ScienceDaily: Top Health News

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• The microbiome and disease: Gut bacteria influence the severity of heart attacks in rats
• No link found between prenatal exposure to tobacco smoke and autism, Swedish study finds
• Active compounds against Alzheimer's disease: New insights thanks to simulations
• Chlorophyll can help prevent cancer -- but study raises other questions
• How the brain routes traffic for maximum alertness
• Blame your taste buds for liking fat: Receptor for tasting fat identified in humans
• New 'smart' nanotherapeutics can deliver drugs directly to the pancreas
• First detailed data of risk of using Rasilez with certain blood pressure-lowering drugs
• Bacterial infections: New laboratory method uses mass spectrometry to rapidly detect staph infections
• New culprit discovered in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia
• Gene crucial to normal development of lungs and brain: Discovery may lead to new ways to replace damaged lung tissues with stem cells
• Inflammation may link obesity and adverse pregnancy outcomes

The microbiome and disease: Gut bacteria influence the severity of heart attacks in rats Posted: 12 Jan 2012 04:34 PM PST New research suggests the types and levels of intestinal bacteria may be used to predict a person's likelihood of having a heart attack, and manipulating these organisms may help reduce risk. This discovery may lead to new tests and therapies that physicians use to prevent and treat heart attacks. In addition, this research suggests probiotics may be able to protect the heart in patients undergoing heart surgery and angioplasty.

No link found between prenatal exposure to tobacco smoke and autism, Swedish study finds Posted: 12 Jan 2012 04:32 PM PST A large population-based study in Sweden indicates that there is no link between smoking during pregnancy and autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in children.

Active compounds against Alzheimer's disease: New insights thanks to simulations Posted: 12 Jan 2012 12:16 PM PST Various molecules have been synthesized that inhibit self-assembly of the amyloid beta peptide in vitro. This peptide is strongly linked to Alzheimer's disease. Based on computer simulations, biochemists have recently shown how the active compounds and fragments of this disease-causing peptide interact with each other: it is the disordered structure of the peptide that determines the interactions with active compounds.

Chlorophyll can help prevent cancer -- but study raises other questions Posted: 12 Jan 2012 11:23 AM PST A recent study found that the chlorophyll in green vegetables offers protection against cancer when tested against the modest carcinogen exposure levels most likely to be found in the environment. However, chlorophyll actually increases the number of tumors at very high carcinogen exposure levels. The research raises serious questions about whether traditional lab studies done with mice and high levels of toxic exposure are providing accurate answers to what is a real health risk, what isn't, and what dietary or pharmaceutical approaches are useful.

How the brain routes traffic for maximum alertness Posted: 12 Jan 2012 11:22 AM PST A new study shows how the brain reconfigures its connections to minimize distractions and take best advantage of our knowledge of situations.

Blame your taste buds for liking fat: Receptor for tasting fat identified in humans Posted: 12 Jan 2012 10:43 AM PST Why do we like fatty foods so much? We can blame our taste buds. In the first study to identify a human receptor that can taste fat, researchers report that our tongues recognize and have an affinity for fat and that variations in a gene can make people more or less sensitive to the taste of fat in foods.

New 'smart' nanotherapeutics can deliver drugs directly to the pancreas Posted: 12 Jan 2012 10:43 AM PST Scientists have developed "smart" nanotherapeutics that can be programmed to selectively deliver drugs to the cells of the pancreas. The approach was found to increase drug efficacy by 200-fold in in vitro studies based on the ability of these nanomaterials to both protect the drug from degradation and concentrate it at key target sites, such as regions of the pancreas that contain the insulin-producing cells.

First detailed data of risk of using Rasilez with certain blood pressure-lowering drugs Posted: 12 Jan 2012 08:27 AM PST Researchers have published the first detailed figures showing the risk of using the prescription drug Rasilez in combination with certain other blood pressure-lowering medications.

Bacterial infections: New laboratory method uses mass spectrometry to rapidly detect staph infections Posted: 12 Jan 2012 08:19 AM PST Researchers have developed a new laboratory test that can rapidly identify the bacterium responsible for staph infections. The test uses mass spectrometry to quantify the number of Staphylococcus aureus organisms in a large number of samples in just a few hours.

New culprit discovered in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia Posted: 12 Jan 2012 08:19 AM PST A new study shows how the cancer causing gene Notch, in combination with a mutated Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2) protein complex, work together to cause T- cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL).

Gene crucial to normal development of lungs and brain: Discovery may lead to new ways to replace damaged lung tissues with stem cells Posted: 12 Jan 2012 06:59 AM PST Scientists have identified a gene that tells cells to develop multiple cilia, tiny hair-like structures that move fluids through the lungs and brain. The finding may help scientists generate new therapies that use stem cells to replace damaged tissues in the lung and other organs.

Inflammation may link obesity and adverse pregnancy outcomes Posted: 10 Jan 2012 01:34 PM PST A number of different immunological mechanisms ensure the successful establishment and maintenance of pregnancy. Imbalance in these mechanisms is associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes. Researchers have now examined the impact of maternal obesity on the inflammatory responses in tissues of both the mother and the child.

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