ScienceDaily: Top Health News

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• Self-perpetuating signals may drive tumor cells to spread
• Weight gain early in pregnancy means bigger, fatter babies
• Step closer to custom-building new blood vessels
• Research supports mosquito indexing system that identifies best time to act against potential West Nile virus outbreaks
• Multiple sclerosis drug shows promise for preventing heart failure
• Ecological forces structure your body's personal mix of microbes
• Steering stem cells with magnets
• Predicting long-term success in college
• People with pre-diabetes who drop substantial weight may ward off type 2 diabetes
• Bioengineers develop new approach to regenerate back discs
• How patients experience direct-to-consumer genetic testing
• Tide is turning in skin cancer battle
• Young children with autism benefit regardless of high-quality treatment model
• Mathematical models target disease with drugs chosen by your DNA
• Prostate cancers are fewer, smaller on walnut-enriched diet
• What are fructooliogosaccharides and how do they provide digestive, immunity and bone health benefits?
• Genetic changes that may contribute to the onset of schizophrenia identified
• Even healthy-looking smokers have early cell damage which destroys necessary genetic programming
• Nanoparticles with protein 'passports' evade immune system, deliver more medication to tumors
• Inner speech speaks volumes about the brain
• H7N9 influenza strain resistant to antivirals, but tests fail to identify resistance
• Fat in organs and blood may increase risk of osteoporosis
• Artificial organelles transform free radicals into water and oxygen
• New mode of cellular communication discovered in the brain
• Intestinal bacteria linked to white blood cell cancer
• People who eat nuts more than three times a week have reduced risk of dying from cancer or cardiovascular disease

Self-perpetuating signals may drive tumor cells to spread Posted: 16 Jul 2013 01:21 PM PDT Scientists have identified a self-perpetuating signaling circuit inside connective tissue cells that allows these cells to form a front and a back and propel themselves in a particular direction over a long period of time. This propulsion is the same movement that tumor cells use to invade healthy tissue during cancer metastasis so cracking the code to this signaling network may lead to new therapeutic strategies.

Weight gain early in pregnancy means bigger, fatter babies Posted: 16 Jul 2013 01:21 PM PDT A researcher cautions against too much weight early into pregnancy, which leads to larger, chubbier babies.

Step closer to custom-building new blood vessels Posted: 16 Jul 2013 01:18 PM PDT Researchers have coaxed stem cells into forming networks of new blood vessels in the laboratory, then successfully transplanted them into mice. The stem cells are made by reprogramming ordinary cells, so the new technique could potentially be used to make blood vessels genetically matched to individual patients and unlikely to be rejected by their immune systems, the investigators say.

Research supports mosquito indexing system that identifies best time to act against potential West Nile virus outbreaks Posted: 16 Jul 2013 01:18 PM PDT Researchers have unlocked some of the mysteries of West Nile virus outbreaks and shown that use of a mosquito vector-index rating system works well to identify the best time for early intervention.

Multiple sclerosis drug shows promise for preventing heart failure Posted: 16 Jul 2013 11:40 AM PDT A drug already approved to treat multiple sclerosis may also hold promise for treating cardiac hypertrophy, or thickening of the cardiac muscle -- a disorder that often leads to heart failure, researchers report.

Ecological forces structure your body's personal mix of microbes Posted: 16 Jul 2013 11:40 AM PDT Environmental conditions have a stronger influence on the mix of microbes living in your body than does competition between species. Instead of excluding each other, microbes that fiercely compete for similar resources are more likely to cohabit the same individual. The findings are a step toward building a predictive model of the human microbiome to study how medical conditions change this massive biological system, identify how to promote beneficial microbiomes, and design interventions for hard-to-manage problems like chronic digestive inflammation.

Steering stem cells with magnets Posted: 16 Jul 2013 11:40 AM PDT By feeding stem cells tiny particles made of magnetized iron oxide, scientists can then use magnets to attract the cells to a particular location in the body.

Predicting long-term success in college Posted: 16 Jul 2013 11:40 AM PDT Long-term success in college may be better predicted with Advanced Placement (AP) exams and personality traits in combination with standard admission practices, according to new research.

People with pre-diabetes who drop substantial weight may ward off type 2 diabetes Posted: 16 Jul 2013 10:19 AM PDT People with pre-diabetes who lose roughly 10 percent of their body weight within six months of diagnosis dramatically reduce their risk of developing type 2 diabetes over the next three years, according to new research.

Bioengineers develop new approach to regenerate back discs Posted: 16 Jul 2013 09:01 AM PDT Cell therapies may stop or reverse the pain and disability of degenerative disc disease and the loss of material between vertebrae, according to scientists.

How patients experience direct-to-consumer genetic testing Posted: 16 Jul 2013 09:01 AM PDT Several companies sell genetic testing directly to consumers, but little research has been done on how consumers experience such tests. Now, a new study is providing insight into how a diverse sample of primary care patients experience genetic testing.

Tide is turning in skin cancer battle Posted: 16 Jul 2013 09:01 AM PDT Recent advances have put melanoma at the forefront of cancer research, raising hopes that scientists and clinicians may have cornered the deadliest of all skin cancers.

Young children with autism benefit regardless of high-quality treatment model Posted: 16 Jul 2013 09:00 AM PDT Researchers have found that preschoolers with autism spectrum disorder who receive high-quality early intervention benefit developmentally regardless of the treatment model used -- a surprising result that may have important implications for special-education programs and school classrooms across the country.

Mathematical models target disease with drugs chosen by your DNA Posted: 16 Jul 2013 09:00 AM PDT Medicines that are personally tailored to your DNA are becoming a reality, thanks to the work of U.S. and Chinese scientists who developed statistical models to predict which drug is best for a specific individual with a specific disease.

Prostate cancers are fewer, smaller on walnut-enriched diet Posted: 16 Jul 2013 09:00 AM PDT New research indicates that eating a modest amount of walnuts can protect against prostate cancer.

What are fructooliogosaccharides and how do they provide digestive, immunity and bone health benefits? Posted: 16 Jul 2013 08:57 AM PDT New research has focused on the health benefits of short-chain fructooliogosaccharides (scFOS), which are low-calorie, non-digestible carbohydrates that can improve food taste and texture while aiding immunity, bone health and the growth and balance of important bacteria in the digestive track.

Genetic changes that may contribute to the onset of schizophrenia identified Posted: 16 Jul 2013 07:21 AM PDT Scientists have discovered rare genetic changes that may be responsible for the onset of schizophrenia. Several of these same genetic lesions had previously been found to have causal links to autism spectrum disorder. This discovery gives new support to the notion that multiple rare genetic changes may contribute to schizophrenia and other brain disorders.

Even healthy-looking smokers have early cell damage which destroys necessary genetic programming Posted: 16 Jul 2013 07:20 AM PDT Smokers who've received a clean bill of health from their doctor may believe cigarettes haven't harmed their lungs. However, researchers have found that even smokers who seem healthy have damaged airway cells, with characteristics similar to cells found in aggressive lung cancer.

Nanoparticles with protein 'passports' evade immune system, deliver more medication to tumors Posted: 16 Jul 2013 06:26 AM PDT Scientists have found a way to sneak nanoparticles carrying tumor-fighting drugs past cells of the immune system, which would normally engulf the particles, preventing them from reaching their target. The technique takes advantage of the fact that all cells in the human body display a protein on their membranes that functions as a specific 'passport' in instructing immune cells not to attack them. By attaching a small piece of this protein to nanoparticles, scientists were able to fool immune cells in mice into recognizing the particles as 'self' rather than foreign, thereby increasing the amount of medication delivered to tumors.

Inner speech speaks volumes about the brain Posted: 16 Jul 2013 05:00 AM PDT Whether you're reading the paper or thinking through your schedule for the day, chances are that you're hearing yourself speak even if you're not saying words out loud. This internal speech -- the monologue you "hear" inside your head -- is a ubiquitous but largely unexamined phenomenon. A new study published in Psychological Science looks at a possible brain mechanism that could explain how we hear this inner voice in the absence of actual sound.

H7N9 influenza strain resistant to antivirals, but tests fail to identify resistance Posted: 16 Jul 2013 05:00 AM PDT Some strains of the avian H7N9 influenza that emerged in China this year have developed resistance to the only antiviral drugs available to treat the infection, but testing for antiviral resistance can give misleading results, helping hasten the spread of resistant strains.

Fat in organs and blood may increase risk of osteoporosis Posted: 16 Jul 2013 05:00 AM PDT A new study has found that obese people with higher levels of fat in their liver, muscle tissue and blood also have higher amounts of fat in their bone marrow, putting them at risk for osteoporosis.

Artificial organelles transform free radicals into water and oxygen Posted: 16 Jul 2013 04:58 AM PDT Researchers have successfully developed artificial organelles that are able to support the reduction of toxic oxygen compounds. This opens up new ways in the development of novel drugs that can influence pathological states directly inside the cell.

New mode of cellular communication discovered in the brain Posted: 16 Jul 2013 04:55 AM PDT Researchers have discovered a new form of communication between different cell types in the brain. Nerve cells interact with neighboring glial cells, which results in a transfer of protein and genetic information. Nerve cells are thus protected against stressful growth conditions.

Intestinal bacteria linked to white blood cell cancer Posted: 16 Jul 2013 04:52 AM PDT Researchers have discovered that specific types of bacteria that live in the gut are major contributors to lymphoma, a cancer of the white blood cells that are part of the human immune system.

People who eat nuts more than three times a week have reduced risk of dying from cancer or cardiovascular disease Posted: 15 Jul 2013 05:24 PM PDT People who eat nuts, particularly walnuts, are more likely to live longer, finds new research. In a longitudinal study, researchers suggest that those who eat nuts more than three times a week have a reduced risk of dying from cancer or cardiovascular disease than non-nut eaters.

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