news

Health - Life Sciences - 29.11.2012

Study Sheds Light on How Pancreatic Cancer Begins
A diagnosis of pancreatic cancer is particularly devastating since the prognosis for recovery is usually poor, with the cancer most often not detected until late stages. Research led by scientists at the University of California, San Diego and UC San Francisco Schools of Medicine examined the tumor-initiating events leading to pancreatic cancer (also called pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma or PDA) in mice.

Health - Life Sciences - 29.11.2012

Study Helps Resolve Debate About How Tumors Spread
A team of scientists, led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, has shown for the first time how cancer cells control the ON/OFF switch of a program used by developing embryos to effectively metastasize in vivo, breaking free and spreading to other parts of the body, where they can proliferate and grow into secondary tumors.

Health - 29.11.2012

Loss of gene expression may trigger cardiovascular disease
A Yale-led team of researchers has uncovered a genetic malfunction that may lead to hardening of the arteries and other forms of cardiovascular disease. The study appears in the journal Cell Reports. Fibroblast growth factors (FGFs), which spur the formation of new tissue and cells, have also recently emerged as key regulators of the vascular system.

Health - Psychology - 28.11.2012

Scientists identify depression and anxiety biomarker in youths
" Scientists have discovered a cognitive biomarker - a biological indicator of a disease - for young adolescents who are at high risk of developing depression and anxiety. Their The test for the unique cognitive biomarker, which can be done on a computer, could be used as an inexpensive tool to screen adolescents for common emotional mental illnesses.

Health - Career - 28.11.2012

Researcher predicts spike in computer-related injuries in medical workers
As U.S. health care goes high tech, spurred by $20 billion in federal stimulus incentives, the widespread adoption of electronic medical records and related digital technologies is predicted to reduce errors, save time and lower costs. But it is also likely to significantly boost musculoskeletal injuries among doctors and nurses, concludes a Cornell ergonomics professor in two new papers.

Health - Agronomy / Food Science - 28.11.2012

Research indicates risks of consuming high fructose corn syrup
A new study indicates that large amounts of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), a sweetener found in national food supplies across the world, may be a contributory factor to the rising global epidemic of type 2 diabetes. The study by researchers from the University of Oxford and the University of Southern California reports that countries that use HFCS in their food supply had a 20 per cent higher prevalence of diabetes than countries that did not use HFCS.

Health - 28.11.2012

Common heart failure drugs could benefit more patients
A novel study from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden suggests that commonly used drugs to treat heart failure and high blood pressure may have a wider range of application than earlier known, and also can be used against so called HFPEF - a type of heart failure that until now has been impossible to treat.

Health - Psychology - 27.11.2012

New behavioral strategies may help patients learn to better control chronic diseases
One of the most important health problems in the United States is the failure of patients with chronic diseases to take their medications and do all that is necessary to control their illnesses. In a study published in the current Journal of General Internal Medicine, UCLA researchers and their colleagues suggest that physicians take a serious look at tools and strategies used in behavioral economics and social psychology to help motivate their patients to assert better control over chronic diseases.

Health - Chemistry - 27.11.2012

Enzyme explains angina in diabetics
In a new study published in the scientific journal Circulation, scientists at Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska University Hospital show that an enzyme called arginase might have a key part to play in the development of cardiovascular disease in patients who already have type II diabetes. According to the team, arginase prevents the formation of protective nitrogen oxide in the blood vessels, and treatments that inhibit this enzyme reduce the risk of angina in diabetics.

Health - Life Sciences - 27.11.2012

Four Common Antipsychotic Drugs Found to Lack Safety and Effectiveness in Older Adults
In older adults, antipsychotic drugs are commonly prescribed off-label for a number of disorders outside of their Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved indications - schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. The largest number of antipsychotic prescriptions in older adults is for behavioral disturbances associated with dementia, some of which carry FDA warnings on prescription information for these drugs.

Health - Life Sciences - 27.11.2012

New hope for setback-dogged cancer treatment
Several drugs companies have ineffectively tried to produce antibodies that bind to the IGF-1 receptor on the cell surface, which has a critical part to play in the development of cancer. Scientists at Karolinska Institutet have now ascertained how these antibodies work, and can explain why only some cancer patients are helped by IGF-1 blockers during clinical tests.

Health - 27.11.2012

New research hope for teenagers with arthritis
The charity Arthritis Research UK today launches the world's first research centre dedicated to understanding how and why arthritis affects teenagers. Researchers at the £2.5 million Centre, which is a collaboration between UCL, University College Hospital and Great Ormond Street Hospital, aim to understand why rheumatic diseases such as juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) or juvenile systemic lupus erythematosus (JSLE) can be more severe in teenagers and why specific types of arthritis are more likely to occur in this age group.

Life Sciences - Health - 26.11.2012

Scientists image brain structures that deteriorate in Parkinson’s
New MRI technique could help doctors track how patients respond to treatment. A new imaging technique developed at MIT offers the first glimpse of the degeneration of two brain structures affected by Parkinson's disease. The technique, which combines several types of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), could allow doctors to better monitor patients' progression and track the effectiveness of potential new treatments, says Suzanne Corkin, MIT professor emerita of neuroscience and leader of the research team.

Health - 26.11.2012

New test to help heavy drinkers reduce alcohol intake
Researchers at the University of Liverpool have developed a computer-based test that could help heavy drinkers reduce their alcohol consumption. Regular heavy drinking can lead to serious health conditions such as liver and heart disease, costing the NHS millions of pounds every year. Methods of restraint Research at Liverpool has shown that the habit of consuming alcohol can be interrupted when people practice methods of restraint whenever they see images of alcoholic drinks.

Health - 26.11.2012

Research may explain why some people with schizophrenia do not respond to treatment
New research suggests that the molecular mechanism leading to schizophrenia may be different in patients who fail to respond to anti-psychotic medication compared to patients who do respond. The research, from King's College London's Institute of Psychiatry may help explain why up to one third of patients with schizophrenia do not respond to traditional anti-psychotic medication.

Health - Life Sciences - 26.11.2012

Funding for Studies into Tumours of the Nervous System
A research team from Plymouth University Peninsula Schools of Medicine and Dentistry has received grants amounting to over £400,000 from the Medical Research Council and Cancer Research UK to investigate why the mechanisms that suppress the growth and multiplication of tumours in the brain and nervous system do not work in some people, and to show how a new drug could be used as an alternative treatment to surgery.

Health - Life Sciences - 23.11.2012

Offering a reward can improve visual awareness in stroke patients
Stroke patients who have difficulty paying attention to part of their visual field may perform better when offered a reward, a study by Imperial College London and Brunel University researchers has found. Between a third and half of stroke patients suffer from spatial neglect - a disorder of visual attention that means they do not notice objects on one side of their field of view.

Life Sciences - Health - 23.11.2012

£875,000 to investigate protein that could hold the key to reversing the effects of heart failure
A pioneering study that aims to investigate if a key protein, which is thought to be responsible for regulating the structure and function of the cells that cause contraction of the heart, can be manipulated to inhibit or reverse the effects of aging and heart failure will begin shortly thanks to funding of £875,000 from the British Heart Foundation (BHF) .

Health - 23.11.2012

Itching can have a visual trigger, new research reveals
Researchers from The University of Manchester and Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) say their findings – published in the British Journal of Dermatology – could be of benefit to patients with skin conditions like eczema. The team tested whether visual cues could generate feelings of itch and provoke a scratch response.

Health - Life Sciences - 22.11.2012

Could fruit help to improve vascular health?
Scientists at the University of Warwick and consumer goods manufacturer Unilever are joining forces to identify whether the nutrients in everyday fruit and vegetables could help to improve people's cardiovascular health and protect them from Type-2 diabetes. The research collaboration has been set up to better understand if the nutrients and bioactives in fruits like grapes, strawberries and olives - in the right combination - could have a greater impact on people's heart and vascular health.