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Science15 Jul 2014

The ADC does not reflect cytotoxic edema on the uninjured side after TBI

It is currently difficult to treat traumatic brain injury (TBI) in the clinic. There are abundant neural network connections and humoral regulation mechanisms between the cerebral hemispheres. Brain tissue on the uninjured side after TBI may also undergo abnormal changes, but these changes remain poorly understood. Hong Lu and her team, Affiliated Haikou Hospital, Xiangya School of Medicine, Central South University, in China performed a study to investigate whether apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) measurements can reflect cytotoxic edema on the uninjured side using ...

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Medicine15 Jul 2014

Protective effect of α-synuclein knockdown on dopaminergic neurons

The over-expression of α-synuclein is a major factor in the death of dopaminergic neurons in a methamphetamine-induced model of Parkinson's disease (PD). Dr. Huijun Wang, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, China and his team injected α-synuclein-shRNA lentivirus stereotaxically into the right striatum of experimental rats to inhibit α-synuclein mRNA and protein expression. Results showed that after α-synuclein knockdown, the depression manifestations of PD rats were reduced, striatal dopamine and tyrosine hydroxylase levels ...

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Technology15 Jul 2014

Shanghai scientists challenge classical phenomenon that water always completely wets water

The molecular scale behavior of water at a solid/liquid interface holds fundamental significance in a diverse set of technical and scientific contexts, ranging from the efficiency of oil mining to the activity of biological molecules. Recently, it has become recognized that both the physical interactions and the surface morphology have significant impact on the behavior of interfacial water, including the water structures and wetting properties of the surface. In a new review, Chunlei Wang, Yizhou Yang and Haiping Fang of the Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics report ...

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Medicine15 Jul 2014

SWI assesses signal strength in different brain regions after acute hemorrhagic anemia

Acute hemorrhagic anemia can decrease blood flow and oxygen supply to brain, and affect its physiological function. Detecting changes in brain function in patients with acute hemorrhagic anemia is helpful for preventing neurological complications and evaluating therapeutic effects. Susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) imaging is a novel, non-invasive method for detecting changes in cerebral oxygen levels that may provide more detailed information regarding cerebral blood flow in patients with hemorrhage. Dr. Jun Xia, Second People's Hospital of Shenzhen City, First Affiliated ...

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Medicine15 Jul 2014

Taking B vitamins won't prevent Alzheimer's disease

Taking B vitamins doesn't slow mental decline as we age, nor is it likely to prevent Alzheimer's disease, conclude Oxford University researchers who have assembled all the best clinical trial data involving 22,000 people to offer a final answer on this debate. High levels in the blood of a compound called homocysteine have been found in people with Alzheimer's disease, and people with higher levels of homocysteine have been shown to be at increased risk of Alzheimer's disease. Taking folic acid and vitamin B-12 are known to lower levels of homocysteine in the body, so ...

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Science15 Jul 2014

How strongly does tissue decelerate the therapeutic heavy ion beam?

Irradiation with heavy ions is suitable in particular for patients suffering from cancer with tumours which are difficult to access, for example in the brain. These particles hardly damage the penetrated tissue, but can be used in such a way that they deliver their maximum energy only directly at the target: the tumour. Research in this relatively new therapy method is focussed again and again on the exact dosing: how must the radiation parameters be set in order to destroy the cancerous cells "on the spot" with as low a damage as possible to the surrounding tissue? The ...

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Medicine15 Jul 2014

New hope for treatment of Alzheimer's disease

Montreal, July 15 2014 - Judes Poirier, PhD, C.Q., from the Douglas Mental Health Institute and McGill University in Montréal (Canada) and his team have discovered that a relatively frequent genetic variant actually conveys significant protection against the common form of Alzheimer's disease and can delay the onset of the disease by as much as 4 years. This discovery opens new avenues for treatment against this devastating disease. Dr. Poirier announced his findings as the annual Alzheimer's Association International Conference was taking place in Copenhagen. This large-scale ...

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Physics15 Jul 2014

Smallest Swiss cross -- Made of 20 single atoms

The manipulation of atoms has reached a new level: Together with teams from Finland and Japan, physicists from the University of Basel were able to place 20 single atoms on a fully insulated surface at room temperature to form the smallest "Swiss cross", thus taking a big step towards next generation atomic-scale storage devices. The academic journal Nature Communications has published their results. Ever since the 1990s, physicists have been able to directly control surface structures by moving and positioning single atoms to certain atomic sites. A number of atomic ...

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Medicine15 Jul 2014

Cholesterol activates signaling pathway that promotes cancer

Everyone knows that cholesterol, at least the bad kind, can cause heart disease and hardening of the arteries. Now, researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago describe a new role for cholesterol in the activation of a cellular signaling pathway that has been linked to cancer. The finding is reported in Nature Communications. Cells employ thousands of signaling pathways to conduct their functions. Canonical Wnt signaling is a pathway that promotes cell growth and division and is most active in embryonic cells during development. Overactivity of this signaling ...

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Science15 Jul 2014

Researchers assess emergency radiology response after Boston Marathon bombings

OAK BROOK, Ill. – An after-action review of the Brigham and Women's Hospital emergency radiology response to the Boston Marathon bombings highlights the crucial role medical imaging plays in emergency situations and ways in which radiology departments can improve their preparedness for mass casualty events. The new study is published online in the journal Radiology. "It's important to analyze our response to events like the Boston Marathon bombing to identify opportunities for improvement in our institutional emergency operations plan," said senior author Aaron Sodickson ...

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Medicine15 Jul 2014

No anti-clotting treatment needed for most kids undergoing spine surgeries

Blood clots occur so rarely in children undergoing spine operations that most patients require nothing more than vigilant monitoring after surgery and should be spared risky and costly anti-clotting medications, according to a new Johns Hopkins Children's Center study. Because clotting risk in children is poorly understood, treatment guidelines are largely absent, leaving doctors caring for pediatric patients at a loss on whom to treat and when. The Johns Hopkins' team findings, published online July 15 in the journal Spine, narrow down the pool of high-risk patients ...

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Medicine15 Jul 2014

Little too late: Researchers identify disease that may have plagued 700-year-old skeleton

European researchers have recovered a genome of the bacterium Brucella melitensis from a 700-year-old skeleton found in the ruins of a Medieval Italian village. Reporting this week in mBio®, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology, the authors describe using a technique called shotgun metagenomics to sequence DNA from a calcified nodule in the pelvic region of a middle-aged male skeleton excavated from the settlement of Geridu in Sardinia, an island off the coast of Italy. Geridu is thought to have been abandoned in the late 14th century. ...

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Medicine15 Jul 2014

Study reveals how gardens could help dementia care

A new study has revealed that gardens in care homes could provide promising therapeutic benefits for patients suffering from dementia. The research is published in the Journal of the American Medical Directors Association and by critically reviewing the findings from 17 different pieces of research, has found that outdoor spaces can offer environments that promote relaxation, encourage activity and reduce residents' agitation. Conducted by a team at the University of Exeter Medical School and supported by the National Institute for Health Research Collaboration for ...

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Medicine15 Jul 2014

Fungicides for crops: Worrying link to fungal drug resistance in UK warns scientists

Crop spraying on British farms could be aiding a life-threatening fungus suffered by tens of thousand of people in the UK each year. New research by British and Dutch scientists has found that Aspergillus – a common fungus that attacks the lungs and is found in soil and other organic matter – has become resistant to life - saving drugs in parts of rural Yorkshire. It's the first time a link has been made in the UK between drug resistance in Aspergillus and fungicide used on crops. Experts warn their findings, now published, are significant and raise serious implications ...

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Medicine15 Jul 2014

Pre-diabetes label 'unhelpful and unnecessary'

Labelling people with moderately high blood sugar as pre-diabetic is a drastically premature measure with no medical value and huge financial and social costs, say researchers from UCL and the Mayo Clinic, Minnesota. The analysis, published in the BMJ, considered whether a diagnosis of pre-diabetes carried any health benefits such as improved diabetes prevention. The authors showed that treatments to reduce blood sugar only delayed the onset of type 2 diabetes by a few years, and found no evidence of long-term health benefits. Type 2 diabetes is typically diagnosed ...

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Medicine15 Jul 2014

Reduced range of facial expression indicates serious heart/lung disease

Patients with serious heart and lung conditions don't have the normal range of facial expressions, particularly the ability to register surprise in response to emotional cues, finds preliminary research published online in Emergency Medicine Journal. This finding could be used to help busy emergency care doctors decide whom to prioritise for treatment, and gauge who really needs often costly and invasive tests, suggest the researchers. And it adds scientific credibility to the rapid visual assessment doctors make of how sick someone is, formally known as gestalt pretest ...

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Medicine15 Jul 2014

Patients with advanced co-existing illnesses and their carers face uphill struggle

Patients in their last year of life with co-existing illnesses struggle to cope with a bewildering array of services and treatments, which are often poorly coordinated and lack any continuity of care, indicates an analysis of patient and carer feedback, published online in BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care. Patients and carers frequently found accessing the support they needed "impersonal" and "challenging," the comments showed. It's important to get this right, say the researchers, because 'multimorbidity,' in which patients are coping with several illnesses at the ...

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Medicine15 Jul 2014

Annals of Internal Medicine tip sheet for July 15, 2014, issue

1. Pill appearance affects how patients take their medications* *Sound bites and b-roll footage available. See bottom of page for feed dates, times, and coordinates Heart patients significantly more likely to stop taking medication after pill changes appearance When it comes to taking generic heart medications, appearance matters, according to a study published in Annals of Internal Medicine (http://www.annals.org/article.aspx?doi=10.7326/M13-2381). Physicians often prescribe generic medications for the treatment of cardiovascular disease because generics are inexpensive ...

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Science15 Jul 2014

Changes in generic pill color and shape disrupt use

Boston, MA—Generic versions of the same prescription drug are clinically interchangeable but often look different depending on the manufacturer. The FDA does not require consistent pill appearance among interchangeable generic drugs, and the shape and color of patients' pills may vary based on the particular supply at the patient's pharmacy. Studying a national cohort of patients who recently suffered a heart attack, researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) have found that variation in appearance of generic drugs is associated with a greater risk of patients ...

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Medicine15 Jul 2014

Bonuses for doctors do little to improve cancer screening in Ontario

TORONTO, July 14, 2014 – Ontario spent nearly $110 million dollars between 2006 and 2010 on bonuses to motivate family doctors to screen more of their patients for cancer but these bonuses were associated with little or no improvement in actual cancer screening rates, according to researchers at St. Michael's Hospital and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES). The study, published today in Annals of Family Medicine, tracked screening rates for cervical, breast and colorectal cancer in Ontario each year between 2000 and 2010. Researchers found no significant ...

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Medicine15 Jul 2014

July/August 2014 Annals of Family Medicine tip sheet

High Prevalence of Unsafe All-Terrain Vehicle Ridership Among Adolescents in Iowa More youth are killed every year in the United States in all-terrain vehicle crashes than on bicycles, and since 2001, one-fifth of all ATV fatalities have involved victims aged 15 years or younger. To better understand ATV riding practices among adolescents, researchers surveyed 4,684 youths aged 11 to 16 years at 30 schools across Iowa and found the vast majority reported having ridden an ATV, and most practiced unsafe riding behaviors and had experienced at least one crash. Specifically, ...

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Medicine15 Jul 2014

New combination drug controls tumor growth and metastasis in mice

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Researchers at UC Davis, University of Massachusetts and Harvard Medical School have created a combination drug that controls both tumor growth and metastasis. By combining a COX-2 inhibitor, similar to Celebrex, and an epoxide hydrolase (sEH) inhibitor, the drug controls angiogenesis (blood vessel formation), limiting a tumor's ability to grow and spread. The study appears today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "We've been studying the effects of COX and sEH inhibitors, both by themselves and in combination, for several ...

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Medicine14 Jul 2014

Home blood pressure-monitoring kits save insurance companies money

Home blood pressure-monitoring kits can save insurance companies money by improving healthcare quality and reducing healthcare costs, according to new research in the American Heart Association's journal Hypertension. In the United States, more than 76 million adults have diagnosed high blood pressure, and many more are undiagnosed. Since high blood pressure typically has no symptoms, periodic testing is critical especially for people with the factors that put them at risk for the condition. Home monitoring kits effectively test blood pressure at regular intervals over ...

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Medicine14 Jul 2014

Hispanic Americans need culturally tailored heart care

A first-time comprehensive overview of cardiovascular disease among Hispanics in the U.S. outlines the burden of heart disease and stroke as well as emphasizes the importance of culturally appropriate healthcare for this population. The American Heart Association scientific statement is published in the Association's journal Circulation. Hispanics represent the fastest-growing racial or ethnic population in the United States and are expected to constitute 30 percent of the total U.S. population by the year 2050. Yet, there is no comprehensive document about the cultural ...

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Medicine14 Jul 2014

Prostate cancer is focus of 2 studies, commentary

Bottom Line: Management of low-risk prostate cancer (which is unlikely to cause symptoms or affect survival if left untreated) varies widely among urologists and radiation oncologists, with patients whose diagnosis is made by a urologist that treats non-low-risk prostate cancer more likely to receive treatment vs. observation. Author: Karen E. Hoffman, M.D., M.H.Sc., of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, and colleagues. Background: Most men in the United States with low-risk prostate cancer usually receive treatment with prostatectomy or radiotherapy ...

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