ScienceDaily: Top Health News

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• Rats! Humans and rodents process their mistakes
• Blood stem cells age at the unexpected flip of a molecular switch
• Two genetic wrongs make a biochemical right
• Inherited gene variation tied to high-risk pediatric leukemia, risk of relapse
• Flu virus wipes out immune system's first responders to establish infection
• Mutations in cancer often affect the X chromosome
• The benefits of bacteria for gut health
• Learning dialects shapes brain areas that process spoken language
• Tanning gene linked to increased risk of testicular cancer
• New tool predicts survival in advanced prostate cancer
• Female hormones key to breast, ovarian cancer in BRCA gene carriers
• In elderly, hardening of arteries linked to plaques in brain
• New technology that sorts cells by stiffness may help spot disease
• Narrow-spectrum UV light may dramatically reduce surgical infections

Rats! Humans and rodents process their mistakes Posted: 20 Oct 2013 01:07 PM PDT What happens when the brain recognizes an error? A new study shows that the brains of humans and rats adapt in a similar way to errors by using low-frequency brainwaves in the medial frontal cortex to synchronize neurons in the motor cortex. The finding could be important in studies of mental illnesses such as obsessive compulsive disorder, ADHD, and Parkinson's disease.

Blood stem cells age at the unexpected flip of a molecular switch Posted: 20 Oct 2013 01:06 PM PDT Scientists have found a novel and unexpected molecular switch that could become a key to slowing some of the ravages of getting older as it prompts blood stem cells to age.

Two genetic wrongs make a biochemical right Posted: 20 Oct 2013 01:06 PM PDT In a biological quirk that promises to provide researchers with a new approach for studying and potentially treating Fragile X syndrome, scientists have shown that knocking out a gene important for messenger RNA translation in neurons restores memory deficits and reduces behavioral symptoms in a mouse model of a prevalent human neurological disease.

Inherited gene variation tied to high-risk pediatric leukemia, risk of relapse Posted: 20 Oct 2013 01:05 PM PDT Research scientists have linked an inherited gene variation to a nearly four-fold increased risk of developing a pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) subtype that is associated with a poor outcome.

Flu virus wipes out immune system's first responders to establish infection Posted: 20 Oct 2013 01:04 PM PDT Revealing influenza's truly insidious nature, scientists have discovered that the virus is able to infect its host by first killing off the cells of the immune system that are actually best equipped to neutralize the virus.

Mutations in cancer often affect the X chromosome Posted: 18 Oct 2013 10:22 AM PDT Every cell in a woman's body inactivates one of its two X chromosomes. Scientists have discovered that various types of cancer exhibit an abnormally huge numbers of mutations in the inactive X chromosome. The findings help scientists understand how mutations accumulate in damaged cells and eventually lead to the development of cancer.

The benefits of bacteria for gut health Posted: 18 Oct 2013 10:20 AM PDT Scientists have shown that specific gut bacteria are beneficial for maintaining a healthy intestine in the fruit fly Drosophila and mice and also contribute to the overall health of these organisms. The researchers demonstrated that bacteria in the gut, particularly members of the genus Lactobacillus, promote the growth of host epithelial cells and that this is essential for maintaining homeostasis in the intestinal system.

Learning dialects shapes brain areas that process spoken language Posted: 18 Oct 2013 10:20 AM PDT Using advanced imaging to visualize brain areas used for understanding language in native Japanese speakers, a new study finds that the pitch-accent in words pronounced in standard Japanese activates different brain hemispheres depending on whether the listener speaks standard Japanese or one of the regional dialects.

Tanning gene linked to increased risk of testicular cancer Posted: 18 Oct 2013 10:20 AM PDT A gene important in skin tanning has been linked to higher risk for testicular cancer in white men, according to a study. Nearly 80 percent of white men carry a variant form of this gene, which increased risk of testicular cancer up to threefold in the study.

New tool predicts survival in advanced prostate cancer Posted: 18 Oct 2013 10:20 AM PDT Researchers have developed a tool for doctors to forecast the potential survival of individual patients, enabling faster, more accurate information on whether to try additional rounds of treatment or seek clinical trials.

Female hormones key to breast, ovarian cancer in BRCA gene carriers Posted: 16 Oct 2013 06:26 PM PDT Researchers announced today that they are well on the way to discovering why women with the faulty genes BRCA 1 and BRCA 2, one of which was inherited by the actress Angelina Jolie, develop breast and ovarian cancer rather than other cancers.

In elderly, hardening of arteries linked to plaques in brain Posted: 16 Oct 2013 06:24 PM PDT Even for elderly people with no signs of dementia, those with hardening of the arteries are more likely to also have the beta-amyloid plaques in the brain that are a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease.

New technology that sorts cells by stiffness may help spot disease Posted: 16 Oct 2013 06:24 PM PDT Researchers have developed a new technology to sort human cells according to their stiffness, which might one day help doctors identify certain diseases in patients, according to a new study.

Narrow-spectrum UV light may dramatically reduce surgical infections Posted: 16 Oct 2013 06:24 PM PDT Despite major efforts to keep operating rooms sterile, surgical wound infections remain a serious and stubborn problem, killing up to 8,200 patients a year in the U.S. Researchers suggests that narrow-spectrum UV light could dramatically reduce such infections without damaging human tissue.

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