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Social phobia prevalent in OCD patients

Social phobia is common among patients with obsessive compulsive disorder and frequently co-occurs with other related disorders, researchers report.

21 Aug 2012

Three-step risk-screening method devised for Parkinson’s disease

Researchers have proposed a three-step screening battery to identify people at risk for developing Parkinson’s disease, using a combination of age, family history, hyposmia, and substantia nigra enlargement.

20 Aug 2012

Vanderbilt University signs TIPQC to increase breast-feeding in hospitals and delivery centers

Vanderbilt University has signed on for a statewide project to increase exclusive breast-feeding in hospitals and delivery centers.

18 Aug 2012

Biopsy required for accurate renal diagnosis in diabetes

People with diabetes and symptoms of nephropathy should undergo renal biopsy before a diagnosis of diabetic nephropathy is assumed, report researchers.

17 Aug 2012

Prenatal alcohol exposure effects last well into childhood

Women who heavily expose their unborn child to alcohol risk restricting their child’s growth until the age of 9 years, researchers say.

17 Aug 2012

Adolescent hypomania does not predict bipolar disorder

Results from a Swedish study show that only a small proportion of depressed adolescents with hypomania spectrum episodes will develop bipolar disorder in adulthood.

17 Aug 2012

Walnuts provide key nutrients that may be essential in male reproductive health

Research published in the recent issue of Biology of Reproduction Papers-in-Press reports that 75 grams (approximately 2.5 ounces) of walnuts consumed per day improved sperm vitality, motility, and morphology (normal forms) in a group of healthy young men between 21-35 years of age.

17 Aug 2012

Longer looks: A jack-of-all-trades surgeon takes care of Nantucket; Psychiatrist's controversial effort to use brain scans to diagnose mental problems

Dr. Tim Lepore, 67, is a jack-of-all-trades general surgeon, tending to the 10,000 full-time residents of the Massachusetts island of Nantucket and to the many thousand more rich and famous summer-dwellers. Dr. Lepore has dealt with everything from poison ivy and tick-borne illnesses to narcolepsy and toe tourniquet syndrome (when a mother's hair wraps around a baby's toe, cutting off circulation). He counsels alcoholics, and allows patients to barter for health care. He once accepted oatmeal cookies from an immigrant worker who had no money for treatment.

17 Aug 2012

Potential treatment for sleep disorders suffered by patients with Fibromyalgia, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury

Seth Lederman, M.D., President and CEO of New York City-based Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding Corp. (OTCBB:TNXP) says that a good night’s sleep is a potentially powerful, but currently elusive, treatment for the chronic pain and sleep disorders suffered by patients with fibromyalgia (FM), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury (TBI) and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

16 Aug 2012

U.S. FDA warns of post-surgery codeine deaths in children

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today issued a Drug Safety Communication concerning three children who died and one child who experienced a non-fatal but life-threatening case of respiratory depression after taking the pain reliever codeine following surgery to remove tonsils (tonsillectomy) and/or adenoids (adenoidectomy).

16 Aug 2012

Study tracks effects of heavy PAE on growth and body composition throughout childhood

Although studies of alcohol's effects on fetal growth have consistently demonstrated deficits that persist through infancy, the data on long-term postnatal growth from human studies have been inconsistent. A new study of the effects of heavy prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) on growth and body composition throughout childhood has found growth restrictions that persist through to nine years of age, as well as a delay in weight gain during infancy, both of which were exacerbated by iron deficiency.

16 Aug 2012

Low adropin levels may increase risk of metabolic disease

Working with a national team of researchers, a scientist from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute has shown for the first time a link between low levels of a specific hormone and increased risk of metabolic disease in humans.

16 Aug 2012

Article describes novel technique to study interactions between HIV-1 and P. falciparum

The World Health Organization estimates that in 2011 there were 216 million cases of malaria and 34.2 million people living with HIV. These diseases particularly afflict sub-Saharan Africa, where large incidence of co-infection result in high mortality rates. Yet, in spite of this global pandemic, interactions between the parasite that causes malaria, Plasmodium falciparum, and HIV-1 are poorly understood.

16 Aug 2012

Cancer patients with xerostomia can benefit from regenerative research

Biologists, surgical oncologists and regenerative medicine specialists from Rice University, the University of Delaware and the Christiana Care Health System in Wilmington, Del., have begun a four-year program aimed at using cells to grow whole salivary glands that can replace those destroyed by cancer radiation therapy.

16 Aug 2012

Deep brain stimulation has important role in treating severe Tourette’s

Ten out of 11 patients with severe Tourette’s Syndrome have reported improvement after receiving deep brain stimulation surgery, according to University of New South Wales research published in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

15 Aug 2012

U of U researchers receive NIH grant to study cellular and molecular causes of blood clots

University of Utah Department of Medicine researchers have received $16 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to set up a translational research center to study the cellular and molecular causes of blood clots, a serious threat to millions of people who have diabetes, are obese or have other metabolic disorders.

15 Aug 2012

Two papers may help identify gene variants that contribute to OCD or Tourette syndrome

Two papers that will appear in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, both receiving advance online release, may help identify gene variants that contribute to the risks of developing obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) or Tourette syndrome (TS). Both multi-institutional studies were led by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators, and both are the first genome-wide association studies (GWAS) in the largest groups of individuals affected by the conditions.

15 Aug 2012

Neurostimulator a significant step in treating sleep apnea

At Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin the first tongue pacemaker was implanted Europe-wide that prevents pauses in breathing during sleep and helps against snoring. Physicians at the Department of Otolaryngology used the device for a patient who suffers from obstructive sleep apnea syndrome.

15 Aug 2012

Pathway describes how alpha hydroxyl acids cause skin exfoliation

A team of investigators from UC Davis and Peking University have discovered a mechanism that may explain how alpha hydroxyl acids (AHAs) -- the key ingredient in cosmetic chemical peels and wrinkle-reducing creams -- work to enhance skin appearance. An understanding of the underlying process may lead to better cosmetic formulations as well as have medical applications.

14 Aug 2012

Novel Cornelia de Lange syndrome gene discovered

Scientists have discovered that mutations in the histone deacetylase 8 gene can cause the rare genetic disorder known as Cornelia de Lange syndrome, which is characterized by intellectual disability, limb deformity, and other disabilities resulting from problems in early development.

13 Aug 2012