Latest science news in Health & Medicine
Clotting protein hardens aging hearts
A researcher has found through studies of pigs' heart valves that age plays a critical role in the valves' progressive hardening, and the problem may be due to the infiltration...
In Practice: In Kentucky, a Glimpse of Health Insurance Help
To watch the health insurance sign-up process last month in Louisville, a city of 600,000, was to get a glimpse of how the rollout of the exchanges was supposed to...
Vega One nutritional shakes 'completely safe', say firm
A Burnaby, B.C.,-based supplements company is refusing to recall two of its nutritional shakes, which Health Canada say contain a drug that could lead to a serious blood disorder.
Aerobic Exercise Benefits Memory In Persons With Multiple Sclerosis
A research study headed by Victoria Leavitt, Ph.D. and James Sumowski, Ph.D., of Kessler Foundation, provides the first evidence for beneficial effects of aerobic exercise. Hippocampal atrophy seen in MS is...
Most Americans pay little attention to genetically modified foods, survey says
A national survey shows that most Americans pay little attention to the debate over genetically modified foods, despite extensive media coverage of the issue.
Nationwide disparities of deaths reported to coroners, British study suggests
A leading detective turned university researcher has discovered huge nationwide disparities in the numbers of deaths reported to coroners in the United Kingdom. It could mean that in some areas,...
Scientists raise alarm over today's measures against Legionellosis
According to the textbooks, both high doses of chlorine and hot water are lethal to legionella bacteria. But now Norwegian scientists are sounding the alarm that the bacteria can survive...
Home visits lessen emergency care for infants
Home visits from a nurse are a proven but expensive way to help newborns get a good start in life. New research suggests that less costly home visiting programs can...
Poor children grow up more susceptible to catching colds, study finds
Researchers have found an association between lower socioeconomic status during childhood and adolescence and the length of telomeres, protective cap-like protein complexes at the end of chromosomes, that ultimately affects...
Congenital blindness results in lower thermal pain thresholds
Absence of vision from birth leads to a permanent state of pain hypersensitivity, reports a new study.
Lamotrigine: Bipolar Drug Effectiveness Reduced During Pregnancy
In recent years, approximately 4.4 million women in the U.S. have been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and women of childbearing age having the highest number of diagnoses. A new study has...
PETA: EPA Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program Uses Too Many Animals In Animal Testing
The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) say the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program...
Well: Extra Care Curbs MRSA in Hospitals
MRSA infections dropped in some Veterans Affairs hospital after a quality improvement program was instituted.
An Electrifying Awakening
In an attempt to reverse paralysis in patients with spinal cord injuries, researchers are electrically stimulating the spinal neurons of their patients in hopes of allowing them to stand and...
Sugar Doesn't Cause Liver Disease
Despite what you may have read in the New York Times and other mainstream media outlets jumping on the 'sugar is bad' fad, sugar intake is off the hook in...
Nature online: October 30, 2013
Nature online: October 30, 2013 Antibody-mediated immunotherapy of macaques chronically infected with SHIV suppresses viraemia Masashi Shingai, Yoshiaki Nishimura, Florian Klein, Hugo Mouquet, Olivia K. Donau, Ronald Plishka, Alicia Buckler-White,...
Simulation, team training improves performance, patient safety
A study conducted by an inter-professional team found that simulation-based operating room team training of medical and nursing students resulted in more effective teamwork by improving attitudes, behaviors, interaction and...
Fracture prevention in cancer-associated bone disease
A new paper reviews the epidemiology and pathophysiology of cancer-associated bone disease and provides information about fracture prevention in cancer patients. The review summarizes the pertinent recommendations of leading societies,...
Treating gum disease by bringing needed immune cells to inflamed tissue
The red, swollen and painful gums and bone destruction of periodontal disease could be treated by beckoning the right kind of immune system cells to the inflamed tissues, according to...
Rifts emerge in scientists’ views on safety of GMOs
A group of 93 scientists say that claims that GM foods are safe for humans ‘have no scientific basis’.
Fast, painless alternative to liver biopsie proves accurate, reliable
A non-invasive alternative to liver biopsy, now the standard method of diagnosing cirrhosis in hepatitis patients, proved very reliable in a national multi-center study.
Can food production increase without disease risk?
It’s an age-old dilemma. In order to produce more food in poorer, less-developed countries, you need water. But, for many regions, the water brings a danger – diseases such as...
Nanoparticles Ease Inflammation In Mice With Spinal Cord Injuries
Drug Delivery: Overactive immune cells swallow Trojan horse nanoparticles that carry anti-inflammatory drugs
Hydrogel improves delivery of anti-cancer drug
The Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) and IBM Research (IBM) have developed a new non-toxic hydrogel that is capable of shrinking breast cancer tumors more rapidly than existing therapies....
Panama disease spreads among bananas—again
Panama disease is causing significant damage in banana cultivation in Southeast Asia. Together with a number of partners, scientists from Wageningen UR (University & Research centre) have demonstrated that the...
How do scientists decide what flu strains to vaccinate against?
As temperatures begin to drop and people's minds turn to winter weather, the flu is also making its annual comeback. But how do scientists decide what flu strains to vaccinate...
Division of household chores may depend on one's mess tolerance
Not that anyone is pointing fingers, but one individual went three weeks without noticing that dirty laundry had piled up.
Comparing charts on health
Public health officials from China and the United States gathered at Harvard’s Longwood campus Thursday to compare notes on the health challenges facing the two global giants, including noncommunicable diseases such as diabetes,...