ScienceDaily - Health |
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| Antimicrobial peptides from the skin of frogs may protect against life-threatening, multidrug-resistant infections such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, say researchers from Italy.
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| Researchers have determined why certain stem cells are able to stay stem cells. A recent study reveals that an enzyme that changes the way DNA is packaged in cells allows specific genes to be turned on and off, thereby preventing a stem cell from becoming another cell type.
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| Scientists have identified a critical enzyme that keeps traffic flowing in the right direction in the nervous system, and the finding could eventually lead to new treatments for conditions such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.
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| A small research-based Norwegian company has developed a method to reduce the formation of the carcinogenic compound acrylamide during industrial production of potatoes and coffee. International food giants are paying attention.
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| One third of the world's population is infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which leads to tuberculosis (TB), a leading cause of death worldwide. A new discovery offers hope for new approaches to the prevention and treatment of TB.
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| People who are better at simple physical acts such as gripping, walking, rising from a chair and balancing on one leg are more likely to live longer, according to a new study.
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| High levels of the stress hormone cortisol strongly predict cardiovascular death among both persons with and without pre-existing cardiovascular disease, according to a new study.
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| Pathogenic bacteria have evolved a variety of mechanisms to avoid being killed by the immune systems of the humans and animals they invade. Among the most sophisticated is that practiced by mycoplasmas, which regularly change their surface proteins to confuse the immune system. Recent work has revealed surprising new details of the way they do so and at the same time raised important evolutionary questions.
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| A recent study offers new hope for a promising treatment for metastatic melanoma. Ipilimumab is the first drug shown in randomized, placebo-controlled trials to improve survival in stage IV melanoma.
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| Diagnostic errors are the most important causes of avoidable harm to patients in hospitals, warns a senior doctor in the UK.
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| A method that is widely used to predict the risk of a major coronary event may over- or underestimate risk for millions of Americans, according to a new study.
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| Vaccine manufacturers and public health decision-makers need to collaborate in a more efficient and effective manner not only to reduce the likelihood of supply shortages for pediatric vaccines but also to maximize community immunity, a researcher argues.
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| Researchers have identified ten factors that help Mycobacterium tuberculosis avoid destruction inside host cell phagosomes. Two of the genes identified by high-throughput visual screening of 11,000 mutant mycobacteria are involved in the synthesis of acyltrehalose-containing glycolipids. These glycolipids prevent maturation of the host cell phagosome and may be a target for novel antimycobacterial drugs.
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| Amyloid beta proteins, widely thought to cause Alzheimer's disease, block the transport of vital cargoes inside brain cells. Scientists have discovered that reducing the level of another protein, tau, can prevent amyloid beta from causing such traffic jams.
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| For cancer patients, who have an increased risk of developing venous thromboembolism due to a hyperactive blood coagulation system, there is now an enhanced risk model to predict their chance of developing blood clots, according to a recent study.
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| Researchers have discovered that markedly depleted amounts of an omega-3 fatty acid in brain tissue samples from Alzheimer's patients may be due to the liver's inability to produce the complex fat, also contained in fish-oil supplements.
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| Alcohol consumption, withdrawal, and abstinence can all raise stress hormones in humans and animals. A review has described how stress hormones called glucocorticoids are associated with neurotoxicity during abstinence after withdrawal from alcohol dependence. Glucocorticoid receptor antagonism may therefore represent a pharmacological option for recovery.
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| A self-administered patch containing tiny microneedles may effectively deliver influenza virus-like particles through the skin and protect against potentially pandemic flu viruses such as H5N1.
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| Biologists studying human reproduction have identified what is likely the major contributing factor to the maternal age-associated increase in aneuploidy, the term for an abnormal number of chromosomes during reproductive cell division.
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| Scientists have identified dendritic antigen-presenting cells in zebrafish, opening the possibility that the tiny fish could become a new model for studying the complexities of the human immune system.
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| Researchers have reported people who undergo massage experience measurable changes in their body's immune and endocrine response. Although there have been previous, smaller studies about the health benefits of massage, the new study is believed to be the first systematic study of a larger group of healthy adults.
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| A team of scientists has synthesized hundreds of new compounds with the potential of reducing the production of the A-beta 42 peptide, a primary component of Alzheimer's disease. In mouse models, one tested compound specifically reduced levels of A-beta 42, which is believed to be responsible for the destruction of neurons, but left other essential enzymatic activities in the brain unaffected.
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| The wasting disease associated with some cancers that is typically seen affecting skeletal muscles can also cause significant damage to the heart, new research in mice suggests. Before now, cachexia, characterized by muscle wasting and dramatic weight loss, was believed to spare the heart. But a new study shows that the condition reduces heart function and changes the heart muscle structure in mice with colon cancer.
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| Driving under the influence of alcohol is a major public health problem. New findings show that people who had relapsed to DUI have subtle deficits in their decision-making abilities. These deficits tend to go undetected through conventional neuropsychological testing.
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| One of the antibiotics most commonly prescribed to treat adolescent acne can increase attention spans and communication and decrease anxiety in patients with fragile X syndrome, according to a new study.
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| Elimination of a molecular gatekeeper leads to the development of arthritis in mice, scientists report. The newly discovered gatekeeper is a protein that determines the fate -- survival or death -- of damaging cells that mistakenly attack the body's own tissues and lead to autoimmune disorders. Better understanding how arthritis develops will offer scientists an opportunity to explore new treatments for patients who have not had success with current therapies.
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| Due to increasing life-spans and improving health many populations are "aging" more slowly than conventional measures indicate. Scientists have developed new measures of aging that take disability and longevity into account. Their results give policymakers new tools to better determine the economic cost of an aging population and set more appropriate retirement ages.
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| Scientists have discovered a small molecule that helps human cells discard disfigured proteins, such as those that may be involved in Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative ailments.
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| Using high-resolution microscopy, researchers have shown how insulin prompts fat cells to take in glucose in a rat model. By studying the surface of healthy, live fat cells in rats, researchers were able to understand the process by which cells take in glucose. Next, they plan to observe the fat cells of people with varying degrees of insulin sensitivity, including insulin resistance-considered a precursor to type 2 diabetes. These observations may help identify the interval when someone becomes at risk for developing diabetes.
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| A new class of peptides may neutralize the endotoxin that causes sepsis, offering a new therapeutic strategy against an often lethal systemic bacterial infection.
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| A small RNA molecule determines whether or not lung cancer cells grow invasively and metastasize, according to researchers in Germany. Moreover, they found out that the following is true also for patients with non-small cell lung cancer: The less micro-RNA is produced by tumor cells, the higher the tumor's tendency to metastasize.
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| Nutritional science and food marketing has become so sophisticated in recent decades that a trip to the supermarket can require a complete nutritional re-education. The average consumer needs to be on guard against preservatives, added fat, colorings, and calories, false advertising, and sophisticated but misleading labels. Although guidelines for the information of food labels have gotten a bad rap in recent years, a new study suggests that observing them may lead to weight loss, especially for women entering their middle years.
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| Drug companies may be more willing to develop treatments for neglected diseases including malaria, tuberculosis and leishmanaiasis if the European Union would adopt a "priority review voucher" reward system, according to a U.S. business professor and a Spanish policy expert.
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| Mexican-American stroke survivors with atrial fibrillation had more than double the risk for a second stroke compared to non-Hispanic white survivors with the disorder, according to a new study. Strokes were more severe among these Mexican-Americans than among non-Hispanic whites; however, researchers found no major differences in death rates between the two groups. Researchers said the findings could help physicians develop strategies to prevent recurrent stroke in Mexican-Americans.
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| Five minutes in a scanner can reveal how far a child's brain has come along the path from childhood to maturity and potentially shed light on a range of psychological and developmental disorders, scientists have shown.
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| Researchers have found that male partners who express greater support, attention and sympathy to women's chronic vulvovaginal pain may trigger more pain, but also increase sexual satisfaction in female partners.
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| Patients who choose to spend their last days at home with specialized care and monitoring can safely be given opioids to control pain and other symptoms without reducing survival time, according to a new study.
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| A subset of children with asthma suffers from severe, treatment-resistant disease associated with more illness and greater allergic hypersensitivity, according to recent research.
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| New analysis of a landmark health survey by the University of Ottawa Heart Institute shows that 70 percent of Ontario adults are either overweight or obese, and have a strong prevalence of high blood pressure that could lead to heart attack or stroke.
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| New research into how music conveys emotion could benefit the treatment of depression and the management of physical pain. Using an innovative combination of music psychology and leading-edge audio engineering the project is looking in more detail than ever before at how music conveys emotion.
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| A periprosthetic joint infection occurs when bacteria or other foreign organisms enter the wound during or at any point following joint replacement surgery, sometimes even years after surgery. Research indicates that periprosthetic infection, also known as "septic failure," is the leading cause of total knee replacement revision (25 percent) and the second-leading cause of total hip replacement revision (15 percent) in the U.S.
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| A new study looking at the effects of the 2006 Massachusetts Health Reform on access to care, health status and ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in healthcare, shows that the legislation has led to improvements in insurance coverage as well as a decline in financial barriers to care. However, to date, it has not increased people's access to a personal physician or improved their self-rated health. Neither has it reduced healthcare inequalities between ethnic or income groups.
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| Health and social services are facing a new challenge, as many illicit drug users get older and face chronic health problems and a reduced quality of life. UK researchers interviewed people aged 49 to 61 in contact with voluntary sector drug treatment services. The study, plus wider research, suggest that older people who continue to use problematic or illegal drugs are emerging as an important, but relatively under-researched, international population. The problem is international, with US and European figures suggesting the number of people with addiction problems will at least double by 2020.
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| Taking medications to treat insomnia and anxiety increases mortality risk by 36 percent, according to a new study.
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| Many people have experienced the frustration that comes with regaining weight that was lost from dieting. According to a new study, the levels of appetite hormones in the body prior to dieting may serve as a predictor of weight regain after dieting.
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| In cardiac arrest, is it best to start pumping on the victim's chest or give an immediate shock to the heart? A new study has found that both rescue strategies are effective, yet chest compressions before defibrillation may be best in events where emergency response times are longer than five minutes.
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| Postmenopausal women diagnosed with colon cancer may be at increased risk of death if they fail to maintain a healthy body weight before cancer diagnosis, according to a new study.
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| Treating intensive care patients who develop life-threatening bacterial infections, or septicemia, with insulin potentially could reduce their chances of succumbing to the infection, if results of a new preliminary study can be replicated in a larger study.
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