Blog – Medical Research News and Interviews

11 Jul Identifying risky behaviors: The key to HIV prevention

Posted at 23:55h in HIV

HIV prevention must be better targeted, according to David Holtgrave from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in the US, and colleagues. Health care professionals need a more detailed analysis and understanding of the interplay between HIV risk behavior, access to treatment and treatment success among those living with...

11 Jul Using biomarkers to identify and treat schizophrenia

Posted at 23:51h in Mental Health Research, PLoS, Schizophrenia

In the current online issue of PLoS ONE, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine say they have identified a set of laboratory-based biomarkers that can be useful for understanding brain-based abnormalities in schizophrenia. The measurements, known as endophenotypes, could ultimately be a boon to clinicians...

11 Jul How metastasizing cancer cells enter organs

Posted at 23:48h in Cancer Research

It is not primary tumors that are responsible for the majority of cancer deaths, but rather their metastases. Physiologists and neuropathologists from the University of Zurich have now identified the origin of metastasis formation, thereby becoming the first to reveal the pathway of metastasizing intestinal cancer cells out of the...

11 Jul Alzheimer’s plaques in PET brain scans identify future cognitive decline

Posted at 21:18h in Alzheimer's - Dementia, Duke, Mental Health Research, University of Pennsylvania

Alzheimer's plaques in PET brain scans identify future cognitive decline DURHAM, N.C. – Among patients with mild or no cognitive impairment, brain scans using a new radioactive dye can detect early evidence of Alzheimer's disease that may predict future decline, according to a multi-center study led by researchers at Duke University...

15 Jun Study: Virtual colonoscopy without laxative equals standard in identifying clinically significant polyps

Posted at 20:32h in Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Colon Cancer, Medical Research Centers, UCSF

Computed tomographic colonography (CTC), also known as virtual colonoscopy, administered without laxatives is as accurate as conventional colonoscopy in detecting clinically significant, potentially cancerous polyps, according to a study performed jointly at the San Francisco VA Medical Center, the University of California, San Francisco and Massachusetts General Hospital. "I think we...

04 May Blacks and Hispanics at Higher Risk for Precancerous Colorectal Polyps

Posted at 16:22h in Cancer Research, Colon Cancer, Race/Ethnic Diversity

Colonoscopy may be preferable to sigmoidoscopy for these populations Newswise — New York, NY (May 3, 2012) — Blacks and Hispanics have a significantly higher risk of developing precancerous colorectal polyps compared with whites, according to a study by researchers at NewYork – Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center. The findings appeared...

15 Apr New Method May Help Detect Marker for Alzheimer’s Disease Earlier

Posted at 20:55h in Alzheimer's - Dementia, Mental Health Research

Newswise — NEW ORLEANS – Use of a new drug to detect the beta-amyloid plaques in the brain that are hallmark signs of Alzheimer’s disease may help doctors diagnose the disease earlier, according to research that will be presented as part of the Emerging Science program (formerly known as Late-Breaking...

12 Apr Study Reveals High Rate of Anal Cancer in HIV-Positive Women

Posted at 22:02h in HIV, HPV

Newswise — NEW YORK CITY (April 12, 2012) -- Anal cancer is on the rise among HIV-positive women, according to a Montefiore Medical Center study entitled, “High Prevalence of High Grade Anal Intraepithelial Neoplasia in HIV-Infected Women Screened for Anal Cancer,” to be published in the Journal of Aids on May 1. “Anal cancer...

12 Apr Targeting Glucagon Pathway May Offer a New Approach to Treating Diabetes

Posted at 21:36h in Diabetes, Nature, Scripps

Newswise — (NEW YORK, NY, April 12, 2012) —Maintaining the right level of sugar in the blood is the responsibility not only of insulin, which removes glucose, but also of a hormone called glucagon, which adds glucose. For decades, treatments for type II diabetes have taken aim at insulin, but a...

12 Apr Newly approved device to treat gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)

Posted at 01:07h in General Medicine, Mayo Clinic

Newswise — April 11 2012— Mayo Clinic in Florida will be one of the first health care institutions in the United States to offer a newly approved device to treat gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). The condition, also known as acid reflux disease, can lead to serious health problems. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)...

12 Apr Beach Sand May Contain Harmful Bacteria

Posted at 00:50h in Infections

CORAL GABLES, FL (April 11, 2012)--On warm days, the beach seems an ideal destination for family rest and relaxation. Who hasn't built a sand castle or been buried up to the neck in sand? However, that family fun has a dark side -- sand can harbor illness-causing microbes. Unfortunately, there...

12 Apr Chemotherapy Proves Life-Saving for Some Leukemia Patients Who Fail Induction Therapy

Posted at 00:28h in Cancer Research, Leukemia

Newswise — (MEMPHIS, Tenn. – April 11, 2012) An international study found that bone marrow transplants are not the best option for some young patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) who fail to attain clinical remission after the initial weeks of intense chemotherapy known as induction therapy. The largest study ever of...

03 Apr Researcher finds that vitamin D deficiency is associated with increased mortality in intensive care patients

Posted at 23:08h in Vitamin D

Scientists have long believed that vitamin D, which is naturally absorbed from sunlight, has an important role in the functioning of the body's autoimmune system. Now Prof. Howard Amital of Tel Aviv University'sSackler Faculty of Medicine and Sheba Medical Center has discovered that the vitamin may also affect the outcomes of patients in intensive...

29 Mar Scientists create small molecules that alter biological clock and lead to weight loss

Posted at 21:08h in Circadian Rhythm, Nature, Scripps, UT Southwestern

The new molecules could lead to unique treatments for obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol, and sleep disorders JUPITER, FL -- Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have synthesized a pair of small molecules that dramatically alter the core biological clock in animal models, highlighting the compounds' potential effectiveness...

28 Mar Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy Reduces Risk of Side Effects in Breast Cancer Patients

Posted at 22:41h in Breast Cancer, Cancer Research, Radiation Therapy

Newswise — Breast cancer patients treated with intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) instead of standard whole breast irradiation (WBI) have a lower incidence of acute or chronic toxicities, according to a study in Practical Radiation Oncology (PRO), the official clinical practice journal of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO). Researchers...

28 Mar Report: New More-Sensitive Blood Test Catches Recurring Breast Cancer a Year Earlier

Posted at 20:55h in Breast Cancer

Newswise — SAN DIEGO, March 28, 2012 Research was presented at a meeting of the American Chemical Society — A new blood test is twice as sensitive and can detect breast cancer recurrence a full year earlier than current blood tests, according to a scientist who reported here today at the...

28 Mar Report: US Cancer Death Rates Continue to Fall

Posted at 20:49h in Cancer Research

Newswise — BOSTON—A report from the nation’s leading cancer organizations shows rates of death in the United States from all cancers for men and women continued to decline between 2004 and 2008. The findings come from the latest Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer. The report also...

15 Mar Dietary Cadmium May Be Linked with Breast Cancer Risk

Posted at 13:00h in Breast Cancer, Cancer Research, Toxin Research

Newswise — PHILADELPHIA — Dietary cadmium, a toxic metal widely dispersed in the environment and found in many farm fertilizers, may lead to an increased risk of breast cancer, according to a study published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. Cadmium occurs at low concentrations naturally,...

15 Mar Study Suggests Link Between H. pylori Bacteria and Blood Sugar Control in Adult Type II Diabetes

Posted at 02:24h in Diabetes, Infections, NYU/NYMC

Newswise — NEW YORK, March 14, 2012 – A new study by researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center reveals that the presence of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) bacteria is associated with elevated levels of glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), an important biomarker for blood glucose levels and diabetes. The association was even stronger in...

15 Mar U.S. Tobacco-Control Efforts Prevented Nearly 800,000 Lung Cancer Deaths Between 1975 and 2000

Posted at 02:17h in Smoking, Tobacco Research

Newswise — SEATTLE – Declines in cigarette smoking among Americans since the mid-1950s – particularly since tobacco-control policies and interventions were implemented after the U.S. Surgeon General’s Report on Smoking and Health was released in 1964 – prevented nearly 800,000 lung cancer deaths between 1975 and 2000, according to a...

09 Mar Researchers reveal ways to make personalized cancer therapies more cost effective

Posted at 22:21h in Cancer Research, Cost of Health Care

AURORA, Colo. -- As scientists continue making breakthroughs in personalized cancer treatment, delivering those therapies in the most cost effective manner has become increasingly important. Now researchers at the University of Colorado School of Medicine have identified new ways of doing just that, allowing more patients to benefit from this...

09 Mar Study: Cancer of the Appendix is Different than Colon Cancer

Posted at 20:50h in Cancer Research, Colon Cancer, Duke, Nature, Wake Forest

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – March 7, 2012 – Researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center have demonstrated that cancer of the appendix is different than colon cancer, a distinction that could lead to more effective treatments for both diseases. The study by Edward A. Levine, M.D., professor of surgery and chief of...

09 Mar HIV Rates for Black Women in Parts of the US Much Higher than Previously Estimated

Posted at 19:48h in HIV, Vanderbilt

Newswise — 3/09/2012 - Newark is one of six locations in the United States that are the focus of a new study whose findings indicate that the HIV incidence rate for US women living in areas hardest hit by the epidemic is much higher than the overall estimated incidence rate...

09 Mar Bacterial STD Linked to Increased Risk of HIV

Posted at 19:44h in HIV, STD

Newswise — 3/9/2012 — A common sexually transmitted bacterial infection more than doubles the risk of HIV infection in African women, according to a study by researchers at RTI International. The study, published in the March 13 issue of AIDS, found that women with the "emerging" sexually transmitted disease Mycoplasma genitalium are more likely to...

26 Jan NIH launches trials to evaluate CPR and drugs after sudden cardiac arrest

Posted at 22:40h in Heart Disease, NIH

The National Institutes of Health has launched two multi-site clinical trials to evaluate treatments for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. One will compare continuous chest compressions (CCC) combined with pause- free rescue breathing to standard cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), which includes a combination of chest compressions and pauses for rescue breathing. The other...

06 Jan Study: Moderate red wine drinking may help cut women’s breast cancer risk

Posted at 16:04h in Author Interviews, Breast Cancer

LOS ANGELES – Drinking red wine in moderation may reduce one of the risk factors for breast cancer, providing a natural weapon to combat a major cause of death among U.S. women, new research from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center shows. The study, published online in the Journal of Women's Health, challenges the...

08 Dec Risk for developing new cancer in other breast increased for survivors with BRCA mutation

Posted at 20:34h in Breast Cancer

SAN ANTONIO — Breast cancer survivors who carry the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genetic mutation are at high risk for developing contralateral breast cancer — a new primary tumor in the other breast — and certain women within this group of carriers are at an even greater risk based on age...

08 Dec Many women do not undergo breast reconstruction after mastectomy

Posted at 20:31h in Breast Cancer

SAN ANTONIO — Despite the benefits, only a small minority of women, regardless of age, are opting for immediate reconstructive breast surgery after undergoing mastectomy for treatment of breast cancer, according to data presented at the 2011 CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held Dec. 6-10, 2011. Research has shown that...

08 Dec Low Risk Prostate Cancer: Panel endorses active monitoring

Posted at 19:59h in Prostate Cancer

An independent panel convened this week by the National Institutes of Health has concluded that many men with localized, low-risk prostate cancer should be closely monitored, permitting treatment to be delayed until warranted by disease progression. However, monitoring strategies—such as active surveillance—have not been uniformly studied and available data do...

08 Dec Obese patients with HER2-positive breast cancer may have worse outcomes

Posted at 19:52h in Breast Cancer, Mayo Clinic

SAN ANTONIO -- Obese patients with early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer may have worse outcomes than patients who are normal weight or overweight, Mayo Clinic researchers found in a study presented today at the 2011 CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. HER2-positive breast cancer gets its name from a protein called...