ScienceDaily: Top Health News

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• Exposure to common toxic substances could increase asthma symptoms
• A millimeter-scale, wirelessly powered cardiac device
• Potential drug for treatement of Alzheimer's disease investigated
• Danish scientists solve old blood mystery: New intriguing knowledge on blood hemoglobin
• Breathable treatment to help prevent asthma attacks
• The beat goes on: Research yields two 'firsts' regarding protein crucial to human cardiac function
• Traumatic childhood may increase the risk of drug addiction
• How gene profiling in emphysema is helping to find a cure
• Too much protein HUWE1 causes intellectual disability
• Immune system protein could explain pancreatitis
• First implantation of prototype bionic eye with 24 electrodes: 'All of a sudden I could see a little flash of light'
• More heart problems with two chemo drugs for breast cancer, study suggests
• Study gives new insight on inflammation
• Comprehensive, accessible vision testing device for children developed
• Possible therapy for tamoxifen resistant breast cancer identified
• Cancer 'turns off' important immune cells, complicating experimental vaccine therapies
• Many U.S. schools are unprepared for another pandemic

Exposure to common toxic substances could increase asthma symptoms Posted: 31 Aug 2012 05:34 PM PDT Children who are exposed to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), which were commonly used in a range of industrial products, could be at risk of an increase in asthma symptoms, according to new research.

A millimeter-scale, wirelessly powered cardiac device Posted: 31 Aug 2012 11:08 AM PDT Electrical engineers overturn existing models to demonstrate the feasibility of a millimeter-sized, wirelessly powered cardiac device. The findings, say the researchers, could dramatically alter the scale of medical devices implanted in the human body.

Potential drug for treatement of Alzheimer's disease investigated Posted: 31 Aug 2012 09:37 AM PDT A compound developed to treat neuropathic pain has shown potential as an innovative treatment for Alzheimer's disease, according to a new study.

Danish scientists solve old blood mystery: New intriguing knowledge on blood hemoglobin Posted: 31 Aug 2012 07:41 AM PDT Scientists in Denmark have solved an old puzzle, which since the 1960s from many sides has been regarded as impossible to complete. The challenge was to solve the structure of the protecting protein complex that forms when hemoglobin is released from red cells and becomes toxic. This toxic release of hemoglobin occurs in many diseases affecting red cell stability, e.g. malaria.

Breathable treatment to help prevent asthma attacks Posted: 31 Aug 2012 07:41 AM PDT Researchers in the UK are presenting details of a treatment that could help asthmatics fight infections that trigger 80 percent of asthma attacks.

The beat goes on: Research yields two 'firsts' regarding protein crucial to human cardiac function Posted: 31 Aug 2012 07:38 AM PDT Researchers have achieved significant benchmarks in a study of the human cardiac protein alpha-tropomyosin, which is an essential, molecular-level component that controls the heart's contraction on every beat. Using an imaging method called atomic force microscopy, scientists have achieved two 'firsts': the first direct imaging of individual alpha-tropomyosin molecules and the first demonstrated examples of a measure of the human cardiac protein's flexibility.

Traumatic childhood may increase the risk of drug addiction Posted: 31 Aug 2012 05:34 AM PDT Previous research has shown that personality traits such as impulsivity or compulsiveness are indicators of an increased risk of addiction. Now, new research suggests that these impulsive and compulsive personality traits are also associated with a traumatic upbringing during childhood.

How gene profiling in emphysema is helping to find a cure Posted: 31 Aug 2012 05:33 AM PDT Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the third leading cause of death in the United States and is thought to affect almost three million people in the UK. New research has identified genes whose activity is altered with increasing lung damage and, using a database of drug effects on gene activity (the Connectivity Map), finds that the compound Gly-His-Lys (GHK) affects the activity of these genes.

Too much protein HUWE1 causes intellectual disability Posted: 31 Aug 2012 05:33 AM PDT Two to three percent of children are born with an intellectual disability. Possibly by a genetic defect, but in 80 percent of these cases, we do not know -- yet -- which genes are responsible. Increased production of the HUWE1 protein is the cause in some patients, new research shows.

Immune system protein could explain pancreatitis Posted: 31 Aug 2012 05:33 AM PDT There is now a clear target for the treatment of acute pancreatitis, according to researchers in Sweden, who have discovered that a well-known protein plays a central role in the development of the disease. It is likely that the protein is also highly significant for other inflammatory diseases.

First implantation of prototype bionic eye with 24 electrodes: 'All of a sudden I could see a little flash of light' Posted: 31 Aug 2012 03:50 AM PDT In a major development, researchers in Australia have successfully performed the first implantation of an early prototype bionic eye with 24 electrodes. A patient with profound vision loss due to retinitis pigmentosa, an inherited condition, has now received the implant that enables her to experience some vision.

More heart problems with two chemo drugs for breast cancer, study suggests Posted: 30 Aug 2012 01:11 PM PDT Women who have breast cancer and are treated with two chemotherapy drugs may experience more cardiac problems like heart failure than shown in previous studies, according to a new study.

Study gives new insight on inflammation Posted: 30 Aug 2012 09:59 AM PDT Scientists' discovery of an important step in the body's process for healing wounds may lead to a new way of treating inflammation.

Comprehensive, accessible vision testing device for children developed Posted: 30 Aug 2012 09:58 AM PDT Eighty-five percent of children's learning is related to vision. Yet in the U.S., 80 percent of children have never had an eye exam or any vision screening before kindergarten, statistics say. When they do, the vision screenings they typically receive can detect only one or two conditions.

Possible therapy for tamoxifen resistant breast cancer identified Posted: 30 Aug 2012 07:54 AM PDT A study has discovered how tamoxifen-resistant breast-cancer grows and proliferates. It also identifies an experimental agent that might offer a novel targeted therapy for tamoxifen-resistant breast cancer.

Cancer 'turns off' important immune cells, complicating experimental vaccine therapies Posted: 30 Aug 2012 07:54 AM PDT New research examines why some cancer vaccines are not effective, while identifying a new therapeutic strategy for treating autoimmune problems. Scientists suggest that even early stage cancer produces a negative immune response from dendritic cells. Although problematic for cancer treatment, these cells could be valuable tools for preventing the immune system from attacking what it should not, as is the case with autoimmune disorders and organ transplants.

Many U.S. schools are unprepared for another pandemic Posted: 30 Aug 2012 07:53 AM PDT Less than half of U.S. schools address pandemic preparedness in their school plan, and only 40 percent have updated their school plan since the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, according to a new study.

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