ANN ARBOR, Mich. — New research from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center finds that the protein HER2 plays a role even in breast cancers that would traditionally be categorized as HER2-negative – and that the drug Herceptin, which targets HER2, may have an even greater role for treating breast cancer and preventing its spread. About 20 percent of women with breast cancer have tumors labeled HER2-positive. And since the drug Herceptin has come on the scene, it has had a tremendous impact on survival for these women, particularly when it is given in the ...

An analysis of breast cancer trends in the U.S. finds a small but statistically significant increase in the incidence of advanced breast cancer for women 25 to 39 years of age, without a corresponding increase in older women, according to a study appearing in the February 27 issue of JAMA. "In the United States, breast cancer is the most common malignant tumor in adolescent and young adult women 15 to 39 years of age, accounting for 14 percent of all cancer in men and women in the age group. The individual average risk of a woman developing breast cancer in the United ...

In an analysis of data on patients who underwent bariatric surgery 2004-2009, there was no significant difference in the rates of complications and reoperation for Medicare patients before vs. after a 2006 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services policy that restricted coverage of bariatric surgery to centers of excellence, according to a study appearing in the February 27 issue of JAMA. "Prompted by concerns about perioperative safety with bariatric surgery, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a national coverage decision in 2006 that limited coverage ...

In contrast to the commonly adopted surveillance intervals in current abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) screening programs, surveillance intervals of several years may be clinically acceptable for the majority of patients with small AAA, as the smallest AAAs often do not appear to change significantly over many years, according to a meta-analysis of previous studies reported in the February 27 issue of JAMA. "The survival rate following rupture of an abdominal aortic aneurysm is only 20 percent, making AAAs an important cause of mortality," according to background information ...

Among patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, long-term treatment with the medication spironolactone improved left ventricular diastolic function but did not affect maximal exercise capacity, patient symptoms, or quality of life, according to a study appearing in the February 27 issue of JAMA. "Heart failure (HF) with preserved ejection fraction [EF; the percentage of blood that is pumped out of a filled ventricle as a result of a heartbeat is 50 percent or greater] accounts for more than 50 percent of the total HF population," according to background ...

Boston - Atrial fibrillation is the most common type of abnormal heart rhythm, affecting 2.5 million Americans. If left undetected or untreated, atrial fibrillation can lead to stroke. Determining who is at increased risk for atrial fibrillation has been difficult, especially among individuals without established heart disease. But now, researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital have devised and tested a simple atrial fibrillation risk prediction model, based on six easily obtained factors: a woman's age, height, weight, blood pressure, alcohol consumption and smoking ...

Alcohol consumption could be much higher than previously thought, with more than three quarters of people in England drinking in excess of the recommended daily alcohol limit, according to a new paper in the European Journal of Public Health. The study, conducted by researchers in the UCL Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, is the first to investigate the potential public health implications related to the under-reporting of alcohol consumption. International studies have shown that self-reported alcohol consumption only accounts for between 40 and 60 per cent ...

A novel tool exploits baker's yeast to expedite the development of new drugs to fight multiple tropical diseases, including malaria, schistosomiasis, and African sleeping sickness. The unique screening method uses yeasts which have been genetically engineered to express parasite and human proteins to identify chemical compounds that target disease-causing parasites but do not affect their human hosts. Parasitic diseases affect millions of people annually, often in the most deprived parts of the world. Every year, malaria alone infects over 200 million people, killing ...

The largest randomised study of the vitamin niacin in patients with occlusive arterial disease (narrowing of the arteries) has shown a significant increase in adverse side-effects when it is combined with statin treatment. Results from the HPS2-THRIVE study (Heart Protection Study 2 – Treatment of HDL to Reduce the Incidence of Vascular Events), including the reasons patients stopped the study treatment, are published online today (Wednesday) in the European Heart Journal [1]. Niacin has been used for decades to help increase levels of "good" HDL cholesterol and to ...

People with HIV are less able to recognise facial emotion than non-infected people finds a study published in the launch edition of BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Psychology. Reduction in their ability to recognise fear in others is linked to a similar loss in immediate recall, while those with a lower general neurocognitive performance also had a reduced ability to recognise happiness. The mechanism behind recognition of facial emotion is complex, involving many different areas of the brain, including the frontostriatal pathway and amygdala. The frontostriatal ...

The powerful venom of the saw-scaled viper Echis carinatus contains both anticoagulants and coagulants finds a study published in the launch edition of BioMed Central's open access journal Journal of Venomous Animals and Toxins including Tropical Diseases (JVATiTD). These may be a source of potent drugs to treat human disease. The saw-scaled viper family Echis, responsible for most snake attacks on humans, are recognizable by the 'sizzling' noise they make, produced by rubbing together special serrated scales, when threatened. Echis venom causes coagulopathy, which can ...

The results are consistent with previous studies from Finland and Sweden and indicate that the association is not confined to Scandinavian populations. However, the authors stress that the risk may still be overestimated, and they call for longer term monitoring of the cohort of children and adolescents exposed to Pandemrix to evaluate the exact level of risk. In 2009, pandemic influenza A (H1N1) virus spread rapidly, resulting in millions of cases and over 18,000 deaths in over 200 countries. In England the vaccine Pandemrix was introduced in October 2009. By March 2010, ...

As such, the researchers say "it should not be used as a tool to achieve improvements in generic health related quality of life or psychological outcomes." Telehealth uses technology to help people with health problems live more independently at home. For example, blood pressure or blood glucose levels can be measured at home and electronically transmitted to a health professional, reducing the need for hospital visits. For long term conditions, telehealth has been promoted to reduce healthcare costs while improving health related quality of life, but evidence to support ...

Depression is a major cause of disability worldwide and effective management of this is a key challenge for health care systems. Evidence suggests 'low-intensity' interventions provide significant clinical benefit. Initial severity of depression is one of the key variables determining who gets 'low' or 'high' intensity treatment, but this is largely based on epidemiological studies and clinical experience rather than high quality evidence. An international collaboration of researchers therefore carried out a meta-analysis of several studies involving 2470 patients with ...

A study published today in Biology Letters found that ship noise affects crab metabolism, with largest crabs faring worst, and found little evidence that crabs acclimatise to noise over time. The team from the Universities of Bristol and Exeter found that crabs exposed to recordings of ship noise showed an increase in metabolic rate, indicating elevated stress. In the real world this could have implications for growth and, if the metabolic cost of noise causes crabs to spend more time foraging to compensate, could also increase the risk of predation. Researcher Matt ...

MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL (February 26, 2013) – Researchers from the College of Pharmacy and Medical School working within the Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota, have partnered to identify genetic variations that may help signal which acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients will benefit or not benefit from one of the newest antileukemic agents. Their study is published today in Clinical Cancer Research. In the latest study, U of M researchers evaluated how inherited genetic polymorphisms in CD33, a protein that naturally occurs in most leukemia cells, could affect ...

Most first-time mothers wait until after 6 weeks postpartum to resume vaginal sex following childbirth and women who have an operative vaginal birth, caesarean section, perineal tear or episiotomy appear to wait longer, suggests a new study published today (27 February) in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. The study, conducted by the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Australia, used data from the Maternal Health Study, a large prospective pregnancy cohort in which data were collected from self-administered questionnaires in early pregnancy ...

Alexandria, Va.—February 26, 2013— More than two-thirds (67%) of small business leaders say basic research funded by the federal government is important to private sector innovation, according to a new nationwide survey of small business owners/operators commissioned by Research!America. In addition, nearly half (45%) say medical research funding to universities and other non-governmental research institutions should not be cut as part of sequestration, and a plurality (40%) say that such across-the-board cuts are not a smart strategy for reducing the deficit. The survey ...

(SALT LAKE CITY)—An estimated 300,000 U.S. patients get surgical site infections every year, and while the causes are varied, a new University of Utah study suggests that some who get an infection can blame it partly on their genes. In the Feb. 19, 2013, online edition of the journal Wound Repair and Regeneration, researchers from the University's School of Medicine show through a study of families in the Utah Population Database (UPD) that surgical site infections (SSI) appear to have a significant genetic connection, even in extended relatives. If further investigation ...

Lynch Syndrome is a heritable genetic mutation that causes colorectal, endometrial and other cancers. A cooperative study that included the University of Colorado Cancer Center, published in this month's issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, revises the risk of colorectal cancer down but other cancers up for women with Lynch Syndrome who have had endometrial cancer. "This new information helps patient care in two important ways. First, it helps us counsel women with Lynch Syndrome who have had endometrial cancer about the magnitude of their future cancer ...

Police, firefighters and other protective services workers who are repeatedly exposed to traumatic events and are new to their profession are at greater risk of developing a psychiatric disorder, according to a new study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The researchers also found that protective services workers do not appear to have a higher prevalence of mental health problems than workers in other occupations. The study results are featured in the February 2013 issue of Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness. "Our ...

Critically endangered leatherback sea turtle populations in the western Pacific Ocean may be losing their last foothold of survival on the beaches of Indonesia, according to a paper published today in the scientific journal Ecosphere by an international group of scientists. Researchers from the State University of Papua Indonesia, NOAA Fisheries Service, University of Alabama at Birmingham and World Wildlife Fund Indonesia released a report today documenting the continued decline of leatherback sea turtle nesting in the western Pacific Ocean. "At least 75 percent ...

Bridal registries might be efficient – sparing the gift-giver from hours of shopping and the recipient from having to return unwanted items. But that convenience may come at a cost: Where once the mom held great sway over selecting the intimate items that shaped the new household, now Target, Macy's and other retailers have taken over that role. "Decades ago, the main role of the mother of the bride was creating the new home for the union of two families," says Tonya Williams Bradford, assistant professor of marketing at the University of Notre Dame. "By turning to bridal ...

People think of wind as an energy source with few limits, offering an unending power source with distinct capacity advantages over sources that deplete, such as fossil fuel. Yet, new research in mesoscale atmospheric modeling by UNC Charlotte's Amanda S. Adams and Harvard University's David W. Keith, published Monday in the journal Environmental Research Letters, suggests that the power capacity of large-scale wind farms may have been significantly overestimated. With large-scale wind farms, as many as hundreds of turbines mounted on tall towers and connected to the ...

Though it's most often associated with disorders like diabetes, Harvard researchers have shown how the signaling pathway of insulin and insulin-like peptides plays another critical role in the body – helping to regulate learning and memory. In addition to showing that the insulin-like peptides play a critical role in regulating the activity of neurons involved in learning and memory, a team of researchers led by Yun Zhang, Associate Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, show that the interaction between the molecules can fine-tune how, or even if, learning ...