Research News and Research

RSS

Bushmeat blamed for Ebola outbreak in DRC

"Health officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo's north-eastern Orientale Province are urging the population to desist from activities that could put them at risk of contracting the Ebola virus, including contact with infected individuals and the consumption of bushmeat," IRIN reports.

24 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

Children may benefit from having older mothers

The children of older mothers may have improved health and development up to 5 years of age, say researchers in the British Medical Journal.

24 Aug 2012

Revision surgery improves upper limb amputation outcome

Revision surgery can significantly reduce pain and increases prosthesis use in veterans who undergo combat-related major upper-extremity amputation, US research demonstrates.

24 Aug 2012

Incidence of early-onset schizophrenia ‘increasing’

The incidence of diagnosed early-onset schizophrenia has increased in recent years, study results show.

24 Aug 2012

Lilly’s solanezumab Phase 3 trials on AD do not meet primary endpoints

Eli Lilly and Company today announced that the primary endpoints, both cognitive and functional, were not met in either of the two Phase 3, double-blind, placebo-controlled solanezumab EXPEDITION trials in patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease.

24 Aug 2012

First Edition: August 24, 2012

Now on Kaiser Health News blog, KUHF's Carrie Feibel, working in partnership with KHN and NPR, reports: "When Ashley Beecher had her first daughter, nursing was a struggle, and she sometimes had to supplement her baby's diet with formula. But when she had her second daughter in January, it was a very different story. … Beecher was reluctant to throw away the milk – mothers and doctors call it 'liquid gold' because of its health benefits - so she was excited to find out about the donor milk bank at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston."

24 Aug 2012

Herbal plant extract may help cure breast cancer

Scientists at Aston University and Russells Hall Hospital have discovered that an extract from a common plant in Pakistan may help cure breast cancer.

24 Aug 2012

Dartmouth’s professor shares news of DAR-901 TB vaccine development

Tuberculosis (TB) is second only to HIV/AIDS as the greatest killer worldwide attributable to a single infectious agent, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). With 8.8 million cases in 2010 and 95 percent of TB deaths occurring in low- and middle-income countries, the disease continues to be a major public health problem in the developing world. In a July address to the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, Dartmouth's C. Fordham (Ford) von Reyn shared news of a promising vaccine in the works.

24 Aug 2012

Diabetes journal reports results from novel experimental therapy

Results from a novel experimental therapy for Type 1 diabetes that boosts parts of the healthy immune system are reported today in the scientific journal Diabetes.

24 Aug 2012

McGill University experts to present at World Cancer Congress

The following list includes some of the McGill University experts who will be attending or presenting at the World Cancer Congress (WCC), the largest gathering of international leaders in the field of cancer, taking place in Montreal from August 27 to 30, 2012.

24 Aug 2012

Researchers discover new way to disarm harmful bacteria

Rather than trying to kill bacteria outright with drugs, Université de Montréal researchers have discovered a way to disarm bacteria that may allow the body's own defense mechanisms to destroy them. "To understand this strategy one could imagine harmful bacteria being like Darth Vader, and the anti-virulence drug would take away his armor and lightsaber," explained Dr. Christian Baron, the study's lead author and Professor at the Department of Biochemistry.

24 Aug 2012

Fit Brains achieves 75 million brain scores milestone

Fit Brains, a top online brain fitness platform, announces its 75 millionth brain game score achieved. And, in celebration, challenges users to play more mind strengthening games this September - it being Back-to-School and Healthy Aging Month - with a charitable incentive.

24 Aug 2012

Abortion issues continue to stir political pot

Although GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney's campaign advisers say they don't anticipate the need to adjust their strategy to respond to the latest fracas over reproductive rights, news outlets analyze the possible repercussions of the dust-up regarding Missouri Republican Senate candidate Todd Akin's statements about "legitimate" rape and pregnancy.

24 Aug 2012

Loyola University Chicago MNSON receives $279,571 from HRSA

Loyola University Chicago Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing (MNSON) recently received $279,571 from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Advanced Education Nursing Program.

24 Aug 2012

WHO releases 2012 verbal autopsy instrument

"In today's world, the majority of deaths go unregistered," but "the information that comes from accurate and complete records of deaths -- who died, and why -- constitutes a huge resource for evidence-based health planning and development," Peter Byass, a professor of global health at Umea University in Sweden and director of the Umea Centre for Global Health Research, writes in this post in the PLoS "Speaking of Medicine" blog.

24 Aug 2012

Abnormalities in mitochondrial length promote development of neurodegenerative diseases

Goldilocks was on to something when she preferred everything "just right." Harvard Medical School researchers have found that when it comes to the length of mitochondria, the power-producing organelles, applying the fairy tale's mantra is crucial to the health of a cell. More specifically, abnormalities in mitochondrial length promote the development of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's.

24 Aug 2012

ISSA questions IRS on health law insurance subsidies

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., has raised questions about the implementation of a key part of the health law -- the tax treatment of subsidies for low-income people to purchase health insurance.

24 Aug 2012

Survival rate for African-American men with prostate cancer now comparable to Caucasians

The routine use of prostate specific antigen (PSA) testing for screening and monitoring prostate cancer has led to early and more sensitive detection of the disease. A new study published in The Journal of Urology- reports that in the "PSA era," survival has improved for patients with newly diagnosed prostate cancer that has spread to the bones or other parts of the body and the disparity between African American and Caucasian men has been resolved.

24 Aug 2012

Confocal light sheet microscopy yields high-resolution views of brain’s neural pathways

Shortly after the Hubble Space Telescope went into orbit in 1990 it was discovered that the craft had blurred vision. Fortunately, Space Shuttle astronauts were able to remedy the problem a few years later with supplemental optics. Now, a team of Italian researchers has performed a similar sight-correcting feat for a microscope imaging technique designed to explore a universe seemingly as vast as Hubble's but at the opposite end of the size spectrum—the neural pathways of the brain.

24 Aug 2012