ScienceDaily: Top Health News

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• Cancer treatment potential discovered in gene repair mechanism
• Malaria combination drug therapy for children
• Neonatal HBV vaccine reduces liver cancer risk
• Readiness to change is a vital facet to committing to New Year's resolutions
• Resolved to lose weight in 2015? Here are five bad strategies to avoid
• Nanotechnology used to engineer ACL replacements
• Children with autism who live with pets are more assertive
• New treatment strategy allows lower doses of toxic tuberculosis drug without compromising potency
• New test measures doctors' ability to deliver patient-centered care
• Lung cancer metastases may travel through airways to adjacent or distant lung tissue
• Heart drugs offer new hope to slow cardiac damage in muscular dystrophy
• Bats are a possible source of Ebola epidemic in West Africa
• Molecular network identified underlying autism spectrum disorders
• Fingertip blood sensor may save valuable time for trauma patients
• Cancer-causing mutation discovered in 1982 finally target of clinical trials

Cancer treatment potential discovered in gene repair mechanism Posted: 30 Dec 2014 11:52 AM PST A two-pronged therapeutic approach has been discovered that shows great potential for weakening and then defeating cancer cells. The research team's complex mix of genetic and biochemical experiments unearthed a way to increase the presence of a tumor-suppressing protein which, in turn, gives it the strength to direct cancer cells toward a path that leads to their destruction.

Malaria combination drug therapy for children Posted: 30 Dec 2014 11:52 AM PST A drug combination of artemisinin-naphthoquine should be considered for the treatment of children with uncomplicated malaria in settings where multiple parasite species cause malaria according to researchers.

Neonatal HBV vaccine reduces liver cancer risk Posted: 30 Dec 2014 11:51 AM PST Neonatal HBV vaccination reduces the risk of liver cancer and other liver diseases in young adults in China, according to a study. By collecting data on new cases of liver diseases over 30 years from a population-based tumor registry, the researchers estimated that the protective efficacy of vaccination was 84% for primary liver cancer (vaccination reduced the incidence of liver cancer by 84%), 70% for death from liver diseases, and 69% for the incidence of infant fulminant hepatitis.

Readiness to change is a vital facet to committing to New Year's resolutions Posted: 30 Dec 2014 10:29 AM PST Whether it is losing weight or quitting smoking, one employee wellness director says it can be done with the will to do so. About half of the most popular resolutions made each year are health-related, according to the United States government. In addition to losing weight and quitting smoking, they include eating healthier foods, getting fit, managing stress and drinking less alcohol.

Resolved to lose weight in 2015? Here are five bad strategies to avoid Posted: 30 Dec 2014 10:29 AM PST Is your New Year's resolution to lose weight? Here are five bad strategies to avoid, provided by an American physician.

Nanotechnology used to engineer ACL replacements Posted: 30 Dec 2014 10:28 AM PST A synthetic graft for ACL reconstruction has been developed that integrates with the native bone, promotes growth of new ligament tissue, and stabilizes the knee. Connecting the femur to the tibia, the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture is one of the most devastating injuries in sports. No other injury has sidelined more athletes for a season or even the rest of a career. And ACL sprains and tears affect more people than just the pros.

Children with autism who live with pets are more assertive Posted: 30 Dec 2014 10:28 AM PST Dogs and other pets play an important role in individuals' social lives, and they can act as catalysts for social interaction, previous research has shown. Although much media attention has focused on how dogs can improve the social skills of children with autism, a researcher recently found that children with autism have stronger social skills when any kind of pet lived in the home.

New treatment strategy allows lower doses of toxic tuberculosis drug without compromising potency Posted: 30 Dec 2014 07:20 AM PST While an effective treatment is available for combating multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, it carries serious side effects for patients. New research shows that lower doses of the toxic drug bedaquiline — given together with verapamil, a medication that's used to treat various heart conditions — can lead to the same antibacterial effects as higher toxic doses of bedaquiline.

New test measures doctors' ability to deliver patient-centered care Posted: 30 Dec 2014 07:19 AM PST When health care providers take patients' perspectives into consideration, patients are more likely to be actively engaged in their treatment and more satisfied with their care. This is called patient-centered care. Recently, researchers have developed a credible tool to assess whether medical students have learned and are applying specific behaviors that characterize patient-centered care.

Lung cancer metastases may travel through airways to adjacent or distant lung tissue Posted: 30 Dec 2014 07:19 AM PST A new study supports the hypothesis that lung cancer, particularly adenocarcinoma, may spread through the airways. The putative occurrence of intrapulmonary aerogenous metastasis of lung cancer has staging, management, and prognostic implications.

Heart drugs offer new hope to slow cardiac damage in muscular dystrophy Posted: 30 Dec 2014 04:58 AM PST Early use of available heart failure drugs slows the progressive decline in heart function before symptoms are apparent in boys and young men with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), according to a new study.

Bats are a possible source of Ebola epidemic in West Africa Posted: 30 Dec 2014 04:57 AM PST The outbreak of the Ebola virus disease occurring in West Africa may have originated from contact between humans and virus-infected bats, suggests a study. The report identifies insectivorous free-tailed bats as plausible reservoirs and expands the range of possible Ebola virus sources to this type of bats. The results also reveal that larger wildlife are not the source of infection.

Molecular network identified underlying autism spectrum disorders Posted: 30 Dec 2014 04:57 AM PST A molecular network that comprises many of the genes previously shown to contribute to autism spectrum disorders has been identified by researchers. The findings provide a map of some of the crucial protein interactions that contribute to autism and will help uncover novel candidate genes for the disease.

Fingertip blood sensor may save valuable time for trauma patients Posted: 29 Dec 2014 11:15 AM PST Trauma surgeons evaluated the use of the Spot check Pronto-7® Pulse CO-oximeter in 525 critically injured patients. Their study is believed to be the largest one of such a device, according to study authors. The tool is used for monitoring a patient's blood level in physicians' offices, and the authors say it may also save valuable minutes in medical decision-making for critically injured trauma patients.

Cancer-causing mutation discovered in 1982 finally target of clinical trials Posted: 29 Dec 2014 11:14 AM PST A recent article describes clinical trials that match drugs to long-overlooked oncogene, TRK, offering targeted treatment options for cancers that harbor these gene abnormalities. The TRK family of genes, including NTRK1, NTRK2 and NTRK3 are important in the developing nervous system. In the womb, these genes and the proteins they encode are essential for the growth and survival of new neurons. After birth, these genes are unneeded in many tissues and so are programmed to go dormant, however, experts have learned that some cancers wake them up.

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