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Saturday, August 31, 2013

ScienceDaily: Top Health News

ScienceDaily: Top Health News


Mosquitoes smell you better at night

Posted: 30 Aug 2013 01:13 PM PDT

The major malaria vector in Africa, the Anopheles gambiae mosquito, is able to smell major human host odorants better at night.

Study reveals the face of sleep deprivation

Posted: 30 Aug 2013 01:13 PM PDT

A new study finds that sleep deprivation affects facial features such as the eyes, mouth and skin, and these features function as cues of sleep loss to other people.

Brain imaging study reveals the wandering mind behind insomnia

Posted: 30 Aug 2013 01:13 PM PDT

A new brain imaging study may help explain why people with insomnia often complain that they struggle to concentrate during the day even when objective evidence of a cognitive problem is lacking.

Drug design success propels efforts to fight HIV with a combination of 2 FDA-approved drugs

Posted: 30 Aug 2013 11:39 AM PDT

Scientists have developed a new delivery system for a combination of two FDA approved drugs that may serve as an effective treatment for the human immunodeficiency virus. The discovery, which allows for a combination of decitabine and gemcitabine to be delivered in pill form, marks a major step forward in patient feasibility for the drugs, which previously had been available solely via injection or intravenous therapy.

Exercising one day a week may be enough for older women

Posted: 30 Aug 2013 11:38 AM PDT

A new study reveals that women over age 60 may need to exercise only one day a week to significantly improve strength and endurance.

Individualized criteria for diagnosing obesity urged

Posted: 30 Aug 2013 10:11 AM PDT

Researchers have discussed the importance of eliminating healthy obese persons from unnecessary pharmaceutical treatments of the disease.

Despite NFL settlement, still no proof football causes Alzheimer's or CTE

Posted: 30 Aug 2013 10:10 AM PDT

Despite the NFL's $765 million settlement with retired players, there still is no credible scientific evidence that playing football causes Alzheimer's disease or other neurological disorders, according to a neuropsychologist.

Overweight and obese women are equally capable of the impulse control that lean women exhibit

Posted: 30 Aug 2013 10:10 AM PDT

Previous studies have shown that overweight and obese people have a harder time delaying gratification, so they are more likely to forego the healthy body later on in favor of eating more calorie-dense foods now. But new research now shows that behavioral interventions that improve delay of gratification can work just as well with overweight and obese women as with lean women.

Increased use menthol cigarette found among young people

Posted: 30 Aug 2013 10:10 AM PDT

A new study on mentholated cigarette use in the U.S. finds an increase in menthol cigarette smoking among young adults and concludes that efforts to reduce smoking likely are being thwarted by the sale and marketing of mentholated cigarettes, including emerging varieties of established youth brands.

Balancing act: Cell senescence, aging related to epigenetic changes

Posted: 30 Aug 2013 07:41 AM PDT

Cell senescence, an irreversible arrest of proliferation, is thought to be associated with normal aging and is protective against cancer. Researchers found that senescent cells undergo changes in their chromatin, similar to changes in cells that are prematurely aging. When the nuclear protein lamin B1 is deleted in senescent cells, large-scale changes in gene expression occurred. This loss of lamin B1 may cause changes in chromatin architecture and add to premature cell aging.

Dueling infections: Parasitic worms limit the effects of giardia, and vice versa

Posted: 30 Aug 2013 06:24 AM PDT

If the idea of hookworms makes you shudder, consider this: Those pesky intestinal parasites may actually help your body ward off other infections, and perhaps even prevent autoimmune and other diseases.

New research gives answers on the relationship between chronic illness and food insecurity

Posted: 30 Aug 2013 06:24 AM PDT

Research findings provide direct evidence that people with chronic diseases are more likely to be food insecure.

Liver cancer due to chronic inflammation: Tumor growth follows programmed cell death (apoptosis)

Posted: 30 Aug 2013 06:18 AM PDT

Liver cancer (Hepatocellular Carcinoma, HCC) usually arises as the result of a chronic, inflammatory liver disease. The most common causes here are excessive alcohol consumption as well as a high-fat diet and also chronic infection with the hepatitis viruses B and C. In the course of the inflammatory process, the liver cells (hepatocytes) die more frequently due to programmed cell death. The result is increased cell growth, also referred to as compensatory proliferation, which can lead to tumor development.

Botany and health: Very small chemical changes to dietary flavonoids cause very large effects on human immune system

Posted: 30 Aug 2013 06:18 AM PDT

Very small chemical changes to dietary flavonoids cause very large effects when the plant natural products are tested for their impact on the human immune system. Plants are capable of making tens of thousands of different small molecules - an average leaf for example, produces around 20,000. Many of these are found in a typical diet and some are already known to have medicinal properties with effects on health, diseases and general well-being. Now plant biologists and immunologists have examined a very closely related family of these small molecules (flavonoids) to establish how tiny changes to their chemical structures affect their bio-activity.

New understanding of formation of cilia: Cilia provide mobility to cells, and defects are implicated in many disease

Posted: 30 Aug 2013 06:17 AM PDT

Tiny hair-like structures (cilia) are found on the surface of most cells. Cilia are responsible for the locomotion of cells (e.g. sperm cells), they process external signals and coordinate the correct arrangement of the inner organs during the development of an organism. For proper assembly and function of cilia, they need to be supplied with the appropriate building blocks. Scientists have now identified the mechanism of how Tubulin, the main building block of cilia, is transported within the cilium.

Children who go to daycare may benefit from a wider variety of social situations

Posted: 30 Aug 2013 06:17 AM PDT

Children who go to daycare may benefit from a wider variety of social and communicative situations relative to children who do not go to daycare, a recent study suggests.  The former have a heightened ability to adjust their non-verbal communication to take into account the age of the person they are playing with.

New model to study schizophrenia and other neurological conditions

Posted: 30 Aug 2013 06:16 AM PDT

Schizophrenia is one of the most devastating neurological conditions, with only 30 percent of sufferers ever experiencing full recovery. While current medications can control most psychotic symptoms, their side effects can leave individuals so severely impaired that the disease ranks among the top ten causes of disability in developed countries.

Sideline teleconcussion robot to be tested at football games

Posted: 30 Aug 2013 06:16 AM PDT

Scientists are testing the feasibility of using a telemedicine robot to assess athletes with suspected concussions during football games as part of a research study. With sophisticated robotic technology, use of a specialized remote controlled camera system allows patients to be "seen" by the neurology specialist, miles away, in real time. During the study, the robot equipped with a specialized camera system, remotely operated by a neurologist who has the ability to assess a player for symptoms and signs of a concussion and to consult with sideline medical personnel.

Promising new angle for drugs to prevent stroke and heart attack

Posted: 30 Aug 2013 06:16 AM PDT

A new study — the first to apply a new screening technique to human platelets — netted a potential drug target for preventing dangerous blood clots in high-risk people.

Collagen clue reveals new drug target for untreatable form of lung cancer

Posted: 29 Aug 2013 06:47 PM PDT

Collagen, the stuff of ligaments and skin, and the most abundant protein in the human body, has an extraordinary role in triggering chemical signals that help protect the body from cancer, a new study reveals. Scientists have uncovered a series of chemical signals sent out by collagen that appear to protect against cancer's growth.

Stroke systems of care essential to reducing deaths, disabilities

Posted: 29 Aug 2013 06:43 PM PDT

Scientists have identified several key elements needed for systems of care to effectively reduce stroke-related deaths and disability.

Shutting off neurons helps bullied mice overcome symptoms of depression

Posted: 29 Aug 2013 06:43 PM PDT

A new drug target to treat depression and other mood disorders may lie in a group of GABA neurons shown to contribute to symptoms like social withdrawal and increased anxiety, researchers report.

Simple urine test may help identify individuals with diabetes at risk for cognitive decline

Posted: 29 Aug 2013 06:42 PM PDT

Diabetics with persistent protein in the urine over four to five years had greater declines in cognitive function than diabetics without protein in the urine. The decline was subtle; however, over 10 to 15 years it could translate into noticeable impairment.

Genomic study reveals why children in remission from rheumatoid arthritis often experience recurrences

Posted: 29 Aug 2013 06:42 PM PDT

A new study published today in Arthritis Research & Therapy provides the first genomic characterization of remission in juvenile rheumatoid arthritis patients.

Time for tech transfer law to change? Doctor looks at history of Bayh-Dole, and says yes

Posted: 29 Aug 2013 11:52 AM PDT

The law that has helped medical discoveries make the leap from university labs to the marketplace for more than 30 years needs revising, in part to ensure the American people benefit from science their tax dollars have paid for, says a physician and medical historian.

New report: Call for President Obama urged to 'remove public veil of ignorance' around state of US health

Posted: 29 Aug 2013 11:51 AM PDT

In a call to action on the sorry comparative state of US health, researchers are urging President Obama to "remove the public veil of ignorance" and confront a pressing question: Why is America at the bottom? The report appeals to the President to create a National Commission on the Health of Americans. The researchers underscore the importance for the country to begin reversing the decline in the comparative status of US health.

Alcohol breaks brain connections needed to process social cues

Posted: 29 Aug 2013 11:49 AM PDT

Alcohol intoxication reduces communication between two areas of the brain that work together to properly interpret and respond to social signals, according to researchers.

Genetic mutation found in castration-resistant prostate cancer

Posted: 29 Aug 2013 09:43 AM PDT

Medical researchers have discovered a genetic mutation in a drug-resistant -- and often deadly -- form of prostate cancer.

Learning how the brain takes out its trash may help decode neurological diseases

Posted: 29 Aug 2013 09:43 AM PDT

Imagine that garbage haulers don't exist. Slowly, the trash accumulates in our offices, our homes, it clogs the streets and damages our cars, causes illness and renders normal life impossible.

Digesting milk in Ethiopia: A case of multiple genetic adaptations

Posted: 29 Aug 2013 09:43 AM PDT

A genetic phenomenon that allows for the selection of multiple genetic mutations that all lead to a similar outcome -- for instance the ability to digest milk -- has been characterized for the first time in humans.

Scientists map molecular mechanism that may cause toxic protein buildup in dementing disorders

Posted: 29 Aug 2013 09:40 AM PDT

There is no easy way to study diseases of the brain. Extracting brain cells, or neurons, from a living patient is risky, while examining a patient's brain post-mortem only reveals the disease's final stages. And animal models, while incredibly informative, have fallen short during the crucial drug-development stage of research. But scientists have taken a potentially more powerful approach: An advanced stem-cell technique that creates a human model of degenerative disease in a dish.

Researchers track Huntington's disease progression using PET scans

Posted: 29 Aug 2013 09:40 AM PDT

Investigators have discovered a new way to measure the progression of Huntington's disease, using positron emission tomography to scan the brains of carriers of the gene.

Jet lag: Why the body clock is slow to adjust to time changes

Posted: 29 Aug 2013 09:40 AM PDT

New research in mice reveals why the body is so slow to recover from jet lag. The study identifies a target for the development of drugs that could help us to adjust faster to changes in time zone.

New strategy against high-risk leukemia

Posted: 29 Aug 2013 09:35 AM PDT

After identifying a protein that blocks death of high-risk acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) cells, scientists use two-drug combination therapy to offer hope to children and adults with the disease. Scientists have now identified a protein that certain high-risk acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) cells need to survive and have used that knowledge to fashion a more effective method of killing tumor cells.

Lupus erythematosus and sunlight induced DNA Crash

Posted: 29 Aug 2013 09:35 AM PDT

Summer, sun and the sea – a dream vacation for most - can turn sour for those affected by lupus erythematosus. For them, absorption of the UV-light component in sunlight may cause florid inflammation and redness of the skin. Scientists have now discovered which signaling pathway of the innate immune system promotes autoimmune symptoms following sun-induced DNA damage.

Neuroscientists find a key to reducing forgetting: It's about the network

Posted: 29 Aug 2013 09:34 AM PDT

A team of neuroscientists has found a key to the reduction of forgetting. Their findings show that the better the coordination between two regions of the brain, the less likely we are to forget newly obtained information.

Gene that causes devastating mitochondrial diseases identified

Posted: 29 Aug 2013 09:34 AM PDT

Researchers have identified a disease gene in which mutations cause rare but devastating genetic diseases known as mitochondrial disorders. Nine mutations of the gene were found in nine children in seven families, including three siblings from the same family.

Bad to the bone: Some breast cancer cells are primed to thrive

Posted: 29 Aug 2013 09:34 AM PDT

Scientists have discovered that some loose breast cancer cells, have a leg up on survival —- the genes they express make them more likely to prosper in bone tissue. The team also found that whether or not cancer cells turn on those genes depends on what their surroundings were like in the primary breast tumor. If the breast tumor had molecular patterns similar to those found in bone, the tumor is more likely to spread to bone later.

Cell study offers more diabetic patients chance of transplant

Posted: 29 Aug 2013 08:02 AM PDT

Diabetic patients could benefit from a breakthrough that enables scientists to take cells from the pancreas and change their function to produce insulin. The research could reduce waiting times for patients with type 1 Diabetes who need islet cell transplants. These transplants are carried out to prevent life-threatening complications resulting from diabetes, such as seizures resulting from low blood sugar levels.

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