ScienceDaily: Top Health News

---

• Physicists, biologists unite to expose how cancer spreads
• New drug stimulates immune system to kill infected cells in animal model of hepatitis B infection
• Hitting 'reset' in protein synthesis restores myelination: Suggests new treatment for misfolded protein diseases such as Alzheimer's
• Battery of tests on cancer cells shows them as 'squishy,' yet tactically strong
• Competing pathways affect early differentiation of higher brain structures
• Weight loss programs via virtual reality
• Drivers education for older drivers remains for 2 years, researcher finds
• Developmental neurobiology: How the brain folds to fit
• Intermittent fasting may help those with diabetes and cardiovascular disease, study suggests
• Protein shaped like a spider: Immune protein C4BP is potentially suitable as a transporter for drugs
• Flu and bacteria: Better prognosis for this potentially fatal combination
• Scientists discover new way protein degradation is regulated
• U.S. health insurance survey: 84 million people were uninsured for a time or underinsured in 2012
• Cardio could hold key to cancer cure
• Researchers 'capture' replication of human genome for first time
• Suppressing protein may stem Alzheimer's disease process
• Potential diabetes breakthrough: Hormone spurs beta cell production
• Gene networks in brains of deceased patients reveal potential therapy for Alzheimer's disease
• Prevention programs dramatically cut substance abuse among teens
• Teaching the next generation of science learners
• Reviving a foe of cancer
• Influence of the family on back pain sufferers
• Insight on Pandemic Flu
• Using microbubbles to improve cancer therapy

Physicists, biologists unite to expose how cancer spreads Posted: 26 Apr 2013 12:25 PM PDT A multi-institutional study has found that cancer cells that can break out of a tumor and invade other organs are more aggressive and nimble than nonmalignant cells.

New drug stimulates immune system to kill infected cells in animal model of hepatitis B infection Posted: 26 Apr 2013 12:25 PM PDT A novel drug developed and tested in an animal model suppresses hepatitis B virus infection by stimulating the immune system and inducing loss of infected cells.

Hitting 'reset' in protein synthesis restores myelination: Suggests new treatment for misfolded protein diseases such as Alzheimer's Posted: 26 Apr 2013 10:50 AM PDT Neuroscientists show how turning down synthesis of a protein improves nerve, muscle function in a common neuropathy. A potential new treatment strategy for patients with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease is on the horizon. This research may also have relevance for other diseases that result from misfolded proteins, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's, multiple sclerosis, Type 1 diabetes, cancer and mad cow disease.

Battery of tests on cancer cells shows them as 'squishy,' yet tactically strong Posted: 26 Apr 2013 10:50 AM PDT A team of student researchers and their professors from 20 laboratories around the country have gotten a new view of cancer cells. The work could shed light on the transforming physical properties of these cells as they metastasize.

Competing pathways affect early differentiation of higher brain structures Posted: 26 Apr 2013 08:56 AM PDT A new study shows how the strength and timing of competing molecular signals during brain development has generated natural and presumably adaptive differences in a brain region known as the telencephalon -- much earlier than scientists had previously believed.

Weight loss programs via virtual reality Posted: 26 Apr 2013 08:56 AM PDT There are many barriers that can interfere with weight loss. For those attending face-to-face weight loss programs, barriers can include travel, conflict with work and home, need for childcare, and loss of anonymity. In a new study investigators continue to explore alternative weight management delivery methods to eliminate some of these barriers. The solution they are investigating -- virtual reality for weight loss and weight maintenance.

Drivers education for older drivers remains for 2 years, researcher finds Posted: 26 Apr 2013 08:56 AM PDT In seeming contrast to the notion that the elderly often have memory problems, a new study finds driver retraining to be an effective strategy for improving the safe-driving habits of older drivers over the long term. Participants who received simulator training and video critiques of their driving performance two years prior increased their likelihood of scanning while negotiating an intersection by 100 percent.

Developmental neurobiology: How the brain folds to fit Posted: 26 Apr 2013 08:55 AM PDT During fetal development of the mammalian brain, the cerebral cortex undergoes a marked expansion in surface area in some species, which is accommodated by folding of the tissue in species with most expanded neuron numbers and surface area. Researchers have now identified a key regulator of this crucial process.

Intermittent fasting may help those with diabetes and cardiovascular disease, study suggests Posted: 26 Apr 2013 08:54 AM PDT Intermittent fasting is all the rage, but scientific evidence showing how such regimes affect human health is not always clear cut. Now a scientific review suggests that fasting diets may help those with diabetes and cardiovascular disease, alongside established weight loss claims.

Protein shaped like a spider: Immune protein C4BP is potentially suitable as a transporter for drugs Posted: 26 Apr 2013 08:54 AM PDT The protein C4BP is similar to a spider in its spatial form with eight "arms." This leads the scientists to unconventional ideas -- the protein is possibly suitable as a scaffold for the transport of active pharmaceutical substances, particularly biomolecules.

Flu and bacteria: Better prognosis for this potentially fatal combination Posted: 26 Apr 2013 08:54 AM PDT Scientists have provided insights into how much harm bacteria can cause to the lung of people having the flu. The results could prompt the development of alternative treatments for flu-related bacterial infections, to improve patient outcome and prevent permanent lung damage.

Scientists discover new way protein degradation is regulated Posted: 26 Apr 2013 08:46 AM PDT Researchers have identified the mechanism by which the cell's proteasome ramps up its activity to take care of unwanted and potentially toxic proteins. The finding has implications for treating muscle wasting and neurodegeneration, and suggests that small molecule inhibitors of this mechanism may be clinically useful in treating multiple myeloma.

U.S. health insurance survey: 84 million people were uninsured for a time or underinsured in 2012 Posted: 26 Apr 2013 04:38 AM PDT 84 million people -- nearly half of working-age US adults -- went without health insurance for a time last year or had out-of-pocket costs that were so high relative to income they were considered underinsured.

Cardio could hold key to cancer cure Posted: 26 Apr 2013 04:38 AM PDT Regular exercise has been proven to reduce the chance of developing liver cancer in a world-first mice study that carries hope for patients at risk from hepatocellular carcinoma.

Researchers 'capture' replication of human genome for first time Posted: 25 Apr 2013 10:28 AM PDT Scientists have for the first time obtained a panoramic photo of the proteins that take part in human DNA division, a process known as replication.

Suppressing protein may stem Alzheimer's disease process Posted: 25 Apr 2013 10:26 AM PDT Scientists have discovered a potential strategy for developing treatments to stem the disease process in Alzheimer's disease. It's based on unclogging removal of toxic debris that accumulates in patients' brains, by blocking activity of a little-known regulator protein called CD33. Too much CD33 activity may promote late-onset Alzheimer's by preventing support cells from clearing out toxic plaques. Future medications that impede CD33 activity might help prevent or treat the disorder.

Potential diabetes breakthrough: Hormone spurs beta cell production Posted: 25 Apr 2013 10:26 AM PDT Researchers have discovered a new hormone that holds promise for a dramatically more effective treatment of type 2 diabetes, a metabolic illness afflicting an estimated 26 million Americans. The researchers believe the hormone might also have a role in treating type 1, or juvenile, diabetes.

Gene networks in brains of deceased patients reveal potential therapy for Alzheimer's disease Posted: 25 Apr 2013 10:26 AM PDT Most information about the cause of Alzheimer's is based on studies from animal models. Now, a study examines the brain tissue of deceased human patients and sheds light on dysfunctions in molecular networks in the brain that are at the root of Alzheimer's. By showing that the TYROBP gene plays a key role in disrupting immune system pathways in the brains of Alzheimer's patients, the study reveals a potential therapeutic target for preventing brain damage.

Prevention programs dramatically cut substance abuse among teens Posted: 25 Apr 2013 10:24 AM PDT Young adults reduce their overall prescription drug misuse up to 65 percent if they are part of a community-based prevention effort while still in middle school, according to researchers.

Teaching the next generation of science learners Posted: 25 Apr 2013 10:23 AM PDT New science education standards present challenges and opportunities, scholar says.

Reviving a foe of cancer Posted: 25 Apr 2013 10:23 AM PDT Cancer cells are a problem for the body because they multiply recklessly, refuse to die and blithely metastasize to set up shop in places where they don't belong. One protein that keeps healthy cells from behaving this way is a tumor suppressor named p53. This protein stops potentially precancerous cells from dividing and induces suicide in those that are damaged beyond repair. Not surprisingly, p53's critical function is disrupted in most cancers.

Influence of the family on back pain sufferers Posted: 25 Apr 2013 06:13 AM PDT Researchers have published a research paper that focuses on the social factors involved in back pain sufferers returning to work, to give a wider context to the medical factors that are often considered.

Insight on Pandemic Flu Posted: 25 Apr 2013 06:12 AM PDT Pandemic flu continues to threaten public health, especially in the wake of the recent emergence of an H7N9 low pathogenic avian influenza strain in humans.

Using microbubbles to improve cancer therapy Posted: 24 Apr 2013 07:24 PM PDT Microbubbles decrease the time and acoustic power of ultrasound required to heat and destroy an embedded target, finds new research. If these results can be replicated in the clinic, microbubbles could improve the efficiency of high intensity ultrasound treatment of solid tumors.

You are subscribed to email updates from ScienceDaily: Top Health News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610