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Problems walking associated with increased risk of cognitive decline

Problems walking including slow gait and a short stride are associated with an increased risk of cognitive decline, Mayo Clinic researchers have discovered. Their findings are being presented at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference July 14-19 in Vancouver, British Columbia.

19 Jul 2012

HCV infections can lead to increased mortality from liver disease or variety of other causes

In a long-term study of people infected with the hepatitis C virus (HCV), researchers found increased deaths from both liver-related and non-liver related diseases in patients with active infections who had not cleared their infection.

19 Jul 2012

Cancer more likely in people with serious mental illnesses

People with serious mental illness —schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and disabling depression — are 2.6 times more likely to develop cancer than the general population, new Johns Hopkins research suggests.

18 Jul 2012

New York Times examines global efforts to predict new disease outbreaks

The New York Times examines how "teams of veterinarians and conservation biologists are in the midst of a global effort with medical doctors and epidemiologists to understand the 'ecology of disease.'"

18 Jul 2012

PPAHS releases safety checklist that targets Patient-Controlled Analgesia

The Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety (PPAHS), an advocacy group devoted to improving patient health and safety, today announced the release of a concise checklist that reminds caregivers of the essential steps needed to be taken to initiate Patient-Controlled Analgesia (PCA) with a patient and to continue to assess that patient's use of PCA.

18 Jul 2012

Mobile Music Touch may improve motor skills, sensation for people with paralyzing SCI

Georgia Tech researchers have created a wireless, musical glove that may improve sensation and motor skills for people with paralyzing spinal cord injury (SCI).

18 Jul 2012

Kawasaki Disease may increase risk of atherosclerosis in children

Cedars-Sinai researchers have linked Kawasaki Disease, a serious childhood illness that causes inflammation of blood vessels throughout the body, with early-onset and accelerated atherosclerosis, a leading cause of heart disease in adults.

18 Jul 2012

Memantine boosts memory function in people with Down syndrome

Researchers at the University of Colorado School of Medicine have found a drug that boosts memory function in those with Down syndrome, a major milestone in the treatment of this genetic disorder that could significantly improve quality of life.

18 Jul 2012

Preventable hospital deaths: An interview with Dr Helen Hogan

In 2007/8 when we were thinking about the study, there wasn’t a clear picture of the number of preventable deaths in English hospitals. There had been an important report by the chief medical officer of the NHS in 2000 (An Organisation with a Memory) and he talked of the possibility of between 60,000 and 250,000 cases of severe disability or death arising in hospitals.

18 Jul 2012

Heart defects at birth linked to workplace exposure to solvents

Workplace exposure to organic solvents is linked to several types of heart defects at birth, indicates research published online in Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

18 Jul 2012

Risk of birth defects linked to certain jobs dads do

Several types of job carried out by future fathers may be linked to an increased risk of birth defects in their babies, suggests research published online in Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

18 Jul 2012

Lack of physical activity causes 1 in 10 deaths

A lack of physical activity, or people’s failure to spend 150 minutes a week doing moderate physical activity (eg, brisk walking for 30 minutes, 5 days a week), causes around 6–10% of four major non-communicable diseases (coronary heart disease [CHD], type 2 diabetes, and breast and colon cancer) worldwide, and was responsible for around 5.3 million of the 57 million deaths globally in 2008.

18 Jul 2012

Substance use linked to poor memory, reasoning in BD

The presence of comorbid substance use disorder is associated with significantly poorer visual memory and conceptual reasoning skills in patients with bipolar disorder, US study results show.

17 Jul 2012

Promising path to Parkinson’s disease treatment

Using adult stem cells, Johns Hopkins researchers and a consortium of colleagues nationwide say they have generated the type of human neuron specifically damaged by Parkinson’s disease (PD) and used various drugs to stop the damage.

17 Jul 2012

WCMC receives NHLBI grant to study smoking-induced COPD

Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College were awarded a $6.5 million grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute for a five-year investigation into metabolic changes occurring within airway epithelial cells in the lungs of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients caused by cigarette smoking. In addition, researchers aim to identify which cigarette smokers are at highest risk of developing COPD as well as novel biomarkers to assist in the development of new therapeutic treatments for the disease.

17 Jul 2012

UCLA introduces digital and mobile technology to make more effective neurosurgical training

The neurosurgery residency training program at UCLA has successfully introduced digital and mobile technology—including tablet computers linked to a digital library of resources—to make neurosurgical training more effective and efficient, according to an article in the July issue of Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons.

17 Jul 2012

People with amnestic MCI more likely to die

Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and Montefiore Medical Center have found that people with a form of mild cognitive impairment (MCI), a risk factor for developing Alzheimer's disease, have twice the risk of dying compared with cognitively normal people. Those with dementia have three times the risk.

17 Jul 2012

Cadherin-catenin-actin structure exerts force inside and between cells in living tissues

If you place certain types of living cells on a microscope slide, the cells will inch across the glass, find their neighbors, and assemble themselves into a simple, if primitive tissue. A new study at Stanford University may help explain this phenomenon, and then some, about the mechanical structure and behavior of complex living organisms.

17 Jul 2012

CDC launches Let's Stop HIV Together campaign

To combat two major obstacles to HIV prevention—stigma associated with the infection and complacency about the epidemic—the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention today launched Let's Stop HIV Together, a national communication campaign that gives voice to Americans living with HIV, and to their loved ones.

17 Jul 2012

Studies provide evidence of connections between MCI and negative health outcomes

Two studies presented today at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference 2012 (AAIC 2012) in Vancouver provide evidence of connections between mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and negative health outcomes – increased isolation and death.

17 Jul 2012