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Scientist awarded $1.2M grant to develop therapy to reduce premature births

A scientist at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine has been awarded a $1.2 million grant to develop a therapy to reduce the prevalence of premature births, which today affect more than 15 million newborns worldwide each year.

11 Mar 2013

Boosting hypocretin could elevate both mood and alertness in humans

What makes us happy? Family? Money? Love? How about a peptide? The neurochemical changes underlying human emotions and social behavior are largely unknown. Now though, for the first time in humans, scientists at UCLA have measured the release of a specific peptide, a neurotransmitter called hypocretin, that greatly increased when subjects were happy but decreased when they were sad.

8 Mar 2013

Rats sniff each other to signal a social hierarchy and prevent aggressive behavior

Sniffing, a common behavior in dogs, cats and other animals, has been observed to also serve as a method for rats to communicate-a fundamental discovery that may help scientists identify brain regions critical for interpreting communications cues and what brain malfunctions may cause some complex social disorders.

7 Mar 2013

Treating substance abuse alone helps patients with co-occurring psychosis

Patients with co-occurring substance use disorder and psychiatric disorders may benefit from standard substance use disorder treatment, with the effects potentially lasting for several years, the results of a US study indicate.

7 Mar 2013

'Information overload' of electronic health records can mean doctors overlook key test results

Researchers report that nearly 30 percent of doctors responding to a survey say they have failed to notice important test results because of the deluge of information available with electronic records.

6 Mar 2013

Deleting Plin2 gene prevents obesity in mice

Researchers have discovered that deleting a specific gene in mice prevents them from becoming obese even on a high fat diet, a finding they believe may be replicated in humans.

6 Mar 2013

Androgen deprivation therapy interferes with diabetes control

Androgen deprivation therapy for prostate cancer hampers glycemic control in men with diabetes, report researchers.

5 Mar 2013

Youths addicted to alcohol and drugs can increase their chances of recovery by helping others

A Case Western Reserve University professor has found that young people addicted to alcohol and drugs can increase their chances of recovery by helping others.

28 Feb 2013

Brain functional connectivity differs between unipolar and bipolar depression

Patients with bipolar depression differ from their peers with unipolar depression in having stronger functional connectivity in the right posterior cingulate cortex, US study findings indicate.

28 Feb 2013

Direct approach speeds ventilator weaning

Moving straight to unassisted breathing through a tracheostomy collar results in faster weaning than does a gradual reduction in pressure support among patients needing prolonged mechanical ventilation, shows a randomized trial in JAMA.

26 Feb 2013

Study measures awareness, adoption and use of informatics tools by infection preventionists

Advances in electronic medical record systems and health information exchange are shifting efforts in public health toward greater use of information systems to automate disease surveillance, but a study from the Regenstrief Institute has found that these technologies' capabilities are underutilized by those on the front lines of preventing and reporting infections.

21 Feb 2013

New bio-mimicking therapeutics could help treat skin wounds

In "before" and "after" photos from advertisements for wound-healing ointments, bandages and antibiotic creams, we see an injury transformed from an inflamed red gash to smooth and flawless skin. What we don't appreciate is the vital role that our own natural biomolecules play in the healing process, including their contribution to the growth of new cells and the development of new blood vessels that provide nutrients to those cells.

21 Feb 2013

Signaling pathway might determine genetic susceptibility for fetal alcohol spectrum disorder

Fetal alcohol syndrome is the leading preventable cause of developmental disorders in developed countries. And fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), a range of alcohol-related birth defects that includes fetal alcohol syndrome, is thought to affect as many as 1 in 100 children born in the United States.

21 Feb 2013

GCP could help lengthen life expectancy of certain prostate cancer patients

A natural, nontoxic product called genistein-combined polysaccharide, or GCP, which is commercially available in health stores, could help lengthen the life expectancy of certain prostate cancer patients, UC Davis researchers have found.

21 Feb 2013

New approach could make gene therapy dramatically more effective for HIV patients

A research team from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine has discovered an approach that could make gene therapy dramatically more effective for patients.

16 Feb 2013

New study reveals racial disparities in chronic pain management

Opioids are frequently prescribed for pain management in noncancer patients, but recommended clinical guidelines for monitoring effectiveness and signs of drug abuse are often not implemented. Alongside well-documented racial disparities in prescribing opioid medications for pain, researchers report racial differences in the use of recommended opioid monitoring and follow-up treatment practices.

14 Feb 2013

VA adding mental health staff - including doctors, nurses and counselors

The Veterans Affairs Department said Monday it has added more than 1,000 mental health professionals and 200 support staff over the past eight months to meet the needs of returning veterans, but still has more to do to meet the requirements of an executive order issued by President Barack Obama.

13 Feb 2013

Case Western Reserve receives $220,000 grant to study gastric cancers

The Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine has received a $220,000 grant from the DeGregorio Family Foundation to study gastric cancers, which remain among the most deadly forms of disease.

11 Feb 2013

Exercise may reduce risk of prostate cancer in Caucasian men

A new study suggests that exercise may reduce Caucasian men's risk of developing prostate cancer. And among Caucasian men who do have prostate cancer, exercise may reduce their risk of having more serious forms of the disease. Unfortunately, the benefits do not seem to apply to African- American men. The study is published early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.

11 Feb 2013

Plans scaled back for vets' computerized health records system

The U.S. government is ditching ambitious plans to create a single computer system for troops and military veterans to track their health records, opting instead for a more modest, less costly plan that officials said will deliver on goals faster.

9 Feb 2013