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Low-calorie rice could help potentially reduce obesity rates

Scientists have developed a new, simple way to cook rice that could cut the number of calories absorbed by the body by more than half, potentially reducing obesity rates, which is especially important in countries where the food is a staple.

23 Mar 2015

Saccharin could potentially lead to development of drugs for difficult-to-treat cancers

Saccharin, the artificial sweetener that is the main ingredient in Sweet 'N Low, Sweet Twin and Necta, could do far more than just keep our waistlines trim. According to new research, this popular sugar substitute could potentially lead to the development of drugs capable of combating aggressive, difficult-to-treat cancers with fewer side effects.

23 Mar 2015

Acne patients not getting medications prescribed by their dermatologists

Medicine obviously can't do much good if it sits on a pharmacy shelf. Yet more than one-quarter of the acne patients surveyed by Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center researchers didn't get medications prescribed by their dermatologists.

23 Mar 2015

Study explores the efficacy of antivenom against copperhead snake bites

Dr. Spencer Greene wants to make sure the standard treatment for copperhead snake bites, the most common venomous snake in greater Houston and southeast Texas, works, and if it doesn't, he wants to stop its use.

23 Mar 2015

Insect-borne diseases increase with warmer climate

Insects, such as mosquitoes and ticks, are responsible for transmitting a range of diseases, such as malaria, chikungunya, dengue fever, and West Nile virus. The risk of contracting such illnesses is generally only considered when booking an exotic holiday. However, experts from the Emergency Response Department at Public Health England have warned that climate change could allow such vector-borne diseases to emerge closer to home.

23 Mar 2015

Study reveals functional heterogeneity of CD4 T cells in immune systems

Utilizing a novel transgenic mouse model, Edward Usherwood, PhD of Dartmouth's Norris Cotton Cancer Center and collaborators found that CD4 T cells divide into two different populations that each has a different job. One type performs antiviral functions, and the other survives life in the host.

23 Mar 2015

MSU scientists identify antioxidant system that backs up liver during crisis

Scientists from Montana State University and Sweden have discovered an antioxidant system that helps sustain the liver when other systems are missing or compromised.

23 Mar 2015

New research sheds light on the complexity of chemical cocktails in food

Denmark's largest research project on chemical cocktail effects in food, spearheaded by the National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark, has just been complet

23 Mar 2015

Researchers examine use of natural experiments to evaluate obesity-related outcomes

Banning sodas from school vending machines, building walking paths and playgrounds, adding supermarkets to food deserts and requiring nutritional labels on restaurant menus: Such changes to the environments where people live and work are among the growing number of solutions that have been proposed and attempted in efforts to stem the rising obesity epidemic with viable, population-based solutions.

23 Mar 2015

UM experts warn of serious risks associated with common IV devices

Every day, patients around the country get IV devices placed in their arms, to make it easier to receive medicines or have blood drawn over the course of days or weeks. But these PICC lines, as they're called, also raise the risk of potentially dangerous blood clots.

23 Mar 2015

How our DNA may prevent bowel cancer

The link between taking aspirin, and similar medications called non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (or NSAIDS), and bowel (colorectal) cancer prevention is well established.

23 Mar 2015

Discovery can help stop emergence of age-related neurodegenerative diseases

As medicine has improved, increasing our ability to treat disease, so our longevity. The deterioration of the body with age, though, is a whole other matter.

23 Mar 2015

Brief sleep can significantly improve memory performance

Generations of school students have gone to bed the night before a maths exam or a vocabulary test with their algebra book or vocabulary notes tucked under their pillow in the hope that the knowledge would somehow be magically transferred into their brains while they slept.

23 Mar 2015

Genomic Health presents 11 studies demonstrating value of Oncotype DX breast cancer test

Genomic Health today announced the presentation of 11 studies with the Oncotype DX breast cancer test at the 14th St. Gallen Breast Cancer Conference in Vienna, Austria. Studies presented include results from a real-life observational study in Ireland demonstrating significant reductions in chemotherapy and resulting cost savings when the test is used in early stage breast cancer.

23 Mar 2015

New study pinpoints major increase in subdural hematoma surgery by 2030

By 2030, chronic subdural hemorrhage (SDH) will be the most common adult brain condition requiring neurosurgical intervention in the U.S., according to a new study conducted by researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center.

23 Mar 2015

Copenhagen researchers develop secure way of measuring apo-M protein in human blood

Researchers from the University of Copenhagen are the first in the world to develop a secure way of measuring the important protein apo-M. This could prove relevant for research into diseases such as diabetes, arteriosclerosis and sclerosis.

23 Mar 2015

Women diagnosed with DCIS or atypia should seek second opinions, says study

While doctors almost always agree on a pathological diagnosis of invasive breast cancer, there is room for improvement when diagnosing atypia (or atypical ductal hyperplasia-ADH) and DCIS (ductal carcinoma in-situ), Anna Tosteson, ScD and Tracy Onega, PhD from Dartmouth-Hitchcock's Norris Cotton Cancer Center have found.

23 Mar 2015

Researchers explore impact of installing alcohol ignition interlock devices in vehicles

If every new car made in the United States had a built-in blood alcohol level tester that prevented impaired drivers from driving the vehicle, how many lives could be saved, injuries prevented, and injury-related dollars left unspent?

23 Mar 2015

Study shows link between palliative care knowledge and less end-of-life disruption

When a nursing home patient is dying, aggressive interventions such as inserting a feeding tube or sending the patient to the emergency room can futilely exacerbate, rather than relieve, their distress. Palliative care focuses nursing home resources on providing comfort at the end of life, but nursing directors vary widely in their knowledge of it.

23 Mar 2015

Study shows how PDT for pancreatic cancer can be included in physician practice without significant cost

Late stage pancreatic cancer benefits from photodynamic therapy (PDT) but the resources needed for the usual accompanying dosimetry present barriers, Dartmouth researchers Jonathan T. Elliott, PhD and Brian C. Pogue, PhD have mitigated by using common clinical technologies.

23 Mar 2015