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Research roundup: Who do patients seek for primary care?; Treating kids with antipsychotics

n order to find out what kind of doctor patients were visiting for primary care service, researchers analyzed the frequency in which patients visited generalists and specialists in 1999 and 2007 by using a nationally representative sample of outpatient visits.

26 Aug 2012

Vandetanib shows efficacy in thyroid cancer

The tyrosine kinase inhibitor vandetanib could significantly extend progression-free survival in patients with locally advanced or metastatic differentiated radioiodine-refractory thyroid cancer, show results of a small phase II randomized trial.

24 Aug 2012

Vigorous exercise associated with mental illness vulnerability

Contrary to expectations, engagement in vigorous exercise is positively associated with the incidence and prevalence of psychiatric disorders, particularly bipolar II disorder and alcohol dependence, US researchers report.

24 Aug 2012

Researchers create super-sensor that can detect even single samples of viruses

By affixing nanoscale gold spheres onto a microscopic bead of glass, researchers have created a super-sensor that can detect even single samples of the smallest known viruses. The sensor uses a peculiar behavior of light known as "whispering gallery mode," named after the famous circular gallery in St. Paul's Cathedral in London, where a whisper near the wall can be heard around the gallery.

24 Aug 2012

Study demonstrates how DBP production is modulated by daily variations of temperature

Numerous processes in our body fluctuate in a regular pattern during the day. These circadian (or daily) variations can be driven by local oscillators present within our cells or by systemic signals controlled by the master pacemaker, located in the brain. Ueli Schibler, professor at the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, unveils a molecular mechanism by which body temperature rhythms influence the expression of 'clock genes' and synchronize local oscillators.

24 Aug 2012

Close contact strategy does not work for young people after suicide attempts

Researchers, doctors and patients tend to agree that during the high-risk period after an attempted suicide, the treatment of choice is close contact, follow-up and personal interaction in order to prevent a tragic repeat. Now, however, new research shows that this strategy does not work. These surprising results from Mental Health Services in the Capital Region of Denmark and the University of Copenhagen have just been published in the British Medical Journal.

24 Aug 2012

Gibbons use same vocal techniques as professional soprano singers

Have you ever heard an opera singing ape? Researchers in Japan have discovered that singing gibbons use the same vocal techniques as professional soprano singers. The study, published in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology, explains how recording gibbons singing under the influence of helium gas reveals a physiological similarity to human voices.

24 Aug 2012

Researchers create new type of biosensor that can detect glucose in saliva, tears

Researchers have created a new type of biosensor that can detect minute concentrations of glucose in saliva, tears and urine and might be manufactured at low cost because it does not require many processing steps to produce.

24 Aug 2012

MOZ protein could explain variations in severity of DiGeorge syndrome

The discovery of a 'switch' that modifies a gene known to be essential for normal heart development could explain variations in the severity of birth defects in children with DiGeorge syndrome.

24 Aug 2012

Nicotine dependence risk increased in bipolar disorder

Adults with mood and anxiety disorders are significantly more likely to be smokers than the general population, a US study of data from the National Epidemiologic Survey of Alcohol and Related Conditions shows.

23 Aug 2012

S45F mutation may offer identifiable risk factor in recurrent pediatric aggressive fibromatosis

In the case of aggressive fibromatosis, the good news is that it is a slow-growing benign tumor. The bad news is that this abdominal tumor often recurs after surgical removal. This is particularly true among children. While headway has been made in isolating causes of this recurrence in adults, it is less clear in children.

23 Aug 2012

U.N. calls on countries to develop national drought, climate policies

"The world urgently needs to adopt drought-management policies as farmers from Africa to India struggle with lack of rainfall and the United States endures the worst drought it has experienced in decades, top officials with the U.N. weather agency said Tuesday," the Associated Press reports.

23 Aug 2012

Emotional health and education level of mothers influence teen’s oral health

A mother's emotional health and education level during her child's earliest years influence oral health at age 14, according to a new study from Case Western Reserve University's School of Dental Medicine.

23 Aug 2012

Link between specific weather conditions and dengue fever outbreaks

Dengue fever, transmitted by the Aedes mosquito, affects hundreds of millions of people in around one hundred tropical countries and causes 25 000 deaths per year. In the absence of a vaccine, determining the factors that influence epidemics to predict them better is a real public health challenge. One scientific study, conducted in New Caledonia, demonstrates the essential role of the local climate in epidemic dynamics. IRD researchers and their New Caledonian colleagues analysed epidemiological and climatological data gathered in Noumea over forty years.

23 Aug 2012

Spirituality often enhances health regardless of a person's faith

Despite differences in rituals and beliefs among the world's major religions, spirituality often enhances health regardless of a person's faith, according to University of Missouri researchers. The MU researchers believe that health care providers could take advantage of this correlation between health - particularly mental health - and spirituality by tailoring treatments and rehabilitation programs to accommodate an individual's spiritual inclinations.

21 Aug 2012

Acupuncture could save treatment costs and offer viable alternative to knee replacement surgery

The researchers base their findings on 90 patients with knee osteoarthritis, who were referred for group acupuncture to two knee pain clinics in St Albans, Hertfordshire, in 2008 and subsequently monitored for two years.

21 Aug 2012

Promising new treatment for bronchiectasis

Researchers have identified a promising new treatment for non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis, a long-term lung disorder which causes persistent coughing and breathlessness. The results, published in The Lancet, could represent an important advance in the treatment of this debilitating disease, for which very few evidence-based treatments are currently available.

17 Aug 2012

Mepolizumab almost halves exacerbations in severe asthma patients

The largest study of patients with severe asthma to date, published in The Lancet special issue on respiratory medicine, shows that those treated with the monoclonal antibody mepolizumab experienced an almost 50% reduction in severe exacerbations, emergency room visits, and hospitalisations compared with patients given placebo.

17 Aug 2012

Women with hypertension or obesity more likely to experience sleep apnoea

New research from Umeå and Uppsala universities has found high rates of sleep apnoea in women, despite the condition usually being regarded as a disorder predominantly of males.

16 Aug 2012

Genocea commences GEN-003 Phase 1/2a study in moderate-to-severe HSV-2 infection

Genocea Biosciences announced today that it has initiated a Phase 1/2a clinical study with its lead candidate, GEN-003. GEN-003 is an investigational vaccine designed to stimulate T cell and B cell immune responses to potentially reduce the frequency and severity of clinical outbreaks associated with moderate-to-severe Herpes Simplex Virus type 2 (HSV-2) infection.

16 Aug 2012