ScienceDaily: Health & Medicine News

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• Take your PICC: New guide aims to decrease dangers from long-term IV devices
• Microbiologists describe new insights into human neurodegenerative disease
• Anticonvulsant effects of valproic acid uncovered
• New method to treat antibiotic resistant MRSA: Bacteriophages
• Viruses flourish in guts of healthy babies
• Combo of three antibiotics can kill deadly staph infections
• Filling a void in stem cell therapy
• Findings could shed light on cancer, aging
• New leukemia gene stops blood cells 'growing up'
• Lung 'filtering' technique can reduce transplant rejection
• Modulation of brain cholesterol: New line of research in Alzheimer's disease treatment?
• Increased memory with a flash of light
• 10K genomes project explores contribution of rare variants to human disease, risk factors
• Racial disparities in pain of children with appendicitis in EDs
• Rating hospital readmissions
• Low vitamin D among elderly associated with decline in cognition, dementia
• Three new studies converge on promising new target for addiction treatment
• 'Life's Simple 7' and diabetes care program reduce risk of heart failure
• Drug resistance in cancer patients linked to oxygen-bearing molecules in body, study finds
• Smokers at higher risk of losing their teeth, research shows
• Does social capital explain community-level differences in organ donor designation?
• Switched before birth: Study shows protein creates tumor-fighting cells
• Nutritional deficiencies common before weight loss surgery
• Optogenetics: Light switch generates cellular second messenger
• Protein NBS1 crucial for macrophage functional activity
• Perfect swimming strokes? Boost sports performance with wearable technology
• Strategies to decrease bacterial colonization
• Long sleep and high blood copper levels go hand in hand
• Alzheimer's-disease-related proteases control axonal guidance by regulating growth cone dynamics
• Researchers work to improve antibiotic effectiveness
• Elephants born when mothers are stressed age faster, produce fewer offspring
• Pedaling like a Tour de France winner is a losing strategy for most of us
• Swinging on 'monkey bars': Motor proteins caught in the act
• Mediterranean diet plus olive oil associated with reduced breast cancer risk
• Treatment protocol improves outcomes for infants with neonatal abstinence syndrome
• Social factors may impact young leukemia patients' survival
• Study links marijuana use to poor blood sugar control in middle age

Take your PICC: New guide aims to decrease dangers from long-term IV devices Posted: 14 Sep 2015 06:56 PM PDT More than a billion times a year, American hospital patients get tiny tubes inserted into their veins to deliver medicine and more. But these devices carry risks as well as benefits -- especially those designed to stay in the body for days or weeks. A newly published, research-based guide shows doctors and nurses which kind of device to use, in which patient, for the best and safest result -- and which to avoid at all costs.

Microbiologists describe new insights into human neurodegenerative disease Posted: 14 Sep 2015 12:27 PM PDT Microbiology researchers studying a soil bacterium have identified a potential mechanism for neurodegenerative diseases. A role for the protein HSD10 had been suspected in patients with Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease, but no direct connection had previously been established. This new breakthrough suggests that HSD10 reduces oxidative stress, promotes cell repair and prevents cellular death.

Anticonvulsant effects of valproic acid uncovered Posted: 14 Sep 2015 12:27 PM PDT Researchers have identified the mechanism by which valproic acid controls epileptic seizures, and by doing so, also revealed an underlying factor of seizures.

New method to treat antibiotic resistant MRSA: Bacteriophages Posted: 14 Sep 2015 12:27 PM PDT A senior molecular biology major knows MRSA as the infection that took his dad's leg. Now he is exacting revenge on the bacteria by unlocking the power of a new MRSA-killer: bacteriophage.

Viruses flourish in guts of healthy babies Posted: 14 Sep 2015 12:27 PM PDT Bacteria aren't the only nonhuman invaders to colonize the gut shortly after a baby's birth. Viruses also set up house there, according to new research. The study is one of the first surveys of viruses that reside in the intestine, beginning the work of defining a healthy gut virome.

Combo of three antibiotics can kill deadly staph infections Posted: 14 Sep 2015 10:52 AM PDT Three antibiotics that, individually, are not effective against a drug-resistant staph infection can kill the deadly pathogen when combined as a trio, according to researchers. They have killed the bug -- methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus -- in test tubes and laboratory mice, and believe the same strategy may work in people.

Filling a void in stem cell therapy Posted: 14 Sep 2015 09:47 AM PDT A new approach uses injectable hydrogels to boost the survival of transplanted stem cells and to improve the repair and regeneration of bodily tissues.

Findings could shed light on cancer, aging Posted: 14 Sep 2015 09:47 AM PDT Researchers have found molecular evidence of how a biochemical process controls the lengths of protective chromosome tips, a potentially significant step in ultimately understanding cancer growth and aging.

New leukemia gene stops blood cells 'growing up' Posted: 14 Sep 2015 09:46 AM PDT Scientists have identified a gene -- FOXC1 -- that, if switched on, causes more aggressive cancer in a fifth of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients, according to a study.

Lung 'filtering' technique can reduce transplant rejection Posted: 14 Sep 2015 08:47 AM PDT A new technique to recondition poorly functioning lungs and remove donor white blood cells has been used by researchers in an attempt to increase the number of lungs available for transplant, and at the same time reduce the risk of acute rejection.

Modulation of brain cholesterol: New line of research in Alzheimer's disease treatment? Posted: 14 Sep 2015 08:46 AM PDT Two research teams have just shown, in a rodent model, that overexpressing an enzyme that can eliminate excess cholesterol from the brain may have a beneficial action on the tau component of the disease, and completely correct it.

Increased memory with a flash of light Posted: 14 Sep 2015 08:46 AM PDT The burgeoning field of optogenetics has seen another breakthrough with the creation of a new plant-human hybrid protein molecule called OptoSTIM1, researchers report.

10K genomes project explores contribution of rare variants to human disease, risk factors Posted: 14 Sep 2015 08:45 AM PDT Rare genetic variants are changes in DNA that are carried only by relatively few people in a population. The UK10K study was designed to explore the contribution of these rare genetic variants to human disease and its risk factors. The largest population genome sequencing effort to date has been published.

Racial disparities in pain of children with appendicitis in EDs Posted: 14 Sep 2015 08:45 AM PDT Black children were less likely to receive any pain medication for moderate pain and less likely to receive opioids for severe pain than white children in a study of racial disparities in the pain management of children with appendicitis in emergency departments, according to an article.

Rating hospital readmissions Posted: 14 Sep 2015 08:45 AM PDT The clinical and social characteristics of a hospital's patient population explain 50 percent of the difference in readmission rates between the best- and the worst-performing hospitals, a new report suggests.

Low vitamin D among elderly associated with decline in cognition, dementia Posted: 14 Sep 2015 08:45 AM PDT Vitamin D insufficiency among the elderly is highly correlated with accelerated cognitive decline and impaired performance, particularly in domains such as memory loss that are associated with Alzheimer's disease and dementia, researchers have found.

Three new studies converge on promising new target for addiction treatment Posted: 14 Sep 2015 08:05 AM PDT Three studies implicating metabotropic glutamate receptor 2 (mGluR2) as a new molecular target for the treatment of addiction have been published simultaneously.

'Life's Simple 7' and diabetes care program reduce risk of heart failure Posted: 14 Sep 2015 08:05 AM PDT One in four middle-aged adults who survive to age 85 will develop heart failure, according to current estimates. Intervention programs to improve lifestyles are widely advocated, but do they actually work? Investigators in the US and Taiwan independently examined programs that may reduce cardiovascular risk and concluded that both programs will reduce lifetime risk of heart failure.

Drug resistance in cancer patients linked to oxygen-bearing molecules in body, study finds Posted: 14 Sep 2015 07:29 AM PDT Increased levels of certain chemically reactive, oxygen-containing molecules in the body can cause patients to become resistant to cancer drugs such as chemotherapy, according to researchers.

Smokers at higher risk of losing their teeth, research shows Posted: 14 Sep 2015 07:28 AM PDT Regular smokers have a significantly increased risk of tooth loss, a new study has confirmed. Male smokers are up to 3.6 times more likely to lose their teeth than non-smokers, whereas female smokers were found to be 2.5 times more likely.

Does social capital explain community-level differences in organ donor designation? Posted: 14 Sep 2015 07:27 AM PDT The characteristics of one's community may be as important as individual factors on the decision to become an organ donor, a new study has found. The research shows an association between social capital and organ donor registrations. To increase donations, the research suggests that future health policies adopt a community-level focus.

Switched before birth: Study shows protein creates tumor-fighting cells Posted: 14 Sep 2015 07:27 AM PDT Revealing a biological combat strategy worthy of a five-star general, researchers have shown how a cell surface receptor -- a specialized protein which communicates signals between a cell and the outside world -- can mobilize immune cells to attack, rather than protect, malignant tumors.

Nutritional deficiencies common before weight loss surgery Posted: 14 Sep 2015 07:27 AM PDT Malnutrition is a known complication of weight loss surgery, but findings from a small study show many obese people may be malnourished before they undergo the procedure.

Optogenetics: Light switch generates cellular second messenger Posted: 14 Sep 2015 06:32 AM PDT Optogenetics is a quickly expanding field of research which has revolutionized neurobiological and cellbiological research around the world. It uses natural or tailored light-sensitive proteins in order to switch nerve cells on and off without electrodes with unprecedented accuracy in respect to time and location. The discovery of the light-gated ion channel channelrhodopsin in algae in 2002 was a key finding for this field.

Protein NBS1 crucial for macrophage functional activity Posted: 14 Sep 2015 06:31 AM PDT Protein NBS1, which plays a key role in DNA damage repair, is required for macrophage functional activity, researchers explain. The protein also has implications for understanding the immune defects observed in patients with Nijmegen breakage syndrome and other related disorders.

Perfect swimming strokes? Boost sports performance with wearable technology Posted: 14 Sep 2015 06:31 AM PDT Scientists have developed wearable technology for improving sports performance. Wearable sensors can be attached to, say, a swimmer's hand paddles or an archers' equipment. From there, data is wirelessly transferred to the coach's smartphone or tablet. The sensors embedded in the paddles provide surprisingly precise and varied data on the wearer's swimming technique. This covers stroke length and changes in it during swimming, the relationship between the outward stroke and recovery, the structure of the stroke and the average pull, the hand position and the pressure exerted by the stroke in different directions.

Strategies to decrease bacterial colonization Posted: 14 Sep 2015 06:31 AM PDT Among the bacterial infections that are most difficult to treat, chronic infections associated with bacterial biofilms are one of the most hazardous. Bacterial biofilms are densely packed communities of microbial cells surrounded with secreted polymers. A chemist's new doctoral thesis has studied ways to decrease the bacterial colonization.

Long sleep and high blood copper levels go hand in hand Posted: 14 Sep 2015 06:30 AM PDT People who sleep fewer than 6 hours or more than 10 hours per night suffer from low-grade inflammation more often than people who sleep 7-8 hours per night. Earlier studies have found a relation between reduced sleep and low-grade inflammation, according to one of the study researchers. Furthermore, low-grade inflammation occurs in overweight, depression and diabetes. This new study is the first to analyze the association between sleep duration and serum micronutrient concentrations in a large sample, and it found a link between high serum copper concentration and long sleep duration.

Alzheimer's-disease-related proteases control axonal guidance by regulating growth cone dynamics Posted: 14 Sep 2015 06:30 AM PDT BACE1 is the major drug target for Alzheimer's disease, but we know surprisingly little about its normal function in the central nervous system (CNS). Researchers now show that this protease is critically involved in axonal guidance processes in thalamic and hippocampal neurons.

Researchers work to improve antibiotic effectiveness Posted: 14 Sep 2015 06:28 AM PDT A new group of antibiotics has been discovered that may provide relief to some of the more than two million people in the United States affected by antibiotic resistance.

Elephants born when mothers are stressed age faster, produce fewer offspring Posted: 14 Sep 2015 06:28 AM PDT Elephants born into stressful situations have fewer offspring and age faster, researchers have found. The scientists investigating how the process of aging affects animals made the discovery after being given access to a unique record of the lives and deaths of more than 10,000 elephants from Myanmar spanning three generations and almost a century.

Pedaling like a Tour de France winner is a losing strategy for most of us Posted: 14 Sep 2015 06:28 AM PDT Pedaling like Chris Froome or Alberto Contador might seem appealing, but researchers have found that for most of us it's likely to reduce rather than improve our cycling performance. That's an incidental finding from a project aimed at improving calculations estimating VO2Max, a common measure of aerobic fitness.

Swinging on 'monkey bars': Motor proteins caught in the act Posted: 14 Sep 2015 06:28 AM PDT The first images of motor proteins in action have been released by scientists. These proteins are vital to complex life, forming the transport infrastructure that allows different parts of cells to specialize in particular functions. Until now, the way they move has never been directly observed.

Mediterranean diet plus olive oil associated with reduced breast cancer risk Posted: 14 Sep 2015 06:28 AM PDT Eating a Mediterranean diet supplemented with extra virgin olive oil was associated with a relatively lower risk of breast cancer in a study of women in Spain, according to a new article.

Treatment protocol improves outcomes for infants with neonatal abstinence syndrome Posted: 14 Sep 2015 06:28 AM PDT A new protocol to treat babies born in withdrawal from drugs can be used widely to improve outcomes for these babies. The protocol reduces length of stay and the duration of treatment with opioids that are used therapeutically to wean babies off of drugs.

Social factors may impact young leukemia patients' survival Posted: 14 Sep 2015 06:28 AM PDT A new study reveals that insurance status, marital status, and county-level income may affect the chances of survival in young patients with acute myelogenous leukemia.

Study links marijuana use to poor blood sugar control in middle age Posted: 13 Sep 2015 08:33 PM PDT Current and former users of marijuana are more likely to have prediabetes -- the state of poor blood sugar control that can progress to type 2 diabetes -- than never users of marijuana. However the researchers failed to establish a direct link between marijuana use and type 2 diabetes.

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