A relatively healthy diet before pregnancy is linked to a lower rate of certain heart abnormalities in babies at birth, finds research published in the Archives of Disease in Childhood (Fetal & Neonatal Edition). Congenital heart defects are common, costly, and affect around 1% of newborns in the USA. Around one in four affected children will die infancy as a result. So far, doctors have few preventive options at their fingertips. Some studies suggest that multivitamin supplements might lower the risk while others suggest that better diet quality might make a difference ...

1. Long-term NSAID use associated with reduced colorectal cancer risk Free abstract: http://www.annals.org/article.aspx?doi=10.7326/M15-0039 URLs go live when embargo lifts Long-term, continuous use of low-dose aspirin and nonaspirin nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) is associated with decreased colorectal cancer risk. The findings of a population-based, case-control study are published in Annals of Internal Medicine. Colorectal cancer is the third most common non-skin cancer in the world. Colorectal neoplasms have a long progression, making colorectal ...

The risk of breast cancer recurrence and mortality is decreased by endocrine therapy (ET) such as tamoxifen, but younger patients may decline it or discontinue treatment early if they are concerned about fertility, according to a study published August 24 in the JNCI: Journal of the National Cancer Institute. To explore the reasons for lower initiation and continuation with tamoxifen treatment by younger women with breast cancer, Jacqueline S. Jeruss M.D., Ph.D. of The University of Michigan School of Medicine, Ann Arbor, MI and colleagues conducted a study of 515 premenopausal ...

DALLAS, Aug. 24, 2015 -- Deaths from heart disease have declined dramatically over the last few decades but young people, particularly women, are not sharing equally in that improvement, according to new research in the American Heart Association's journal Circulation. Using data on adults age 25 and older, researchers tracked annual percentage changes in heart disease death rates between three time periods: 1979-1989, 1990-1999 and 2000-2011. Death rates in adults 65 and over declined consistently over the decades, with accelerating improvements since 2000. In contrast, ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Concerns about fertility kept a third of young women with breast cancer from taking tamoxifen, despite its known benefit in reducing the risk of breast cancer coming back. In addition, the study found fertility concerns led a quarter of women who started tamoxifen to stop taking it before the recommended treatment period ended. "Our study points toward the importance of fertility to young breast cancer patients. We need to find a way to bridge the gap between this patient survivorship goal and our concerns as physicians to facilitate the best treatment ...

HOUSTON - (Aug. 24, 2015) - Electronic triggers designed to search for key data, developed by researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center, were able to identify and reduce follow-up delays for patients being evaluated for a diagnosis of colon or prostate cancer. The full study can be found in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. "Our computerized triggers scanned huge amounts of patient data in the electronic health record and flagged individuals at risk for delays in follow-up of cancer-related abnormal clinical findings," ...

Danny has become a degenerate, that is, the tropical depression weakened. Satellite and Hurricane Hunter aircraft data showed that Danny degenerated into an elongated area of low pressure near the Windward Islands during the afternoon (local time) on August 24. Meanwhile two other developing low pressure areas lie to the east of Danny. Satellite data from NOAA's GOES-East satellite at 14:45 UTC (10:45 a.m. EDT) on August 24, showed Danny had become stretched out into a trough of low pressure. At 11 a.m. EDT (1500 UTC), the remnants of Danny were located near latitude ...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- In the second part of his lab's recent one-two punch, Florida State University researcher Daniel Kaplan said he has solved a cell division mystery in a way that will intrigue the makers of cancer-fighting drugs. The key, said Kaplan, a College of Medicine Department of Biomedical Sciences researcher, is a protein called Treslin. "It can target cancer cells," he said. "Most chemotherapy also targets rapidly dividing normal cells, but this seems to have promise for not doing that. Drug companies are going to be excited." Before cells can divide, ...

SAN DIEGO, Calif. -- (Aug. 24, 2015) -- A new survey on sexual victimization issues at the University of Oregon reaffirms previous findings that there is a need to increase awareness about available services, while decreasing negative perceptions of institutional support. Psychology professor Jennifer Freyd provided preliminary findings of the UO survey at the 20th International Summit & Training on Violence, Abuse & Trauma during a keynote session on "Campus Sexual Assault: Current Research and Prevention Approaches." New issues also surfaced among the key findings ...

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (August 24, 2015) - By teasing apart the structure of an enzyme vital to the infectious behavior of the parasites that cause toxoplasmosis and malaria, Whitehead Institute scientists have identified a potentially 'drugable' target that could prevent parasites from entering and exiting host cells. Although toxoplasmosis causes disease only in certain individuals-including immunocompromised patients, pregnant women, and their infants, the T. gondii parasite is closely related to Plasmodium, which causes malaria. Research on T. gondii can provide insights ...

Commonly used antidepressant drugs change levels of a key signaling protein in the brain region that processes both pain and mood, according to a study conducted at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and published August 24 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The newly understood mechanism could yield insights into more precise future treatments for nerve pain and depression. The study was conducted in mice suffering from chronic neuropathic pain, a condition which is caused in mice and humans by nerve damage. Chronic neuropathic ...

Bacteria are best known as free-living single cells, but in reality their lives are much more complex. To survive in harsh environments, many species of bacteria will band together and form a biofilm--a collection of cells held together by a tough web of fibers that offers protection from all manner of threats, including antibiotics. A familiar biofilm is the dental plaque that forms on teeth between brushings, but biofilms can form almost anywhere given the right conditions. Biofilms are a huge problem in the health care industry. When disease-causing bacteria establish ...

Atlanta, GA - August 24, 2015 - Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which is the leading cause of childhood respiratory hospitalizations among premature babies, can be detected from the clothes worn by caregivers/visitors who are visiting infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), according to research being presented at the International Conference on Emerging and Infectious Diseases in Atlanta, Georgia. "The aim of this study was to identify potential sources of transmission of RSV in the NICU to better inform infection control strategies," said Dr. Nusrat ...

Atlanta, GA - August 24, 2015 - Experts show that while Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV), a viral respiratory illness, is infecting less people, it has a higher mortality rate and affects a specific target population when compared to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). This research is being presented at the International Conference on Emerging and Infectious Diseases in Atlanta, Georgia. "The research conducted in this study focuses on understanding what population of individuals are most likely to become infected by MERS-CoV, compared to the population ...

BEAUMONT -- Entomologists in Texas got a whiff of a new stink bug doing economic damage to soybeans in Texas and are developing ways to help farmers combat it, according to a report in the journal Environmental Entomology. Various types of stink bugs have long been a problem on soybean crops, but when sweeps of fields in southeast Texas netted 65 percent redbanded stink bugs, entomologists realized this particular bug had become the predominant pest problem, according to Dr. Mo Way, an entomologist at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center in Beaumont. The ...

Philadelphia, PA, August 24, 2015 - Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are a concern for the health and well-being of both humans and farm animals. One of the most common and costly diseases faced by the dairy industry is bovine mastitis, a potentially fatal bacterial inflammation of the mammary gland (IMI). Widespread use of antibiotics to treat the disease is often blamed for generating antibiotic-resistant bacteria. However, researchers investigating staphylococcal populations responsible for causing mastitis in dairy cows in South Africa found that humans carried more antibiotic-resistant ...

Cancer researchers are constantly in search of more-effective and less-toxic approaches to stopping the disease, and have recently launched clinical trials testing a new class of drugs called BET inhibitors. These therapies act on a group of proteins that help regulate the expression of many genes, some of which play a role in cancer. New findings from The Rockefeller University suggest that the original version of BET inhibitors causes molecular changes in mouse neurons, and can lead to memory loss in mice that receive it. Published in Nature Neuroscience on August ...

Resveratrol, a compound found commonly in grape skins and red wine, has been shown to have several potentially beneficial effects on health, including cardiovascular health, stroke prevention and cancer treatments. However, scientists do not yet fully understand how the chemical works and whether or not it can be used for treatment of diseases in humans and animals. Now, researchers at the University of Missouri have found that resveratrol does affect the immune systems of dogs in different ways when introduced to dogs' blood. Sandra Axiak-Bechtel, an assistant professor ...

In a new effort, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and Baylor College of Medicine have used advanced imaging technology to fill in details about the underlying cause of canine diabetes, which until now has been little understood. For the first time, they've precisely quantified the dramatic loss of insulin-producing beta cells in dogs with the disease and compared it to the loss observed in people with type I diabetes. "The architecture of the canine pancreas has never been studied in the detail that we have done in this paper," said Rebecka Hess, professor ...

Black bears in Yosemite National Park that don't seek out human foods subsist primarily on plants and nuts, according to a study conducted by biologists at UC San Diego who also found that ants and other sources of animal protein, such as mule deer, make up only a small fraction of the bears' annual diet. Their study, published in this week's early online edition of the journal Methods in Ecology and Evolution, might surprise bear ecologists and conservationists who had long assumed that black bears in the Sierra Nevada rely on lots of protein from ants and other insects ...

For pregnant women who are at low risk of complications giving birth, the risk of newborn death and maternal complications is similar for obstetric deliveries by family physicians and obstetricians, according to a large study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). "It is common to assume that more specialized or higher-volume medical care will result in improved outcomes," writes Dr. Kris Aubrey-Bassler with the Primary Healthcare Research Unit, Discipline of Family Medicine, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Newfoundland. "The obstetric ...

A new Canadian guideline aims to ensure that pain during vaccination is minimized in both children and adults. The guideline, published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal), is targeted at all health care providers who administer vaccines. "Pain from vaccinations is common and can make people hesitate about getting future vaccines even as adults," states Dr. Anna Taddio, Senior Associate Scientist at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), Toronto, Ontario, and Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto. "This can put people at risk of contracting ...

Today's workforce is highly sex-segregated -- for example, most elementary school teachers are women, while most chemistry professors are men. Indiana University Bloomington researchers Bianca Manago, a doctoral student in sociology, and Cate Taylor, an assistant professor of sociology and gender studies, examine one important consequence of this occupational sex segregation: the stress exposure of women working in highly male-dominated occupations. "We find that such women are more likely to experience exposure to high levels of interpersonal, workplace stressors," Manago ...

Indiana's strict voter identification law may have prevented some elderly citizens from voting in the last two presidential elections, but there's little evidence it kept large numbers of voters from the polls, according to research by Indiana University Bloomington doctoral student Adam Nicholson. Nicholson compared turnout figures in the 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012 elections in Indiana and in Nebraska and Pennsylvania, two states without voter ID laws. Unlike most previous research on voter identification laws, the study examined data at the county level, not the state ...

Atlanta, GA - August 24, 2015 - Individuals who received the flu vaccine were protected for up to 6 months post-vaccination, the duration of most flu seasons, according to a study presented at the 2015 International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases. Each flu season, researchers work to find out how effective the flu vaccine was in order to measure its value as a health intervention. Factors such as age and health of an individual, as well the level of similarity between the flu virus and the flu vaccine can play a role in how well an influenza vaccine works. "Few ...