ScienceDaily: Top Health News

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• Modeling sepsis in newborns: Technical achievement will speed the search for better diagnostics, treatments
• Non-alcoholic red wine may help reduce high blood pressure
• Genome of malaria-causing parasite sequenced: Even when on different continents, organism features same mutations
• Alcoholics anonymous participation promotes long-term recovery, study finds
• Well-known protein reveals new tricks
• Parents' skin cancer concern doesn't keep kids inside
• Childhood virus RSV shows promise against adult cancer
• Genetic discovery in Montreal for a rare disease in Newfoundland
• Protein critical to gut lining repair identified
• Nutritional supplement offers promise in treatment of unique form of autism
• People who get kidney stones more likely to develop kidney failure
• In Rochester, a tale of tainted tattoos: Outbreak highlights new source of infection -- tattoo ink
• 'I knew it all along ... didn't I?' -- Understanding hindsight bias
• Predicting how patients respond to therapy: Brain scans could help doctors choose treatments for people with social anxiety disorder
• Childhood sexual abuse linked to later heart attacks in men
• Storm of 'awakened' transposons may cause brain-cell pathologies in ALS, other illnesses
• Master gene affects neurons that govern breathing at birth and in adulthood
• Immune cell death safeguards against autoimmune disease
• Stem-cell-protecting drug could prevent the harmful side effects of radiation therapy
• Rare autoimmune disease attacks people of Asian descent
• Germ cell-supporting embryonic Sertoli-like cells created from skin cells
• Atypical skin mole may provide means to test for new cancer syndrome
• Pint-size molecules show promise against obesity
• Brain filter for clear information transmission: Neuronal inhibition is key for memory formation
• Breast cancer screening saves lives, new study shows
• Novel therapeutic targets identified for small cell lung cancer
• Thickening of the heart's right ventricle could foreshadow heart failure and cardiovascular death
• Pint-size gene switches show promise against weighty problem
• Acidic microenvironments in tumors aid tumor cell survival, researchers find
• Advanced maternal age not harmful for adult children, study suggests

Modeling sepsis in newborns: Technical achievement will speed the search for better diagnostics, treatments Posted: 06 Sep 2012 03:20 PM PDT Sepsis, or bacterial infection of the bloodstream, is a grave, hard-to-diagnose threat in premature newborns in the NICU. Even when it's detected and treated with antibiotics, its inflammatory effects can harm fragile babies' development. Now, researchers have modeled the effects of sepsis on the unique newborn immune system, using mice. They and others have begun using the model to identify diagnostic markers and better treatments.

Non-alcoholic red wine may help reduce high blood pressure Posted: 06 Sep 2012 03:19 PM PDT Non-alcoholic red wine was more effective at lowering blood pressure than traditional red wine or gin. Red wine's polyphenols uninhibited by alcohol seem to be the blood pressure reducing element.

Genome of malaria-causing parasite sequenced: Even when on different continents, organism features same mutations Posted: 06 Sep 2012 03:19 PM PDT Scientists have discovered that the parasite that causes the most common form of malaria share the same genetic variations -- even when the organisms are separated across continents. The discovery raises concerns that mutations to resist existing medications could spread worldwide, making global eradication efforts even more difficult.

Alcoholics anonymous participation promotes long-term recovery, study finds Posted: 06 Sep 2012 03:16 PM PDT A new study finds that recovering alcoholics who help others in 12-step programs furthers their time sober, consideration for others, step-work, and long-term meeting attendance.

Well-known protein reveals new tricks Posted: 06 Sep 2012 03:16 PM PDT A protein called clathrin, which is found in every human cell and plays a critical role in transporting materials within them, also plays a key role in cell division, according to new research.

Parents' skin cancer concern doesn't keep kids inside Posted: 06 Sep 2012 11:48 AM PDT Does parents' increasing skin cancer awareness make indoor, obese kids? Nope. A new study shows that skin cancer concern doesn't affect kids' time outside.

Childhood virus RSV shows promise against adult cancer Posted: 06 Sep 2012 11:48 AM PDT RSV, a common respiratory virus in infants and young children, is being studied as a safe, effective way to treat cancer. RSV already shows promise in anti-cancer trials overseas. US clinical trials could be on the horizon.

Genetic discovery in Montreal for a rare disease in Newfoundland Posted: 06 Sep 2012 11:18 AM PDT Researchers have discovered the genetic cause of a rare disease reported only in patients originating from Newfoundland: Hereditary spastic ataxia. This condition is characterized by lower-limb spasticity (or stiffness) and ataxia (lack of coordination), the latter leading to speech and swallowing problems, and eye movement abnormalities.

Protein critical to gut lining repair identified Posted: 06 Sep 2012 11:11 AM PDT Scientists have identified a protein essential to repairing the intestine's inner lining.

Nutritional supplement offers promise in treatment of unique form of autism Posted: 06 Sep 2012 11:11 AM PDT An international team of researchers has identified a form of autism with epilepsy that may potentially be treatable with a common nutritional supplement.

People who get kidney stones more likely to develop kidney failure Posted: 06 Sep 2012 10:13 AM PDT People who have had kidney stones are twice as likely to need dialysis or a kidney transplant later in life, demonstrates recent findings.

In Rochester, a tale of tainted tattoos: Outbreak highlights new source of infection -- tattoo ink Posted: 06 Sep 2012 10:13 AM PDT A recent study documents 19 cases of tattoos infected with a type of bacteria often found in tap water. Evidence points to a premixed gray ink, the type used in portrait tattoos, as the culprit. Physicians who treated the patients believe that tattoo-associated infections are probably more common than we think and that doctors should think about infectious causes if patients aren't responding to topical treatments that would typically dispel any allergic reactions to tattoos.

'I knew it all along ... didn't I?' -- Understanding hindsight bias Posted: 06 Sep 2012 09:33 AM PDT The situation may be different each time, but we hear ourselves say it over and over again: "I knew it all along." The problem is that too often we actually didn't know it all along, we only feel as though we did. In a new article, psychological scientists explore existing research on "hindsight bias," identifying the factors that make us susceptible to the phenomenon and identifying some ways we might be able to combat it.

Predicting how patients respond to therapy: Brain scans could help doctors choose treatments for people with social anxiety disorder Posted: 06 Sep 2012 09:33 AM PDT A new study has found that brain scans of patients with social anxiety disorder can help predict whether they will benefit from cognitive behavioral therapy.

Childhood sexual abuse linked to later heart attacks in men Posted: 06 Sep 2012 09:32 AM PDT Men who experienced childhood sexual abuse are three times more likely to have a heart attack than men who were not sexually abused as children, according to a new study. The researchers found no association between childhood sexual abuse and heart attacks among women.

Storm of 'awakened' transposons may cause brain-cell pathologies in ALS, other illnesses Posted: 06 Sep 2012 09:32 AM PDT A team of neuroscientists and informatics experts reports important progress in an effort to understand the relationship between transposons -- sequences of DNA that can jump around within the genome, potentially causing great damage -- and mechanisms involved in serious neurodegenerative disorders including ALS, FTLD (frontotemporal lobar degeneration) and Alzheimer's disease.

Master gene affects neurons that govern breathing at birth and in adulthood Posted: 06 Sep 2012 09:32 AM PDT When mice are born lacking the master gene Atoh1, none breathe well and all die in the newborn period. Why and how this occurs could provide new answers about sudden infant death syndrome, but the solution has remained elusive until now.

Immune cell death safeguards against autoimmune disease Posted: 06 Sep 2012 09:32 AM PDT Researchers have discovered that a pair of molecules work together to kill so-called 'self-reactive' immune cells that are programmed to attack the body's own organs. The finding is helping to explain how autoimmune diseases develop.

Stem-cell-protecting drug could prevent the harmful side effects of radiation therapy Posted: 06 Sep 2012 09:32 AM PDT Radiation therapy is one of the most widely used cancer treatments, but it often damages normal tissue and can lead to debilitating conditions. A class of drugs known as mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitors can prevent radiation-induced tissue damage in mice by protecting normal stem cells that are crucial for tissue repair, according to a preclinical study.

Rare autoimmune disease attacks people of Asian descent Posted: 06 Sep 2012 09:29 AM PDT There has been an outbreak of an adult-onset immunodeficiency syndrome in Southeast Asia. The autoimmune disease causes AIDS-like symptoms but is not associated with HIV and is not contagious.

Germ cell-supporting embryonic Sertoli-like cells created from skin cells Posted: 06 Sep 2012 09:29 AM PDT Using a stepwise trans-differentiation process, researchers have turned skin cells into embryonic Sertoli-like cells.

Atypical skin mole may provide means to test for new cancer syndrome Posted: 06 Sep 2012 08:26 AM PDT Researchers have discovered germline BAP1 mutations are associated with a novel cancer syndrome characterized by malignant mesothelioma, uveal melanoma, cutaneous melanoma and atypical melanocytic tumors. Germline mutations are hereditary gene defects that are present in every cell.

Pint-size molecules show promise against obesity Posted: 06 Sep 2012 08:26 AM PDT Tiny strands of RNA affect how our cells burn fat and sugar -- a finding that gives biologists a place to start in the quest for therapies to treat obesity and related health problems, say scientists.

Brain filter for clear information transmission: Neuronal inhibition is key for memory formation Posted: 06 Sep 2012 08:26 AM PDT Every activity in the brain involves the transfer of signals between neurons. Frequently, as many as one thousand signals rain down on a single neuron simultaneously. To ensure that precise signals are delivered, the brain possesses a sophisticated inhibitory system. Researchers have illuminated how this system works.

Breast cancer screening saves lives, new study shows Posted: 06 Sep 2012 08:22 AM PDT Women who undergo screening halve their risk of dying from breast cancer, a new study has found. The study is the largest of its kind in Australia and one of the largest in the world. It followed about 4,000 women in a study of the BreastScreen program in Western Australia.

Novel therapeutic targets identified for small cell lung cancer Posted: 06 Sep 2012 08:17 AM PDT • If validated, may have the potential to produce first targeted therapy for this disease. • Molecular profile of small cell lung cancer distinct from nonsmall cell lung cancer.

Thickening of the heart's right ventricle could foreshadow heart failure and cardiovascular death Posted: 06 Sep 2012 08:17 AM PDT Researchers report in a new study that thickening of the heart's right ventricle is associated with an increased risk of heart failure and cardiovascular death in patients without clinical cardiovascular disease at baseline. The study is published online ahead of print in the journal Circulation.

Pint-size gene switches show promise against weighty problem Posted: 06 Sep 2012 06:27 AM PDT New findings establish a connection between microRNAs and cellular metabolism, suggesting that a drug designed to inhibit these tiny molecules -- once considered to be "junk" DNA -- would have a positive effect against obesity.

Acidic microenvironments in tumors aid tumor cell survival, researchers find Posted: 06 Sep 2012 04:42 AM PDT Researchers have discovered that tumor cell survival relies on adaptation to acidic conditions in the tumor microenvironment. Their research investigating the effects of acidity on breast and pancreatic cancer cell lines revealed the importance of autophagy in acidic microenvironments and suggests that a successful treatment strategy might be based on this autophagic dependence.

Advanced maternal age not harmful for adult children, study suggests Posted: 06 Sep 2012 04:40 AM PDT Previously existing ideas on how advanced maternal age affects adult health of children have to be reconsidered. It had been thought that mothers delivering later in life have children that are less healthy as adults, because the body of the mother had already degenerated due to physiological effects like decreasing oocyte quality or a weakened placenta. In fact, what affects the health of the grown-up children is not the age of their mother but her education and the number of years she survives after giving birth and thus spends with her offspring, according to a new study.

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