ScienceDaily: Top Health News

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• Report advocates improved police training
• Antidepressants show potential for postoperative pain
• Options for weight loss your primary care doctor might not know about
• Efficacy of new gene therapy approach for toxin exposures shown in mouse study
• Vaccine for Ebola? Experts answer questions
• How Ebola blocks immune system
• Revealing novel mode of action for osteoporosis drug
• Leading Ebola researcher says there's an effective treatment for Ebola
• MERS: Low transmissibility, dangerous illness
• Assortativity signatures of transcription factor networks contribute to robustness
• New model predicts patients with type 1 diabetes who will go on to develop major complications
• Cellphone addiction harming academic performance is 'an increasingly realistic possibility'
• Exit strategy: Is it time to rethink the VA healthcare system?
• After Great Recession, Americans are unhappy, worried, pessimistic, study finds
• Prions can trigger 'stuck' wine fermentations, researchers find
• Socially-assistive robots help kids with autism learn by providing personalized prompts
• Deadly remedy: Warning issued about Chinese herbal medicine
• Breakthrough in RSV research with drug trial
• HIV Lessons from the Mississippi Baby
• Breastfeeding study shows need for effective peer counseling programs
• Researchers find animal model for understudied type of muscular dystrophy
• Respiratory infection controls being used for Ebola patients are unnecessary, may contribute to public panic
• How studying damage to prefrontal lobe has helped unlock the brain's mysteries
• Zombie bacteria are nothing to be afraid of
• Females ignored in basic medical research, experts say
• This is your brain's blood vessels on drugs
• Ontario has one of the highest rates of IBD in the world
• Men who exercise less more likely to wake up to urinate
• Simple test could detect most common cause of visual impairment in the UK
• Bedsharing with baby may impair sleep quality
• Potential method to better control lung cancer using radiotherapy
• Arthritis patients failing to take expensive, effective medication according to new research
• High cost of hot flashes: Millions in lost wages preventable
• Protein in 'good cholesterol' may be a key to treating pulmonary hypertension

Report advocates improved police training Posted: 29 Aug 2014 02:54 PM PDT A new report identifies ways to improve the mental health training and education that police personnel receive. "The most important part of the report and what comes after is making sure people living with mental illness are involved in the delivery of training," says one expert.

Antidepressants show potential for postoperative pain Posted: 29 Aug 2014 02:54 PM PDT Anesthesiologists examine studies where antidepressants were prescribed for pain after surgery. Clinical trials are often used to answer questions about the efficacy of the off-label uses of drugs. In the case of antidepressants, their effects on postsurgical pain continue to be an area of research interest.

Options for weight loss your primary care doctor might not know about Posted: 29 Aug 2014 02:53 PM PDT Despite US Preventive Services Task Force recommendations for screening and treating obesity, there are many barriers, several of which may be ameliorated through technological approaches according to a new study.

Efficacy of new gene therapy approach for toxin exposures shown in mouse study Posted: 29 Aug 2014 02:53 PM PDT Gene therapy may offer significant advantages in prevention and treatment of botulism exposure over current methods, new research shows. "We envision this treatment approach having a broad range of applications such as protecting military personnel from biothreat agents or protecting the public from other toxin-mediated diseases such as C. difficile and Shiga toxin-producing E. coli infections," said the lead researcher.

Vaccine for Ebola? Experts answer questions Posted: 29 Aug 2014 02:53 PM PDT To learn more about this outbreak and the creation of new human vaccines, infectious disease experts who have led vaccine studies for such global pathogens as cholera, West Nile virus, dengue, typhoid fever and anthrax speak to reporters and answer questions.

How Ebola blocks immune system Posted: 29 Aug 2014 10:54 AM PDT Researchers have identified one way the Ebola virus dodges the body's antiviral defenses, providing important insight that could lead to new therapies.

Revealing novel mode of action for osteoporosis drug Posted: 29 Aug 2014 10:54 AM PDT Raloxifene is a US Food and Drug Administration-approved treatment for decreasing fracture risk in osteoporosis. While raloxifene is as effective at reducing fracture risk as other current treatments, this works only partially by suppressing bone loss. X-ray studies revealed an additional mechanism underlying raloxifene action, providing an explanation for how this drug can achieve equivalent clinical benefit.

Leading Ebola researcher says there's an effective treatment for Ebola Posted: 29 Aug 2014 10:54 AM PDT A leading US Ebola researcher has gone on record stating that a blend of three monoclonal antibodies can completely protect monkeys against a lethal dose of Ebola virus up to five days after infection, at a time when the disease is severe.

MERS: Low transmissibility, dangerous illness Posted: 29 Aug 2014 07:33 AM PDT The MERS coronavirus has caused disease outbreaks across the Arabian Peninsula and spread to Europe several times. The severe pneumonia virus has claimed the lives of several hundred people since its discovery in 2012. For a long time, scientists have been puzzled over how easily the pathogen spreads from human to human. An international team of researchers has now come to the conclusion that the rate of human transmission is low.

Assortativity signatures of transcription factor networks contribute to robustness Posted: 29 Aug 2014 07:32 AM PDT The type and number of connections in transcription factor networks (TFNs) have been studied to evaluate the role assortativity plays on robustness. The study found that the assortativity signature contributes to a network's resilience against mutations. Transcription factors (TFs) are proteins that initiate and regulate the expression of a gene. To achieve their genetic mission, TFs also regulate one another's expression.

New model predicts patients with type 1 diabetes who will go on to develop major complications Posted: 28 Aug 2014 03:48 PM PDT A new model has been developed for predicting which patients with type 1 diabetes will go on to develop major complications, through easily and routinely measured risk factors. "The risk estimates can guide surveillance recommendations, inform patients and allow efficient design and analysis of clinical trials," the author say.

Cellphone addiction harming academic performance is 'an increasingly realistic possibility' Posted: 28 Aug 2014 03:47 PM PDT Women college students spend an average of 10 hours a day on their cellphones, with men college students spending nearly eight hours, according to a study on cellphone activity. "As cellphone functions increase, addictions to this seemingly indispensable piece of technology become an increasingly realistic possibility," researchers noted.

Exit strategy: Is it time to rethink the VA healthcare system? Posted: 28 Aug 2014 02:00 PM PDT As the federal government plans its exit strategy from the war, now may be the time for it to rethink its role in providing health care to veterans, says an expert. The VA incurs high fixed costs of a brick-and-mortar health care system, the largest salaried workforce in the federal government, and a large administration.

After Great Recession, Americans are unhappy, worried, pessimistic, study finds Posted: 28 Aug 2014 02:00 PM PDT The protracted and uneven recovery from the Great Recession has led most Americans to conclude that the US economy has undergone a permanent change for the worse, according to a new national study. Seven in 10 now say the recession's impact is permanent, up from half in 2009 when the recession officially ended.

Prions can trigger 'stuck' wine fermentations, researchers find Posted: 28 Aug 2014 02:00 PM PDT A biochemical communication system that crosses from bacteria to yeast, making use of prions, has been discovered. It is responsible for a chronic winemaking problem known as 'stuck fermentation' and may also have implications for better understanding metabolic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, in humans.

Socially-assistive robots help kids with autism learn by providing personalized prompts Posted: 28 Aug 2014 02:00 PM PDT Children with autism spectrum disorders showed improved or maintained performance in learning imitative behavior by interacting with humanoid robots that provided graded cueing, an occupational therapy technique that shapes behavior by providing increasingly specific cues to help a person learn new skills.

Deadly remedy: Warning issued about Chinese herbal medicine Posted: 28 Aug 2014 02:00 PM PDT A herbal preparation prescribed by a Chinese herbal medication practitioner in Melbourne for back pain resulted in life-threatening heart changes, prompting a team of intensive care and emergency physicians to call for appropriate patient education by practitioners who prescribe complementary medications.

Breakthrough in RSV research with drug trial Posted: 28 Aug 2014 02:00 PM PDT A new clinical trial of a drug was shown to safely reduce the viral load and clinical illness of healthy adult volunteers intranasally infected with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). RSV is the most common cause of lower respiratory tract infections in young children in the United States and worldwide. It hospitalizes 125,000 children in the United States each year, and was the cause for 1.5 million outpatient visits.

HIV Lessons from the Mississippi Baby Posted: 28 Aug 2014 11:26 AM PDT The news in July, 2014 that HIV had returned in a Mississippi toddler after a two-year treatment-free remission dashed the hopes of clinicians, HIV researchers and the public at large tantalized by the possibility of a cure. But a new commentary by two leading HIV experts argues that despite its disappointing outcome, the Mississippi case and two other recent HIV "rebounds" in adults, have yielded critical lessons about the virus' most perplexing — and maddening — feature: its ability to form cure-defying viral hideouts.

Breastfeeding study shows need for effective peer counseling programs Posted: 28 Aug 2014 10:58 AM PDT The support of peer groups and clinicians is critical to the development of effective breastfeeding programs, according to recent research. A qualitative study of 21 mothers determined that role models for successful breastfeeding help positively shape the outcomes of mothers of infants.

Researchers find animal model for understudied type of muscular dystrophy Posted: 28 Aug 2014 10:58 AM PDT An animal research model has been developed for facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) to be used for muscle regeneration research as well as studies of the effectiveness of potential therapies for FSHD.

Respiratory infection controls being used for Ebola patients are unnecessary, may contribute to public panic Posted: 28 Aug 2014 10:55 AM PDT Respiratory infection control measures -- which have been adopted by most health agencies to deal with the Ebola epidemic in west Africa -- are unnecessary, and may heighten panic and fear among the public, according to the authors of a new paper.

How studying damage to prefrontal lobe has helped unlock the brain's mysteries Posted: 28 Aug 2014 10:55 AM PDT Until the last few decades, the frontal lobes of the brain were shrouded in mystery and erroneously thought of as nonessential for normal function. Now a review highlights groundbreaking studies of patients with brain damage that reveal how distinct areas of the frontal lobes are critical for a person's ability to learn, multitask, control emotions, socialize, and make decisions. The findings have helped experts rehabilitate patients experiencing damage to this brain region.

Zombie bacteria are nothing to be afraid of Posted: 28 Aug 2014 10:52 AM PDT The first experimental evidence has been obtained that there are at least two fail-safe points in the bacterial cell cycle. If the fail-safes are activated, the cell is forced to exit the cell cycle forever. It then enters a zombie-like state and is unable to reproduce even under the most favorable of conditions. Drugs that trigger the fail-safes are already under development.

Females ignored in basic medical research, experts say Posted: 28 Aug 2014 08:53 AM PDT Surgical researchers rarely use female animals or female cells in their published studies, researchers say, despite a huge body of evidence showing that sex differences can play a crucial role in medical research.

This is your brain's blood vessels on drugs Posted: 28 Aug 2014 08:09 AM PDT A laser-based method has been used to produce the first-ever set of images clearly and directly detailing how cocaine shuts down blood flow in the brain. This could help doctors and researchers better understand how drug abuse affects the brain, which may aid in improving brain-cancer surgery and tissue engineering, and lead to better treatment for recovering drug addicts.

Ontario has one of the highest rates of IBD in the world Posted: 28 Aug 2014 08:09 AM PDT New population-based study puts puts Ontario in the 90th percentile for IBD prevalence in the world, indicates research that provides further proof that science needs to continue the fight to cure Crohn's and colitis and improve the lives of children and adults living with these chronic diseases.

Men who exercise less more likely to wake up to urinate Posted: 28 Aug 2014 08:01 AM PDT Men who are physically active are at lower risk of nocturia (waking up at night to urinate), according to a study. Nocturia is the most common and bothersome lower urinary tract symptom in men. Causes include overproduction of urine, low bladder capacity and sleep disturbances. Nocturia increases with age, and is estimated to occur in more than 50 percent of men 45 and older.

Simple test could detect most common cause of visual impairment in the UK Posted: 28 Aug 2014 06:12 AM PDT A simple color test that could detect the early onset of a condition which accounts for over half of visual impairment certifications in the UK is being researched by scientists. If left untreated, neovascular age-related macular degeneration can lead to bleeding, leaking and scarring of the eye and often irreversible vision loss.

Bedsharing with baby may impair sleep quality Posted: 28 Aug 2014 06:12 AM PDT Nocturnal awakenings are frequent among 6-month-old children, but sharing a bed might make things worse, researchers report. Even though the researchers found an overall reduction in both sleep duration and nocturnal awakenings from 6 to 18 months of age, the chronic problem of sleep problems was high -- and impacted by prior sleep behavior and sleeping arrangements. The longer the child shared bed with their parents, the greater the chance was of short sleep duration and frequent awakenings at 18 months of age.

Potential method to better control lung cancer using radiotherapy Posted: 28 Aug 2014 06:12 AM PDT Standard treatment for locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer is a combination of radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Traditionally this is planned in a one-size-fits-all manner but the radiation dose may not always be enough to stop tumor growth. The potential to increase the radiation dose to the cancerous tissue varies between patients and depends on the size and location of the tumor. Now researchers have looked at ways to personalize and increase the dose to the tumor while minimizing the effect on healthy tissue.

Arthritis patients failing to take expensive, effective medication according to new research Posted: 28 Aug 2014 06:02 AM PDT Large numbers of people with severe rheumatoid arthritis are failing to take expensive medication as prescribed, according to a new multi-centre study. Rheumatoid arthritis is caused by the body's immune system turning on itself, leading to inflammation pain and swelling in the joints and other internal organs.

High cost of hot flashes: Millions in lost wages preventable Posted: 27 Aug 2014 05:36 PM PDT The steep decline in the use of hormone therapy has spawned a prevalent but preventable side effect: millions of women suffering in silence with hot flashes, according to a study.

Protein in 'good cholesterol' may be a key to treating pulmonary hypertension Posted: 27 Aug 2014 05:35 PM PDT Oxidized lipids are known to play a key role in inflaming blood vessels and hardening arteries, which causes diseases like atherosclerosis. A new study demonstrates that they may also contribute to pulmonary hypertension, a serious lung disease that narrows the small blood vessels in the lungs. Using a rodent model, the researchers showed that a peptide mimicking part of the main protein in HDL, the so-called "good" cholesterol, may help reduce the production of oxidized lipids in pulmonary hypertension.

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