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H. pylori may protect against stroke and some cancers

A new study by NYU School of Medicine researchers reveals that an especially virulent strain of the gut bacterium Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) isn't implicated in the overall death rate of the U.S. population, and may even protect against stroke and some cancers.

10 Jan 2013

Parkinson’s assessment devices from Great Lakes NeuroTechnologies receive TGA approval

Great Lakes NeuroTechnologies announced today that they received TGA approval to market Kinesia technology in Australia. The Kinesia™ product line includes patient-worn motion sensors and a tablet computer to quantitatively assess tremor, bradykinesia, and dyskinesia associated with Parkinson’s disease and in response to treatments.

10 Jan 2013

Patients at high-risk for recurrent C. difficile with unnecessary antibiotic use

The impact of antibiotic misuse has far-reaching consequences in healthcare, including reduced efficacy of the drugs, increased prevalence of drug-resistant organisms, and increased risk of deadly infections. A new study featured in the February issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America, found that many patients with Clostridium difficile infection (C. difficile) are prescribed unnecessary antibiotics, increasing their risk of recurrence of the deadly infection.

10 Jan 2013

Tips for parents to safely help relieve child's flu symptoms

Doctors' offices are teeming with patients suffering from one of the worst outbreaks of cold and flu season in recent years. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said that flu is at an elevated level across the nation. Though virus symptoms vary by age, children are especially vulnerable since they are unable to take over-the-counter medications to help alleviate symptoms.

10 Jan 2013

LM11A-31 effective at improving limb movement after spinal cord injury in mice

An experimental oral drug given to mice after a spinal cord injury was effective at improving limb movement after the injury, a new study shows.

10 Jan 2013

UMDNJ develops rapid detection test for Exserhilum rostratum

A rapid detection test for Exserhilum rostratum, the fungus primarily responsible for 39 deaths among patients injected last year with a contaminated steroid medication, has been developed by a research team led by David S. Perlin, PhD, Executive Director of the Public Health Research Institute (PHRI) at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-New Jersey Medical School.

10 Jan 2013

Link between environmental tobacco smoke and dementia syndromes

Passive smoking, also known as 'second-hand' smoke or environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), is known to cause serious cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, including coronary heart disease and lung cancer.

10 Jan 2013

Mutation that causes sickle cell anemia may offer new way to treat drug-resistant cancers

The genetic mutation that causes sickle cell anemia also turns red blood cells into potent tumor killers and may offer a new way to treat cancers that are resistant to existing treatments, according to research published January 9, 2013 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by David S. Terman of Jenomic Research Institute and colleagues from Duke University and other institutions.

10 Jan 2013

TSRI chemists develop new cell-marking method

Chemists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have found an easier way to perform one of the most fundamental tasks in molecular biology. Their new method allows scientists to add a marker to certain cells, so that these cells may be easily located and/or selected out from a larger cell population.

10 Jan 2013

Study compares three treatment approaches in membranous nephropathy

The results of a pioneering UK-wide clinical trial that compared treatments for patients with a common type of kidney disease has found one to be significantly more effective. The results of the study, published online in The Lancet, will be recommended to clinicians worldwide as the most effective approach to treating the condition.

10 Jan 2013

UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center receives $36M NCI grant

The National Cancer Institute has awarded the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center a $36 million grant to fund cutting edge research programs and clinical trials over five years.

10 Jan 2013

Loyola uses FilmArray Respiratory Panel to screen infectious diseases

Cold, allergies, the flu or something else? Thanks to advanced technology, physicians at Loyola University Health System receive confirmation of their patient's respiratory illness within one hour. Loyola is one of only two hospitals in lllinois to use the FDA-approved FilmArray Respiratory Panel, which screens for 17 viral and 3 bacterial pathogens in about 60 minutes.

10 Jan 2013

Simple and inexpensive method to cut DNA could transform genetic medicine

A simple, precise and inexpensive method for cutting DNA to insert genes into human cells could transform genetic medicine, making routine what now are expensive, complicated and rare procedures for replacing defective genes in order to fix genetic disease or even cure AIDS.

10 Jan 2013

Several genes may control body-fat responses to fast-food diets

Researchers at UCLA say it's not just what you eat that makes those pants tighter - it's also genetics. In a new study, scientists discovered that body-fat responses to a typical fast-food diet are determined in large part by genetic factors, and they have identified several genes they say may control those responses.

10 Jan 2013

Researchers uncover genetic causes of von Willebrand disease

In 2006, the lab of Dr. David Ginsburg at the Life Sciences Institute put a call out for siblings attending the University of Michigan to donate blood for a study of blood-clotting disorders.

10 Jan 2013

E-gaming can actually boost energy expenditures among inner city children

Video games have been blamed for contributing to the epidemic of childhood obesity in the United States. But a new study by researchers at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services (SPHHS) suggests that certain blood-pumping video games can actually boost energy expenditures among inner city children, a group that is at high risk for unhealthy weight gain.

10 Jan 2013

Study reports on development and testing of Hematuria Risk Index to predict cancer risk

Microscopic amounts of blood in urine have been considered a risk factor for urinary tract malignant tumors. However, only a small proportion of patients referred for investigation are subsequently found to have cancer. A new Kaiser Permanente Southern California study published in the February Mayo Clinic Proceedings reports on the development and testing of a Hematuria Risk Index to predict cancer risk.

10 Jan 2013

New York State WIC program reduces rates of obesity among children

New York children participating in a federal nutrition program had healthier eating behaviors and lower rates of obesity two years after improvements to the program were undertaken, according to a study published online today in Obesity, the official journal of the Obesity Society.

10 Jan 2013

MSF, DNDi analysis shows increased investment in NTDs but low number of new therapy approvals

"Over the past decade, neglected diseases have attracted increased attention and larger investments in research," but "a new analysis by Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) and the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi) finds that the rate of approvals for new compounds over the past decade is roughly the same as it was during the previous two-and-a-half decades, when the diseases received little attention," Nature Medicine reports.

10 Jan 2013

Tips to keep kids safe while playing outside in the cold

Cold winds, icy rain and, in some places, snow—Old Man Winter is here. With the snowball fights, snow forts and snowy hills come some serious dangers. In addition to ducking from flying snow balls and avoiding out-of-control skiers, parents need to be on the lookout for dangerously low body temperatures and frostbite related to cold weather exposure.

10 Jan 2013