Archive for December, 2009
Virtual Humans And The Future Of Personalized Healthcare
Thursday, December 31st, 2009
Imagine this future of personalized healthcare: you have been diagnosed with a disease for which there are five different treatments, your doctor feeds your genetic details into a computer, and the virtual human in the machine suggests which of the five is likely to be most effective and have fewer side effects for you personally...
Deadly Infection More Common Than Realised
Thursday, December 31st, 2009
Staphylococcus aureus causes far more serious infections than previously realised, with more than 3,000 Swedes affected every year, reveals a thesis from the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. To date there have been no reliable data on just how common this often deadly infection is, but previously it has been estimated that just over 2,000 people are affected each year in Sweden. A population-based review of cases in the county of Skaraborg has shown that this estimate was far too low, and that the actual figure is at least 3,000 cases per annum...
Don’t Let Arthritis Put The Kibosh On All Exercise (It Hurts More When You Stop)
Thursday, December 31st, 2009
Achy knees and joints caused by arthritis are not reasons to stop exercising. Regular, modest exercise improves joint stability and strengthens muscles, according to the December issue of Mayo Clinic Women's HealthSource. Exercise also improves mood, sleep, energy levels and day-to-day functioning. Best of all, people with arthritis who exercise regularly report less pain. When a person avoids exercise, joints become less mobile and the surrounding muscles shrink, causing increased fatigue and pain...
Resolve To Improve Your Urologic Health In The New Year
Thursday, December 31st, 2009
This new year, make a resolution to improve your health and talk to your doctor about urologic conditions. Although urologic problems may seem embarrassing to talk about, these conditions are more common than you think and a delay in seeking medical attention could cause you unnecessary stress, prolong the problem and even increase your risk for a more serious condition. Experts at the American Urological Association (AUA) and the AUA Foundation recommend talking to your doctor about bladder, prostate or sexual health concerns...
Body’s Own Veins Provide Superior Material For Aortic Grafts
Thursday, December 31st, 2009
A vascular surgical technique pioneered at UT Southwestern Medical Center and designed to replace infected aortic grafts with the body's own veins has proved more durable and less prone to new infection than similar procedures using synthetic and cadaver grafts. Aortic graft infections are one of the most serious complications in patients undergoing aortic grafting procedures for peripheral arterial disease (PAD) and aortic aneurysms...
Children More Likely To Catch Swine Flu, Says New Research
Thursday, December 31st, 2009
Young people aged under 18 years are more likely than adults to catch swine flu from an infected person in their household, according to a new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. However, the research also shows that young people are no more likely than adults to infect others with the pandemic H1N1 virus...
Stress, Heart Disease Not Exclusive To Football Coaches
Thursday, December 31st, 2009
It's impossible to know, unless you're Urban Meyer or one of his doctors, what exactly caused the two-time college football championship winner to see-saw decisions about his prestigious professional career and his family life. But the scenario is all too common among Americans of all walks of life. Meyer just provides a high-profile reminder of how important heart health is. "All too often, we see patients who have their wake-up calls after a serious heart attack...
Bionovo Announces Publication Describing First Novel Dual MTOR Inhibitor, BN107, For The Treatment Of Breast Cancer
Thursday, December 31st, 2009
Bionovo, Inc. (Nasdaq: BNVI) announced the publication of results from its study on the anti-tumor mechanism of BN107. The results of the study, published in the International Journal of Cancer, describe the potential molecular mechanisms mediating the selective pro-apoptotic (cell death) effect induced by BN107 on estrogen receptor negative (ER-) breast cancer cells. Despite favorable advances that treatment options have had on survival, oncologists continue to face challenges in providing safe and effective treatment options for ER- breast cancer patients...
Genomic Toggle Switches Divide Autoimmune Diseases Into Distinct Clusters, Stanford Study Shows
Thursday, December 31st, 2009
Genomic switches can predispose an individual to one set of autoimmune disorders but protect the same person against another set of them, scientists at Stanford University School of Medicine have found. "Maybe we should stop considering all autoimmune diseases in one lumped category," said Atul Butte, MD, PhD, assistant professor of pediatrics and of biomedical informatics and director of the Center for Pediatric Bioinformatics at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital. "It looks as if there may be at least two different kinds...
Synergistic Interaction Enhances Pathogenesis Of Parkinson’s Disease
Thursday, December 31st, 2009
Scientists have identified a synergistic interaction that disrupts normal intracellular transport mechanisms and leads to the accumulation of neuron-damaging clumps of protein associated with Parkinson's disease (PD), a neurodegenerative disorder that is characterized by a specific loss of neurons in the midbrain and brainstem. The research, published by Cell Press in the December 24 issue of the journal Neuron, identifies a new potential therapeutic option for preventing PD-associated neuropathology...