ScienceDaily: Health & Medicine News

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• New survey on American attitudes toward Zika virus finds limited awareness or concern
• Methods used to create textiles also could help manufacture human tissues
• Nanoparticles show promise for treating intestinal inflammation, study finds
• No more broken hearts
• Function of mysterious RNAs may often lie in their genes
• New predictive tool for assessing breast cancer risk
• Safer stem cell-derived therapy for brain radiation recovery
• New understanding on how fundamental DNA sequences govern gene activity
• Fresh insights into early human embryo development
• Fruit flies live longer on lithium
• Modern men lack Y chromosome genes from Neanderthals
• HIV can develop resistance to CRISPR/Cas9
• Run for your life: Exercise protects against cancer
• Open operations for gallbladder removal drop 90 percent at 1 institution over 30 years
• Gray matter abnormality predicts neurodevelopmental problems in smaller premature babies
• Ensuring the integrity of our genetic material during reproduction
• Study suggests epiregulin as target in lung cancer
• Drop in body temperature linked to aging aggravates manifestations of Alzheimer's disease
• Middle-aged adults with hearing loss have substantially higher health care costs
• Study shows effectiveness of earplugs in preventing temporary hearing loss after loud music
• 'Liquid biopsy' blood test detects genetic mutations in common form of lung cancer
• Treating sugar addiction like drug abuse
• Radiation therapy chemotherapy combination improves survival in adults with low-grade brain cancer
• Researchers combine drugs to develop a new treatment for human parainfluenza virus
• Protein SIRT5 linked to healthy heart function
• Protein may be responsible for damage in eosinophilic esophagitis, study finds
• Canadian innovation for killing mosquito eggs could help Zika fight
• Rheumatology community responds to FDA approval of Inflectra (Infliximab-dyyb), a Biosimilar to Remicade
• Study finds WIC food improves preschool children's diet quality
• Research into correlation between beauty and body size shows that women are harshest judges, and harshest judged
• Osteoarthritis: Carbohydrate-binding protein promotes inflammation
• Public understanding of genetics can reduce stereotypes
• Public doesn't understand 'overdiagnosis'
• Alcohol related deaths are likely to increase after cuts in alcohol taxation
• Study raises questions over timing of heart shocks in resuscitation guidelines
• Food should be labelled with 'activity equivalent' calorie information
• Crab shell signaling helps control the many faces of cholera, study shows
• Scientists find novel metabolic twist that drives cancer survival
• Higher levels of vitamin D correspond to lower cancer risk
• Ring-shaped sugar helps in cases of atherosclerosis
• Factors associated with good heart health may also protect kidneys
• Epilepsy drug may not increase risk of birth defects

New survey on American attitudes toward Zika virus finds limited awareness or concern Posted: 07 Apr 2016 12:07 PM PDT A surve finds that three-quarters of Americans who have heard at least a little about the Zika virus are aware that the virus is linked to birth defects in babies born to infected mothers. However, the survey found that most Americans are unclear about the availability of tests to diagnose Zika and whether or not preventative vaccines and effective medicines exist to treat it.

Methods used to create textiles also could help manufacture human tissues Posted: 07 Apr 2016 12:07 PM PDT Tissue engineering is a process that uses novel biomaterials seeded with stem cells to grow and replace missing tissues. When certain types of materials are used, the 'scaffold' that are created to hold stem cells eventually degrade, leaving natural tissue in its place. Scientists have recently tested new methods to make the process of tissue engineering more cost effective and producible in larger quantities.

Nanoparticles show promise for treating intestinal inflammation, study finds Posted: 07 Apr 2016 12:07 PM PDT Nanoparticles designed to block a cell-surface molecule that plays a key role in inflammation could be a safe treatment for inflammatory bowel disease, according to researchers.

No more broken hearts Posted: 07 Apr 2016 12:07 PM PDT The genetic mechanisms underlying the development of the coronary atherosclerosis has been investigated. Results show potential value for estimating the risk of the myocardial infarction, say researchers.

Function of mysterious RNAs may often lie in their genes Posted: 07 Apr 2016 12:07 PM PDT Scientists have determined that one prominent long non-coding RNA may be a 'red herring,' with no evident biological role to play -- whereas the DNA from which it originates does perform an important function, as an 'enhancer' that stimulates the expression of an important protein-coding gene nearby.

New predictive tool for assessing breast cancer risk Posted: 07 Apr 2016 12:06 PM PDT Women were five times as likely to develop cancer if they had a higher percentage of Ki67, a molecular marker that identifies proliferating cells, in the cells that line the mammary ducts and milk-producing lobules, researchers have shown. These cells, called the mammary epithelium, undergo drastic changes throughout a woman's life, and the majority of breast cancers originate in these tissues.

Safer stem cell-derived therapy for brain radiation recovery Posted: 07 Apr 2016 12:06 PM PDT While stem cells have shown promise for treating brain regions damaged by cancer radiation treatments, researchers have found that microscopic vesicles isolated from these cells provide similar benefits without some of the risks associated with stem cells.

New understanding on how fundamental DNA sequences govern gene activity Posted: 07 Apr 2016 10:23 AM PDT Researchers have shed new light on how the structure of regulatory sequences in DNA is packaged in a cell. This work has implications for better understanding the role that gene sequences called enhancers play within our DNA for governing gene activity.

Fresh insights into early human embryo development Posted: 07 Apr 2016 10:23 AM PDT A detailed molecular analysis of the embryo's first week of development has been conducted by scientists. Their results show that there are considerable differences in embryonic development between humans and mice, which is the most common organism of study in this field.

Fruit flies live longer on lithium Posted: 07 Apr 2016 10:23 AM PDT Fruit flies live 16 percent longer than average when given low doses of the mood stabilizer lithium, according to a study. How lithium stabilizes mood is poorly understood but when the scientists investigated how it prolongs the lives of flies, they discovered a new drug target that could slow aging -- a molecule called glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3).

Modern men lack Y chromosome genes from Neanderthals Posted: 07 Apr 2016 10:23 AM PDT The Neanderthal counterpart of the human Y chromosome, or male sex chromosome, appears to have died out. Why this happened is up for debate.

HIV can develop resistance to CRISPR/Cas9 Posted: 07 Apr 2016 10:23 AM PDT The CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing platform may need more tweaking before it can be used as an effective antiviral, reports a new study. Researchers who used CRISPR/Cas9 to mutate HIV-1 within cellular DNA found that while single mutations can inhibit viral replication, some also led to unexpected resistance. The researchers believe targeting multiple viral DNA regions may be necessary for the potential antiviral aspect of CRISPR/Cas9 to be effective.

Run for your life: Exercise protects against cancer Posted: 07 Apr 2016 09:14 AM PDT When you're pounding along an icy pavement or sweating through a gym workout, you try to remind yourself of the many health benefits of exercise. Between gasps, you can say that a healthy, fit lifestyle helps prevents obesity, a worldwide problem of increasing magnitude that has been linked to cardiovascular disease and diabetes. But here's one more—exercise may decrease cancer incidence and slow the growth rate of tumors.

Open operations for gallbladder removal drop 90 percent at 1 institution over 30 years Posted: 07 Apr 2016 09:00 AM PDT While minimally invasive surgical techniques have made operations easier and recovery time faster, there is a downside: surgical residents today aren't acquiring certain operative skills, according to a new study.

Gray matter abnormality predicts neurodevelopmental problems in smaller premature babies Posted: 07 Apr 2016 08:59 AM PDT A new study has explored a more objective system for scoring MRIs -- and in the process found that an often unreported abnormality of the brain's gray matter can indicate future impairment.

Ensuring the integrity of our genetic material during reproduction Posted: 07 Apr 2016 08:59 AM PDT The genetic information we receive from our parents in the form of chromosomes are mosaics assembled from the two copies of chromosomes each parent has. How such cuts -- or breaks -- in our genetic material are repaired is the research interest of a team of researchers whose findings give important insights into the processes that ensure the integrity of our genetic material, preventing genetic disease and cancer development.

Study suggests epiregulin as target in lung cancer Posted: 07 Apr 2016 08:59 AM PDT A new potential biomarker and target has been identified in lung cancer, namely epiregulin, an under-studied EGF-like growth factor. This discovery led researchers to question whether this upregulation was happenstance, correlative, or in fact causative in the disease.

Drop in body temperature linked to aging aggravates manifestations of Alzheimer's disease Posted: 07 Apr 2016 08:59 AM PDT The drop in body temperature associated with aging could aggravate the main manifestations of Alzheimer's, suggests a study. Although the phenomenon was demonstrated using transgenic mice, researchers believe that the findings are convincing enough to warrant further investigation in humans.

Middle-aged adults with hearing loss have substantially higher health care costs Posted: 07 Apr 2016 08:59 AM PDT The costs of health care have been compared for a matched group of privately insured individuals with and without a diagnosis of hearing loss. Study results indicate that those with hearing loss have much higher health care costs overall.

Study shows effectiveness of earplugs in preventing temporary hearing loss after loud music Posted: 07 Apr 2016 08:59 AM PDT The effectiveness of earplugs in preventing temporary hearing loss immediately following music exposure has been assessed by a team that reports that yes, in fact, the use of earplugs can be of benefit.

'Liquid biopsy' blood test detects genetic mutations in common form of lung cancer Posted: 07 Apr 2016 08:59 AM PDT A simple blood test can rapidly and accurately detect mutations in two key genes in non-small cell lung tumors, researchers report in a new study, demonstrating the test's potential as a clinical tool for identifying patients who can benefit from drugs targeting those mutations.

Treating sugar addiction like drug abuse Posted: 07 Apr 2016 08:18 AM PDT Millions of people globally are overweight or obese and sugar is considered a major factor. Now a world-first game-changing study suggests drugs used to treat tobacco addiction could work for sugar addiction too.

Radiation therapy chemotherapy combination improves survival in adults with low-grade brain cancer Posted: 07 Apr 2016 08:18 AM PDT Patients with a low-grade type of brain tumor called glioma who received radiation therapy plus a chemotherapy regimen, including procarbazine, lomustine and vincristine (PCV), experienced a longer progression-free survival and overall survival than patients who received radiation therapy alone, according to the results of the clinical trial.

Researchers combine drugs to develop a new treatment for human parainfluenza virus Posted: 07 Apr 2016 08:18 AM PDT A promising discovery has been made in the treatment and prevention of human parainfluenza virus. Scientists have shown that two existing drugs readily available on the market can work together to more effectively treat the virus.

Protein SIRT5 linked to healthy heart function Posted: 07 Apr 2016 08:18 AM PDT A strong connection between a protein, SIRT5, and healthy heart function has been identified by researchers. SIRT5 has the ability to remove a harmful protein modification known as lysine succinylation, which robs the heart of its ability to burn fatty acids efficiently to generate the energy needed for pumping.

Protein may be responsible for damage in eosinophilic esophagitis, study finds Posted: 07 Apr 2016 08:17 AM PDT Scientists have identified a protein that may be the cause of tissue damage in patients with eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE). EoE is a food allergy-related disease in which white blood cells called eosinophils accumulate in the esophagus, often causing difficult or painful swallowing, nausea, vomiting and poor growth in children and adults. Further understanding of the role of this protein, calpain 14, may lead to potential therapies for EoE.

Canadian innovation for killing mosquito eggs could help Zika fight Posted: 07 Apr 2016 08:15 AM PDT Innovators have successfully tested a low cost, environmentally-friendly way of destroying the eggs of the mosquito genus that spreads dengue, and likely spreading the Zika virus.The 10-month study, conducted in Guatemala, shows the successful development and implementation of a cheap, easy system to reduce virus-carrying Aedes genus mosquitoes by capturing and destroying its eggs.

Rheumatology community responds to FDA approval of Inflectra (Infliximab-dyyb), a Biosimilar to Remicade Posted: 07 Apr 2016 06:35 AM PDT The ACR has issued an official statement regarding the FDA's approval of Inflectra (infliximab-dyyb), a biosimilar to Remicade. Inflectra is the first biosimilar to receive approval in the U.S. for the treatment of rheumatic diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis.

Study finds WIC food improves preschool children's diet quality Posted: 07 Apr 2016 06:35 AM PDT In 2009, more fruits, vegetables, whole grains and low-fat milk were included in the food voucher package provided by USDA's Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC). As a result, the diet quality improved for the roughly 4 million children who are served by WIC, according to a study.

Research into correlation between beauty and body size shows that women are harshest judges, and harshest judged Posted: 07 Apr 2016 06:29 AM PDT In assessing attractiveness, females judge men and women with higher BMI as less attractive, a new research study concludes. Additionally, men do not judge a man with a higher weight negatively, but still see heavier women as less attractive. This is the first study of its kind to assess the relationship between gender, BMI and notion of 'attractiveness', providing insight into associated wage inequality.

Osteoarthritis: Carbohydrate-binding protein promotes inflammation Posted: 07 Apr 2016 06:29 AM PDT More and more people, particularly older people, are suffering from osteoarthritis due to wear and tear on their joints. This primarily affects the knee and hip joints but also the spine. In earlier studies, scientists showed that raised levels of certain proteins, so-called galectins, and their docking sites are found in patients with osteoarthritis. However, until now, their role in osteoarthritis was largely unknown.

Public understanding of genetics can reduce stereotypes Posted: 07 Apr 2016 05:37 AM PDT Genetic attributions strongly shape perceptions of whether a person's sexual orientation could change and likely made same-sex marriage and other policies more widely acceptable in the past decade.

Public doesn't understand 'overdiagnosis' Posted: 06 Apr 2016 05:25 PM PDT More than two-thirds of 50-70 year olds involved in a survey have never heard of overdiagnosis and less than three per cent could correctly explain what it is, according to a study in the U.K.

Alcohol related deaths are likely to increase after cuts in alcohol taxation Posted: 06 Apr 2016 05:24 PM PDT Alcohol related deaths are most likely set to increase in England as incomes outstrip rises in taxation, argue experts. This prediction is based on the researchers' analysis of trends in alcohol related harm in the context of changes in the alcohol marketplace, in turn driven by changes in fiscal policy.

Study raises questions over timing of heart shocks in resuscitation guidelines Posted: 06 Apr 2016 05:24 PM PDT Two studies evaluate treatments for patients with cardiac arrest in hospital. Guidelines previously called for "stacked" shocks with minimal time delay between defibrillation attempts. But in 2005 the guidelines were revised to recommend deferring a second attempt at defibrillation to allow time for chest compressions. However, data on the effect of these changes on survival for patients with cardiac arrest in hospital are lacking.

Food should be labelled with 'activity equivalent' calorie information Posted: 06 Apr 2016 05:24 PM PDT Food should be labelled with the equivalent exercise to expend its calories to help people change their behavior, argues an expert. Symbols could show the minutes of several different physical activities that would be equivalent in calories expended to the calories in the product, she explains.

Crab shell signaling helps control the many faces of cholera, study shows Posted: 06 Apr 2016 01:54 PM PDT A new study of more than 50 samples of Vibrio cholerae isolated from both patients and the environment demonstrates the diversity and resourcefulness of the organism.

Scientists find novel metabolic twist that drives cancer survival Posted: 06 Apr 2016 01:54 PM PDT A novel metabolic pathway that helps cancer cells thrive in conditions that are lethal to normal cells has been identified by a team of researchers. The study reveals that cancer cells use an alternate version of two well-known metabolic pathways called the pentose phosphate pathway (PPP) and the Krebs cycle to defend against toxins. The toxins are reactive oxygen species (ROS) that kill cells via oxidative stress.

Higher levels of vitamin D correspond to lower cancer risk Posted: 06 Apr 2016 01:52 PM PDT Researchers report that higher levels of vitamin D -- specifically serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D -- are associated with a correspondingly reduced risk of cancer.

Ring-shaped sugar helps in cases of atherosclerosis Posted: 06 Apr 2016 01:52 PM PDT Hardened and inflamed arteries, atherosclerosis, can be very dangerous. The consequences of atherosclerosis are among the most common causes of death in industrialized nations; in particular heart attacks and strokes. Crystalline cholesterol can contribute to this life-threatening inflammation in the arteries. An international research team of immunologists and cardiologists has now discovered that the ring-shaped sugar known as 'cyclodextrin' can prevent and even reduce these dangerous cholesterol deposits.

Factors associated with good heart health may also protect kidneys Posted: 06 Apr 2016 01:52 PM PDT Middle-aged adults who scored well on the American Heart Association's Life's Simple 7 checklist were less likely to develop chronic kidney disease than those with low scores. Not smoking, maintaining a healthy weight, exercising, blood pressure control and having healthy blood sugar levels were all associated with a lower risk of chronic kidney disease.

Epilepsy drug may not increase risk of birth defects Posted: 06 Apr 2016 01:52 PM PDT Babies born to pregnant women taking the epilepsy drug lamotrigine may not be at an increased risk of birth defects, such as cleft lip, cleft palate or clubfoot, according to a study.

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