ScienceDaily: Top Health News

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• Novel approach to stimulate immune cells
• Scientists find differences in naked mole rat's protein disposers
• New maintenance therapy for multiple myeloma looks promising, study suggests
• Molecular subtypes and genetic alterations may determine response to lung cancer therapy
• Gene therapy for hearing loss: Potential and limitations
• Mild traumatic brain injury may contribute to brain network dysfunction
• Arthritis, cancer: New screening technique yields elusive compounds to block immune-regulating enzyme
• Successful stem cell differentiation requires DNA compaction, study finds
• 'Switch' to boost anti-viral response to fight infectious diseases
• Forensic scientist tracks the crime scene invaders
• Maternal gluten sensitivity linked to schizophrenia risk in children
• Vitamin K2: New hope for Parkinson's patients?
• More evidence on clot risks of non-oral contraceptives
• Inducing labor can reduce birth complications without increasing Cesareans, study suggests
• Pneumonia and preterm birth complications are the leading causes of childhood death
• Education, not abortion, reduces maternal mortality, study suggests
• Scientists identify protein that stimulates brown fat to burn calories
• New nutrition bar improves metabolic biomarkers linked to cardiovascular disease, cognitive decline, and anti-oxidant defenses in only two weeks
• Genetic mutation causing rare form of spinal muscular atrophy identified
• Mechanistic discovery links psoriasis to increased risk of CVD
• Cancer-causing skin damage is done when young
• New animal model for one of the least understood medical issues: ADHD
• Culprit responsible for severe systemic scleroderma complications in African-Americans found
• Glial cells supply nerve fibres with energy-rich metabolic products
• Misdiagnosis of multiple sclerosis is costing health system millions per year
• The music of the hemispheres sheds new light on schizophrenia
• Exhaustion renders immune cells less effective in cancer treatment

Novel approach to stimulate immune cells Posted: 11 May 2012 02:50 PM PDT Researchers have uncovered a new way to stimulate activity of immune cell opiate receptors, leading to efficient tumor cell clearance. The researchers have been able to take a new pharmacological approach to activate the immune cells to prevent cancer growth through stimulation of the opiate receptors found on immune cells.

Scientists find differences in naked mole rat's protein disposers Posted: 11 May 2012 02:50 PM PDT The naked mole rat's unusually long and healthy life span may be explained by cellular machinery that disposes of damaged proteins. Scientists found that this machinery differs in composition from that of other rodents.

New maintenance therapy for multiple myeloma looks promising, study suggests Posted: 11 May 2012 10:37 AM PDT Multiple myeloma is a form of cancer where the plasma cells in the bone marrow grow out of control, causing damage to bones as well as predisposing patients to anemia, infection and kidney failure. Unfortunately, multiple myeloma continues to progress even after a transplant. A new study now offers promising news about a new long-term therapy, lenalidomide, that can be used after transplantation to slow down the progression of the disease.

Molecular subtypes and genetic alterations may determine response to lung cancer therapy Posted: 11 May 2012 10:37 AM PDT Scientists have just shown that lung cancer molecular subtypes correlate with distinct genetic alterations and with patient response to therapy. These findings in pre-clinical models and patient tumor samples build on their previous report of three molecular subtypes of non-small cell lung cancer and refines their molecular analysis of tumors.

Gene therapy for hearing loss: Potential and limitations Posted: 11 May 2012 09:23 AM PDT Regenerating sensory hair cells could form the basis for treating age- or trauma-related hearing loss. One way to do this could be with gene therapy that drives new sensory hair cells to grow. Researchers have shown that introducing a gene called Atoh1 into the cochleae of young mice can induce the formation of extra sensory hair cells.

Mild traumatic brain injury may contribute to brain network dysfunction Posted: 11 May 2012 09:22 AM PDT Even mild head injuries can cause significant abnormalities in brain function that last for several days, which may explain the neurological symptoms experienced by some individuals who have experienced a head injury associated with sports, accidents or combat, according to a new study.

Arthritis, cancer: New screening technique yields elusive compounds to block immune-regulating enzyme Posted: 11 May 2012 07:48 AM PDT Scientists have found the first chemical compounds that act to block an enzyme that has been linked to inflammatory conditions such as asthma and arthritis, as well as some inflammation-promoted cancers.

Successful stem cell differentiation requires DNA compaction, study finds Posted: 11 May 2012 07:42 AM PDT New research findings show that embryonic stem cells unable to fully compact the DNA inside them cannot complete their primary task: Differentiation into specific cell types that give rise to the various types of tissues and structures in the body.

'Switch' to boost anti-viral response to fight infectious diseases Posted: 11 May 2012 07:41 AM PDT Scientists have for the first time, identified the molecular 'switch' that directly triggers the body's first line of defense against pathogens, more accurately known as the body's "innate immunity."

Forensic scientist tracks the crime scene invaders Posted: 11 May 2012 07:13 AM PDT Marks on a dead body could indicate violence and therefore murder. But they might have been made by legions of insects. A forensic scientist has built up data that will be a big aid to detectives faced with investigating gruesome discoveries.

Maternal gluten sensitivity linked to schizophrenia risk in children Posted: 11 May 2012 07:12 AM PDT Babies born to women with sensitivity to gluten appear to be at increased risk of developing schizophrenia and other psychiatric disorders later in life, according to new findings from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and Johns Hopkins University, United States.

Vitamin K2: New hope for Parkinson's patients? Posted: 11 May 2012 07:12 AM PDT Neuroscientists have succeeded in undoing the effect of one of the genetic defects that leads to Parkinson's using vitamin K2. The discovery gives hope to Parkinson's patients.

More evidence on clot risks of non-oral contraceptives Posted: 10 May 2012 07:48 PM PDT A new study adds to the evidence that certain non-oral hormonal contraceptives carry a higher risk of serious blood clots than others.

Inducing labor can reduce birth complications without increasing Cesareans, study suggests Posted: 10 May 2012 07:48 PM PDT Induction of labor beyond 37 weeks of pregnancy can reduce perinatal mortality without increasing Cesarean section rates, finds a new study.

Pneumonia and preterm birth complications are the leading causes of childhood death Posted: 10 May 2012 07:44 PM PDT Researchers examined the distribution of child deaths globally by cause and found that 64 percent were attributable to infectious causes and 40 percent occurred in neonates.

Education, not abortion, reduces maternal mortality, study suggests Posted: 10 May 2012 11:19 AM PDT A study conducted in Chile has found that the most important factor in reducing maternal mortality is the educational level of women.

Scientists identify protein that stimulates brown fat to burn calories Posted: 10 May 2012 09:28 AM PDT Scientists have identified a protein which regulates the activation of brown fat in both the brain and the body's tissues.

New nutrition bar improves metabolic biomarkers linked to cardiovascular disease, cognitive decline, and anti-oxidant defenses in only two weeks Posted: 10 May 2012 08:35 AM PDT Scientists have developed a low-calorie fruit-based high fiber vitamin and mineral nutrition bar called the "CHORI-bar" that improves biological indicators (increased HDL-c and glutathione, lowered homocysteine) linked to risk of cardiovascular disease, cognitive decline, and associated decline in anti-oxidant defenses.

Genetic mutation causing rare form of spinal muscular atrophy identified Posted: 10 May 2012 08:35 AM PDT Scientists have confirmed that mutations of a gene are responsible for some cases of a rare, inherited disease that causes progressive muscle degeneration and weakness: spinal muscular atrophy with lower extremity predominance, also known as SMA-LED.

Mechanistic discovery links psoriasis to increased risk of CVD Posted: 10 May 2012 08:33 AM PDT Researchers have discovered preclinical evidence demonstrating that the inflammatory skin disease leads to cardiovascular disease. Further, the research demonstrated that aggressive reversal of psoriasis reduces the cardiovascular risk as well.

Cancer-causing skin damage is done when young Posted: 10 May 2012 07:05 AM PDT With high UV levels continuing in Australia this autumn, young people are at risk of suffering the worst skin damage they will receive during their lifetime, new research has found.

New animal model for one of the least understood medical issues: ADHD Posted: 10 May 2012 07:03 AM PDT To better understand the cause of ADHD and to identify methods to prevent and treat it, researchers have developed a new form of specially bred mouse that mimics the condition.

Culprit responsible for severe systemic scleroderma complications in African-Americans found Posted: 10 May 2012 07:03 AM PDT A new analysis finds that compared to Caucasians, African-Americans with systemic scleroderma have more antibodies in the blood that are linked to severe complications and an increased likelihood of death. They say this finding suggests physicians can use these disease markers to screen and treat scleroderma patients proactively.

Glial cells supply nerve fibres with energy-rich metabolic products Posted: 10 May 2012 07:00 AM PDT Around 100 billion neurons in the human brain enable us to think, feel and act. They transmit electrical impulses to remote parts of the brain and body via long nerve fibres known as axons. This communication requires enormous amounts of energy, which the neurons are thought to generate from sugar. Axons are closely associated with glial cells which, on the one hand, surround them with an electrically insulating myelin sheath and, on the other hand support their long-term function. Scientists have now discovered a possible mechanisms by which these glial cells in the brain can support their associated axons and keep them alive in the long term.

Misdiagnosis of multiple sclerosis is costing health system millions per year Posted: 09 May 2012 03:00 PM PDT It is relatively common for doctors to diagnose someone with multiple sclerosis when the patient doesn't have the disease -- a misdiagnosis that not only causes patients potential harm but costs the US health care system untold millions of dollars a year, according to a new study.

The music of the hemispheres sheds new light on schizophrenia Posted: 09 May 2012 10:59 AM PDT In 1619, the pioneering astronomer Johannes Kepler published Harmonices Mundi in which he analyzed data on the movement of planets and asserted that the laws of nature governing the movements of planets show features of harmonic relationships in music. In so doing, Kepler provided important support for the, then controversial, model of the universe proposed by Copernicus.

Exhaustion renders immune cells less effective in cancer treatment Posted: 09 May 2012 09:37 AM PDT Rather than stimulating immune cells to more effectively battle cancerous tumors, treatment with the protein interleukin-12 (IL-12) has the opposite effect, driving these intracellular fighters to exhaustion, a new study has found. The study helps explain the negative results of clinical trials testing the treatment's ability to ramp up the body's natural immune response to destroy cancer cells. The study also demonstrates that the same "T cell exhaustion" that plagues specialized immune cells during chronic viral infections also affects cells fighting long bouts of cancer.

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