ScienceDaily: Top Health News

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• Leukemia cells exploit 'enhancer' DNA elements to cause lethal disease
• New therapeutic target identified for Huntington's disease
• Alcohol use disorders linked to death and disability
• High-fat diet during puberty speeds up breast cancer development
• Gene mutation for excessive alcohol drinking found
• Brain reward gene influences food choices in the first years of life
• Electronic cigarettes: New route to smoking addiction for adolescents
• ADHD linked to social, economic disadvantage
• New agent against cancer cells
• Reconceptualizing JFK’s chronic low back pain
• C-section rate for private patients double that of publicly funded patients
• Regular physical activity in later life boosts likelihood of 'healthy aging' up to sevenfold
• Childhood exercise may stave off bad effects of maternal obesity, animal study suggests
• Cancer patients at increased risk for severe flu complications
• Biomedical scientist discovers method to increase survival in sepsis
• ADHD study: Expensive training programs don't help grades, behavior
• Ear infections down, thanks to vaccine
• Brain imaging differences in infants at genetic risk for Alzheimer's
• Nurse navigators help cancer patients cope early in care
• Postmenopausal estrogen decline unrelated to changes in cognition, mood
• Oxytocin leads to monogamy
• New tales told by old infections
• Using microRNA fit to a T (Cell)
• Findings not supportive of women-specific chest pain symptoms in heart attack diagnosis
• Barriers to HPF vaccination among teens
• Cervical cancer screenings overused in some groups of women
• Scientists re-imagine how genomes are assembled
• Common brain cell plays key role in shaping neural circuits
• 'Rare' gene common in African descendants, may contribute to heart disease

Leukemia cells exploit 'enhancer' DNA elements to cause lethal disease Posted: 26 Nov 2013 04:16 PM PST A team of researchers has identified a leukemia-specific stretch of DNA called an enhancer element that enables cancerous blood cells to proliferate in acute myeloid leukemia, a devastating cancer that is incurable in 70 percent of patients. Just as important, the findings offer a mechanistic insight into how a new class of promising drugs -- one version of which is already in human clinical trials -- appears to halt the growth of cancer cells so effectively.

New therapeutic target identified for Huntington's disease Posted: 26 Nov 2013 04:15 PM PST A new study published identifies a new target in the search for therapeutic interventions for Huntington's disease -- a devastating late-onset neurodegenerative disorder.

Alcohol use disorders linked to death and disability Posted: 26 Nov 2013 12:58 PM PST Disorders related to the abuse of alcohol contribute significantly to the burden of disease in the U.S., finds a new study.

High-fat diet during puberty speeds up breast cancer development Posted: 26 Nov 2013 09:39 AM PST New findings show that eating a high-fat diet beginning at puberty speeds up the development of breast cancer and may actually increase the risk of cancer similar to a type often found in younger adult women.

Gene mutation for excessive alcohol drinking found Posted: 26 Nov 2013 09:39 AM PST Researchers have discovered a gene that regulates alcohol consumption and when faulty can cause excessive drinking. They have also identified the mechanism underlying this phenomenon.

Brain reward gene influences food choices in the first years of life Posted: 26 Nov 2013 09:36 AM PST Research has suggested that a particular gene in the brain's reward system contributes to overeating and obesity in adults. This same variant has now been linked to childhood obesity and tasty food choices, particularly for girls, according to a new study.

Electronic cigarettes: New route to smoking addiction for adolescents Posted: 26 Nov 2013 06:27 AM PST E-cigarettes have been widely promoted as a way for people to quit smoking conventional cigarettes. Now, in the first study of its kind, researchers are reporting that, at the point in time they studied, youth using e-cigarettes were more likely to be trying to quit, but also were less likely to have stopped smoking and were smoking more, not less.

ADHD linked to social, economic disadvantage Posted: 26 Nov 2013 06:27 AM PST A team of researchers has analyzed data from the Millennium Cohort Study, a database of more than 19,500 UK children born between 2000 and 2002, and has resolved that ADHD is linked to social and economic disadvantage.

New agent against cancer cells Posted: 26 Nov 2013 06:24 AM PST Scientists have discovered a new active substance that inhibits cell division in leukemia cells and could play an important role in the fight against cancer.

Reconceptualizing JFK’s chronic low back pain Posted: 26 Nov 2013 06:22 AM PST JFK exuded strength and vitality, but less apparent was the daily battle he waged with chronic back pain. He often used crutches while walking to minimize pain and back pain may have been a contributing factor in his November 1963 assassination.

C-section rate for private patients double that of publicly funded patients Posted: 25 Nov 2013 03:56 PM PST The rate of scheduled caesarean sections among private patients is around double that of publicly funded patients, indicates a study of more than 30,000 women in Ireland.

Regular physical activity in later life boosts likelihood of 'healthy aging' up to sevenfold Posted: 25 Nov 2013 03:56 PM PST It's never too late to get physically active, with even those starting relatively late in life reaping significant health benefits, finds research.

Childhood exercise may stave off bad effects of maternal obesity, animal study suggests Posted: 25 Nov 2013 02:20 PM PST Rats whose mothers were fed a high-fat diet during pregnancy and nursing were able to stave off some of the detrimental health effects of obesity by exercising during their adolescence.

Cancer patients at increased risk for severe flu complications Posted: 25 Nov 2013 02:20 PM PST Weakened immune systems due to diseases like cancer cause increased risk of severe complications from the flu virus — experts advise vaccine shot, not mist.

Biomedical scientist discovers method to increase survival in sepsis Posted: 25 Nov 2013 01:48 PM PST Sepsis, the body's response to severe infections, kills more people than breast cancer, prostate cancer and HIV/AIDS combined. On average, 30 percent of those diagnosed with sepsis die.

ADHD study: Expensive training programs don't help grades, behavior Posted: 25 Nov 2013 01:47 PM PST A two-year study found that computer-based training programs that claim to help children with ADHD succeed in the classroom and in peer relationships while reducing hyperactivity and inattentiveness do not produce significant or meaningful long-term improvements. Parents are better off saving their money, the lead researcher says.

Ear infections down, thanks to vaccine Posted: 25 Nov 2013 01:46 PM PST Researchers have discovered that, during recent years, several interventions have been introduced aiming to decrease the otitis media burden -- and they've been successful. The researchers found there was a downward trend in visits from 2004 to 2011, with a significant drop in children younger than 2 years that coincided with the advent of the 13-valent vaccine, or PCV-13, in 2010.

Brain imaging differences in infants at genetic risk for Alzheimer's Posted: 25 Nov 2013 01:44 PM PST Researchers have found that infants who carry a gene associated with an increased risk for Alzheimer's disease tend to have differences in brain development compared to infants who do not carry the gene. The findings do not mean that these infants will get Alzheimer's, but they may be a step toward understanding how this gene confers risk much later in life.

Nurse navigators help cancer patients cope early in care Posted: 25 Nov 2013 01:44 PM PST When patients received support from a nurse navigator, or advocate, soon after a cancer diagnosis, they had better experiences and fewer problems with their care -- particularly in health information, care coordination, and psychological and social care -- according to a randomized controlled trial.

Postmenopausal estrogen decline unrelated to changes in cognition, mood Posted: 25 Nov 2013 01:44 PM PST A new study shows that decreased estrogen levels after menopause are largely unrelated to changes in cognitive ability and mood. It did find, however, a possible link between levels of another hormone -- progesterone -- and cognition among younger postmenopausal women.

Oxytocin leads to monogamy Posted: 25 Nov 2013 01:43 PM PST How is the bond between people in love maintained? Scientists have discovered a biological mechanism that could explain the attraction between loving couples: If oxytocin is administered to men and if they are shown pictures of their partner, the bonding hormone stimulates the reward center in the brain, increasing the attractiveness of the partner, and strengthening monogamy.

New tales told by old infections Posted: 25 Nov 2013 01:43 PM PST Retroviruses are important pathogens capable of crossing species barriers to infect new hosts, but knowledge of their evolutionary history is limited. By mapping endogenous retroviruses (ERVs), retroviruses whose genes have become part of the host organism's genome, researchers can now provide unique insights into the evolutionary relationships of retroviruses and their host species.

Using microRNA fit to a T (Cell) Posted: 25 Nov 2013 01:42 PM PST Researchers have successfully targeted T lymphocytes – which play a central role in the body's immune response – with another type of white blood cell engineered to synthesize and deliver bits of non-coding RNA or microRNA (miRNA).

Findings not supportive of women-specific chest pain symptoms in heart attack diagnosis Posted: 25 Nov 2013 01:42 PM PST Using chest pain characteristics (CPCs) specific to women in the early diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction (AMI, heart attack) in the emergency department does not seem to be supported by the findings of a study recently published.

Barriers to HPF vaccination among teens Posted: 25 Nov 2013 01:42 PM PST Barriers to human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination among adolescents in the U.S. range from financial concerns and parental attitudes to social influences and concerns about the vaccination's effect on sexual behavior, according to a review of the available medical literature.

Cervical cancer screenings overused in some groups of women Posted: 25 Nov 2013 01:42 PM PST For the past 10 years, U.S. clinicians have been performing unnecessary Pap tests for cervical cancer screening in certain groups of women, according to a researcher.

Scientists re-imagine how genomes are assembled Posted: 25 Nov 2013 09:54 AM PST Scientists have developed a new method for piecing together the short DNA reads produced by next-generation sequencing technologies that are the basis for building complete genome sequences.

Common brain cell plays key role in shaping neural circuits Posted: 25 Nov 2013 09:19 AM PST Neuroscientists have discovered a new role played by a common but mysterious class of brain cells.

'Rare' gene common in African descendants, may contribute to heart disease Posted: 25 Nov 2013 09:19 AM PST Researchers have found that a genetic variation that is linked to increased levels of triglycerides -- fats in the blood associated with disorders such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity and stroke -- is far more common than previously believed and disproportionally affects people of African ancestry. Investigators say their discovery reinforces the need to screen this population for high levels of triglycerides to stave off disease.

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