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Body’s natural cell suicide program may trigger tumor development: Study

Cancer research springs a surprise. Researchers at Walter and Eliza Hall Institute in Melbourne have found that programmed cell death (apoptosis) or cell suicide plays a role in tumor development. This process is an important phenomenon in our body as it helps remove damaged cells. Now apoptosis has been found to be protective against cancer formation and autoimmune diseases.

1 Aug 2010

Hangovers cost Australia an estimated $453 million: Study

Australia is spending an estimated $453 million every year while paying for overtime when someone replaces his/her colleague for a hangover says a new study.

1 Aug 2010

Louisiana's Medicaid rate cuts kick in Aug. 1; Other states seek health program assistance, make tough choices to balance budgets

"The rates paid to many of the private health providers in Louisiana's Medicaid program will fall Sunday to trim spending by $168 million in the program that provides care to the poor, elderly and disabled. The latest cuts to private hospitals, home- and community-based care providers, doctors and specialty service providers are the final piece of balancing this year's $6.5 billion Medicaid budget. Department of Health and Hospitals Undersecretary Jerry Phillips said Medicaid funding was cut by $277 million in the 2010-11 fiscal year that began July 1."

31 Jul 2010

Study shows estrogen stabilization may protect women from brain aneurysms risk

Results from a retrospective, case-control study presented today at the Society of NeuroInterventional Surgery (SNIS) 7th Annual Meeting could have significant implications for women at risk of brain aneurysms as data shows that oral contraceptives (OC) and hormone replacement therapy (HRT) may yield the additional benefit of protecting against the formation and/or rupture of brain aneurysms – balloon-like sacks that form in a weakened artery wall and, upon bursting, can cause severe disability or death.

31 Jul 2010

Epigenetic changes to DNA in breast cancers linked with environmental risk factors, tumor size: Study

Researchers from Brown University and the University of California San Francisco have found that epigenetic changes to DNA in breast cancers are related to environmental risk factors and tumor size, providing a window into the severity of the disease. The study is published in today's edition of PLoS Genetics. The researchers found that epigenetic profiles of tumors had a direct association with diet, alcohol, and tumor size.

31 Jul 2010

Researchers test AACTP, LEAP programmes that help problem drinkers curb alcohol abuse

A study by a team of researchers at Bangor University has designed and tested two programmes that help problem drinkers curb their alcohol abuse. The study shows positive results after drinkers have followed either the Alcohol Attention-Control Training Programme or the Life Enhancement and Advancement Programme.

30 Jul 2010

Study examines effects of binge drinking on prospective memory in teenagers

Academics at Northumbria University have demonstrated a link between teenage binge drinking and damage to prospective memory. Prospective memory is an important aspect of day-to-day memory function and is defined as the cognitive ability to remember to carry out an activity at some future point in time. Examples include remembering to attend an appointment at the dentist or to carry out a task such as remembering to pay a bill on time.

29 Jul 2010

Mobile phones dirtier than we thought: Study

According to research for a UK consumer group mobile phones can harbor 18 times more living bacteria than a lavatory seat. For the study a hygiene expert swabbed and analysed 30 handsets and found seven had high levels of environmental bacteria.

28 Jul 2010

Intercept signs CRADA with NIDDK for study of obeticholic acid in nonalcoholic steatohepatitis

Intercept Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapeutics for chronic fibrotic and metabolic diseases, today announced the signing of a cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA) with the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) of the National Institutes of Health to conduct a double blind, multi-center, study to evaluate the effects of obeticholic acid in patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).

28 Jul 2010

Students with ADHD less likely to finish high school graduation: Study

Teens with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder - the most common childhood psychiatric condition in the United States - are less likely to finish high school on time than students with other mental-health disorders that often are considered more serious, a large national study by researchers at the UC Davis School of Medicine has found. The study found that nearly one third of students with ADHD, twice the proportion as students with no psychiatric disorder, either drop out or delay high school graduation.

28 Jul 2010

Alcohol consumption reduces risk of rheumatoid arthritis: Study

Drinking alcohol may reduce the severity of rheumatoid arthritis according to new research published today. It is the first time that this effect has been shown in humans. The study also finds that alcohol consumption reduces the risk of developing the disease, confirming the results of previous studies.

28 Jul 2010

Common myths around drinking

There are so many stories around alcohol and drinking that it's hard to know what to believe.

26 Jul 2010

Research reveals molecular basis of neural circuits

The basal ganglia is a series of highly connected brain areas localised deep in the cerebral cortex that recently has attracted interest of neuroscientists when it was linked to learning, and discovered to be affected in a number of disorders of the addictive and obsessive spectrum, but also in Parkinson's disease (PD). And now researchers think they have understood why as they found that neurons in this area signal the beginning and the end of voluntary actions. In fact, problems in these neurons could explain the "incapacity to stop" seen in obsession or compulsive behaviour, but also the problems in learning and control of movement characteristic of Parkinson's

26 Jul 2010

Obesity linked to rising womb cancer in women: Report

According to a new report from the Charity Cancer Research (CCR) in Britain, the number of women with womb cancer or uterine cancer is on the rise and obesity may be a clue to such rise.

26 Jul 2010

Repetition of DRD4 genotype may increase risk for extensive alcohol use

Your friend walks into a bar to meet you for happy hour. He sidles up to the bar and orders a drink - does that make you more likely to get a drink yourself? According to new findings reported in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, genetics may determine the extent to which you are influenced by social drinking cues - signals such as advertisements, drinks placed on a bar, and seeing other people around you drinking.

23 Jul 2010

New findings on "successful aging"

What, exactly, does "successful aging" mean? For more than a half century, researchers and gerontologists have argued whether successful aging is better defined subjectively or objectively (physical disease-related disability or mental decline). Answering this question is more than an academic exercise. As the first members of the famed "baby boom generation" reach age 65, understanding what it means to remain healthy and independent in later life could have an enormous impact on health care delivery and medical policy.

23 Jul 2010

Study investigates abusive use of drugs on children

Child abuse is a serious problem that affects nearly one million children a year in the United States alone. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the US Department of Health and Human Services classify child abuse into four categories including neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and emotional abuse. None of these categories, however, clearly includes the abusive use of drugs on children. A study soon to be published in the Journal of Pediatrics investigates the malicious use of pharmaceuticals and attempts to shed light on this under-recognized problem.

22 Jul 2010

Tips to prevent water sport accidents

With hot summer weather comes an increase in activity in area waters. Paramedics with American Medical Response (AMR) ambulance service offer the following tips to help boaters, swimmers and divers prevent water sport accidents.

22 Jul 2010

Study: 17% of homeless people in Toronto report unmet health care needs

Most studies of healthcare for homeless people have been conducted in the United States, where it's not surprising that lack of money and insurance are the main barriers.

22 Jul 2010

Brain neuron activity can signal initiation, termination of behavioural sequences: Study

Rui Costa, Principal Investigator of the Champalimaud Neuroscience Programme at the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, and Xin Jin, of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institutes of Health, describe in the latest issue of the journal Nature, that the activity of certain neurons in the brain can signal the initiation and termination of behavioural sequences we learn anew. Furthermore, they found that this brain activity is essential for learning and executing novel action sequences, many times compromised in patients suffering from disorders such as Parkinson's or Huntington's.

22 Jul 2010