 Jul 2015 08:07 AM PDT Results of a national survey that included more than half a million adults indicates significant improvements in trends for self-reported insurance coverage, access to a personal physician and medications, affordability and health after the Affordable Care Act's (ACA's) first and second open enrollment periods.

Link between mood, pain in rheumatoid arthritis patients Posted: 28 Jul 2015 08:05 AM PDT Depressive symptoms and mood in the moment may predict momentary pain among rheumatoid arthritis patients, according to researchers. Individuals in the study who reported greater depressive symptoms in general also reported more common pain and restrictions in daily life. This effect of depressive symptoms was not due to differences in day-to-day mood.

Race, institutional factors play an important role in pharmacogenomic trial participation Posted: 28 Jul 2015 08:05 AM PDT The participation rate of patients in pharmacogenomic trials has been the focus of recent study. The research has concluded that there are a number of factors at the patient, physician, institution and community level that serve as incentives or hindrances for clinical trial participation, including beliefs and attitudes, awareness, opportunities and resources.

Stress hormone reduces heroin cravings Posted: 28 Jul 2015 08:05 AM PDT Every addiction is characterized by a strong desire for a certain addictive substance, be it nicotine, alcohol or other drug. Researchers recently conducted a study on heroin addiction and demonstrated that the stress hormone cortisol can reduce addictive cravings.

Understanding molecular origin of epigenetic markers Posted: 28 Jul 2015 07:15 AM PDT Researchers have determined the mechanics behind of one of the most common epigenetic modifications: histone-tail acetylation. Acetylation is a means by which a cell can control the expression of its genes.

Less is more when treating rare eye condition Posted: 28 Jul 2015 07:12 AM PDT New research is showing that less is more when it comes to the treatment of optic disc pits -- a rare eye condition. Many of the surgical techniques commonly used are unnecessary, a researcher now says.

Fatty acid increases performance of cellular powerhouse Posted: 28 Jul 2015 07:12 AM PDT An entirely new control mechanism that regulates the function of mitochondria, the powerhouses of the cell, has been discovered by researchers. Surprisingly, a fatty acid is playing a key role in this process. The scientists have now reported that using fatty acid as a food additive improved disease symptoms in flies that suffer from Parkinson's-like symptoms due to dysfunctional mitochondria.

Hepatitis B continues to be a global health problem Posted: 28 Jul 2015 07:12 AM PDT Hepatitis B infections are among the most common infectious diseases worldwide. In the scope of an international study, scientists have determined how often the chronic infection occurs in different countries and how many people of the general population are affected. They noted strong differences between different countries.

Role of genes in disease revealed in major European mouse study Posted: 28 Jul 2015 07:12 AM PDT The role of over 300 genes has been revealed by scientists across Europe in a major initiative to understand the part they play in disease and biology. All the findings from the project have been made publically available, allowing other scientists to use it in their own research. This will allow to understand more about genes we currently know very little about, and open up new avenues for research into the genetics of human disease, the scientists say.

High-fat maternal diet changes newborn heart 'tastebuds' Posted: 28 Jul 2015 07:12 AM PDT Baby rats whose mothers were fed a high-fat diet had larger than normal hearts with fewer taste receptors for bitter flavours, according to new research.

Cystic fibrosis microorganisms survive on little to no oxygen Posted: 28 Jul 2015 07:12 AM PDT Microbes contributing to cystic fibrosis are able to survive in saliva and mucus that is chemically heterogeneous, including significant portions that are largely devoid of oxygen, according to a study.

Dog sledding offers a healthy dose of adventure for children with cancer Posted: 28 Jul 2015 06:20 AM PDT A team of sled dogs racing through the snowy forests of northern Canada conjures up the timeless spirit of exploration. But the intrepid youths on the sleds may not be exactly what you're picturing – they're young girls and boys with cancer.

Ewing's sarcoma: A dangerous liaison Posted: 28 Jul 2015 06:20 AM PDT Researchers have elucidated at the molecular level how an otherwise innocuous inherited mutation that is quite common in European populations interacts with a spontaneous somatic mutation to promote the development of Ewing's sarcoma.

Flexible future of point-of-care disease diagnostic Posted: 28 Jul 2015 06:19 AM PDT The world-wide deployment of biomedical devices for health monitoring, point-of-care diagnostics and environmental sensing is hampered by their high cost that is not readily affordable for developing countries. The primary task of a new project is therefore to reduce the price of the devices and allow for their high-volume delivery in a cost efficient manner. For the latter, a crucial aspect is to reduce the weight of the device.

Researchers create promising new mouse model for lung injury repair Posted: 28 Jul 2015 06:18 AM PDT Researchers have created a dynamic functional mouse model for lung injury repair, a tool that will help scientists explain the origins of lung disease and provide a system by which new therapies can be identified and tested.

New drug for blood cancers now in five phase II clinical trials Posted: 28 Jul 2015 06:18 AM PDT The safety and dosing of a new drug for treating blood cancers has now been established by a group of scientists. The drug is a small molecule inhibitor that suppresses the activity of a signaling pathway believed to contribute to a variety of blood cancers' eventual resistance to standard chemotherapy treatments.

Report documents an unmet need for expanded family planning services at CHCs Posted: 28 Jul 2015 06:17 AM PDT As part of a unique survey of nearly 2,000 women of childbearing age who receive health care at the nation's community health centers, 90 percent reported that they were not actively seeking to become pregnant in the next 12 months. Yet more than three out of 10 were not using contraceptives at the time of the survey.

Technology helps personalized medicine, enabling epigenomic analysis with a mere 100 cells Posted: 28 Jul 2015 06:17 AM PDT A new technology is improving the efficiency of the studies in epigenomics. The examination of epigenomes requires mapping DNA interactions with a certain protein in the entire genome. This epigenomic characterization potentially allows medical doctors to create personalized treatment of diseases, by understanding the state of a patient, making the forecast, and tuning the treatment strategy accordingly. However, to date, such tests have required a huge number of cells.

New treatment may help neonatal liver disease associated with parenteral nutrition Posted: 28 Jul 2015 06:17 AM PDT Exogenous glucagon-like peptide 2 (GLP-2) treatment may help fight neonatal parenteral nutrition associated liver disease (PNALD), a new study suggests.

Omega-3 fatty acids may help improve treatment, quality of life in cancer patients Posted: 28 Jul 2015 06:17 AM PDT Adding omega-3 fatty acids to anti-tumor medications may improve treatment response and quality of life for cancer patients according to a new study. The study examined 50 patients with advanced pancreatic cancer.

Ancient proteins involved in DNA repair could shed light on tumor development Posted: 28 Jul 2015 06:17 AM PDT By studying yeast used in beer- and bread-making, researchers have uncovered the mechanism by which ancient proteins repair DNA damage and how their dysfunction could lead to the development of tumors. The findings could lead to new ways to tailor cancer therapies.

Brain disease scenarios revised by step-by-step imaging of toxic aggregation Posted: 28 Jul 2015 06:17 AM PDT Diseases like Alzheimer's are caused when proteins aggregate and clump together. In a world first, scientists have successfully distinguished between the disease-causing aggregation forms of proteins. The finding can help change pharmaceutical treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.

Specific cardiovascular risk factors may predict Alzheimer's disease Posted: 28 Jul 2015 06:17 AM PDT Specific cardiovascular risk factors, such as alcohol consumption, smoking, obesity and diabetes, are associated with smaller regional brain volumes that may be early indicators of Alzheimer's disease and dementia according to a study.

Very early birth linked to introversion, neuroticism, risk aversion in adulthood Posted: 27 Jul 2015 07:02 PM PDT Babies born very premature or severely underweight are at heightened risk of becoming introverted, neurotic, and risk averse as adults, indicates research. Very premature birth at less than 32 weeks and/or very low birthweight of less than 1500 g are known to be linked to a heightened risk of autistic spectrum behaviours, but it has not been clear if prematurity and low birthweight might affect other adult personality traits.

Clinical validation for LOXO-101 against TRK fusion cancer Posted: 27 Jul 2015 03:02 PM PDT The first imaging studies of TRK fusion cancer conducted post-treatment have confirmed that stage IV patient's tumors had substantially regressed. With four months of treatment, additional CT scans have demonstrated almost complete disappearance of the largest tumors.

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