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Tuesday, September 3, 2013

ScienceDaily: Top Health News

ScienceDaily: Top Health News


How mouth cells resist Candida infection

Posted: 02 Sep 2013 07:31 PM PDT

Candida albicans is a common fungus found living in, and on, many parts of the human body. Usually this species causes no harm to humans unless it can breach the body's immune defenses, where can lead to serious illness or death. It is known as an opportunistic pathogen that can colonize and infect individuals with a compromised immune system. New research gives us a greater understanding of how mucosal surfaces in the body respond to C. albicans to prevent damage being done during infection.

Following a Mediterranean diet not associated with delay to clinical onset of Huntington disease

Posted: 02 Sep 2013 03:10 PM PDT

Adhering to a Mediterranean-type diet (MedDi) does not appear associated with the time to clinical onset of Huntington disease (phenoconversion), according to a new study.

Maternal posttraumatic stress disorder associated with increased risk for child maltreatment

Posted: 02 Sep 2013 03:10 PM PDT

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in mothers appears to be associated with an increased risk for child maltreatment beyond that associated with maternal depression, according to a new study.

Gap in earnings persists between male and female physicians, research letter suggests

Posted: 02 Sep 2013 03:10 PM PDT

A gap in earnings between male and female U.S. physicians has persisted over the last 20 years, according to a new research.

Costs of health care-associated infections: 9.8 billion annually in US

Posted: 02 Sep 2013 03:10 PM PDT

A study estimates that total annual costs for five major health care-associated infections (HAIs) were $9.8 billion, with surgical site infections contributing the most to overall costs, according to a new report.

Primate calls, like human speech, can help infants form categories

Posted: 02 Sep 2013 01:27 PM PDT

Human infants' responses to the vocalizations of non-human primates shed light on the developmental origin of a crucial link between human language and core cognitive capacities, a new study reports. Previous studies have shown that even in infants too young to speak, listening to human speech supports core cognitive processes, including the formation of object categories. Researchers documented that this link is initially broad enough to include the vocalizations of non-human primates.  

Single tone alerts brain to complete sound pattern

Posted: 02 Sep 2013 01:26 PM PDT

The processing of sound in the brain is more advanced than previously thought. When we hear a tone, our brain temporarily strengthens that tone but also any tones separated from it by one or more octaves.

A fly's hearing: Fruit fly is ideal model to study hearing loss in people

Posted: 02 Sep 2013 01:25 PM PDT

Researchers say that the common fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, is an ideal model to study hearing loss in humans caused by loud noise. The reason: The molecular underpinnings to its hearing are roughly the same as with people.

Peru: Liver cancer like no other

Posted: 02 Sep 2013 09:39 AM PDT

Liver cancer is the sixth most common cancer worldwide and the third most deadly. It mainly affects men over the age of 40, most often with cirrhosis or hepatitis B or C. But in Peru, it also uncharacteristically affects young people, even children, who do not have the identified related risk factors. Scientists have highlighted a disturbing fact: these patients, with an average age of 25, come from the same geographical area in the Andes.

Health of older women in developed countries continues to improve: Gap with developing countries grows

Posted: 02 Sep 2013 07:20 AM PDT

Measures taken in developed countries to reduce noncommunicable diseases -- the leading causes of death globally -- have improved the life expectancy of women aged 50 years and older over the last 20 to 30 years. But, according to a study the gap in life expectancy between such women in rich and poor countries is growing.

Pacemaker for slow heart rhythm restores life expectancy, study suggests

Posted: 02 Sep 2013 07:18 AM PDT

The FollowPace study provides detailed documentation of current standard pacemaker care in a large representative sample of western pacemaker clinics. The results can therefore be considered a new benchmark of life expectancy of patients treated with today's cardiac pacing.

Women less likely to die after TAVI than men

Posted: 02 Sep 2013 07:18 AM PDT

Women are 25 percent less likely to die one year after TAVI than men, according to new research. The findings suggest that TAVI might be the preferred treatment option for elderly women with symptomatic severe aortic stenosis.

Metabolically healthy women have same CVD risk regardless of BMI

Posted: 02 Sep 2013 07:18 AM PDT

A Danish study followed 261,489 women with no prior history of cardiovascular disease for an average of five years.

Average height of European males has grown by 11 centimeters in just over a century

Posted: 02 Sep 2013 07:17 AM PDT

The average height of European males increased by an unprecedented 11 centimeters between the mid-nineteenth century and 1980, according to a new article. Contrary to expectations, the study also reveals that average height actually accelerated in the period spanning the two World Wars and the Great Depression.

Stomach bacteria switch off human immune defenses to cause disease

Posted: 02 Sep 2013 07:17 AM PDT

Helicobacter pylori is a bacterium that establishes a life-long stomach infection in humans, which in some cases can lead to duodenal ulcers or stomach cancer. New research gives us a clearer understanding of how these bacteria can manipulate the human immune system to survive in the mucosal lining of the stomach.

Robotic IV insertion device means less pain for kids

Posted: 02 Sep 2013 07:17 AM PDT

A new prototype device for rapid and safe IV insertion reduces pain in hospitalized children. The semi-automatic handheld device, called SAGIV, identifies veins, inserts a needle and withdraws it in a single movement.

New test to predict women at risk of pregnancy complications?

Posted: 02 Sep 2013 07:17 AM PDT

Researchers have identified proteins in the blood that could be used to predict whether a woman in her first pregnancy is at increased risk of developing pre-eclampsia. Pre-eclampsia is a complication of pregnancy where the mother develops high blood pressure and protein is present in the urine. In some cases, this can develop into a serious condition for both mother and baby and the only cure is delivery of the baby, often prematurely.

HIV: Predicting treatment response more accurately

Posted: 02 Sep 2013 07:15 AM PDT

HIV is feared, not least, because of its great adaptability. If the virus mutates at precisely the point targeted by a drug, it is able to neutralize the attack and the treatment fails. To minimize these viral defense mechanisms, doctors treat patients with modern combination therapies involving the simultaneous administration of several drugs. This approach forces the virus to run through a series of mutations before it becomes immune to the drugs.

Surprising result: Risk factors for cardiovascular problems found to be inverse to disease and deaths

Posted: 02 Sep 2013 06:56 AM PDT

The international research team found risk factors for cardiovascular disease was lowest in low income countries, intermediate in middle income countries and highest in high income countries. However, the incidence of serious cardiovascular disease such as heart attacks, strokes, heart failure and deaths followed the opposite pattern: highest in the low income countries, intermediate in middle income countries and lowest in high income countries. Hospitalizations for less severe cardiovascular diseases were highest in the high income countries.

Drug reduces hospitalizations and cost of treating young children with sickle cell anemia

Posted: 02 Sep 2013 06:56 AM PDT

A new drug demonstrated to be effective for treatment of adults and children with sickle cell anemia reduced hospitalizations and cut annual estimated medical costs by 21 percent for affected infants and toddlers, according to a new analysis.

Heart attack patients: Preventive PCI results in better outcomes than culprit artery PCI alone in ST elevation MI

Posted: 01 Sep 2013 12:41 PM PDT

Heart attack patients with ST elevation who undergo a preventive procedure to unblock additional coronary arteries have significantly better outcomes than those whose treatment is confined to the culprit blockage only, according to new results.

Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survival just 7 percent

Posted: 01 Sep 2013 12:41 PM PDT

The Paris Sudden Death Expertise Centre Registry is a population-based registry using multiple sources to collect every case of cardiac arrest in Greater Paris (population 6.6 million) according to the Utstein Style.1 Cases are continuously recorded (within hours of occurrence) and standardized follow-up is initiated on admission to the intensive care unit. Incidence, prognostic factors and outcomes are recorded.

Quitting smoking drops heart attack risk to levels of never smokers

Posted: 01 Sep 2013 12:41 PM PDT

Quitting smoking reduces the risk of heart attack and death to the levels of people who have never smoked, reveals new research.

Listening to favorite music improves endothelial function in CAD

Posted: 01 Sep 2013 12:41 PM PDT

Listening to favorite music improves endothelial function in patients with coronary artery disease, according to new research. Music and exercise training combined produced the most benefit.

Physical activity decreases sudden cardiac death risk in unfit men

Posted: 01 Sep 2013 12:41 PM PDT

Physical activity decreases the risk of sudden cardiac death in unfit men, reveals new research.

Cold weather produces more heart attacks, researchers find

Posted: 01 Sep 2013 12:41 PM PDT

Cold weather leads to more heart attacks, according to new research. The multifactorial study of nearly 16,000 patients found no relationship between heart attacks and air pollution.

Cardiovascular risk factors highest in winter and lowest in summer

Posted: 01 Sep 2013 12:41 PM PDT

Cardiovascular risk factors are highest in winter and lowest in summer, according to new research. The analysis included more than 100,000 subjects in seven countries.

TASTE trial challenge current practice of blood clot aspiration after heart attack

Posted: 01 Sep 2013 12:41 PM PDT

Aspiration of the blood clot or "thrombus" that causes a heart attack before re-opening a patient's artery with a balloon catheter does not improve survival compared to performing balloon dilation and stenting alone according to new results.

Big belly increases death risk in heart attack survivors

Posted: 01 Sep 2013 12:40 PM PDT

Findings from the FAST-MI 2005 registry suggest that lifestyle interventions in heart attack patients should focus on losing abdominal fat.

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