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Exercise helps blood flow in senior brains

Older adults who exercise regularly show increased cerebral blood flow and a greater number of small blood vessels in the brain, according to findings presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

1 Dec 2008

Latin women of European ancestry at greater risk for breast cancer

Latina women have a lower risk of breast cancer than European or African-American women generally, but those with higher European ancestry could be at increased risk, according to data published in the December 1 issue of Cancer Research , a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

1 Dec 2008

Researchers find that when cells shut down they also spew proteins into their surrounding environment

Cells shut down and stop dividing when their DNA is damaged, in a process known as cellular senescence, so as to prevent damaged DNA from leading to unregulated cell division and therefore cancer.

1 Dec 2008

Eating eggs when pregnant may help prevent breast cancer in offspring

A stunning discovery based on epigenetics (the inheritance of propensities acquired in the womb) reveals that consuming choline - a nutrient found in eggs and other foods - during pregnancy may significantly affect breast cancer outcomes for a mother's offspring.

1 Dec 2008

Epilepsy drug valproate may increase risk of autism in children

A new study shows that women who take the epilepsy drug valproate while pregnant may significantly increase their child's risk of developing autism.

1 Dec 2008

New hope for post-traumatic stress disorder sufferers

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) affects as many as one in five of all Americans who survive a harrowing experience like rape, assault, war or terrorism.

1 Dec 2008

Dual-headed dedicated gamma camera accurately detects small breast tumors

A dual-headed dedicated gamma camera used during molecular breast imaging (MBI) can accurately detect small breast tumors less than 2 cm in size, according to a study performed at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN.

1 Dec 2008

EGFR inhibitors show promise for obesity

Once-promising drugs that were abandoned in the fight against breast cancer still could be effective in obese patients, new research suggests.

1 Dec 2008

Coronary CTA is a low cost, non-invasive alternative for evaluating coronary artery disease

Coronary CTA offers a low cost, non-invasive alternative to conventional angiography for evaluating patients who are suspected of having coronary artery disease; true even if the patients have calcified coronary artery plaques, according to a study performed at the Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia, PA.

1 Dec 2008

Childhood vaccines cause financial burden to many health care providers

The costs that health care providers are charged and reimbursed for childhood vaccines vary widely, and the high cost of some immunizations is leading to significant financial strain for some physicians, according to a pair of new studies from the University of Michigan Health System.

1 Dec 2008

Elementary school social development intervention leads to better-functioning young adults

A social development intervention administered in elementary school appears to have positive effects on mental health, sexual health and educational and economic achievement assessed 15 years after the intervention ended, according to a report in the December issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

1 Dec 2008

Scientists show function of helical band in heart

Scientists from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have created images of the heart's muscular layer that show, for the first time, the connection between the configuration of those muscles and the way the human heart contracts.

1 Dec 2008

Breast cancer treatment offers better outcome to women with implants

Women with early-stage breast cancer who have undergone breast augmentation may be treated successfully with a partial-breast radiation treatment called brachytherapy, according to a study presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

1 Dec 2008

Brain waves show sound processing abnormalities in autistic children

Abnormalities in auditory and language processing may be evaluated in children with autism spectrum disorder by using magnetoencephalography (MEG), according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

1 Dec 2008

Male breast cancer

Mammography and sonography findings help doctors identify and appropriately treat breast cancer in men, according to a study performed at the University of Texas M.D. Cancer Center in Houston, TX.

1 Dec 2008

Bariatric surgery may resolve liver disease

Obesity is a growing epidemic in the U.S. with a significant increase in prevalence from 15 percent to 32.9 percent from 1980 to 2004. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is an emerging problem related to the obesity epidemic, becoming one of the most common causes of liver disease in the nation.

1 Dec 2008

Scientists discover possible mechanism for chirality in biological molecules

The basic molecules that make up all living things have a predetermined chirality or "handedness," similar to the way people are right- or left-handed.

1 Dec 2008

Antibiotics causing most drug-induced liver injury

Antibiotics are the single largest class of agents that cause idiosyncratic drug-induced liver injury (DILI), reports a new study in Gastroenterology, an official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute.

1 Dec 2008

Anadys Pharmaceuticals receives fast track for ANA598 treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus

Anadys Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted fast track designation to ANA598 for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. ANA598 is Anadys' investigational hepatitis C non-nucleoside polymerase inhibitor.

1 Dec 2008

An ace for visually-impaired students in computer science

Many computing luminaries, such as Steve Jobs or Bill Gates, have an early experience in common--an engaging experience in middle school or high school that sparked an excitement for learning everything they could about computers.

1 Dec 2008