Blog – Medical Research News and Interviews

08 Sep Study: Chemotherapy is as effective before breast cancer surgery as after

Posted at 23:49h in Breast Cancer

Approach may help some women avoid mastectomy San Francisco, CA - Whether chemotherapy is given before or after breast-conserving therapy (BCT) does not have an impact on long-term local-regional outcomes, suggesting treatment success is due more to biologic factors than chemotherapy timing, according to a study by researchers at The University...

08 Sep Inexpensive Infection Control Reduces Hospital Mortality and Costs

Posted at 14:36h in Hospital Acquired

Thursday, Sept. 8, 2011 CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – At any given time, one of every 20 hospital patients has a hospital-acquired infection, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. This leads to an estimated 99,000 deaths in the U.S. each year and up to $33 billion in preventable health...

08 Sep Study finds Insomnia affects 40% of Adult Canadians

Posted at 14:30h in Sleep Disorders

Sleep disorders affect 40 percent of Canadians Quebec City, September 8, 2011—Sleep disorders affect 40% of adult Canadians according to a study conducted by Université Laval researchers under the supervision of Dr. Charles M. Morin. The work of Dr. Morin and his colleagues will be presented at the 4th World Congress...

08 Sep Intensive Medical Therapy vs Stent Angioplasty for Stoke : Which is Better?

Posted at 14:26h in AHA Journals, Stroke

Aggressive medical therapy could help prevent stroke To prevent a common type of stroke, intensive medical therapy could be better by itself than in combination with surgery that props open affected arteries. But it remains to be seen whether the apparent advantage will prove true over the long term. The findings, from...

08 Sep Aerobic exercise may reduce the risk of dementia

Posted at 10:56h in Alzheimer's - Dementia, Exercise - Fitness, Mayo Clinic

ROCHESTER, Minn. - Any exercise that gets the heart pumping may reduce the risk of dementia and slow the condition's progression once it starts, reported a Mayo Clinic study published this month in Mayo Clinic Proceedings. Researchers examined the role of aerobic exercise in preserving cognitive abilities and concluded that...

05 Sep Living with a smoker increases absenteeism in school children

Posted at 17:26h in Pediatrics, Smoking, Tobacco Research

Children who live in households where they are exposed to tobacco smoke miss more days of school than do children living in smoke-free homes, a new nationwide study confirms. The report from investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) – which finds these children have higher rates of respiratory illnesses that...

05 Sep Researchers report distinct features of Autistic brain in novel analysis of MRI scans

Posted at 17:21h in Autism, Stanford

STANFORD, Calif. - Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital have used a novel method for analyzing brain-scan data to distinguish children with autism from typically developing children. Their discovery reveals that the gray matter in a network of brain regions known to affect...

05 Sep Gene that predisposes people to leukemia discovered

Posted at 17:13h in Cancer Research, Genetic Research, Nature

Those at risk because of family history may soon obtain tests to detect the genetic error before symptoms emerge A new genetic defect that predisposes people to acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplasia has been discovered. The mutations were found in the GATA2 gene. Among its several regulatory roles, the gene acts...

02 Sep Key function of mutation in BRCA1 gene discovered

Posted at 00:21h in Breast Cancer, Cancer Research, Ovarian Cancer

Richmond, Va. (September 1, 2011) –It is widely known that mutations in the breast cancer susceptibility 1 (BRCA1) gene significantly increase the chance of developing breast and ovarian cancers, but the mechanisms at play are not fully understood. Now, researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center have shown that...

27 Aug HIV Virus Infection Rates Are on the Rise

Posted at 19:13h in HIV, Infections

Since HIV infection rates began to rise again around 2000, researchers have been grasping for answers on what could be causing this change, especially in the homosexual community. The rising numbers are a stark contrast to the 1990's, when infection rates dropped due to increased awareness of the virus. A...

27 Aug Why Influenza B Virus Exclusively Infects Humans

Posted at 19:07h in Flu - Influenza

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. – Researchers at Rutgers University and the University of Texas at Austin have reported a discovery that could help scientists develop drugs to fight seasonal influenza epidemics caused by the common influenza B strain. Their discovery also helps explain how influenza B is limited to humans, and why...

19 Aug PET scans confirm effectiveness of estrogen-blocking drugs in breast cancer patients

Posted at 23:47h in Breast Cancer, Cancer Research, Radiology

SEATTLE – For the first time, researchers at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance have demonstrated the feasibility of using serial positron emission tomography (PET) scans, using a special estrogen-containing isotope, to confirm the relative effectiveness of estrogen-blocking and estrogen-depleting therapy in patients with metastatic breast cancer. The results of the research...

16 Aug Pegloticase aids gout patients not helped by standard treatments

Posted at 23:09h in Gout, JAMA

Injections of pegloticase, a modified porcine enzyme, can produce significant and sustained clinical improvements in 2 out of 5 patients with chronic gout that is resistant to conventional therapies, researchers report in the August 17, 2011, issue of JAMA. In two controlled clinical trials, pegloticase rapidly lowered high levels of uric...

16 Aug Breast Feeding & Breast Cancer in African-American women

Posted at 22:47h in Breast Cancer, Cancer Research

Investigators from the Boston University's Slone Epidemiology Center have reported findings that may shed light on why African American women have a disproportionately higher risk of developing more aggressive and difficult-to-treat breast cancers, specifically estrogen and progesterone receptor negative (ER-/PR-) cancers. The study, which appears online in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers &...

16 Aug Vitamin D and protection against the Advance of Colon Cancer

Posted at 22:36h in Colon Cancer, PLoS, Vitamin D

A study conducted by VHIO researchers confirms that a lack of vitamin D increases the aggressiveness of colon cancer The indication that vitamin D and its derivatives have a protective effect against various types of cancer is not new. In the field of colon cancer, numerous experimental and epidemiological studies show...

16 Aug Zinc Lozenges and Common Cold Duration

Posted at 22:24h in Author Interviews

Depending on the total dosage of zinc and the composition of lozenges, zinc lozenges may shorten the duration of common cold episodes by up to 40%, says Dr. Harri Hemila from the University of Helsinki. For treating the common cold, zinc lozenges are dissolved slowly in the mouth. Interest in zinc...

11 Aug BI C. difficile strain found common in Chicago hospitals

Posted at 21:51h in C. difficile, Hospital Acquired

An outbreak strain of Clostridium difficile, a bacterium that causes diarrhea and sometimes life-threatening inflammation of the colon, is common in Chicago-area acute care hospitals, an investigation published in the September issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology suggests. In response to Illinois Department of Public Health reports of rising rates...

11 Aug Team reports genetic sequences most common bladder cancer

Posted at 21:45h in Cancer Research, Nature

August 11, 2011 (Aurora, CO)--In an article published online this week in Nature Genetics, a University of Colorado Cancer Center team in partnership with universities in China and Denmark. Recognizing the genetic mutations that make bladder cancer cells different than their healthy neighbors may allow early genetic screenings for cancer and...

11 Aug Report: NSAIDS reduce the severity of postpartum breast cancers in animal models

Posted at 21:39h in Breast Cancer, Nature

Published online on Aug. 7, 2011, the journal Nature Medicine reports that non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs including ibuprofen reduce the severity of postpartum breast cancers in animal models. “We caution patients and providers that because a mother’s body is undergoing radical changes during this time, we can’t yet speak to the...

10 Aug Consumption of red processed meat may increase risk of type 2 diabetes

Posted at 21:26h in Diabetes

Boston, MA – A new study by Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) researchers finds a strong association between the consumption of red meat—particularly when the meat is processed—and an increased risk of type 2 diabetes. The study also shows that replacing red meat with healthier proteins, such as low-fat...

10 Aug New Multiple Sclerosis Gene Associations Discovered

Posted at 21:22h in Genetic Research, Nature, Vanderbilt

An international team of scientists has identified 29 new genetic variants linked to multiple sclerosis, providing key insights into the biology of an important and very debilitating neurological disease. Multiple sclerosis (MS), one of the most common neurological conditions among young adults, affects around 2.5 million individuals worldwide. It is a...

07 Aug Sporadic Mutations cause more than half the cases of Schizophrenia

Posted at 20:21h in Mental Health Research, Nature, Schizophrenia

Columbia University Medical Center researchers have shown that new, or "de novo," protein-altering mutations—genetic errors that are present in patients but not in their parents—play a role in more than 50 percent of "sporadic" —i.e., not hereditary—cases of schizophrenia. The findings will be published online on August 7, 2011, in...

05 Aug Increase in Public Health Spending May Result in Healthier People

Posted at 19:31h in General Medicine

LEXINGTON, Ky. (August 1, 2011) — A groundbreaking new study published in the journal, Health Affairs, suggests that increases in public health spending result in healthier people, especially in communities with fewer resources. The study was co-authored by Glen P. Mays, the new F. Douglas Scutchfield Endowed Professor in Health Services...

04 Aug Compression Stockings May Reduce Sleep Apnea in Some Patients

Posted at 23:36h in Sleep Disorders

August 4 2011 Newswise — Wearing compression stockings may be a simple low-tech way to improve obstructive sleep apnea in patients with chronic venous insufficiency, according to French researchers. ”We found that in patients with chronic venous insufficiency, compression stockings reduced daytime fluid accumulation in the legs, which in turn reduced the...

04 Aug Making sperm from stem cells in a dish

Posted at 18:56h in Stem Cells

Researchers have found a way to turn mouse embryonic stem cells into sperm. This finding, reported in the journal Cell in a special online release on August 4th, opens up new avenues for infertility research and treatment. A Kyoto University team has coaxed mouse embryonic stem cells into sperm precursors,...

04 Aug Scientists map genetic mutations in the second-most common form of brain cancer, oligodendroglioma

Posted at 18:44h in Brain Cancer - Brain Tumors

Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center scientists have completed a comprehensive map of genetic mutations occurring in the second-most common form of brain cancer, oligodendroglioma. The findings, reported in the Aug. 4 issue of Science, also appear to reveal the biological cause of the tumors, they say. To create the map, the...

04 Aug Poorly controlled asthma more than doubles healthcare costs

Posted at 18:37h in Asthma

Poorly controlled asthma more than doubles healthcare costs associated with the disease and threatens educational achievement through a dramatic increase in school absence, according to researchers at National Jewish Health. The research team reported in the August 2011 issue of The Archives of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology that children with...

03 Aug New Breast Cancer Strategies Presented at Conference

Posted at 20:24h in Breast Cancer, Cancer Research, Nature

ORLANDO, Fla. — August 3, 2011 — In their lifetime, women have more than a 12 percent risk of being diagnosed with breast cancer. 1 This week, research on novel approaches to breast cancer treatment is being presented at the Era of Hope (EOH) conference, a scientific meeting hosted by...

03 Aug Potential Links between Maternal Diet in Pregnancy and Breast Cancer in Daughters

Posted at 20:18h in Breast Cancer

ORLANDO, Fla. — August 3, 2011 — During pregnancy, women are counseled to refrain from consuming certain types of foods, beverages and medications in order to avoid jeopardizing the health and development of the fetus. In fact, the American Pregnancy Association has a list of a dozen items they recommend...

03 Aug Exploring Breast Cancer Mechanisms of Spread and Treatment Options

Posted at 20:15h in Breast Cancer

ORLANDO, Fla. — August 3, 2011 — Research into new methods to prevent and slow metastatic breast cancer will be presented this week at the Era of Hope conference, a scientific meeting hosted by the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program (BCRP). Approximately 6 percent of women with breast...