OCT News and Research

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Mini-strokes linked to uric acid levels

Researchers at Johns Hopkins have found that high-normal uric acid (UA) levels may cause barely detectable mini strokes that potentially contribute to mental decline in aging adults.

2 Oct 2007

Genetics and learning

New research is giving scientists fresh insights into how genetics are a prime factor in how we learn.

2 Oct 2007

Genes influence people's economic choices

An international team of researchers including an MIT graduate student has demonstrated for the first time that genes exert influence on people's behavior in a very common experimental economic game.

2 Oct 2007

Worm study sheds light on how the human body ages

Microscopic worms used for scientific research are living longer despite cellular defects, a discovery that is shedding light on how the human body ages and how doctors could one day limit or reverse genetic mutations that cause inherited diseases, according to a new University of Colorado at Boulder study.

2 Oct 2007

Caribbean health authorities promise to reduce healthcare-associated infections

Health authorities from the Caribbean say they will work to reduce healthcare-associated infections through a series of actions that include getting healthcare providers to improve hand hygiene.

2 Oct 2007

Residual fetal cells in women both detrimental and beneficial to women's health

Fetal cells that persist in a woman's body long after pregnancy – a common occurrence known in scientific circles as fetal microchimerism – in some cases may reduce the woman's risk of breast cancer, according to researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

1 Oct 2007

Inhaled ozone impairs the body's first line of defense

As policy makers debate what levels of ozone in the air are safe for humans to breathe, studies in mice are revealing that the inhaled pollutant impairs the body's first line of defense, making it more susceptible to subsequent foreign invaders, such as bacteria.

1 Oct 2007

Accurate prostate cancer diagnosis depends on biopsy location

The part of the prostate that is biopsied may matter more than the number of biopsy samples taken for accurately diagnosing prostate cancer, according to a study by researchers at SUNY Upstate Medical University.

1 Oct 2007

Expertise modulates the perception of pain in others

Physicians apparently learn to “shut off” the portion of their brain that helps them appreciate the pain their patients experience while treating them and instead activate a portion of the brain connected with controlling emotions, according to new research using brain scans at the University of Chicago.

27 Sep 2007

Caffeine and acetaminophen don't mix well

Consuming large amounts of caffeine while taking acetaminophen, one of the most widely used painkillers in the United States, could potentially cause liver damage, according to a preliminary laboratory study reported in the Oct. 15 print issue of ACS' Chemical Research in Toxicology, a monthly journal.

27 Sep 2007

Clostridium difficile bacterium found on patients with no obvious signs or symptoms of disease

The bacterium that causes a highly contagious and sometimes deadly form of diarrhea is frequently carried by persons who do not have any of the disease symptoms, according to a study in the Oct. 15 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, now available online.

24 Sep 2007

How to find reliable answers to your health questions

"The Always Better program...offers a broad range of courses, seminars, medical workshops and events designed to enhance and enrich the lives of people in the Rochester area..."

12 Sep 2007

Pill box organizers increase HIV patients' adherence and improve viral suppression

Inexpensive pill box organizers are an easy, successful, and cost-effective tool to help patients take their medications as prescribed, according to a new study of low-income urban residents living with HIV infection by authors from the Berkeley School of Public Health and the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).

30 Aug 2007

Womens' head and neck cancer risk up 75 percent when they smoke

According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), a new study suggests that smoking can increase a person's risk of developing head and neck cancer.

28 Aug 2007

Near-infrared resonant nanoshells for combined optical imaging and photothermal cancer therapy

Using metal nanoshells designed to both absorb and scatter near-infrared light, a team of investigators at Rice University has shown that such nanoparticles can both image and treat tumors in animals. Their experiments revealed complete tumor destruction in more than 80 percent of animals treated with these nanoshells.

22 Aug 2007

Gene fusion subtypes in prostate carcinoma have clinical implications

Building on an earlier study that used Oncomine to identify ETS-fusion proteins in prostate cancer (Science, Oct 28 2005), Tomlins et al. report the identification of four additional classes of ETS rearrangements in prostate cancer, each of which activates ETV1 by a different genetic mechanism (Nature, Aug 2 2007).

3 Aug 2007

Indiana Medicaid program to enroll disabled, elderly in managed care plans

The Indiana Family and Social Services Administration is negotiating two managed care contracts for state Medicaid beneficiaries who are blind, elderly or disabled, agency Secretary Mitch Roob said on Tuesday, the AP/Louisville Courier-Journal reports.

22 Jun 2007

New type of laser for providing high-resolution 3-D images of the retina

In efforts that may improve diagnoses of many eye diseases, researchers will introduce a new type of laser for providing high-resolution 3-D images of the retina, the part of the eye that converts light to electrical signals that travel to the brain.

4 May 2007

Actions taken on HPV vaccine proposals in Alabama, Louisiana, Utah, Washington

The following highlights recent news of state actions on human papillomavirus vaccine proposals. Merck's HPV vaccine Gardasil and GlaxoSmithKline's HPV vaccine Cervarix in clinical trials have been shown to be 100% effective in preventing infection with HPV strains 16 and 18, which together cause about 70% of cervical cancer cases.

13 Feb 2007