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Concussions linked with number of hits received by football players

A two-year study of high school football players suggests that concussions are likely caused by many hits over time and not from a single blow to the head, as commonly believed.

3 Feb 2012

Caffeine consumption reduces risk of advanced fibrosis in NAFLD patients

Caffeine consumption has long been associated with decreased risk of liver disease and reduced fibrosis in patients with chronic liver disease. Now, newly published research confirms that coffee caffeine consumption reduces the risk of advanced fibrosis in those with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

3 Feb 2012

Breastfeeding may improve lung function in school age children of asthmatic mothers

Breastfeeding is associated with improved lung function at school age, particularly in children of asthmatic mothers, according to a new study from researchers in Switzerland and the UK.

3 Feb 2012

Chronic hyperglycemia may lead to cardiac damage

A new study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health suggests that hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) injures the heart, even in patients without a history of heart disease or diabetes.

3 Feb 2012

Novel PSAV risk count testing may effectively screen men for prostate cancer

A new study by NYU Langone Medical Center and Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine shows novel PSA velocity (PSAV) risk count testing may provide a more effective way for physicians to screen men for clinically significant prostate cancer.

3 Feb 2012

Transcranial magnetic stimulation that treats depression gains momentum

A new magnetic therapy that treats major depression "is rapidly gaining momentum," said Dr. Murali Rao of Loyola University Medical Center, one of the first Chicago-area centers to offer the treatment.

3 Feb 2012

Scientists uncover genes that govern male and female behaviors

Hormones shape our bodies, make us fertile, excite our most basic urges, and as scientists have known for years, they govern the behaviors that separate men from women. But how? Now a team of scientists at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) has uncovered many genes influenced by the male and female sex hormones testosterone and estrogen that, in turn, govern several specific types of male and female behaviors in mice.

3 Feb 2012

State roundup: Iowa Senate provides $5M for mental health; UMass health to cut 6% of workforce; Judge considers making Wash. pharmacies sell Plan B

The bill also allocates $5 million more from what is known as the Mental Health Risk Pool. The pool was created about a decade ago to keep counties with financial shortfalls from denying care to people with mental disorders or retardation. Linn County, for example, will receive $1.2 million of the extra money.

3 Feb 2012

Researchers tease out toxic role of tau oligomers in Alzheimer's

One of the most distinctive signs of the development of Alzheimer's disease is a change in the behavior of a protein that neuroscientists call tau. In normal brains, tau is present in individual units essential to neuron health. In the cells of Alzheimer's brains, by contrast, tau proteins aggregate into twisted structures known as "neurofibrillary tangles."

3 Feb 2012

DNA-based prenatal blood test can also identify trisomy 13 and 18

A newly available DNA-based prenatal blood test that can identify a pregnancy with Down syndrome can also identify two additional chromosome abnormalities: trisomy 18 (Edwards syndrome) and trisomy 13 (Patau syndrome). The test for all three defects can be offered as early as 10 weeks of pregnancy to women who have been identified as being at high risk for these abnormalities.

3 Feb 2012

Scientists discover new mechanisms by which RNA drugs can control gene activity

Small RNA-based nucleic acid drugs represent a promising new class of therapeutic agents for silencing abnormal or overactive disease-causing genes, and researchers have discovered new mechanisms by which RNA drugs can control gene activity.

3 Feb 2012

Study to determine causes and impact of hyperkyphosis

The Institute for Aging Research of Hebrew SeniorLife, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School, today announced that Dr. Lisa Samelson and the Institute were awarded a $2.7 million grant from the National Institute on Aging to conduct a five-year study to better understand the cause of hyperkyphosis, a condition that causes extreme forward curvature of the spine.

3 Feb 2012

Researchers identify fexinidazole as potential new therapy for visceral leishmaniasis

Researchers at the University of Dundee have identified fexinidazole as a possible, much-needed, new treatment for the parasitic disease visceral leishmaniasis.

3 Feb 2012

MannKind prices underwritten public offering of 31,250,000 units of common stock

MannKind Corporation today announced the pricing of an underwritten public offering of 31,250,000 units, with each unit consisting of one share of its common stock and a warrant to purchase 0.6 of a share of its common stock.

3 Feb 2012

Rituximab shows promise against primary biliary cirrhosis

An open-label study of rituximab, a monoclonal antibody for human CD20, was shown to be safe in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) who had an incomplete response to the standard ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) therapy, also known as Ursodiol.

3 Feb 2012

Strong link between triglyceride levels and ischemic stroke in older women

In a surprising finding with significant implications for older women, researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and NYU School of Medicine have found that high levels of triglycerides (blood fats) are the strongest risk factor for the most common type of stroke in older women – more of a risk factor than elevated levels of total cholesterol or of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol.

3 Feb 2012

Anemia triples risk of dying within a year after having a stroke

Being anemic could more than triple your risk of dying within a year after having a stroke, according to research presented at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference 2012.

3 Feb 2012

Insurance news: Sen. Feinstein supports state review of rate increases; Anthem plans in Colo. and Conn. to pay extra for coordinated care

Sen. Dianne Feinstein announced she is supporting a ballot measure to give California regulators the power to approve health insurance rates. In other news, Blue Shield in California says it will cover an autism behavioral therapy and Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans in Colorado and Connecticut announce plans to pay doctors for coordinating care.

3 Feb 2012

Multiple DNA repair defect in monocytes

Scientists working with Professor Bernd Kaina of the Institute of Toxicology at the Medical Center of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz have demonstrated for the first time that certain cells circulating in human blood - so-called monocytes - are extremely sensitive to reactive oxygen species (ROS).

3 Feb 2012

CSIS report examines protection of health care in armed, civil conflict

This report from the Center for Strategic & International Studies' Global Health Policy Center, titled "Protection of Health Care in Armed and Civil Conflict," examines how "action [last year] at the U.N. Security Council, the World Health Organization, and the U.S. Department of State, combined with a new campaign by the International Committee of the Red Cross and civil society mobilization, led to potential breakthroughs in three key dimensions of protection -- documentation, prevention, and accountability."

3 Feb 2012