ScienceDaily: Top Health News

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• Ovarian cancer treatment discovered by researchers
• Oldest ever schistosomiasis egg found may be first proof of early human technology exacerbating disease burden
• Strict diet suspends development, doubles lifespan of worms
• African American women with breast cancer less likely to have newer, recommended surgical procedure
• Drug shows promise for the first time against metastatic melanoma of the eye
• Mechanism discovered for attaching an 'on' switch that helps cells accessorize proteins
• Neurons get their neighbors to take out their trash
• Exploring how the nervous system develops
• New mobile app provides faster, more accurate measurement of respiratory rate
• Haters spend more time ... hating?
• New cocaine tracking system could lead to better drug enforcement
• Synaptic levels of clathrin protein are important for neuronal plasticity
• Seeing the inner workings of brain made easier by new technique
• Speeding up drug discovery: Bioengineers invent new method
• Children consuming a Mediterranean diet are 15% less likely to be overweight, study finds

Ovarian cancer treatment discovered by researchers Posted: 19 Jun 2014 05:54 PM PDT A new treatment for ovarian cancer can improve response rates (increase the rate of tumor shrinkage) and prolong the time until cancers recur, research shows. In addition, this breakthrough showed a trend in improving survival although these data are not yet mature. "This is an exciting new targeted medication in treating recurrent ovarian cancer. Recurrent ovarian cancer is almost always fatal and new treatments are desperately needed," said one researcher.

Oldest ever schistosomiasis egg found may be first proof of early human technology exacerbating disease burden Posted: 19 Jun 2014 05:54 PM PDT The discovery of a schistosomiasis parasite egg in a 6200-year-old grave at a prehistoric town by the Euphrates river in Syria may be the first evidence that agricultural irrigation systems in the Middle East contributed to disease burden, according to new research. Schistosomiasis is a disease caused by several species of flatworm parasites that live in the blood vessels of the bladder and intestines.

Strict diet suspends development, doubles lifespan of worms Posted: 19 Jun 2014 05:54 PM PDT Taking food away from C. elegans triggers a state of arrested development: while the organism continues to wriggle about, foraging for food, its cells and organs are suspended in an ageless, quiescent state. When food becomes plentiful again, the worm develops as planned, but can live twice as long as normal.

African American women with breast cancer less likely to have newer, recommended surgical procedure Posted: 19 Jun 2014 11:22 AM PDT African American women with early stage, invasive breast cancer were 12 percent less likely than Caucasian women with the same diagnosis to receive a minimally invasive technique, axillary sentinel lymph node biopsy, even as the procedure had become the standard of surgical practice, according to research.

Drug shows promise for the first time against metastatic melanoma of the eye Posted: 19 Jun 2014 11:21 AM PDT For the first time, a therapy has been found that can delay progression of metastatic uveal melanoma, a rare and deadly form of melanoma of the eye. Results from a multicenter clinical trial show that a new drug called selumetinib increases progression-free survival, the length of time during and after treatment that a patient with metastases lives with the disease without it progressing.

Mechanism discovered for attaching an 'on' switch that helps cells accessorize proteins Posted: 19 Jun 2014 11:20 AM PDT Scientists have discovered how an important "on" switch is attached to the machinery that cells rely on to adapt thousands of proteins to meet changing conditions. The switch is a small protein called NEDD8. Problems with NEDD8 have been associated with several cancers, developmental disorders and infectivity of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which causes AIDS.

Neurons get their neighbors to take out their trash Posted: 19 Jun 2014 09:55 AM PDT Biologists have long considered cells to function like self-cleaning ovens, chewing up and recycling their own worn out parts as needed. But a new study shows that some nerve cells found in the eye pass off their old energy-producing factories to neighboring support cells to be 'eaten.' The find, which may bear on the roots of glaucoma, also has implications for Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and other diseases that involve a buildup of 'garbage' in brain cells.

Exploring how the nervous system develops Posted: 19 Jun 2014 09:55 AM PDT The circuitry of the central nervous system is immensely complex and, as a result, sometimes confounding. When scientists conduct research to unravel the inner workings at a cellular level, they are sometimes surprised by what they find. The findings give scientists an idea of how individual cell types are generated, how they differentiate and how they form appropriate connections with one another.

New mobile app provides faster, more accurate measurement of respiratory rate Posted: 19 Jun 2014 09:55 AM PDT A new mobile app can reliably measure respiratory rate in an average of 9.9 seconds. Currently, health care workers typically measure respiratory rate by counting a patient's breaths for 60 seconds using a stop watch.

Haters spend more time ... hating? Posted: 19 Jun 2014 09:54 AM PDT We already know haters are predisposed to be that way. Now we see they also spend a lot of time at fewer activities than their non-hater counterparts. But in a twist of irony, that grumpy person at work may actually be pretty good at their job since they spend so much time on fewer activities, thereby giving them the opportunity to hone their skills in specific tasks.

New cocaine tracking system could lead to better drug enforcement Posted: 19 Jun 2014 09:53 AM PDT Law enforcement authorities need to better understand trafficking patterns of cocaine in the United States to address one of the world's largest illegal drug markets, according to a researcher whose new methodology might help. While cities in the north and northeast are destination cities for cocaine, the researcher found cities in the southern U.S. and along the west coast are source cities. In addition, cities in other regions, like Chicago and Atlanta, are major hubs for cocaine.

Synaptic levels of clathrin protein are important for neuronal plasticity Posted: 19 Jun 2014 09:53 AM PDT Asynaptic levels of the protein clathrin are a determinant factor for synaptic plasticity of neurons, researchers have shown. Neurons transmit information in a specialized contact points called synapses. These structures consist of two elements: the presynaptic one, information donor, and postsynaptic, which receives the information. New research is shedding light on the relationship between these.

Seeing the inner workings of brain made easier by new technique Posted: 19 Jun 2014 09:53 AM PDT Scientists have improved on their original technique for peering into the intact brain, making it more reliable and safer, researchers report. The results could help scientists unravel the inner connections of how thoughts, memories or diseases arise. When you look at the brain, what you see is the fatty outer covering of the nerve cells within, which blocks microscopes from taking images of the intricate connections between deep brain cells. The idea behind this study was to eliminate that fatty covering while keeping the brain intact, complete with all its intricate inner wiring.

Speeding up drug discovery: Bioengineers invent new method Posted: 19 Jun 2014 09:52 AM PDT The 500 or so kinase proteins are particularly important to drug discovery. Kinases are messenger/signaling proteins that regulate and orchestrate the actions of other proteins. Proper kinase activity maintains health. Irregular activity is linked to cancer and other diseases. Many drugs seek to either boost or suppress kinase activity. Bioengineers have invented a way to observe and report on the behavior of these signaling proteins as they work inside living cells.

Children consuming a Mediterranean diet are 15% less likely to be overweight, study finds Posted: 19 Jun 2014 06:58 AM PDT Children consuming a diet more in line with the rules of the Mediterranean one are 15% less likely to be overweight or obese than those children who do not.

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