ScienceDaily Health Headlines
for Monday, October 11, 2010
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Conventional theory of modern drug design challenged (October 11, 2010) -- Scientists have uncovered new evidence that challenges the current theory about a process key to the way modern drugs are designed and how they work in the human body. ... > full story
Fragrance exposure: New discovery on the causes of contact allergy (October 11, 2010) -- The fragrances used in many household and skincare products can cause contact allergy when exposed to oxygen in the air, new research from Sweden reveals. ... > full story
Intracellular express: Why transport protein molecules have brakes (October 11, 2010) -- Through single-molecule biomechanical experiments, researchers have revealed in unprecedented detail how an intracellular express delivery service works, and why it is so efficient. With tools including optical tweezers, they manipulated a special type of kinesins, transport proteins that "walk" along intracellular fibers carrying vital substances. They found that of the molecule's two "legs" -- made of two different protein chains -- one puts the brakes on its uninhibited partner when there's no cargo attached. ... > full story
Combining medication and psychosocial treatments may benefit patients with early-stage schizophrenia (October 11, 2010) -- Patients with early-stage schizophrenia who receive a combination of medication and a psychosocial intervention appear less likely to discontinue treatment or relapse -- and may have improved insight, quality of life and social functioning -- than those taking medication alone, according to a new article. ... > full story
Hepatitis C virus infection linked to fat enzyme in liver cells (October 11, 2010) -- Scientists have found that an enzyme associated with the storage of fat in the liver is required for the infectious activity of the hepatitis C virus (HCV). This discovery may offer a new strategy for treating the infection. ... > full story
Monitoring your health with your mobile phone (October 11, 2010) -- Researchers in Belgium have developed a mobile heart monitoring system that allows to view your electrocardiogram on an Android mobile phone. The innovation is a low-power interface that transmits signals from a wireless ECG (electrocardiogram or heart monitoring)-sensor system to an android mobile phone. ... > full story
Tapping p53 to kill cancer cells more effectively while sparing normal cells (October 11, 2010) -- A new finding by researchers in Singapore makes a unique method of cancer treatment now feasible. Their work offers new insight on how to tap on the properties of p53, the "guardian of the genome," to kill cancer cells more effectively while sparing normal cells. ... > full story
Ultra-endurance athletes suffer no cardiac fatigue, even after six days of non-stop exercise, Swedish study finds (October 11, 2010) -- In a study aimed at understanding the effect of prolonged exercise on the heart, researchers in Sweden studied a group of competitors taking part in the Adventure Racing World Championship. The results show no evidence of cardiac fatigue despite the fact that this is a continuous endurance event lasting between five and seven days. ... > full story
People blind from birth use visual brain area to improve other senses: Can hear and feel with greater acuity (October 10, 2010) -- People who have been blind from birth make use of the visual parts of their brain to refine their sensation of sound and touch, according to an international team of researchers. ... > full story
Cell survival protein discovery rewrites immune system story (October 10, 2010) -- A discovery by researchers in Australia is set to rewrite a long-held belief about how the body's immune system establishes its memory. ... > full story
Deceitful lily fools flies: Solomon's lily imitates a yeasty odor to lure vinegar flies into a trap (October 10, 2010) -- Scientists in Germany have solved a case of fraud that has been pending for 40 million years. Arum palaestinum, called the Solomon's lily, attracts vinegar flies as pollinators by emitting odor molecules that resemble those produced during alcoholic fermentation of rotting fruit initiated by yeast. The plant accomplishes the illusion of yeast by producing specific chemicals that create the impression of fermentation in the fly brain. ... > full story
Common prostate cancer treatment associated with bone decay (October 10, 2010) -- Using novel technology allowing "virtual bone biopsies" researchers have found that a common treatment for prostate cancer called androgen deprivation therapy is associated with structural decay of cortical and trabecular bone. ... > full story
Direct-to-consumer genetic tests need innovative oversight, experts say (October 10, 2010) -- Direct-to-consumer genetic tests available from retailers and the Internet let people learn about their genomes without going to a doctor, but they raise the question of who is responsible for oversight and regulation of these tests. Critics worry about safety risks if consumers base important lifestyle or medical decisions on test results. A group of researchers believes the solution will require an innovative approach that combines pre-market studies with ongoing post-market evaluations. ... > full story
Researchers confirm prenatal heart defects in spinal muscular atrophy cases (October 10, 2010) -- Researchers believe they have found a critical piece of the puzzle for the treatment of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) -- the leading genetic cause of infantile death in the world. Nearly one in 6,000 births has SMA, and it is estimated that nearly one in 30 to 40 people have the trait that leads to SMA. ... > full story
Targeted therapy promising for HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer (October 10, 2010) -- A new type of breast cancer treatment has shown encouraging activity as a first-line therapy in HER2-positive metastatic disease, researchers report. ... > full story
Autistic children are not good at covering up their lies, study shows (October 10, 2010) -- Children with autism will tell white lies to protect other people's feelings and they are not very good at covering up their lies, according to a new study. The study is one of the first scientific studies of lying and autism. ... > full story
New bacterial foe in cystic fibrosis identified (October 10, 2010) -- Exacerbations in cystic fibrosis, or CF, may be linked to chronic infection with a bacterium called Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, which was previously thought to simply colonize the CF lung. The finding that chronic infection with S. maltophilia is independently linked with an increased risk of exacerbations gives clinicians and researchers a new potential measure of the health status of CF patients, as well as a new potential target in fighting their disease. ... > full story
Children's agitation after surgery may be preventable (October 10, 2010) -- Temporary combativeness after surgery -- a complication affecting up to half of anesthetized children -- may be preventable with drugs that decrease epinephrine production, according to a pediatric anesthesiologist. ... > full story
Studying illnesses caused by worms: Scientists are learning how immune cells communicate (October 10, 2010) -- A billion people living in underdeveloped areas around the world are infected with parasitic helminthes, worms that survive by residing in and feeding on their hosts. Biomedical researchers are investigating illnesses caused by these gut-dwelling worms in an effort to decipher how immune cells send and receive signals that determine the specific immune response to mount. ... > full story
Early lung cancer detection: Optical technology shows potential for prescreening patients at high risk (October 9, 2010) -- Early detection is critical for improving cancer survival rates. Yet, one of the deadliest cancers in the United States, lung cancer, is notoriously difficult to detect in its early stages. Now, researchers have developed a method to detect lung cancer by merely shining diffuse light on cells swabbed from patients' cheeks. ... > full story
Prediction of epileptic seizures by analyzing brain waves (October 9, 2010) -- Physicists, physicians and neuroscientists took a step towards the ambitious goal of predicting epileptic seizures. ... > full story
Microfluidic devices advance 3-D tissue engineering (October 9, 2010) -- A new method that generates three-dimensional (3-D) tissue models for studying bacterial infection of orthopedic implants has been developed. ... > full story
DNA repair capacity identified those at high risk for non-melanoma skin cancer (October 9, 2010) -- DNA repair capacity measurements effectively identified individuals who were at high risk for non-melanoma skin cancer, and may be a useful method to evaluate the efficacy of preventive therapies, according to new findings. ... > full story
Blind inventors develop free software to enable the blind to use computers (October 9, 2010) -- Inventors have developed free, open-source software to enable blind people to use computers. For many blind people, computers are inaccessible. It can cost upwards of 00 to purchase "screen reader" software, but two blind computer programmers have solved this problem. ... > full story
Alienated youths are more likely to lash out, study finds (October 9, 2010) -- When people are rejected by peers, they often lash out. In children, that aggression occasionally takes horrifying directions, leading to school shootings or other deadly acts. Researchers in the Netherlands found that some children are more likely than others to lash out in response to acute peer rejection: children who already feel like outcasts. ... > full story
Stem cells repair damaged spinal cord tissue (October 9, 2010) -- Researchers have shown how stem cells, together with other cells, repair damaged tissue in the mouse spinal cord. The results are of potential significance to the development of therapies for spinal cord injury. ... > full story
Maternal influenza vaccination may be associated with flu protection in infants (October 9, 2010) -- Babies whose mothers who receive influenza vaccines while pregnant appear less likely to be infected with flu or hospitalized for respiratory illnesses in their first six months of life, according to a new report. ... > full story
Emotional effects of heavy combat can be lifelong for veterans (October 9, 2010) -- The trauma from hard combat can devastate veterans until old age, even as it influences others to be wiser, gentler and more accepting in their twilight years, a new study finds. ... > full story
Clue to unusual drug-resistant breast cancers found (October 9, 2010) -- Researchers have found how gene expression that may contribute to drug resistance is ramped up in unusual types of breast cancer tumors. Their findings may offer new therapy targets. ... > full story
Discovery could impact how the body receives medicine (October 9, 2010) -- Researchers have discovered how molecules in glass or plastic are able to move when exposed to light from a laser. The findings could one day be used to facilitate medicinal drug distribution by allowing doctors to control the time and rate at which drugs are delivered into the body. ... > full story
Vaccinations should continue as influenza pandemics epidemics wane, experts urge (October 9, 2010) -- Influenza pandemics often come in multiple waves. As the one wave subsides, public health officials have to decide whether continuing vaccination programs is warranted to prevent or reduce a subsequent wave. Researchers now report on a new computer model that can be used to predict both subsequent-wave mechanisms and vaccination effectiveness. They conclude that additional waves in an epidemic can be mitigated by vaccination even when an epidemic appears to be waning. ... > full story
Neighborhoods can have depressing effect on health, according to study (October 9, 2010) -- The nation's poverty rate climbed to 14.3 percent -- the highest level since 1994 -- according to the Census Bureau's annual report on the economic well-being of US households. That means one in seven Americans now live in poverty, and that may have an especially depressing effect on people living in bad neighborhoods, according to researchers. ... > full story
Researchers create experimental vaccine against Alzheimer's (October 8, 2010) -- Researchers have created an experimental vaccine against beta-amyloid, the small protein that forms plaques in the brain and is believed to contribute to the development of Alzheimer's disease. ... > full story
Doctors evaluating heart problems should consider checking fat deposits around the heart (October 8, 2010) -- Cardiac imaging researchers are recommending that physicians not overlook fatty deposits around the heart when evaluating patients for risk of major heart problems. ... > full story
Half-time gamblers give stock market insight (October 8, 2010) -- Computer-modeled comparison of online football gamblers' behavior during play and during half-time shows distinct real-time differences, raising the question: What motivates betting behavior when play is not underway? ... > full story
Yersinia pestis bacteria confirmed as cause of Middle Ages 'Black Death' plague epidemic (October 8, 2010) -- The latest tests conducted by anthropologists in Germany have proven that the bacteria Yersinia pestis was indeed the causative agent behind the "Black Death" that raged across Europe in the Middle Ages. ... > full story
In Parkinson's disease, brain cells abandon mitochondria (October 8, 2010) -- In a study that sheds new light on the causes of Parkinson's disease, researchers report that brain cells in Parkinson's patients abandon their energy-producing machinery, the mitochondria. A shutdown in fuel can have devastating effects on brain cells, which consume roughly 20 percent of the body's energy despite making up only 2 percent of body weight. ... > full story
Scientists trick bacteria into embedding small molecules in cell wall (October 8, 2010) -- Scientists have engineered the cell wall of the Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, tricking it into incorporating foreign small molecules and embedding them within the cell wall. The discovery represents the first time scientists have engineered the cell wall of a "Gram-positive" bacteria, and could pave the way for new methods of combating the bacteria responsible for many of the most infectious diseases. ... > full story
Melanoma uses body's immune system to spread to lungs (October 8, 2010) -- The way melanoma cells use the immune system to spread and develop into lung tumors may lead to a therapy to decrease development of these tumors, according to researchers. ... > full story
You may not be able to say how you feel about your race (October 8, 2010) -- A new study looks at how much African Americans and whites favor or prefer their own racial group over the other, how much they identify with their own racial group, and how positively they feel about themselves. ... > full story
Persistently noisy workplace more than doubles heart disease risk (October 8, 2010) -- A persistently noisy workplace more than doubles an employee's risk of serious heart disease, suggests new research. ... > full story
Brain changes found in high school football players thought to be concussion-free (October 8, 2010) -- Some high school football players suffer undiagnosed changes in brain function and continue playing even though they are impaired, new research suggests. ... > full story
How bacteria become resistant to antibiotics (October 8, 2010) -- New research suggests that bacteria are remarkably resilient to toxic substances, such as antibiotics, because bacteria have the innate ability to produce a large variety of proteins. Those proteins then are able to do things such as pump toxins out or alter toxins so that they can no longer kill the bacteria. ... > full story
Low Apgar score at birth linked to cerebral palsy (October 8, 2010) -- A low Apgar score at birth is strongly associated with cerebral palsy in childhood, concludes a new study. ... > full story
Men perspire, women glow: Men are more efficient at sweating, study finds (October 8, 2010) -- Women have to work harder than men in order to start sweating, while men are more effective sweaters during exercise, according to new research. ... > full story
Ultrasound device improves poor bone healing (October 8, 2010) -- Ultrasound can speed the healing of fractures. A randomized controlled trial has found that the use of low-intensity pulsed ultrasound in patients with tibial fractures which showed inadequate progress toward healing resulted in 34 percent greater bone mineral density in the fracture area after 16 weeks than use of a sham device. ... > full story
Stem cells shape up to their surroundings (October 8, 2010) -- Many scientists aspire to take control over the stem cell differentiation process, so that we can grow organs and implants perfectly matched to each patient in the future. Now research explains how engineering the topography on which stem cells grow, and the mechanical forces working on them, can be as powerful an agent for change as their chemical environment. ... > full story
Thoughts about time inspire people to socialize (October 8, 2010) -- Does thinking about time or money make you happier? A new study finds that people who are made to think about time plan to spend more of their time with the people in their lives while people who think about money fill their schedules with work, work, and -- you guessed it -- more work. ... > full story
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