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ADHD News

Neuroscientists Identify How The Brain Works To Select What We Want To See If you are looking for a particular object - say a yellow pencil - on a cluttered desk, how does your brain work to visually locate it?For the first time, a team led by Carnegie Mellon University neuroscientists has identified how different neural regions communicate to determine what to visually pay attention to and what to ignore.

23 Feb 2012

Alcohol / Addiction / Illegal Drugs News
Driving Under The Influence Of Marijuana - 1 In 5 Teens Have Done It 19% of teenagers in the USA say they have driven a car while under the influence of marijuana, compared to 13% who say they have driven after consuming alcohol, according to a new report issued by SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions) and commissioned by Liberty Mutual Insurance.	23 Feb 2012
A Breakthrough In Understanding The Biology And Treatment Of Ovarian Cancer Researchers at The Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, Pennsylvania have discovered that the presence and integrity of the opioid growth factor receptor (OGFr), which mediates the inhibitory action of opioid growth factor (OGF) on cell proliferation, is a key to understanding the progression and treatment of human ovarian cancer.	23 Feb 2012
IHeal Project Uses Emerging Technologies To Detect Drug Cravings And Intervene Clinical researchers at the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) are combining an innovative constellation of technologies such as artificial intelligence, smartphone programming, biosensors and wireless connectivity to develop a device designed to detect physiological stressors associated with drug cravings and respond with user-tailored behavioral interventions that prevent substance use.	23 Feb 2012
More News Coverage Of Alcohol's Harm May Increase Support For Liquor-Control Laws If people see news coverage of alcohol's role in violent crime and fatal injuries, they may give more support to alcohol-control laws, according to a study in the March issue of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.	23 Feb 2012
Sensible Alcohol Consumption Not Understood By Many Young People A new study published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Review reveals that young people do not possess the knowledge or skills required to adhere to government guidelines for responsible alcohol consumption.	23 Feb 2012

Alzheimer's / Dementia News
Reheated Cooking Oils Contain Toxic Aldehydes Researchers from the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU, Spain) have been the first to discover the presence of certain aldehydes in food, which are believed to be related to some neurodegenerative diseases and some types of cancer.	23 Feb 2012

Autism News
Minority Toddlers With Autism May Be More Delayed Than Affected Caucasian Peers The first prospective study of ethnic differences in the symptoms of autism in toddlers shows that children from a minority background have more delayed language, communication and gross motor skills than Caucasian children with the disorder.	23 Feb 2012

Biology / Biochemistry News
Microfluidic Device Isolates Target Cells Rapidly Although vital information for diagnosing and treating disease can be obtained by separating complex mixtures of cells, such as those found in a blood sample, researchers may need to search through billions of other cells in order to collect rate cells, such as fetal cells, tumor cells or stem cells.	23 Feb 2012
Body Clock Link To Sudden Cardiac Death Revealed In Molecular Mechanism A study led by Case Western Reserve University in the US has revealed the first molecular evidence of a link between the circadian rhythm or the body clock and sudden cardiac death. The researchers, who did their investigations in mice, hope their discovery will lead to new diagnostic tools and therapies to prevent or treat vulnerability to sudden cardiac death in humans.	23 Feb 2012

Blood / Hematology News

Engineers Develop A Tiny, Implantable Medical Device That Can Propel Itself Through The Bloodstream Someday, your doctor may turn to you and say, "Take two surgeons and call me in the morning." If that day arrives, you may just have Ada Poon to thank.At the International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) before an audience of her peers, electrical engineer Poon demonstrated a tiny, wirelessly powered, self-propelled medical device capable of controlled motion through a fluid - blood more specifically.

23 Feb 2012

Bones / Orthopedics News
NK Cells Play An Important Role In The Rejection Of Porcine Cartilage Cells Researchers from the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) have studied for the first time the response of human NK cells (Natural Killer) against porcine chondrocytes (cartilage cells).	23 Feb 2012

Breast Cancer News
Researchers Discover New Member Of The Breast-Cancer Gene Network The infamous BRCA genes do not act alone in causing cancer; there is a molecular syndicate at work preventing the way cells normally repair breaks in DNA that is at the root of breast cancer.	23 Feb 2012
Earlier Detection Of Breast Cancer By Mammography Leads To Better Prognosis In 40-49 Year-Olds Based on a study of nearly 2,000 breast cancer patients, researchers at the Swedish Cancer Institute in Seattle say that, in women between the ages of 40 and 49, breast cancers detected by mammography have a better prognosis.	23 Feb 2012

Cancer / Oncology News
Zelboraf (Vemurafenib) Doubles Survival Times For Metastatic Melanoma Patients Zelboraf (vemurafenib) was found to double the survival times of patients with BRAF V600-Mutant Advanced Melanoma, researchers from UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, and 12 other sites reported in NEJM (New England Journal of Medicine.	23 Feb 2012
Urgent Call To Better Protect Australian Workers From Occupational Cancers A report in the February 20 issue of the Medical Journal of Australia reveals that the country needs a more effective process to reduce exposure to carcinogens in order to lower the number of work-related cancers.	23 Feb 2012
Colonoscopy May Halve Colon Cancer Deaths, Long Term Study New research led by the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in the US has for the first time found that removing precancerous polyps during colonoscopy may halve the risk of dying from the disease.	23 Feb 2012
Brain Makes Call On Which Ear Is Used For Cell Phone If you're a left brain thinker, chances are you use your right hand to hold your cell phone up to your right ear, according to a new study from Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.The study finds a strong correlation between brain dominance and the ear used to listen to a cell phone, with more than 70 percent of participants holding their cell phone up to the ear on the same side as their dominant hand.	23 Feb 2012

Cardiovascular / Cardiology News
Heart Attack - Why Do So Many Wait So Long? Researchers in the School of Nursing at Yale University in the US are setting up a survey to find out why so many people often wait several hours following a heart attack before seeking medical help.	23 Feb 2012
Hypertension - African Americans Less Likely To Take Vital Medications, Despite Higher Risk Every year, almost 8,000 African-Americans die unnecessarily due to racial disparities in hypertension control, making increased blood pressure control amongst African-Americans a 'compelling goal', according to an article in the Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, by Lisa M.	23 Feb 2012
Feeding Device For Newborns With Congenital Heart Defects The University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing has developed a unique feeding device, which may lower the risk of failure to thrive (FTT) currently affecting 50% of all newborns with congenital heart defects, even after they had successful surgery.	23 Feb 2012
Survival Odds Significantly Boosted By Combined Use Of Recommended Heart Failure Therapies A UCLA-led study has found that a combination of several key guideline-recommended therapies for heart failure treatment resulted in an improvement of up to 90 percent in the odds of survival over two years.	23 Feb 2012
News From The Journal Of Clinical Investigation: Feb. 22, 2012 CARDIOLOGY: Popeye proteins: providing strength to the beat of the heartThe rhythm of the heart beat is dictated by electrical impulses initiated by a small number of specialized heart muscle cells (pacemaker cells) that are located together in a small area of the wall of the heart called the sinus node.	23 Feb 2012
Fighting The Battle Of The Aortic Bulge - Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms When aortic walls buckle, the body's main blood pipe forms an ever-growing bulge. To thwart a deadly rupture, a team of Stanford University School of Medicine researchers has found two tiny molecules that may be able to orchestrate an aortic defense.	23 Feb 2012
Body Clock Link To Sudden Cardiac Death Revealed In Molecular Mechanism A study led by Case Western Reserve University in the US has revealed the first molecular evidence of a link between the circadian rhythm or the body clock and sudden cardiac death. The researchers, who did their investigations in mice, hope their discovery will lead to new diagnostic tools and therapies to prevent or treat vulnerability to sudden cardiac death in humans.	23 Feb 2012
Visually Guided Catheter Ablation System Used To Treat AFib Patient For the first time in a new U.S. clinical trial, researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine have used the HeartLight Endoscopic Ablation System (EAS) to correct abnormal electrical signals inside the heart of a patient affected by atrial fibrillation (AFib), one of the nation's most common heart ailments.	23 Feb 2012
New Evidence On How Good Cholesterol Turns Bad Researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have found new evidence to explain how cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) mediates the transfer of cholesterol from "good" high density lipoproteins (HDLs) to "bad" low density lipoproteins (LDLs).	23 Feb 2012

Cholesterol News
New Evidence On How Good Cholesterol Turns Bad Researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have found new evidence to explain how cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) mediates the transfer of cholesterol from "good" high density lipoproteins (HDLs) to "bad" low density lipoproteins (LDLs).	23 Feb 2012

Clinical Trials / Drug Trials News
Visually Guided Catheter Ablation System Used To Treat AFib Patient For the first time in a new U.S. clinical trial, researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine have used the HeartLight Endoscopic Ablation System (EAS) to correct abnormal electrical signals inside the heart of a patient affected by atrial fibrillation (AFib), one of the nation's most common heart ailments.	23 Feb 2012

Colorectal Cancer News
Colonoscopy May Halve Colon Cancer Deaths, Long Term Study New research led by the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in the US has for the first time found that removing precancerous polyps during colonoscopy may halve the risk of dying from the disease.	23 Feb 2012
Among People With Health Insurance, The Recession And High Co-Pays Tied To Fewer Colonoscopy Screenings The recent U.S. economic recession was the longest and most severe since World War II. During this period, personal spending on health care grew at the slowest rate in over 50 years, suggesting that Americans used less health care.	23 Feb 2012

Conferences News

Open Innovation In Pharmaceutical R&D Conference, 26-27 April 2012, Amsterdam With most blockbuster drugs going off-patent and not enough new drugs entering the market to compensate, the pharmaceutical industry is under pressure for more innovation. With this being said, it is now the perfect time to gather the leading pharmaceutical experts to discuss the new R&D projects such as alliances and agreements with academic or biotech research teams that seem to serve as a very effective response to this challenge.

23 Feb 2012

Depression News
Migraine Increases Risk Of Depression In Women Research released today and scheduled to be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 64th Annual Meeting in New Orleans, April 21 to April 28, shows that women who have a tendency for migraines or have had them in the past, have a greater risk for developing depression.	23 Feb 2012

Dermatology News
What Is DHT (Dihydrotestosterone)? What Is DHT's Role In Baldness? DHT, which stands for Dihydrotestosterone (5α-Dihydrotestosterone), is a male sex hormone, an androgen. 5α-reductase, an enzyme, synthesizes DHT in the adrenal glands, hair follicles, testes and prostate.	23 Feb 2012

Diabetes News
Tackling Diabetes Care Challenges - Expert Groups Collaborate The Endocrine Society, the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) and Opus Science, announce the launch of their new program in an effort to assess and improve care for those suffering from diabetes.	23 Feb 2012
Diabetic Polyneuropathies May Not Be Explained By Prediabetes In a reversal of two decades of medical reports, a Mayo Clinic study finds the frequency of nerve damage called diabetic polyneuropathy is similar in prediabetic patients and healthy people. Physicians should seek explanations other than prediabetes for patients who have painful small fiber polyneuropathy, the researchers say.	23 Feb 2012
Revising The 'Textbook' On Liver Metabolism Offers New Targets For Diabetes Drugs A team led by researchers from the Institute for Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism (IDOM) at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, has overturned a "textbook" view of what the body does after a meal.	23 Feb 2012

Ear, Nose and Throat News
Annual ARO Meeting: NIH-Funded Science On Hearing Research NIH-supported scientists will be presenting their latest research findings at the 2012 Midwinter Meeting of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology (ARO) February 25-29, 2012 at The Manchester Grand Hyatt Hotel, San Diego, California, USA.	23 Feb 2012

Endocrinology News
Immune System Drives Male Attractiveness Adult males with strong immune systems are seen as more sexually attractive to females, researchers from the University of Abertay Dundee, Scotland, wrote in the journal Nature Communications.	23 Feb 2012
Tackling Diabetes Care Challenges - Expert Groups Collaborate The Endocrine Society, the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) and Opus Science, announce the launch of their new program in an effort to assess and improve care for those suffering from diabetes.	23 Feb 2012
Genetic Cause Revealed Of Complex Disease Seen In Irish Traveller Community Two independent groups of researchers - one led by Adrian Clark, at Queen Mary University of London, United Kingdom; and the other led by Jean-Laurent Casanova, at The Rockefeller University, New York - have now identified the disease-causing gene in patients with a complex inherited syndrome most commonly observed in the Irish Traveller community.	23 Feb 2012
What Is DHT (Dihydrotestosterone)? What Is DHT's Role In Baldness? DHT, which stands for Dihydrotestosterone (5α-Dihydrotestosterone), is a male sex hormone, an androgen. 5α-reductase, an enzyme, synthesizes DHT in the adrenal glands, hair follicles, testes and prostate.	23 Feb 2012

Flu / Cold / SARS News
Targeting The Annual Flu Outbreak With The Help Of Specially Bred Mice As part of a national collaboration, Oregon Health & Science University researchers are studying specially bred mice that are more like humans than ever before when it comes to genetic variation.	23 Feb 2012

GastroIntestinal / Gastroenterology News
New Model To Evaluate Probiotic Survival In The Gut Shows Some Probiotics Have A Better Chance To Promote Health Functional foods containing bacteria with beneficial health effects, or probiotics, have long been consumed in Northern Europe and are becoming increasingly popular elsewhere. To be of benefit, however, the bacteria have to survive in the very hostile environment of the digestive tract.	23 Feb 2012
News From The Journal Of Clinical Investigation: Feb. 22, 2012 CARDIOLOGY: Popeye proteins: providing strength to the beat of the heartThe rhythm of the heart beat is dictated by electrical impulses initiated by a small number of specialized heart muscle cells (pacemaker cells) that are located together in a small area of the wall of the heart called the sinus node.	23 Feb 2012
Fighting The Battle Of The Aortic Bulge - Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms When aortic walls buckle, the body's main blood pipe forms an ever-growing bulge. To thwart a deadly rupture, a team of Stanford University School of Medicine researchers has found two tiny molecules that may be able to orchestrate an aortic defense.	23 Feb 2012

Genetics News
Researchers Discover New Member Of The Breast-Cancer Gene Network The infamous BRCA genes do not act alone in causing cancer; there is a molecular syndicate at work preventing the way cells normally repair breaks in DNA that is at the root of breast cancer.	23 Feb 2012
Genetic Cause Revealed Of Complex Disease Seen In Irish Traveller Community Two independent groups of researchers - one led by Adrian Clark, at Queen Mary University of London, United Kingdom; and the other led by Jean-Laurent Casanova, at The Rockefeller University, New York - have now identified the disease-causing gene in patients with a complex inherited syndrome most commonly observed in the Irish Traveller community.	23 Feb 2012
Disputing The Theory Of The 'Rotting' Y Chromosome If you were to discover that a fundamental component of human biology has survived virtually intact for the past 25 million years, you'd be quite confident in saying that it is here to stay.Such is the case for a team of Whitehead Institute scientists, whose latest research on the evolution of the human Y chromosome confirms that the Y - despite arguments to the contrary - has a long, healthy future ahead of it.	23 Feb 2012
Targeting The Annual Flu Outbreak With The Help Of Specially Bred Mice As part of a national collaboration, Oregon Health & Science University researchers are studying specially bred mice that are more like humans than ever before when it comes to genetic variation.	23 Feb 2012
Alternative To Amniocentesis And CVS: Noninvasive Method Accurately And Efficiently Detects Risk Of Down Syndrome Using a noninvasive test on maternal blood that deploys a novel biochemical assay and a new algorithm for analysis, scientists can detect, with a high degree of accuracy, the risk that a fetus has the chromosomal abnormalities that cause Down syndrome and a genetic disorder known as Edwards syndrome.	23 Feb 2012
Potential Link Between Antisocial Behavior And Biosocial Origins An assistant professor at Sam Houston State University, College of Criminal Justice is working to unlock the mysteries surrounding the role that genetics and environmental influences play on criminal and antisocial behavior.	23 Feb 2012

Headache / Migraine News
Migraine Increases Risk Of Depression In Women Research released today and scheduled to be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 64th Annual Meeting in New Orleans, April 21 to April 28, shows that women who have a tendency for migraines or have had them in the past, have a greater risk for developing depression.	23 Feb 2012

Health Insurance / Medical Insurance News
Among People With Health Insurance, The Recession And High Co-Pays Tied To Fewer Colonoscopy Screenings The recent U.S. economic recession was the longest and most severe since World War II. During this period, personal spending on health care grew at the slowest rate in over 50 years, suggesting that Americans used less health care.	23 Feb 2012

Hearing / Deafness News
Annual ARO Meeting: NIH-Funded Science On Hearing Research NIH-supported scientists will be presenting their latest research findings at the 2012 Midwinter Meeting of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology (ARO) February 25-29, 2012 at The Manchester Grand Hyatt Hotel, San Diego, California, USA.	23 Feb 2012

Heart Disease News
Survival Odds Significantly Boosted By Combined Use Of Recommended Heart Failure Therapies A UCLA-led study has found that a combination of several key guideline-recommended therapies for heart failure treatment resulted in an improvement of up to 90 percent in the odds of survival over two years.	23 Feb 2012
Body Clock Link To Sudden Cardiac Death Revealed In Molecular Mechanism A study led by Case Western Reserve University in the US has revealed the first molecular evidence of a link between the circadian rhythm or the body clock and sudden cardiac death. The researchers, who did their investigations in mice, hope their discovery will lead to new diagnostic tools and therapies to prevent or treat vulnerability to sudden cardiac death in humans.	23 Feb 2012
New Evidence On How Good Cholesterol Turns Bad Researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have found new evidence to explain how cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) mediates the transfer of cholesterol from "good" high density lipoproteins (HDLs) to "bad" low density lipoproteins (LDLs).	23 Feb 2012

HIV / AIDS News
Improper Condom Use A Public Health Issue Worldwide Problems with the correct use of the male condom, such as not wearing a condom throughout sex or putting it on upside down, are common in the U.S. and have become a major concern of public health officials.	23 Feb 2012

Hypertension News
Hypertension - African Americans Less Likely To Take Vital Medications, Despite Higher Risk Every year, almost 8,000 African-Americans die unnecessarily due to racial disparities in hypertension control, making increased blood pressure control amongst African-Americans a 'compelling goal', according to an article in the Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, by Lisa M.	23 Feb 2012

Immune System / Vaccines News
Immune System Drives Male Attractiveness Adult males with strong immune systems are seen as more sexually attractive to females, researchers from the University of Abertay Dundee, Scotland, wrote in the journal Nature Communications.	23 Feb 2012
NK Cells Play An Important Role In The Rejection Of Porcine Cartilage Cells Researchers from the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) have studied for the first time the response of human NK cells (Natural Killer) against porcine chondrocytes (cartilage cells).	23 Feb 2012
Genetic Cause Revealed Of Complex Disease Seen In Irish Traveller Community Two independent groups of researchers - one led by Adrian Clark, at Queen Mary University of London, United Kingdom; and the other led by Jean-Laurent Casanova, at The Rockefeller University, New York - have now identified the disease-causing gene in patients with a complex inherited syndrome most commonly observed in the Irish Traveller community.	23 Feb 2012
Targeting The Annual Flu Outbreak With The Help Of Specially Bred Mice As part of a national collaboration, Oregon Health & Science University researchers are studying specially bred mice that are more like humans than ever before when it comes to genetic variation.	23 Feb 2012

Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses News
News From The Journal Of Clinical Investigation: Feb. 22, 2012 CARDIOLOGY: Popeye proteins: providing strength to the beat of the heartThe rhythm of the heart beat is dictated by electrical impulses initiated by a small number of specialized heart muscle cells (pacemaker cells) that are located together in a small area of the wall of the heart called the sinus node.	23 Feb 2012

IT / Internet / E-mail News
Back To Reality In Schizophrenia: Computerized Cognitive Training Improves Brain Activation And Behavior A pioneering new study finds that a specific type of computerized cognitive training can lead to significant neural and behavioral improvements in individuals with schizophrenia. The research, published by Cell Press in the February 23 issue of the journal Neuron, reveals that 16 weeks of intensive cognitive training is also associated with improved social functioning several months later and may have far-reaching implications for improving the quality of life for patients suffering from neuropsychiatric illness.	23 Feb 2012
IHeal Project Uses Emerging Technologies To Detect Drug Cravings And Intervene Clinical researchers at the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) are combining an innovative constellation of technologies such as artificial intelligence, smartphone programming, biosensors and wireless connectivity to develop a device designed to detect physiological stressors associated with drug cravings and respond with user-tailored behavioral interventions that prevent substance use.	23 Feb 2012
Improving Neural Control Of Prosthetics For Amputees Sandia National Laboratories researchers, using off-the-shelf equipment in a chemistry lab, have been working on ways to improve amputees' control over prosthetics with direct help from their own nervous systems.	23 Feb 2012
Brain Makes Call On Which Ear Is Used For Cell Phone If you're a left brain thinker, chances are you use your right hand to hold your cell phone up to your right ear, according to a new study from Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.The study finds a strong correlation between brain dominance and the ear used to listen to a cell phone, with more than 70 percent of participants holding their cell phone up to the ear on the same side as their dominant hand.	23 Feb 2012
Electronic Public Health Records Improve Continuity Of Care Medical records are an invaluable tool in treating patients. When a caregiver has ample information regarding a person's medical history, treatments are more effective and efficient. Unfortunately, few people have complete medical records - due, in large part, to a lack of any universal repository tools for keeping those records.	23 Feb 2012

Lymphoma / Leukemia / Myeloma News

Why Children With Down Syndrome Have Increased Leukemia Risk Children with Down syndrome (DS) have an increased risk of developing leukemia, in particular acute megakaryoblastic leukemia (AMKL) and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Through their studies in a mouse model of DS, a team of researchers led by John Crispino, at Northwestern University, Chicago, has now identified a potential explanation as to why children with DS are at increased risk of AMKL.

23 Feb 2012

Medical Devices / Diagnostics News
Colonoscopy May Halve Colon Cancer Deaths, Long Term Study New research led by the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in the US has for the first time found that removing precancerous polyps during colonoscopy may halve the risk of dying from the disease.	23 Feb 2012
Engineers Develop A Tiny, Implantable Medical Device That Can Propel Itself Through The Bloodstream Someday, your doctor may turn to you and say, "Take two surgeons and call me in the morning." If that day arrives, you may just have Ada Poon to thank.At the International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) before an audience of her peers, electrical engineer Poon demonstrated a tiny, wirelessly powered, self-propelled medical device capable of controlled motion through a fluid - blood more specifically.	23 Feb 2012
Annual ARO Meeting: NIH-Funded Science On Hearing Research NIH-supported scientists will be presenting their latest research findings at the 2012 Midwinter Meeting of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology (ARO) February 25-29, 2012 at The Manchester Grand Hyatt Hotel, San Diego, California, USA.	23 Feb 2012
IHeal Project Uses Emerging Technologies To Detect Drug Cravings And Intervene Clinical researchers at the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) are combining an innovative constellation of technologies such as artificial intelligence, smartphone programming, biosensors and wireless connectivity to develop a device designed to detect physiological stressors associated with drug cravings and respond with user-tailored behavioral interventions that prevent substance use.	23 Feb 2012
Improving Neural Control Of Prosthetics For Amputees Sandia National Laboratories researchers, using off-the-shelf equipment in a chemistry lab, have been working on ways to improve amputees' control over prosthetics with direct help from their own nervous systems.	23 Feb 2012

Melanoma / Skin Cancer News
Zelboraf (Vemurafenib) Doubles Survival Times For Metastatic Melanoma Patients Zelboraf (vemurafenib) was found to double the survival times of patients with BRAF V600-Mutant Advanced Melanoma, researchers from UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, and 12 other sites reported in NEJM (New England Journal of Medicine.	23 Feb 2012
Median Survival Time Nearly Doubled By Newly Approved Drug For Metastatic Melanoma Researchers from UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, together with scientists from 12 other sites in the United States and Australia, report for the first time that a newly approved drug for patients with metastatic melanoma nearly doubles median survival times, a finding that will change the way this deadly form of skin cancer is treated.	23 Feb 2012

Men's health News
Immune System Drives Male Attractiveness Adult males with strong immune systems are seen as more sexually attractive to females, researchers from the University of Abertay Dundee, Scotland, wrote in the journal Nature Communications.	23 Feb 2012
What Is DHT (Dihydrotestosterone)? What Is DHT's Role In Baldness? DHT, which stands for Dihydrotestosterone (5α-Dihydrotestosterone), is a male sex hormone, an androgen. 5α-reductase, an enzyme, synthesizes DHT in the adrenal glands, hair follicles, testes and prostate.	23 Feb 2012

Multiple Sclerosis News
Brain Performance In Patients With Multiple Sclerosis Improved By Cognitive Rehabilitation In a new study published in the March issue of Radiology, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) shows that cognitive rehabilitation changes brain function and improves cognitive performance in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS).	23 Feb 2012

Neurology / Neuroscience News
Diabetic Polyneuropathies May Not Be Explained By Prediabetes In a reversal of two decades of medical reports, a Mayo Clinic study finds the frequency of nerve damage called diabetic polyneuropathy is similar in prediabetic patients and healthy people. Physicians should seek explanations other than prediabetes for patients who have painful small fiber polyneuropathy, the researchers say.	23 Feb 2012
Improving Neural Control Of Prosthetics For Amputees Sandia National Laboratories researchers, using off-the-shelf equipment in a chemistry lab, have been working on ways to improve amputees' control over prosthetics with direct help from their own nervous systems.	23 Feb 2012
New Head Impact Study In Youth Football Publication Wake Forest University School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences (SBES) announces the first ever publication with data on head impacts from youth football players. The paper is published in the Annals of Biomedical Engineering and is available online for free download*.	23 Feb 2012
Brain Makes Call On Which Ear Is Used For Cell Phone If you're a left brain thinker, chances are you use your right hand to hold your cell phone up to your right ear, according to a new study from Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.The study finds a strong correlation between brain dominance and the ear used to listen to a cell phone, with more than 70 percent of participants holding their cell phone up to the ear on the same side as their dominant hand.	23 Feb 2012

Nursing / Midwifery News
Heart Attack - Why Do So Many Wait So Long? Researchers in the School of Nursing at Yale University in the US are setting up a survey to find out why so many people often wait several hours following a heart attack before seeking medical help.	23 Feb 2012

Nutrition / Diet News
Reheated Cooking Oils Contain Toxic Aldehydes Researchers from the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU, Spain) have been the first to discover the presence of certain aldehydes in food, which are believed to be related to some neurodegenerative diseases and some types of cancer.	23 Feb 2012
New Model To Evaluate Probiotic Survival In The Gut Shows Some Probiotics Have A Better Chance To Promote Health Functional foods containing bacteria with beneficial health effects, or probiotics, have long been consumed in Northern Europe and are becoming increasingly popular elsewhere. To be of benefit, however, the bacteria have to survive in the very hostile environment of the digestive tract.	23 Feb 2012
Breastfeeding And Caffeine Consumption Babies are not able to metabolize or excrete caffeine very well, so a breastfeeding mother's consumption of caffeine may lead to caffeine accumulation and symptoms such as wakefulness and irritability, according to an interview with expert Ruth Lawrence, MD, published in Journal of Caffeine Research, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.	23 Feb 2012

Obesity / Weight Loss / Fitness News
Obesity Link To Environmental Pollutant The levels of the environmental pollutant perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) that mothers had in their blood during pregnancy increased the risk of obesity in their daughters at 20 years of age. The findings come from a recent study of Danish women in which the Norwegian Institute of Public Health participated.	23 Feb 2012

Ovarian Cancer News

A Breakthrough In Understanding The Biology And Treatment Of Ovarian Cancer Researchers at The Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, Pennsylvania have discovered that the presence and integrity of the opioid growth factor receptor (OGFr), which mediates the inhibitory action of opioid growth factor (OGF) on cell proliferation, is a key to understanding the progression and treatment of human ovarian cancer.

23 Feb 2012

Pain / Anesthetics News
Eliminating Morphine Tolerance - Reformulated Imatinib A new study, published online in Nature Medicine, is the first to discover a cellular signal that selectively causes narcotic tolerance. A reformulation of the common cancer drug imatinib (Gleevec®) managed to eliminate morphine tolerance in rats.	23 Feb 2012
Diabetic Polyneuropathies May Not Be Explained By Prediabetes In a reversal of two decades of medical reports, a Mayo Clinic study finds the frequency of nerve damage called diabetic polyneuropathy is similar in prediabetic patients and healthy people. Physicians should seek explanations other than prediabetes for patients who have painful small fiber polyneuropathy, the researchers say.	23 Feb 2012

Parkinson's Disease News
Reheated Cooking Oils Contain Toxic Aldehydes Researchers from the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU, Spain) have been the first to discover the presence of certain aldehydes in food, which are believed to be related to some neurodegenerative diseases and some types of cancer.	23 Feb 2012

Pediatrics / Children's Health News
Feeding Device For Newborns With Congenital Heart Defects The University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing has developed a unique feeding device, which may lower the risk of failure to thrive (FTT) currently affecting 50% of all newborns with congenital heart defects, even after they had successful surgery.	23 Feb 2012
Why Children With Down Syndrome Have Increased Leukemia Risk Children with Down syndrome (DS) have an increased risk of developing leukemia, in particular acute megakaryoblastic leukemia (AMKL) and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Through their studies in a mouse model of DS, a team of researchers led by John Crispino, at Northwestern University, Chicago, has now identified a potential explanation as to why children with DS are at increased risk of AMKL.	23 Feb 2012
New Head Impact Study In Youth Football Publication Wake Forest University School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences (SBES) announces the first ever publication with data on head impacts from youth football players. The paper is published in the Annals of Biomedical Engineering and is available online for free download*.	23 Feb 2012
Minority Toddlers With Autism May Be More Delayed Than Affected Caucasian Peers The first prospective study of ethnic differences in the symptoms of autism in toddlers shows that children from a minority background have more delayed language, communication and gross motor skills than Caucasian children with the disorder.	23 Feb 2012
Alternative To Amniocentesis And CVS: Noninvasive Method Accurately And Efficiently Detects Risk Of Down Syndrome Using a noninvasive test on maternal blood that deploys a novel biochemical assay and a new algorithm for analysis, scientists can detect, with a high degree of accuracy, the risk that a fetus has the chromosomal abnormalities that cause Down syndrome and a genetic disorder known as Edwards syndrome.	23 Feb 2012
Sensible Alcohol Consumption Not Understood By Many Young People A new study published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Review reveals that young people do not possess the knowledge or skills required to adhere to government guidelines for responsible alcohol consumption.	23 Feb 2012

Pharmacy / Pharmacist News
Pricing of Generics Should Be Reviewed, Australia A report published in the February 20 issue of the Medical Journal of Australia, reveals that if the pricing system for generic medications was improved and they were prescribed more often, Australia could save hundreds of millions of dollars in Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) subsides.	23 Feb 2012

Pregnancy / Obstetrics News
Alternative To Amniocentesis And CVS: Noninvasive Method Accurately And Efficiently Detects Risk Of Down Syndrome Using a noninvasive test on maternal blood that deploys a novel biochemical assay and a new algorithm for analysis, scientists can detect, with a high degree of accuracy, the risk that a fetus has the chromosomal abnormalities that cause Down syndrome and a genetic disorder known as Edwards syndrome.	23 Feb 2012
Obesity Link To Environmental Pollutant The levels of the environmental pollutant perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) that mothers had in their blood during pregnancy increased the risk of obesity in their daughters at 20 years of age. The findings come from a recent study of Danish women in which the Norwegian Institute of Public Health participated.	23 Feb 2012

Preventive Medicine News
Among People With Health Insurance, The Recession And High Co-Pays Tied To Fewer Colonoscopy Screenings The recent U.S. economic recession was the longest and most severe since World War II. During this period, personal spending on health care grew at the slowest rate in over 50 years, suggesting that Americans used less health care.	23 Feb 2012

Primary Care / General Practice News
Electronic Public Health Records Improve Continuity Of Care Medical records are an invaluable tool in treating patients. When a caregiver has ample information regarding a person's medical history, treatments are more effective and efficient. Unfortunately, few people have complete medical records - due, in large part, to a lack of any universal repository tools for keeping those records.	23 Feb 2012

Psychology / Psychiatry News
Aggression In Hospitals - New Approach A study published in the February 20 issue of the Medical Journal of Australia, reveals that a formal aggression management system can help control aggression and violence in hospitals. The Medical Journal of Australia is a publication of the Australian Medical Association.	23 Feb 2012
Understanding Human Emotions Via Animals' Survival Instincts Can animals' survival instincts shed additional light on what we know about human emotion? New York University neuroscientist Joseph LeDoux poses this question in outlining a pioneering theory, drawn from two decades of research, that could lead to a more comprehensive understanding of emotions in both humans and animals.	23 Feb 2012
Back To Reality In Schizophrenia: Computerized Cognitive Training Improves Brain Activation And Behavior A pioneering new study finds that a specific type of computerized cognitive training can lead to significant neural and behavioral improvements in individuals with schizophrenia. The research, published by Cell Press in the February 23 issue of the journal Neuron, reveals that 16 weeks of intensive cognitive training is also associated with improved social functioning several months later and may have far-reaching implications for improving the quality of life for patients suffering from neuropsychiatric illness.	23 Feb 2012
Neuroscientists Identify How The Brain Works To Select What We Want To See If you are looking for a particular object - say a yellow pencil - on a cluttered desk, how does your brain work to visually locate it?For the first time, a team led by Carnegie Mellon University neuroscientists has identified how different neural regions communicate to determine what to visually pay attention to and what to ignore.	23 Feb 2012
Brain Performance In Patients With Multiple Sclerosis Improved By Cognitive Rehabilitation In a new study published in the March issue of Radiology, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) shows that cognitive rehabilitation changes brain function and improves cognitive performance in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS).	23 Feb 2012
Potential Link Between Antisocial Behavior And Biosocial Origins An assistant professor at Sam Houston State University, College of Criminal Justice is working to unlock the mysteries surrounding the role that genetics and environmental influences play on criminal and antisocial behavior.	23 Feb 2012

Public Health News
NHS Poor Service For The Poor Must Be Avoided, UK This week it was revealed in the UK's House of Commons that an NHS Director has written to Professor John Ashton, an NHS employee, formerly North West Regional Director of Public Health, stating that it was "inappropriate" Ashton signed a letter underlining his personal worries regarding the Government's Health and Social Care Bill.	23 Feb 2012
Aggression In Hospitals - New Approach A study published in the February 20 issue of the Medical Journal of Australia, reveals that a formal aggression management system can help control aggression and violence in hospitals. The Medical Journal of Australia is a publication of the Australian Medical Association.	23 Feb 2012
Pricing of Generics Should Be Reviewed, Australia A report published in the February 20 issue of the Medical Journal of Australia, reveals that if the pricing system for generic medications was improved and they were prescribed more often, Australia could save hundreds of millions of dollars in Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) subsides.	23 Feb 2012
Inexpensive Detection Of Poisonous Industrial Gases By Workers Wearing Small Sensor Chips Filled With Gold Nanowires Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have coaxed gold into nanowires as a way of creating an inexpensive material for detecting poisonous gases found in natural gas. Along with colleagues at the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), Alexander Star, associate professor of chemistry in Pitt's Kenneth P.	23 Feb 2012
More News Coverage Of Alcohol's Harm May Increase Support For Liquor-Control Laws If people see news coverage of alcohol's role in violent crime and fatal injuries, they may give more support to alcohol-control laws, according to a study in the March issue of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.	23 Feb 2012
Improper Condom Use A Public Health Issue Worldwide Problems with the correct use of the male condom, such as not wearing a condom throughout sex or putting it on upside down, are common in the U.S. and have become a major concern of public health officials.	23 Feb 2012
Sensible Alcohol Consumption Not Understood By Many Young People A new study published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Review reveals that young people do not possess the knowledge or skills required to adhere to government guidelines for responsible alcohol consumption.	23 Feb 2012
Electronic Public Health Records Improve Continuity Of Care Medical records are an invaluable tool in treating patients. When a caregiver has ample information regarding a person's medical history, treatments are more effective and efficient. Unfortunately, few people have complete medical records - due, in large part, to a lack of any universal repository tools for keeping those records.	23 Feb 2012
Potential Link Between Antisocial Behavior And Biosocial Origins An assistant professor at Sam Houston State University, College of Criminal Justice is working to unlock the mysteries surrounding the role that genetics and environmental influences play on criminal and antisocial behavior.	23 Feb 2012

Radiology / Nuclear Medicine News
Earlier Detection Of Breast Cancer By Mammography Leads To Better Prognosis In 40-49 Year-Olds Based on a study of nearly 2,000 breast cancer patients, researchers at the Swedish Cancer Institute in Seattle say that, in women between the ages of 40 and 49, breast cancers detected by mammography have a better prognosis.	23 Feb 2012

Regulatory Affairs / Drug Approvals News

Median Survival Time Nearly Doubled By Newly Approved Drug For Metastatic Melanoma Researchers from UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, together with scientists from 12 other sites in the United States and Australia, report for the first time that a newly approved drug for patients with metastatic melanoma nearly doubles median survival times, a finding that will change the way this deadly form of skin cancer is treated.

23 Feb 2012

Rehabilitation / Physical Therapy News
Brain Performance In Patients With Multiple Sclerosis Improved By Cognitive Rehabilitation In a new study published in the March issue of Radiology, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) shows that cognitive rehabilitation changes brain function and improves cognitive performance in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS).	23 Feb 2012

Schizophrenia News

Back To Reality In Schizophrenia: Computerized Cognitive Training Improves Brain Activation And Behavior A pioneering new study finds that a specific type of computerized cognitive training can lead to significant neural and behavioral improvements in individuals with schizophrenia. The research, published by Cell Press in the February 23 issue of the journal Neuron, reveals that 16 weeks of intensive cognitive training is also associated with improved social functioning several months later and may have far-reaching implications for improving the quality of life for patients suffering from neuropsychiatric illness.

23 Feb 2012

Sexual Health / STDs News
Improper Condom Use A Public Health Issue Worldwide Problems with the correct use of the male condom, such as not wearing a condom throughout sex or putting it on upside down, are common in the U.S. and have become a major concern of public health officials.	23 Feb 2012

Sleep / Sleep Disorders / Insomnia News
Breastfeeding And Caffeine Consumption Babies are not able to metabolize or excrete caffeine very well, so a breastfeeding mother's consumption of caffeine may lead to caffeine accumulation and symptoms such as wakefulness and irritability, according to an interview with expert Ruth Lawrence, MD, published in Journal of Caffeine Research, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.	23 Feb 2012

Smoking / Quit Smoking News
Fighting The Battle Of The Aortic Bulge - Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms When aortic walls buckle, the body's main blood pipe forms an ever-growing bulge. To thwart a deadly rupture, a team of Stanford University School of Medicine researchers has found two tiny molecules that may be able to orchestrate an aortic defense.	23 Feb 2012

Sports Medicine / Fitness News
New Head Impact Study In Youth Football Publication Wake Forest University School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences (SBES) announces the first ever publication with data on head impacts from youth football players. The paper is published in the Annals of Biomedical Engineering and is available online for free download*.	23 Feb 2012

Stem Cell Research News
Microfluidic Device Isolates Target Cells Rapidly Although vital information for diagnosing and treating disease can be obtained by separating complex mixtures of cells, such as those found in a blood sample, researchers may need to search through billions of other cells in order to collect rate cells, such as fetal cells, tumor cells or stem cells.	23 Feb 2012

Stroke News
Visually Guided Catheter Ablation System Used To Treat AFib Patient For the first time in a new U.S. clinical trial, researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine have used the HeartLight Endoscopic Ablation System (EAS) to correct abnormal electrical signals inside the heart of a patient affected by atrial fibrillation (AFib), one of the nation's most common heart ailments.	23 Feb 2012

Transplants / Organ Donations News
Outcome In Kidney Transplant - Simple Frailty Test Effective Predictor According to Johns Hopkins research published in the February issue of the Archives of Surgery, conducting a simple, 10-minute bedside assessment before surgery seems to be the best method so far to predict whether or not kidney transplant patients will do well with their new organs.	23 Feb 2012

Urology / Nephrology News
Outcome In Kidney Transplant - Simple Frailty Test Effective Predictor According to Johns Hopkins research published in the February issue of the Archives of Surgery, conducting a simple, 10-minute bedside assessment before surgery seems to be the best method so far to predict whether or not kidney transplant patients will do well with their new organs.	23 Feb 2012

Veterinary News
Understanding Human Emotions Via Animals' Survival Instincts Can animals' survival instincts shed additional light on what we know about human emotion? New York University neuroscientist Joseph LeDoux poses this question in outlining a pioneering theory, drawn from two decades of research, that could lead to a more comprehensive understanding of emotions in both humans and animals.	23 Feb 2012

Water - Air Quality / Agriculture News

Inexpensive Detection Of Poisonous Industrial Gases By Workers Wearing Small Sensor Chips Filled With Gold Nanowires Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have coaxed gold into nanowires as a way of creating an inexpensive material for detecting poisonous gases found in natural gas. Along with colleagues at the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), Alexander Star, associate professor of chemistry in Pitt's Kenneth P.

23 Feb 2012

Women's Health / Gynecology News
Obesity Link To Environmental Pollutant The levels of the environmental pollutant perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) that mothers had in their blood during pregnancy increased the risk of obesity in their daughters at 20 years of age. The findings come from a recent study of Danish women in which the Norwegian Institute of Public Health participated.	23 Feb 2012
Breastfeeding And Caffeine Consumption Babies are not able to metabolize or excrete caffeine very well, so a breastfeeding mother's consumption of caffeine may lead to caffeine accumulation and symptoms such as wakefulness and irritability, according to an interview with expert Ruth Lawrence, MD, published in Journal of Caffeine Research, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.	23 Feb 2012

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