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Research shows weekend admissions in NHS hospital can affect AF patients

Patients suffering from the most common form of heart rhythm disorder who are admitted to NHS hospital over the weekend face a higher risk of dying over the next five years than those admitted during normal hours.

7 Jun 2016

Zika virus directly infects brain progenitor cells in newborns to cause neurological problems

The mosquito-borne Zika virus linked to microcephaly and other neurological problems in newborns of affected mothers directly infects the brain progenitor cells destined to become neurons, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers report in a study published online today in Cell Reports.

6 Jun 2016

Alabama physician recommends childbearing-age women to take precautions against Zika virus

As concerns about the Zika virus rise among women of childbearing age in the United States, Joseph Biggio, M.D., director of the University of Alabama at Birmingham Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, wants those who are pregnant or trying to conceive to take precautions.

6 Jun 2016

Improved research tool may open door to effective HIV vaccine designs

Vaccines are usually medicine's best defense against the world's deadliest microbes. However, HIV is so mutable that it has so far effectively evaded both the human immune system and scientists' attempts to make an effective vaccine to protect against it.

6 Jun 2016

Advances in precision diagnostics aid accurate detection of CNS tumors

Thanks to new methods of precision diagnostics, such as DNA sequencing and epigenetic analyses, it is becoming increasingly possible to identify specific central nervous system (CNS) tumors accurately and to provide targeted treatment. The Comprehensive Cancer Center of MedUni Vienna and Vienna General Hospital is one of the top centers in the world for diagnosing and treating this type of tumor.

6 Jun 2016

Personlized exercise pattern may help reduce neuropathic symptoms of chemotherapy

Researchers at the University of Rochester Wilmot Cancer Institute discovered something simple and inexpensive to reduce neuropathy in hands and feet due to chemotherapy--exercise.

6 Jun 2016

Research shows IFITM3 protein can block Zika virus from infecting human, mouse cells

Eight weeks after receiving their first samples of Zika virus, scientists at the University of Massachusetts Medical School have shown that a very small protein we all have in our bodies, interferon-induced protein 3 (IFITM3), can dramatically reduce the ability of Zika virus to infect human and mouse cells.

6 Jun 2016

Delivering genetic test results over the phone may help ease cost, burden for at-risk cancer patients

Delivering genetic test results to patients at risk for cancer-causing genetic mutations over the phone helps to ease cost and transportation burdens and, compared to receiving results in person, does not cause patients additional stress, according to a new study from the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania which will be presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting.

6 Jun 2016

Experts highlight need for change in neuroscience training

Call them the Brain Generation -- the tens of thousands of college and graduate students working toward degrees in neuroscience, and the high school students who want to join them someday.

6 Jun 2016

Autoimmune diseases among lung cancer patients may make them unsuitable for immunotherapy

A significant proportion of lung cancer patients also have autoimmune disease, which may make them unsuitable for increasingly popular immunotherapy treatments, a team of researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center's Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center has found.

6 Jun 2016

MBC Project engages patients directly to accelerate cancer research

A crowd-sourcing strategy aimed at accelerating research into metastatic breast cancer has connected advocacy groups, social media, and a dedicated web site to register more than 2,000 patients from all 50 states in its first seven months, say researchers from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.

6 Jun 2016

Economic crisis may have long-term health consequences for children

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health researchers have found that increases in unemployment in California during the Great Recession were associated with an increased risk for weight gain among the state's 1.7 million public school students, suggesting that economic troubles could have long-term health consequences for children.

4 Jun 2016

New treatment shows promise against hard-to-treat eye cancer

Eye cancer took the life of author and neurologist Oliver Sacks last year, bringing attention to the rare and deadly disease. Scientists have tried to develop precision treatments against cancers like this one, but the mutations that cause them have proven difficult to block with drugs.

3 Jun 2016

Higher BMI and waist circumference may lead to increased risk of high grade prostate cancer

A study of almost 150,000 men from 8 European countries, presented at this year's European Obesity Summit shows that higher body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference are associated with an increased risk of aggressive prostate cancer.

3 Jun 2016

Mayo study finds mechanism by which Pten safeguards against tumor formation

Pten (short for phosphatase and tensin homolog) is a tumor suppressor that is defective in about 20-25 percent of all patients with cancers. Mayo Clinic researchers now have discovered that Pten safeguards against tumor formation by keeping chromosome numbers intact when a cell splits into two daughter cells.

3 Jun 2016

Researchers identify gender gap in undergraduate biology exam performance

Male students in undergraduate introductory biology courses are outperforming females at test time, but it may be due to how exams are designed rather than academic ability.

3 Jun 2016

Scientists use new technique to repair fibrotic liver cells within the organ

Advances in stem cell research have made it possible to convert patients' skin cells into heart cells, kidney cells, liver cells and more in the lab dish, giving researchers hope that one day such cells could replace organ transplantation for patients with organ failure.

3 Jun 2016

Visual blurring could lead to risk of tripping and falling in older adults

Visual blurring -- like that produced by bifocals or multifocal lenses -- may cause errors in foot position when walking.

3 Jun 2016

Analysing blood metabolites may help monitor effects of novel drugs

Testing for metabolic changes in the blood could indicate whether a cancer drug is working as designed, a new study reports.

3 Jun 2016

Retroviral replicating vector can extend lives of brain cancer patients

Doctors at UCLA, Cleveland Clinic, University of California San Diego School of Medicine and additional institutions have achieved a milestone in the development of a treatment for people with recurrent glioblastoma, the most common and aggressive form of brain cancer, by successfully demonstrating a modified virus that can extend the lives of patients with the disease.

2 Jun 2016