RefBan

Referral Banners

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

ScienceDaily: Top Health News

ScienceDaily: Top Health News


New model predicts hospital readmission risk

Posted: 25 Mar 2013 03:39 PM PDT

Preventing avoidable readmissions could result in improved patient care and significant cost savings. In a new model, researchers help clinicians identify which medical patients are at the greatest risk for potentially avoidable hospital readmissions so extra steps can be taken to keep those patients healthy and out of the hospital.

Requests for lower-back MRIs often unnecessary, experts say

Posted: 25 Mar 2013 03:39 PM PDT

More than half of lower-back MRIs ordered at two Canadian hospitals were either inappropriate or of questionable value for patients. And family doctors were more apt to order these unnecessary tests compared to other specialists, demonstrates newly published medical research.

Could that cold sore increase your risk of memory problems?

Posted: 25 Mar 2013 03:38 PM PDT

The virus that causes cold sores, along with other viral or bacterial infections, may be associated with cognitive problems, according to a new study.

Research provides clues to alcohol addiction vulnerability

Posted: 25 Mar 2013 03:38 PM PDT

A team studying alcohol addiction has new research that might shed light on why some drinkers are more susceptible to addiction than others.

Ghanaian pregnant women who sleep on back at increased risk of stillbirth

Posted: 25 Mar 2013 01:06 PM PDT

Pregnant women in Ghana who slept on their back (supine sleep) were at an increased risk of stillbirth compared to women who did not sleep on their back, according to new research.

Developing our sense of smell

Posted: 25 Mar 2013 01:06 PM PDT

Biologists have found that neural-crest stem cells--multipotent, migratory cells unique to vertebrates that give rise to facial bones, smooth muscle, and other structures -- also play a key role in building the nose's olfactory sensory neurons, the only neurons that regenerate throughout adult life. Learning how they form may offer insights into how neurons in general can be induced to differentiate or regenerate and new avenues for the treatment of neurological disorders or injury.

Hunger-spiking neurons could help control autoimmune diseases

Posted: 25 Mar 2013 01:05 PM PDT

Neurons that control hunger in the central nervous system also regulate immune cell functions, implicating eating behavior as a defense against infections and autoimmune disease development, researchers have found.

Parent-child violence leads to teen dating violence, study suggests

Posted: 25 Mar 2013 01:02 PM PDT

Teen dating violence is all too common and according to researchers it is a reflection of the relationships teens have with their parents or their parent's partner.

Monoclonal antibody targets, kills leukemia cells

Posted: 25 Mar 2013 01:02 PM PDT

Researchers have identified a humanized monoclonal antibody that targets and directly kills chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) cells.

Researchers decode biology of blood and iron disorders mapping out novel future therapies

Posted: 25 Mar 2013 10:54 AM PDT

Two studies shed light on the molecular biology of three blood disorders, leading to novel strategies to treat these diseases.

Office workers carry biomarker of potentially harmful flame retardant, study finds

Posted: 25 Mar 2013 10:54 AM PDT

A flame retardant removed from children's pajamas 30 years ago but now used in polyurethane foam is prevalent in office environments, especially in older buildings, where urine testing of workers turned up widespread evidence of its biomarker, a new study has found.

Arguments in the home linked with babies' brain functioning

Posted: 25 Mar 2013 10:53 AM PDT

Being exposed to arguments between parents is associated with the way babies' brains process emotional tone of voice, according to a new study. Infants were found to respond to an angry tone of voice, even when they're asleep.

New mechanism for long-term memory formation discovered

Posted: 25 Mar 2013 10:53 AM PDT

Neurobiologists have found a novel molecular mechanism that helps trigger the formation of long-term memory. The researchers believe the discovery of this mechanism adds another piece to the puzzle in the ongoing effort to uncover the mysteries of memory and, potentially, certain intellectual disabilities.

Other stomach microbiota modulate resistance to H. pylori-driven ulcers

Posted: 25 Mar 2013 10:53 AM PDT

Mice with different naturally occurring stomach bacteria have distinct susceptibilities to disease caused by Helicobacter pylori, the well-known cause of ulcers in humans, according to a new study. This is the first study to document (in mice) that the presence of certain bacteria in the stomach microbiota can prevent pathology from H. pylori.

Cleverly designed vaccine blocks H5 avian influenza in animal models

Posted: 25 Mar 2013 09:56 AM PDT

Until now, most experimental vaccines against the highly lethal H5N1 avian influenza virus have lacked effectiveness. But a new vaccine has proven highly effective against the virus when tested in both mice and ferrets. It is also effective against the H9 subtype of avian influenza.

Personal monitor system could change healthcare

Posted: 25 Mar 2013 09:44 AM PDT

A wireless personal health monitoring system using smartphones to upload data via the Internet will revolutionize the U.S. healthcare industry, its pioneering creators say.

T-cell therapy eradicates an aggressive leukemia in two children

Posted: 25 Mar 2013 09:43 AM PDT

Two children with an aggressive form of childhood leukemia had a complete remission of their disease -- showing no evidence of cancer cells in their bodies -- after treatment with a novel cell therapy that reprogrammed their immune cells to rapidly multiply and destroy leukemia cells.

New lung cancer study takes page from Google's playbook

Posted: 25 Mar 2013 08:11 AM PDT

A new study shows that the same sort of mathematical model that Google uses to predict which websites people want to visit may help researchers predict how lung cancer spreads through the human body.

Leading experts disagree on evidence behind prostate cancer screening recommendations

Posted: 25 Mar 2013 08:10 AM PDT

Do the results of recent randomized trials justify the recent U.S. recommendation against yearly measurement of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) as a screening test for prostate cancer?

Probing how pancreatic cancers metastasize

Posted: 25 Mar 2013 07:14 AM PDT

Researchers have discovered that a protein found in the cells surrounding pancreatic cancers play a role in the spread of the disease to other parts of the body.

Nerve regeneration research and therapy may get boost from new discovery

Posted: 25 Mar 2013 06:40 AM PDT

A new mechanism for guiding the growth of nerves that involves cell-death machinery may bring advances in neurological medicine and research.

New urgency in battle against 'bound legs' disease

Posted: 25 Mar 2013 06:40 AM PDT

The harm done by konzo -- a disease overshadowed by the war and drought it tends to accompany -- goes beyond its devastating physical effects to impair children's memory, problem solving and other cognitive functions.

Sequencing tracks animal-to-human transmission of bacterial pathogens

Posted: 25 Mar 2013 06:37 AM PDT

Researchers have used whole genome sequencing to reveal if drug-resistant bacteria are transmitted from animals to humans in two disease outbreaks that occurred on different farms in Denmark. The results confirm animal-to-human transmission of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, a disease-causing bacterium that carries the recently described mecC gene.

Too much choice leads to riskier decisions, new study finds

Posted: 25 Mar 2013 06:37 AM PDT

The more choices people have, the riskier the decisions they make, according to a new study which sheds light on how we behave when faced with large amounts of information.

Old mice, young blood: Rejuvenating blood of mice by reprogramming stem cells that produce blood

Posted: 25 Mar 2013 06:36 AM PDT

The blood of young and old people differs. Scientists have now rejuvenated the blood of mice by reversing, or reprogramming, the stem cells that produce blood.

No comments: