ScienceDaily: Top Health News

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• Phase I clinical trial shows drug shrinks melanoma brain metastases
• Slew of rare DNA changes following population explosion may hold clues to common diseases
• Religion is a potent force for cooperation and conflict, research shows
• Babies' susceptibility to colds linked to immune response at birth
• Prosthetic retina offers simple solution for restoring sight
• Suspicion resides in two regions of the brain: Our baseline level of distrust is distinct and separable from our inborn lie detector
• New technique reveals unseen information in DNA code
• Pain relief through distraction: It's not all in your head
• Untangling the development of breast cancer: Evolution of 21 breast cancers
• Extended daily fasting overrides harmful effects of a high-fat diet: Study may offer drug-free intervention to prevent obesity and diabetes
• Training the brain could help reduce pain
• Risk Factor Management Helps Prevent Migraine Attacks
• RNA modification influences thousands of genes: Revolutionizes understanding of gene expression
• Parents are happier people: Parents experience greater happiness and meaning in life than nonparents, psychologists find
• Fighting bacteria’s strength in numbers
• Hormone-depleting drug shows promise against localized high-risk prostate tumors
• Phase I study of temsirolimus, capecitabine appears safe; positive survival trend seen
• Clergy can fight HIV on faith-friendly terms
• New advice on medication disposal: Trash beats take-back, new study suggests
• Children with rare, incurable brain disease improve after gene therapy
• Potential new drugs for fox tapeworm infection in humans
• Inside a plant’s pharma factory
• Unexpected source for diabetic neuropathy pain

Phase I clinical trial shows drug shrinks melanoma brain metastases Posted: 17 May 2012 04:31 PM PDT An experimental drug targeting a common mutation in melanoma successfully shrank tumors that spread to the brain in nine out of 10 patients in part of an international phase I clinical trial report.

Slew of rare DNA changes following population explosion may hold clues to common diseases Posted: 17 May 2012 11:36 AM PDT Scientists have taken a first step toward understanding how rare genetic differences among people contribute to leading chronic illnesses. One-letter DNA code changes occur frequently in human genomes, but each variant is usually found in only a few individuals. This phenomenon is consistent with the population explosion of the past 5,000 years. Studying the evolution of rare genetic variants and their health impact is critical as low cost, rapid sequencing enters clinical use. Such information would help doctors interpret personal genomes.

Religion is a potent force for cooperation and conflict, research shows Posted: 17 May 2012 11:36 AM PDT Across history and cultures, religion increases trust within groups but also may increase conflict with other groups, according to a new analysis.

Babies' susceptibility to colds linked to immune response at birth Posted: 17 May 2012 11:35 AM PDT Innate differences in immunity can be detected at birth, according to new research. And babies with a better innate response to viruses have fewer respiratory illnesses in the first year of life.

Prosthetic retina offers simple solution for restoring sight Posted: 17 May 2012 10:21 AM PDT A device which could restore sight to patients with one of the most common causes of blindness in the developed world is being developed.

Suspicion resides in two regions of the brain: Our baseline level of distrust is distinct and separable from our inborn lie detector Posted: 17 May 2012 10:21 AM PDT Scientists have found that suspicion resides in two distinct regions of the brain: the amygdala, which plays a central role in processing fear and emotional memories, and the parahippocampal gyrus, which is associated with declarative memory and the recognition of scenes.

New technique reveals unseen information in DNA code Posted: 17 May 2012 10:20 AM PDT Scientists have used a new technique to map 5-methylcytosine (5-mC) and 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5-hmC) in DNA from human and mouse embryonic stem cells, revealing new information about their patterns of distribution. These studies have revealed that these DNA modifications play major roles in fundamental life processes such as cell differentiation, cancer and brain function.

Pain relief through distraction: It's not all in your head Posted: 17 May 2012 10:20 AM PDT Mental distractions make pain easier to take, and those pain-relieving effects aren't just in your head, according to a new report.

Untangling the development of breast cancer: Evolution of 21 breast cancers Posted: 17 May 2012 10:19 AM PDT The team created a catalogue of all the mutations in the genomes of the 21 breast cancer genomes. They identified entirely new mutational processes that drive breast cancer development, including one remarkable process defined by localized regions of hypermutation found in most of the breast cancers. This phenomenon has never been seen before. They also found that, once many mutations have accumulated in a cell, the cell then diverges into different subgroups, one of which is destined to become the aggressive, dominant, breast cancer tumor. These findings have implications for our understanding of how breast cancers develop over the decades before diagnosis in adults.

Extended daily fasting overrides harmful effects of a high-fat diet: Study may offer drug-free intervention to prevent obesity and diabetes Posted: 17 May 2012 10:17 AM PDT It turns out that when we eat may be as important as what we eat. Scientists have found that regular eating times and extending the daily fasting period may override the adverse health effects of a high-fat diet and prevent obesity, diabetes and liver disease in mice.

Training the brain could help reduce pain Posted: 17 May 2012 10:17 AM PDT Training the brain to reduce pain could be a promising approach for treating phantom limb pain and complex regional pain syndrome, according to s neuroscience researcher.

Risk Factor Management Helps Prevent Migraine Attacks Posted: 17 May 2012 10:16 AM PDT The latest genetic and biological research shows that migraine is a neurological, not vascular, disorder and both acute and preventive treatments being developed target peripheral and central nervous systems, according to a prominent migraine expert.

RNA modification influences thousands of genes: Revolutionizes understanding of gene expression Posted: 17 May 2012 10:16 AM PDT Over the past decade, research in the field of epigenetics has revealed that chemically modified bases are abundant components of the human genome and has forced us to abandon the notion we've had since high school genetics that DNA consists of only four bases.

Parents are happier people: Parents experience greater happiness and meaning in life than nonparents, psychologists find Posted: 17 May 2012 08:54 AM PDT Contrary to recent scholarship and popular belief, parents experience greater levels of happiness and meaning in life than people without children, according to researchers. Parents also are happier during the day when they are caring for their children than during their other daily activities, the researchers found in a series of studies conducted in the United States and Canada.

Fighting bacteria’s strength in numbers Posted: 17 May 2012 08:53 AM PDT Scientists have opened the way for more accurate research into new ways to fight dangerous bacterial infections by proving a long-held theory about how bacteria communicate with each other.

Hormone-depleting drug shows promise against localized high-risk prostate tumors Posted: 16 May 2012 04:56 PM PDT Researchers have demonstrated that a hormone-depleting drug approved for the treatment of metastatic prostate cancer can help eliminate or nearly eliminate tumors in many patients with aggressive cancers that have yet to spread beyond the prostate, according to a new clinical study.

Phase I study of temsirolimus, capecitabine appears safe; positive survival trend seen Posted: 16 May 2012 04:55 PM PDT A Phase I clinical trial examining the safety of combining temsirolimus and capecitabine in advanced malignancies suggests the two agents can be given safely to patients. In addition researchers conducting the study in cancer patients whose tumors have resisted multiple treatments say the combination demonstrates "promising evidence" of disease control and should be studied in a Phase II trial.

Clergy can fight HIV on faith-friendly terms Posted: 16 May 2012 02:42 PM PDT In the United States, where blacks bear a disproportionate burden of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, black religious institutions could help turn the tide. In a new study based on dozens of interviews and focus groups with 38 of Philadelphia's most influential black religious leaders, physicians and public health researchers find that traditional barriers to preaching about HIV prevention could give way to faith-friendly messages about getting tested and staying on treatment.

New advice on medication disposal: Trash beats take-back, new study suggests Posted: 16 May 2012 12:25 PM PDT Returning extra medicine to the pharmacy for disposal might not be worth the extra time, money or greenhouse gas emissions, according to a study that is the first to look at the net effects of so-called take-back programs.

Children with rare, incurable brain disease improve after gene therapy Posted: 16 May 2012 12:24 PM PDT Taiwanese doctors have restored some movement in four children bedridden with a rare, life-threatening neurological disease using gene transfer. The first-in-humans achievement may also be helpful for more common diseases such as Parkinson's.

Potential new drugs for fox tapeworm infection in humans Posted: 16 May 2012 11:01 AM PDT Scientists are reporting development and testing of a new series of drugs that could finally stop the fox tapeworm -- which causes a rare but life-threatening disease in humans -- dead in its tracks. The report shows that specific organometallic substances that help combat cancer are also the surprising best new hope for a treatment against tapeworm infection.

Inside a plant’s pharma factory Posted: 16 May 2012 06:25 AM PDT A newly discovered enzyme brings scientists one step closer to understanding how plants manufacture a molecule with potent medicinal properties. Plants of the genus Glycyrrhiza are best known as key ingredients in the popular treat licorice, but they also have a valuable place in the medicine cabinet.

Unexpected source for diabetic neuropathy pain Posted: 15 May 2012 05:30 PM PDT Nearly half of all diabetics suffer from neuropathic pain, an intractable, agonizing and still mysterious companion of the disease. Now researchers have identified an unexpected source of the pain and a potential target to alleviate it.

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