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Radiotherapy combined with androgen-deprivation therapy improves overall survival up to 10 years

The long-term follow up of the NRG Oncology trial RTOG 9408, studying the addition of short-term androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) to radiotherapy (RT) for men with early, localized prostate adenocarcinoma, indicated that RT combined with ADT is superior to RT alone for overall survival up to 10.4 years following treatment.

23 Oct 2018

New analysis reveals preliminary evidence for use of board games to improve health-related knowledge

Board games can engage patients in play and fantasy, and by enabling face-to-face interaction, can help educate patients on health-related knowledge and behaviors.

23 Oct 2018

Organic food may protect against cancers finds study

The study published this week in the latest issue of the journal JAMA Internal Medicine reports that people who consume more organic foods are at a lower overall risk of developing cancer compared to people who do not. Some of the specific cancers avoided are non-Hodgkin lymphoma and postmenopausal breast cancer write the researchers.

23 Oct 2018

Cancer treatment may undergo a paradigm shift to immunotherapy soon

Immunotherapy when used for cancer treatment could extend life longer finds studies. Experts have explained that until now immunotherapy was reserved as a last resort for most patients and treatment usually comprised of chemotherapy and radiation therapy failing which these were tried. In a pair of clinical trials, researchers have found that using immunotherapy as first line treatment can extend lives of these cancer patients.

23 Oct 2018

Plastics now commonly found in human stools

Nearly eight billion metric tons of plastic finds its way into the oceans each year. This huge amount of plastic either washes ashore or breaks down into tiny pieces that are less than 5 millimeters in diameter and are called microplastics.

22 Oct 2018

Researchers identify common genetic connection in lung conditions

An international research team led by members of the University of Colorado School of Medicine faculty has identified a genetic connection between rheumatoid arthritis-associated interstitial lung disease and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

22 Oct 2018

New topical gel can prevent pesticide-induced toxicity and lethality

Farmers are exposed to toxic pesticides, through skin contact and inhalation, during the spraying of pesticides. This is a severe health hazard. In the last year, from the Vidharbha region in Maharashtra alone, spraying is thought to have led to over 40 deaths, 25 cases of lost vision, and over 1000 hospitalizations.

22 Oct 2018

Patient-reported data confirms efficacy of brachytherapy alone in intermediate risk prostate cancer

Oncology trial RTOG 0232 comparing a combined treatment of external beam therapy and brachytherapy to transperineal interstitial permanent brachytherapy alone indicate a significantly different clinician and patient-reported late toxicity profile between arms despite similarities in progression-free survival results.

22 Oct 2018

Research offers new hope to men who received childhood cancer treatment

Researchers have discovered a way to grow human stem cells destined to become mature sperm in an effort to provide fertility options later in life to males who are diagnosed with cancer and undergo chemotherapy and radiation as children.

22 Oct 2018

Breathing through the nose improves memory consolidation

The way we breathe may affect how well our memories are consolidated (i.e. reinforced and stabilized). If we breathe through the nose rather than the mouth after trying to learn a set of smells, we remember them better, researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden report in The Journal of Neuroscience.

22 Oct 2018

Innovative strategy opens up new avenue of treatment for anthrax infections

A team led by Professor Arne Skerra at the Technical University of Munich has developed an innovative strategy for preventing the anthrax bacterium from absorbing iron, which is crucial for its survival.

22 Oct 2018

Researchers develop promising targeted strategy to treat chemo-resistant blood cancer

Researchers from The Ottawa Hospital and the University of Ottawa have developed a promising targeted strategy to treat chemotherapy-resistant acute myeloid leukemia and a diagnostic test to determine which AML patients would most likely benefit from this treatment.

22 Oct 2018

Paternal exercise has significant impact on child's lifelong metabolic health

Recent studies have linked development of type 2 diabetes and impaired metabolic health individuals to their parents' poor diet, and there is increasing evidence that fathers play an important role in obesity and metabolic programming of their offspring.

22 Oct 2018

Stress related to social stigma negatively impacts mental health of autistic people

Stress related to social stigma may be the reason why autistic people experience more mental health problems than the general population, dispelling past theories that the condition itself is the origin of such distress.

22 Oct 2018

Drug cocktail that increases lifespan discovered

A team of researchers led by Principal Investigator Dr Jan Gruber from Yale-NUS College has discovered a combination of pharmaceutical drugs that not only increases healthy lifespan in the microscopic worm Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans), but also delays the rate of ageing in them, a finding that could someday mean longer, healthier lives for humans.

22 Oct 2018

Study shows potential positive impact of group prenatal care on birth outcomes

A recent retrospective matched cohort study of more than 9,000 pregnant women found that women who received group prenatal care had a significantly lower risk of having a preterm birth or a low birth weight baby compared with women who received individual care only, after adjusting for number of individual care visits.

22 Oct 2018

Aspirin may be effective in preventing blood clots after knee replacement

When it comes to preventing blood clots after a knee replacement, good old aspirin may be just as effective as newer, more expensive drugs.

22 Oct 2018

People with periodontal disease less likely to reach healthy blood pressure ranges

People with high blood pressure taking medication for their condition are more likely to benefit from the therapy if they have good oral health, according to new research in the American Heart Association's journal Hypertension.

22 Oct 2018

Study findings could set new standard of care for advanced anal cancer

A new approach to treating advanced anal cancer is safer and more effective than the most widely used current treatment, according to the first ever randomized clinical trial in this group of patients.

22 Oct 2018

Duration of respiratory disturbances may better predict mortality risk from OSA

How long a person with obstructive sleep apnea stops breathing may be a better predictor of mortality risk from OSA than the number of times they stop breathing, according to new research published online in the American Thoracic Society’s American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

22 Oct 2018