ScienceDaily: Top Health News

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• Nurse anesthetist care not equal to physician anesthesiologist-led care, comprehensive evidence-based review finds
• When a health risk is close to home, health care professionals base their positions on vaccines on their own emotions, personal experiences
• Neuroscience and big data: How to find simplicity in the brain
• Haven't my neurons seen this before? What happens in the brain with familiar pictures?
• Are you as old as what you eat? Researchers learn how to rejuvenate aging immune cells
• Bioengineers close to brewing opioid painkillers without using opium from poppies
• Driving brain rhythm makes mice more sensitive to touch
• Cutting emissions pays for itself, study concludes
• Repurposing anti-depressant medication to target medulloblastoma
• Mimicking natural evolution with 'promiscuous reactions' to improve the diversity of drugs
• Simply complex: The origin of our body axes
• More common procedures for painful facial tics carry high costs
• Online screening for rare lung cancer mutation opens door to new kind of clinical trial
• Treatment of renal artery stenosis
• Many patients discharged without diagnosis
• Scientists map risk of premature menopause after cancer treatment
• Surgery associated with better survival for patients with advanced laryngeal cancer
• Treatment for overactive bladder and irritable bowel syndrome advanced through pioneering research
• Telestroke units improve stroke care in underserved areas
• New DNA test for diagnosing diseases linked to childhood blindness
• Novel 'Man and Machine' decision support system makes malaria diagnostics more effective
• Low-cost drug may lessen blood loss in hip, knee surgery
• Objectification in romantic relationships related to sexual pressure, coercion
• New monkey model of severe MERS-CoV disease established
• Native American ancestry a risk factor for eye disease
• Fed up with waiting? Timely activation of serotonin enhances patience

Nurse anesthetist care not equal to physician anesthesiologist-led care, comprehensive evidence-based review finds Posted: 24 Aug 2014 06:31 PM PDT A recent literature review found no scientific evidence that care provided by a nurse anesthetist is as safe and effective as patient-centered, physician-led anesthesia care, prompting experts to call for further examination to measure patient safety and anesthesia care delivery.

When a health risk is close to home, health care professionals base their positions on vaccines on their own emotions, personal experiences Posted: 24 Aug 2014 06:31 PM PDT On what health care professionals basing their decision, regarding vaccines? Research shows that when a health risk gets closer to home, health care professionals base their positions on vaccines more on emotions and personal experiences than on scientific and analytical knowledge.

Neuroscience and big data: How to find simplicity in the brain Posted: 24 Aug 2014 12:23 PM PDT Scientists can now monitor and record the activity of hundreds of neurons concurrently in the brain, and ongoing technology developments promise to increase this number. However, simply recording the neural activity does not automatically lead to a clearer understanding of how the brain works. In a new article, researchers describe the scientific motivations for studying the activity of many neurons together, along with a class of machine learning algorithms for interpreting the activity.

Haven't my neurons seen this before? What happens in the brain with familiar pictures? Posted: 24 Aug 2014 12:23 PM PDT The world grows increasingly more chaotic year after year, and our brains are constantly bombarded with images. A new study reveals how neurons in the part of the brain responsible for recognizing objects respond to being shown a barrage of images. Researchers found that when subjects were exposed to familiar and unfamiliar images in a rapid succession, their neurons -- especially the inhibitory neurons -- fired much more strongly and selectively to images the subject had seen many times before.

Are you as old as what you eat? Researchers learn how to rejuvenate aging immune cells Posted: 24 Aug 2014 12:23 PM PDT Researchers have demonstrated how an interplay between nutrition, metabolism and immunity is involved in the process of aging. It has been suspected for a long time that these are linked, and this paper provides a prototype mechanism of how nutrient and senescence signals converge to regulate the function of T lymphocytes.

Bioengineers close to brewing opioid painkillers without using opium from poppies Posted: 24 Aug 2014 12:23 PM PDT A process that uses genetically engineering yeast cells to replicate the entire opioid production process, eliminating the need to grow poppies, is close to conclusion, one researcher reports. Her ultimate goal is to produce opioid medicines, from start to finish, in fermentation vats.

Driving brain rhythm makes mice more sensitive to touch Posted: 24 Aug 2014 12:23 PM PDT In a new study researchers show that they could make faint sensations more vivid by triggering a brain rhythm that appears to shift sensory attention. The study in mice provides the first direct evidence that the brain's 'gamma' rhythms have a causal role in processing the sense of touch.

Cutting emissions pays for itself, study concludes Posted: 24 Aug 2014 12:23 PM PDT Health care savings can greatly defray costs of carbon-reduction policies, experts report. But just how large are the health benefits of cleaner air in comparison to the costs of reducing carbon emissions? Researchers looked at three policies achieving the same reductions in the U.S., and found that the savings on health care spending and other costs related to illness can be big -- in some cases, more than 10 times the cost of policy implementation.

Repurposing anti-depressant medication to target medulloblastoma Posted: 24 Aug 2014 12:23 PM PDT A novel molecular pathway that causes an aggressive form of medulloblastoma has been identified by researchers. Now scientists suggest repurposing an anti-depressant medication to target medulloblastoma to help combat one of the most common brain cancers in children. The scientists say their laboratory findings in mouse models of the disease could lead to a more targeted and effective molecular therapy that would also reduce the harmful side effects of current treatments.

Mimicking natural evolution with 'promiscuous reactions' to improve the diversity of drugs Posted: 24 Aug 2014 12:23 PM PDT A revolutionary new scientific method will improve the diversity of 'biologically active molecules', such as antibiotics and anti-cancer agents. "Nature produces some amazing structures with really interesting biological activity, but the plant or animal did not design them. Instead the organisms gradually evolved both the chemical structures and the methods to produce them over millennia because they were of benefit. We wanted to capture the essence of this in our approach to discovering new drugs," said the lead author.

Simply complex: The origin of our body axes Posted: 24 Aug 2014 12:22 PM PDT One fundamental question in biology is what constitutes the basic type of the animal body plan and how did all the more complex forms, including that of humans, evolve from it. At the simplest level, this body plan can be described by the three axes. These three axes -- the familiar X, Y and Z axes from geometry -- are the anterior-posterior axis, which determines the position of the mouth in front and the anus at the rear, the dorsal-ventral axis, which in vertebrates separates the front of the body from the back, and the left-right axis, which creates a mirror-like symmetry of our extremities and left-right asymmetry of the organs.

More common procedures for painful facial tics carry high costs Posted: 22 Aug 2014 09:45 AM PDT For patients who need surgery for facial pain caused by trigeminal neuralgia, the most cost-effective procedure is the least often used, reports a study. Trigeminal neuralgia is a relatively common chronic pain condition, especially among older adults. Sometimes called "tic douloureux," trigeminal neuralgia is associated with a typical pattern of painful facial tics. Pain is thought to be caused by blood vessels placing pressure on the trigeminal nerve in the face.

Online screening for rare lung cancer mutation opens door to new kind of clinical trial Posted: 22 Aug 2014 09:44 AM PDT Cancer subtypes are like rare diseases; a new kind of clinical trial uses Dr. Google to find enough needles in enough haystacks to test drug ponatinib against FGFR positive lung cancer.

Treatment of renal artery stenosis Posted: 22 Aug 2014 09:44 AM PDT Renal artery stenting to open blockages in the kidney arteries may benefit patients who have historically been excluded from modern clinical trials, according to new recommendations for renal artery stenosis.

Many patients discharged without diagnosis Posted: 22 Aug 2014 06:41 AM PDT One out of four acutely admitted medical patients leave the hospital again without getting a diagnosis, a Danish study has found. The study is the first in the world to map out diagnoses and chronic disease on a national level for all medical patients that are acutely admitted to hospital during the course of a year.

Scientists map risk of premature menopause after cancer treatment Posted: 22 Aug 2014 06:41 AM PDT Women treated for the cancer Hodgkin lymphoma will be able to better understand their risks of future infertility after researchers estimated their risk of premature menopause with different treatments. The findings are based on the experience of more than 2,000 young women in England and Wales treated for the cancer over a period of more than 40 years.

Surgery associated with better survival for patients with advanced laryngeal cancer Posted: 21 Aug 2014 01:13 PM PDT Patients with advanced laryngeal cancer appear to have better survival if they are treated with surgery than nonsurgical chemoradiation. Approximately 11,000 to 13,000 cases of laryngeal cancer are diagnosed each year and squamous cell carcinoma accounts for the vast majority of these tumors. Prior to 1991, total surgical removal of the larynx with postoperative radiation was the standard of care for advanced cancer. Since then, chemoradiation has become increasingly popular treatment because it can preserve the larynx.

Treatment for overactive bladder and irritable bowel syndrome advanced through pioneering research Posted: 21 Aug 2014 01:13 PM PDT Researchers have discovered how the receptors responsible for contractions in the bladder regulate the body's clock genes. The new study has found that this clock activity in turn regulates the cycle of all cells in the body. The team of researchers also discovered that the local biological clock and its control are weakened in aging bladders, demonstrating the importance of the clock in bladder physiology and aging.

Telestroke units improve stroke care in underserved areas Posted: 21 Aug 2014 01:13 PM PDT Using telecommunications to connect stroke experts to stroke patients in rural areas continued to improve and sustain stroke care, according to new research. With the tele-medical linked Stroke Units, patients in regional hospitals had around-the-clock access to consultations with vascular neurologists at stroke centers, including evaluation of brain imaging and patient examination via videoconferencing when needed.

New DNA test for diagnosing diseases linked to childhood blindness Posted: 21 Aug 2014 12:40 PM PDT Advanced DNA testing for congenital cataracts can quickly and accurately diagnose a number of rare diseases marked by childhood blindness, according to a study. Using a single test, doctors were able to tailor care specifically to a child's condition based on their mutations reducing the time and money spent on diagnosis and enabling earlier treatment and genetic counseling.

Novel 'Man and Machine' decision support system makes malaria diagnostics more effective Posted: 21 Aug 2014 12:40 PM PDT A novel "man and machine" decision support system for diagnosing malaria infection has been developed by researchers. This innovative diagnostic aid is based on computer vision algorithms similar to those used in facial recognition systems combined with visualization of only the diagnostically most relevant areas. Tablet computers can be utilized in viewing the images.

Low-cost drug may lessen blood loss in hip, knee surgery Posted: 21 Aug 2014 12:35 PM PDT Treatment with an inexpensive, decades-old clotting drug reduces the need for blood transfusions, research shows. While commonly used in patients with bleeding disorders or heavy menstrual bleeding, the clotting drug tranexamic acid is now increasingly used to prevent excessive blood loss during hip and knee replacement surgery, a million of which are now performed each year in the United States.

Objectification in romantic relationships related to sexual pressure, coercion Posted: 21 Aug 2014 11:16 AM PDT To sexually objectify a woman is to focus on her body in terms of how it can provide sexual pleasure rather than viewing her as a complete human being with thoughts and feelings. While objectification has long been considered a problem in the media, how does it affect individual romantic relationships? New research finds that more objectification of a female partner's body is related to higher incidents of sexual pressure and coercion.

New monkey model of severe MERS-CoV disease established Posted: 21 Aug 2014 11:14 AM PDT Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection in marmosets closely mimics the severe pneumonia experienced by people infected with MERS-CoV, researchers report, giving scientists the best animal model yet for testing potential treatments.

Native American ancestry a risk factor for eye disease Posted: 21 Aug 2014 10:26 AM PDT Native American ancestry is a significant risk factor for vision-threatening diabetic retinopathy among Latinos with type 2 diabetes, a new study shows for the first time. Using genetic assays and detailed ophthalmologic examinations, the team found that individuals with more than 50 percent Native American ancestry had an 87 percent higher chance of also having vision-threatening diabetic retinopathy compared to those who had less than 50 percent Native American ancestry, even after controlling for known risk factors for the disease.

Fed up with waiting? Timely activation of serotonin enhances patience Posted: 21 Aug 2014 10:26 AM PDT Lining up in a long queue or waiting for the arrival of someone requires a great deal of patience. Our lives are full of decisions involving patience, yet it needs to be exercised at the appropriate times. In order to examine the brain mechanism for controlling patience to obtain a reward, researchers used a new technique called optogenetics, where they use light to simulate specific neurons with precise timing. Their most recent research shows that activating serotonin neurons specifically during waiting promotes patience for delayed rewards.

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