ScienceDaily: Health & Medicine News

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• What will emerging genetic tools for mitochondrial DNA replacement mean for patients?
• Using thin or obese avatars in motion-controlled gaming can influence physical activity
• Novel cancer treatment developed to inhibit chemo-resistance
• Want to be seen as a leader? Get some muscle
• Keeping mind active may delay symptoms of Alzheimer's, but not underlying disease
• How does COPD care by physicians compare with nurse practitioners/physician assistants?
• Immune cells don't always ward off carbon nano invaders
• Ketamine for the difficult-to-sedate ER patient
• Pancreatic cancer is four diseases, each with new treatment possibilities
• Genetic counseling helps psychiatric patients, study shows
• Financial engineering could make life-saving drugs more available, affordable
• Zika epidemic highlights need for priority vaccine research for pregnant women
• Unconventional treatment strategy controls -- rather than eradicates -- cancer
• Laser treatment may boost effectiveness of brain tumor drugs
• Study examines heart structure, function of NBA players
• Short-lived killifish reveals link between gene expression, longevity
• New research challenges Darwin, shows how a gene cheats Mendel's law of segregation
• Can gaming mend damaged brains?
• Cardiologists use 3-D printing to personalize treatment for heart disease
• Researchers fight aplastic anemia using a therapy designed to delay ageing
• Simpler technique yields antibodies to a range of infectious agents
• Consumers have huge environmental impact
• Omega-3 fatty acids may lower breast cancer risk in postmenopausal obese women
• Attention bias modification treatment in depressed adolescents
• Research pinpoints devastating impacts of fetal alcohol syndrome
• Could a bacteria-killing protein lead to a new treatment for diabetes?
• Regulation of Parkinson's disease inflammatory responses by a MicroRNA
• New way to reduce plant lignin could lead to cheaper biofuels
• Sounds can help develop speech, gestures in children with autism
• Genetically engineered immune cell therapy found to boost survival in mice with brain tumors
• Impaired immune response as cause of rare autoimmune diseases
• Stress wakes up sleeping herpes viruses – but how?
• Dopamine signaling pathway that controls cocaine reward in mice identified
• Therapy to stop premature birth safe but ineffective, study finds
• Tackling Zika using bacteria as a Trojan horse
• Increased demand for 'vaginal seeding' from new parents, despite lack of evidence
• More hands-on training for doctors required if policy changes
• 'Squishiness' can indicate embryo viability, researchers find
• Scientists tune switch for contraction to fix heart disease
• DNA 'Trojan horse' smuggles drugs into resistant cancer cells
• Tracking worm sex drive, neuron by neuron
• High-dose statin before, after cardiac surgery does not reduce risk of kidney injury
• Migraine, tension headaches and irritable bowel syndrome linked?
• Frozen section analysis for breast cancer could save time, anxiety
• Better visual, video skills can lead to earlier, more accurate movement disorder diagnoses
• Zolodrenic acid can prevent early bone loss in HIV patients on antiretroviral therapy
• Option B+ to prevent maternal transmission of HIV shows rise in women initiating therapy
• World's large river deltas continue to degrade from human activity
• Alcohol exposure during pregnancy affects multiple generations

What will emerging genetic tools for mitochondrial DNA replacement mean for patients? Posted: 24 Feb 2016 07:31 PM PST Sophisticated prenatal techniques, not yet in clinical practice, offer the potential to prevent a cruel multi-system genetic disease passing from mother to child long before birth. But emerging mitochondrial replacement techniques (MRTs) raise ethical and social questions about potential risks and consequences for patients, families and clinicians.

Using thin or obese avatars in motion-controlled gaming can influence physical activity Posted: 24 Feb 2016 01:44 PM PST A recent study found that gamers using thin avatars showed increased physical activity compared to those using obese avatars.

Novel cancer treatment developed to inhibit chemo-resistance Posted: 24 Feb 2016 01:43 PM PST Many patients develop resistance to standard therapies and eventually relapse. Now researchers hope to improve treatment outcomes with development of a novel therapeutic strategy, called adaptive therapy, which is based on evolutionary principals and aims to keep resistant cells in check by maintaining a population of chemo-sensitive cells.

Want to be seen as a leader? Get some muscle Posted: 24 Feb 2016 01:43 PM PST Forget intelligence or wisdom. A muscular physique might just be a more important attribute when it comes to judging a person's leadership potential, according to a new study.

Keeping mind active may delay symptoms of Alzheimer's, but not underlying disease Posted: 24 Feb 2016 01:43 PM PST People who keep mentally and physically healthy in middle age may help stave off the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease, but the activity does not affect the underlying disease changes in the brain for most people, according to a new study.

How does COPD care by physicians compare with nurse practitioners/physician assistants? Posted: 24 Feb 2016 12:14 PM PST Researchers investigated differences in care given to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients by medical doctors compared with nurse practitioners and physician assistants, and report their findings in a new article.

Immune cells don't always ward off carbon nano invaders Posted: 24 Feb 2016 12:14 PM PST Scientists have found evidence that some carbon nanomaterials can enter into immune cell membranes, seemingly going undetected by the cell's built-in mechanisms for engulfing and disposing of foreign material, and then escape through some unidentified pathway.

Ketamine for the difficult-to-sedate ER patient Posted: 24 Feb 2016 12:10 PM PST For the small segment of the emergency population whose acute behavioral disturbance does not respond to traditional sedation, ketamine appears to be effective and safe, according to a new study.

Pancreatic cancer is four diseases, each with new treatment possibilities Posted: 24 Feb 2016 12:08 PM PST A study on the genetics of pancreatic cancer reveals that it is actually four separate diseases, with different genetic triggers and survival rates, paving the way for more accurate diagnoses and treatments.

Genetic counseling helps psychiatric patients, study shows Posted: 24 Feb 2016 12:08 PM PST Genetic counseling helps patients with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and similar conditions understand and cope with their illness, a new study concludes. The study is among the first to show the value of genetic counseling for psychiatric illnesses, and researchers say that the service should be made more available to people suffering from mental illness.

Financial engineering could make life-saving drugs more available, affordable Posted: 24 Feb 2016 12:07 PM PST Stratospheric costs for therapies not yet covered by insurance put some drugs out of reach for many patients. This study shows how securitized consumer health-care loans could spread the cost of therapies over many years, giving more patients access to drugs while generating returns to investors.

Zika epidemic highlights need for priority vaccine research for pregnant women Posted: 24 Feb 2016 12:07 PM PST The recent outbreak of Zika virus disease and its link to fetal development highlights the need for pregnant women and those of reproductive age to be a priority group for developing and evaluating new vaccines and vaccine guidelines for Zika and other emerging infectious diseases.

Unconventional treatment strategy controls -- rather than eradicates -- cancer Posted: 24 Feb 2016 11:56 AM PST Can we learn to live with--rather than kill--cancer? A new study suggests that frequent, low-dose chemotherapy that keeps tumor growth under control may be more effective than standard high-dose chemotherapy that seeks to eradicate cancer cells completely.

Laser treatment may boost effectiveness of brain tumor drugs Posted: 24 Feb 2016 11:56 AM PST The human brain has a remarkable defense system that filters bacteria and chemicals. For brain tumor patients, the barrier works almost too well by blocking most chemotherapy drugs.

Study examines heart structure, function of NBA players Posted: 24 Feb 2016 11:56 AM PST An analysis of the cardiac structure and function of more than 500 National Basketball Association (NBA) players provides information that can be incorporated into clinical assessments for the prevention of cardiac emergencies in basketball players and the athletic community at large, according to a study.

Short-lived killifish reveals link between gene expression, longevity Posted: 24 Feb 2016 11:55 AM PST It's well known that genetic differences among individuals influence lifespan, but a new study suggests that differences in patterns of gene expression in youth may also predict longevity. Researchers of the shortest-lived vertebrate -- the African turquoise killifish -- found that when genes involved in a cell's energy production are less active at a young age, the animals tend to live longer.

New research challenges Darwin, shows how a gene cheats Mendel's law of segregation Posted: 24 Feb 2016 10:37 AM PST Copies of the mouse gene R2d2 can spread quickly through lab and wild mouse populations, despite the fact that the genes cause females to have fewer offspring. This is the first time scientists have used mice to show that a selfish gene responsible for infertility can become fixed in a population.

Can gaming mend damaged brains? Posted: 24 Feb 2016 10:35 AM PST First person shooter computer games, such as Medal of Honor, can help rehabilitate patients with Traumatic Brain Injuries, suggests new research.

Cardiologists use 3-D printing to personalize treatment for heart disease Posted: 24 Feb 2016 10:34 AM PST Supercomputers are being used by clinicians to create 3-D models from patients with heart disease, with photos from a camera thinner than a human hair.

Researchers fight aplastic anemia using a therapy designed to delay ageing Posted: 24 Feb 2016 10:34 AM PST A new treatment for aplastic anemia is based on the transport of the telomerase gene to the bone marrow cells using gene therapy, a completely new strategy in the treatment of aplastic anemia.

Simpler technique yields antibodies to a range of infectious agents Posted: 24 Feb 2016 10:29 AM PST An innovative means of investigating membrane proteins produced by a pair of highly pathogenic organisms has been the focus of recent study. The research team showed that DNA-based genetic immunization, using a device known as a gene gun, could successfully express membrane proteins in mice and induce the animals to produce a range of critical antibodies to bacterial and viral targets.

Consumers have huge environmental impact Posted: 24 Feb 2016 10:29 AM PST You won't make big cuts in your environmental impact by taking shorter showers or turning out the lights. The real environmental problem, a new analysis has shown, is embodied in the things you buy.

Omega-3 fatty acids may lower breast cancer risk in postmenopausal obese women Posted: 24 Feb 2016 07:10 AM PST Omega-3 fatty acids may lower the risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal obese women, according to researchers. The protection likely comes from the fatty acids' anti-inflammatory effects, say authors.

Attention bias modification treatment in depressed adolescents Posted: 24 Feb 2016 07:05 AM PST A new study reports that adolescents with major depression who performed a computer-based task designed to shift attention from sad to neutral to positive word associations showed reductions in negative attention biases and clinician-rated depressive symptoms. 11% of American adolescents suffer from Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). Facing a broad range of psychosocial and health problems, these youths are five times more at risk to attempt suicide than peers without psychiatric illness.

Research pinpoints devastating impacts of fetal alcohol syndrome Posted: 24 Feb 2016 07:03 AM PST Children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders are affected by a range of problems, including anxiety, depression, aggression, delinquency and diminished learning capacity a new review of evidence reveals.

Could a bacteria-killing protein lead to a new treatment for diabetes? Posted: 24 Feb 2016 07:03 AM PST Why would a bacteria-killing protein be present in an area of the body that is not normally exposed to bacteria, like the pancreas? Researchers have puzzled over this question for some time, until they eventually discovered that the protein in question was doing something entirely unexpected -- it was actually helping the pancreas regenerate and produce insulin. This ground-breaking discovery could lead to new treatments for diabetes.

Regulation of Parkinson's disease inflammatory responses by a MicroRNA Posted: 24 Feb 2016 04:08 AM PST A small regulatory RNA called microRNA-155 appears to play a key role in the brain inflammation that helps foster Parkinson's disease. This finding, using a mouse model, implicates microRNA-155 as both a potential therapeutic target and biomarker for this progressive neurodegenerative disorder.

New way to reduce plant lignin could lead to cheaper biofuels Posted: 24 Feb 2016 04:08 AM PST For the first time that an enzyme can be tweaked to reduce lignin in plants. Their technique could help lower the cost of converting biomass into carbon-neutral fuels to power your car and other sustainably developed bio-products.

Sounds can help develop speech, gestures in children with autism Posted: 24 Feb 2016 04:06 AM PST Children with autism and other similar conditions often have difficulties in several areas of communication. A new doctoral thesis in linguistics shows that these children can develop speech, gestures and a sense of rhythm and melody by listening to various speech sounds.

Genetically engineered immune cell therapy found to boost survival in mice with brain tumors Posted: 24 Feb 2016 04:05 AM PST A mouse study has demonstrated the potential of a special immune cell that targets a key protein in tumor growth that helps stop brain cancer. Brain cancer comes in many forms, ranging from more easily treatable benign forms that may trigger gradual loss of brain functions, to malignant forms that can in many cases prove fatal. While there have been improvements in the current standard treatments, patients with glioblastoma (GBM), the most common and aggressive form of brain tumor, still suffer from a median survival rate of only 14.6 months and 5-year overall survival rates of less than 10%.

Impaired immune response as cause of rare autoimmune diseases Posted: 24 Feb 2016 04:05 AM PST The effects of infections on the generation of rare autoimmune diseases such as granulomatous polyangiitis (GPA), a systemic disease of the vascular system, have been examined in a new study. The central result: impaired immune response is significantly involved in these diseases.

Stress wakes up sleeping herpes viruses – but how? Posted: 24 Feb 2016 04:05 AM PST Hiding their DNA genome inside the nucleus of the infected cells, the herpes viruses establish a lifelong infection in humans, and they are known to reactivate in response to different kinds of stress. The researchers have now found an important link between cellular stress responses, cell cycle regulation and virus reactivation.

Dopamine signaling pathway that controls cocaine reward in mice identified Posted: 24 Feb 2016 04:05 AM PST A research team has discovered how dopamine controls the brain's response to cocaine. Findings from this study will reveal new insights into dopamine function in the brain.

Therapy to stop premature birth safe but ineffective, study finds Posted: 24 Feb 2016 04:04 AM PST A therapy widely recommended in the UK, Europe and the US to stop babies from being born too soon is ineffective, research shows. Previous research suggested that the therapy - a hormone called progesterone - may stop pregnant women from giving birth early but little was known about its long term effects.

Tackling Zika using bacteria as a Trojan horse Posted: 24 Feb 2016 04:04 AM PST Bacteria in the gut of disease-bearing insects -- including the mosquito which carries the Zika virus -- can be used as a Trojan horse to help control the insects' population, new research has shown. The results showed declines in fertility of up to 100 percent and an increase of 60 percent in the mortality rate of larvae, among the insects studied. The findings offer the prospect of a much more targeted approach to insect control.

Increased demand for 'vaginal seeding' from new parents, despite lack of evidence Posted: 24 Feb 2016 04:04 AM PST Doctors are seeing a rise in the number of parents requesting so-called 'vaginal seeding' for babies born by cesarean section, according to a new article. The practice, which is also known as microbirthing, involves taking a swab from the mother's vagina and wiping this over the baby's mouth, eyes, face and skin shortly after birth by caesarean section. The idea is that vaginal seeding allows a baby born via caesarean section to come into contact with bacteria from the birth canal. The hope is this may boost their gut bacteria, and reduce risk of conditions such as allergies or obesity.

More hands-on training for doctors required if policy changes Posted: 24 Feb 2016 04:04 AM PST Students would benefit from more hands-on training and responsibility, research indicates. The new findings have concluded that medical students should take on greater responsibility for patient care as undergraduates, that assessment methods in clinical practice and professionalism need improvement, and that good practice in postgraduate supervision and support must be shared.

'Squishiness' can indicate embryo viability, researchers find Posted: 24 Feb 2016 04:01 AM PST The squishiness of an hour-old fertilized egg can predict its viability, a metric that could lead to safer, more successful IVF pregnancies, a team of bioengineers and physicians has found.

Scientists tune switch for contraction to fix heart disease Posted: 24 Feb 2016 04:00 AM PST For the first time, scientists have engineered new calcium receptors for the heart to tune the strength of the heartbeat in an animal model. The study showed it can enhance or therapeutically preserve heart function and cardiovascular performance in mice without harmful effects commonly seen with other agents that increase heart muscle contraction.

DNA 'Trojan horse' smuggles drugs into resistant cancer cells Posted: 23 Feb 2016 02:14 PM PST Drug-resistant leukemia cells absorb a drug and die, when the drug is hidden inside a capsule made of folded up DNA, report scientists. In this case, the invading force is a common cancer drug.

Tracking worm sex drive, neuron by neuron Posted: 23 Feb 2016 02:14 PM PST Where and when a male worm will pursue a mate is determined by four male-specific sensory neurons that communicate with synaptic feedback loops to form a decision-making network, report scientists.

High-dose statin before, after cardiac surgery does not reduce risk of kidney injury Posted: 23 Feb 2016 02:14 PM PST Among patients undergoing cardiac surgery, high-dose treatment with atorvastatin before and after surgery did not reduce the overall risk of acute kidney injury compared with placebo, according to study.

Migraine, tension headaches and irritable bowel syndrome linked? Posted: 23 Feb 2016 02:14 PM PST Migraine and tension-type headaches may share genetic links with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), according to a preliminary study recently concluded. Irritable bowel syndrome is the most common gastrointestinal disorder worldwide and affects up to 45 million people in the United States. Many people remain undiagnosed and the exact cause of the chronic condition is not known.

Frozen section analysis for breast cancer could save time, anxiety Posted: 23 Feb 2016 02:14 PM PST When diagnosed with breast cancer, women may have thousands of questions running through their minds, but one they may not have immediately is: Will my choice of provider save me time and money?

Better visual, video skills can lead to earlier, more accurate movement disorder diagnoses Posted: 23 Feb 2016 11:36 AM PST Because there is no definitive blood test or brain scan to confirm a diagnosis of movement disorders like Parkinson's disease, neurologists rely on visual examination to diagnose and track these diseases. Researchers say that even better operate a video camera can make a big difference in the early diagnosis of movement disorders.

Zolodrenic acid can prevent early bone loss in HIV patients on antiretroviral therapy Posted: 23 Feb 2016 11:31 AM PST A single dose of the drug zoledronic acid was found to inhibit the bone loss that is common in HIV-infected patients and that is increased during the first two years of treatment with antiretroviral therapy. Bone loss also leads to a higher rate of fracture in HIV-infected individuals.

Option B+ to prevent maternal transmission of HIV shows rise in women initiating therapy Posted: 23 Feb 2016 11:31 AM PST The first findings from a study in the Kingdom of Swaziland on a new approach to reduce mother to child transmission of HIV have been presented by researchers. These results show that implementation of Option B+ greatly increased the number of women initiating ART and dramatically improved ART coverage among pregnant women.

World's large river deltas continue to degrade from human activity Posted: 23 Feb 2016 10:27 AM PST From the Yellow River in China to the Mississippi River in Louisiana, researchers are racing to better understand and mitigate the degradation of some of the world's most important river deltas.

Alcohol exposure during pregnancy affects multiple generations Posted: 23 Feb 2016 10:25 AM PST When a mother drinks alcohol during pregnancy, even a small dose, she can increase the chances that the next three generations may develop alcoholism, according to a new study. This, the authors say, was the first to investigate the effects of alcohol consumption during pregnancy on alcohol-related behavior (consumption and sensitivity to the effect of alcohol) on generations that were not directly exposed to alcohol in the uterus during the pregnancy.

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