ScienceDaily: Top Health News

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• A cup of coffee a day may keep retinal damage away, study shows
• Reducing just six risk factors could prevent 37 million deaths from chronic diseases over 15 years
• Mammography controversy needs greater participation to inform decisions
• Women going through menopause need to be better supported at work
• For the first time, proof of what hormone replacement therapy does to genes involved in breast cancer
• Big sisters do better: New study of siblings finds eldest girls have the edge
• Better sleep predicts longer survival time for women with advanced breast cancer
• Key protein enhances memory, learning
• Exploring genetics behind Alzheimer's resiliency
• Novel analyses improve identification of cancer-associated genes from microarray data
• Study shows link between sleep apnea, hospital maternal deaths
• Out of shape? Your memory may suffer
• Pediatricians call for a Vitamin K tracking system for babies not getting shots
• A transcription factor called SLUG helps determines type of breast cancer
• Autoimmune diseases may succumb to new drug strategy
• 30-year puzzle in breast cancer solved
• New myeloma-obesity research shows drugs can team with body's defenses
• Small variations in genetic code can team up to have big impact
• Sharp decline in maternal, child deaths globally, new data show
• Elevated liver enzyme levels linked to higher gestational diabetes risk
• How bacteria exploit proteins to trigger potentially lethal infections
• UK has one of the highest death rates for children in western Europe
• MERS coronavirus can be transmitted from camel to humans
• New form of treatment to reduce risk of surgery-related ischemic brain injury?
• Using speed of video game processors to improve cancer patient care
• World's smallest, leadless heart pacemaker implanted
• New smart phone apps help doctors manage pain patients
• Atypical form of Alzheimer's disease may be present in more widespread number of patients than thought
• 10-year study shows 'Lethal Factor' could be X-factor for new anthrax vaccine
• Statins for kidney disease patients: Protection for heart but no effects on kidneys
• Investigators find something fishy with classical evidence for dietary fish recommendations
• Electronic nose sniffs out prostate cancer using urine samples
• Statin use associated with reduced risk of prostate cancer recurrence
• Quit bugging me! Tips on coping with bug bites this summer
• New syndrome caused by mutations in AHDC1

A cup of coffee a day may keep retinal damage away, study shows Posted: 02 May 2014 06:30 PM PDT Coffee drinkers, rejoice! Aside from java's energy jolt, food scientists say you may reap another health benefit from a daily cup of joe: prevention of deteriorating eyesight and possible blindness from retinal degeneration due to glaucoma, aging and diabetes.

Reducing just six risk factors could prevent 37 million deaths from chronic diseases over 15 years Posted: 02 May 2014 05:47 PM PDT Reducing or curbing just six modifiable risk factors—tobacco use, harmful alcohol use, salt intake, high blood pressure and blood sugar, and obesity—to globally-agreed target levels could prevent more than 37 million premature deaths over 15 years, from the four main non-communicable diseases (NCDs; cardiovascular diseases, chronic respiratory disease, cancers, and diabetes) according to new research.

Mammography controversy needs greater participation to inform decisions Posted: 02 May 2014 02:20 PM PDT Doctors have called for any decision to participate in mammography to be a based on an informed choice and consideration of all factors, rather than just be an automatic process.

Women going through menopause need to be better supported at work Posted: 02 May 2014 02:20 PM PDT All women go through the menopause, and most women work, so how does the menopause affect women at work? New results indicate that many women need more managerial support going through the menopause; otherwise their experience could be lost to the workforce.

For the first time, proof of what hormone replacement therapy does to genes involved in breast cancer Posted: 02 May 2014 02:20 PM PDT Researchers have measured activity of genes associated with breast cancer in women before and while, they took different types of HRT. They found that an HRT used in the WHI trial had a greater activating effect on these genes than a "natural" formulation applied via an estrogen gel applied to the skin in combination with oral progesterone. This shows that varying the HRT and the way it is taken can have very significant effects on the genes associated with breast cancer.

Big sisters do better: New study of siblings finds eldest girls have the edge Posted: 02 May 2014 01:04 PM PDT A new study has revealed that oldest children are the most ambitious, especially girls, and a wider gap between siblings increases the chances of children achieving higher levels of qualifications.

Better sleep predicts longer survival time for women with advanced breast cancer Posted: 02 May 2014 10:25 AM PDT A new study reports that sleep efficiency, a ratio of time asleep to time spent in bed, is predictive of survival time for women with advanced breast cancer. According to the authors, this is the first study to demonstrate the long-term detrimental effects of objectively quantified sleep on survival in women with advanced cancer. Although the mechanism of the relationship between sleep quality and advanced breast cancer survival is unclear, they suggested that sleep disruption may lead to diminished immune function or impaired hormonal stress responses that are more directly responsible for the decrease in survival.

Key protein enhances memory, learning Posted: 02 May 2014 10:24 AM PDT A protein previously implicated in disease plays such a positive role in learning and memory that it may someday contribute to cures of cognitive impairments, researchers have discovered. The findings regarding the potential virtues of fatty acid binding protein 5 -- usually associated with cancer and psoriasis -- have been outlined in a new article.

Exploring genetics behind Alzheimer's resiliency Posted: 02 May 2014 10:02 AM PDT Autopsies have revealed that some individuals develop the cellular changes indicative of Alzheimer's disease without ever showing clinical symptoms in their lifetime. Additionally, memory researchers have discovered a potential genetic variant in these asymptomatic individuals that may make brains more resilient against Alzheimer's.

Novel analyses improve identification of cancer-associated genes from microarray data Posted: 02 May 2014 10:02 AM PDT A new gene expression analysis approach for identifying cancer genes has been identified by scientists. The study results challenge the current paradigm of microarray data analysis and suggest that the new method may improve identification of cancer-associated genes. Typical microarray-based gene expression analyses compare gene expression in adjacent normal and cancerous tissues. The new approach demonstrated that ranking genes based on inter-tumor variation in gene expression outperforms traditional analytical approaches. The results were consistent across 4 major cancer types: breast, colorectal, lung, and prostate cancer.

Study shows link between sleep apnea, hospital maternal deaths Posted: 02 May 2014 10:02 AM PDT Pregnant women with obstructive sleep apnea are more than five times as likely to die in the hospital as those without the sleep disorder, a comprehensive American national study found. Among delivery-related hospital discharges, sleep apnea was also associated with an increase in severe medical conditions that are top causes of maternal death, including preeclampsia, eclampsia, an enlarged heart and pulmonary blood clots, reported the study.

Out of shape? Your memory may suffer Posted: 02 May 2014 10:02 AM PDT Here's another reason to drop that doughnut and hit the treadmill: A new study suggests aerobic fitness affects long-term memory. "The findings show that lower-fit individuals lose more memory across time," said a co-author. The study is one of the first to investigate young, supposedly healthy adults. Previous research on fitness and memory has focused largely on children, whose brains are still developing, and the elderly, whose memories are declining.

Pediatricians call for a Vitamin K tracking system for babies not getting shots Posted: 02 May 2014 10:01 AM PDT Doctors have seen a rise in late-onset vitamin K deficiency bleeding in young infants due to parents declining the shot at birth, and are calling for a tracking system of these children. Over eight months, these physicians saw and diagnosed seven infants, ages 7 weeks to 20 weeks, with vitamin K deficiency bleeding (VKDB), formerly known as hemorrhagic disease of the newborn. Four of the infants had intracranial hemorrhaging, with two requiring urgent neurosurgical intervention, and another with bleeding from the intestines.

A transcription factor called SLUG helps determines type of breast cancer Posted: 02 May 2014 10:01 AM PDT A new study determines that the transcription factor SLUG plays a role in regulating stem cell function. In mice without SLUG, basal cells are reprogrammed into a luminal-cell fate, luminal cells hyper-proliferate, and stem-cell function necessary for tissue regeneration and tumor initiation is inhibited.

Autoimmune diseases may succumb to new drug strategy Posted: 02 May 2014 07:25 AM PDT New pharmaceuticals to fight autoimmune diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis, may be identified more effectively by adding genome analysis to standard drug screening, according to a new study. The three potential drug candidates chosen for this study, selected from a large library of screened chemicals, each knocked down the response of Th17 cells, a type of immune cell that drives many autoimmune diseases by attacking normal cells in the body. More specifically, the drugs homed in on an essential molecule within the Th17 cells.

30-year puzzle in breast cancer solved Posted: 02 May 2014 07:25 AM PDT Mice lacking one copy of a gene called CTCF have abnormal DNA methylation and are markedly predisposed to cancer, new research demonstrates. CTCF is a very well-studied DNA binding protein that exerts a major influence on the architecture of the human genome, but had not been previously linked to cancer. Over 30 years ago, frequent loss of one copy of chromosome 16 was first reported in breast cancer but the gene or genes responsible remained to be identified. This new research answers that 30-year long puzzle.

New myeloma-obesity research shows drugs can team with body's defenses Posted: 02 May 2014 07:25 AM PDT Obesity increases the risk of myeloma, and with obesity rates climbing particularly in the Hispanic population, one researcher is tracing the ways it affects cancer and use those pathways for more effective treatments. "I'm predicting an increase in multiple myeloma," said the researcher, "and with the obesity problems we see in the Hispanic population, there could be a serious health disparity on the horizon."

Small variations in genetic code can team up to have big impact Posted: 02 May 2014 07:25 AM PDT Large sets of variations in the genetic code that do not individually appear to have much effect can collectively produce significant changes in an organism's physical characteristics, scientists have definitively demonstrated. Studying the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, researchers found that the effects of these genetic variants can depend on four or more other variants in an individual's genome.

Sharp decline in maternal, child deaths globally, new data show Posted: 02 May 2014 07:25 AM PDT Since the start of an international effort to address maternal and child mortality, millions of lives have been saved globally, a new study shows. Forty-five countries, including 27 in the developing world, are on track to meet the MDG 4 target of reducing child death rates by two-thirds of 1990 levels by 2015, while only 16 countries -- most in Central and Eastern Europe -- are likely to achieve the MDG 5 target of a 75% reduction in their 1990 maternal death rate by 2015.

Elevated liver enzyme levels linked to higher gestational diabetes risk Posted: 02 May 2014 07:24 AM PDT Women with high levels of a common liver enzyme measured prior to pregnancy were twice as likely to subsequently develop gestational diabetes than those with the lowest levels, according to a study. The liver plays an important role in regulating glucose levels in the body. The liver enzyme, called gamma-glutamyl transferase (known as GGT), is a common marker of liver function and has also been associated with insulin resistance, which can be a precursor to gestational diabetes and type 2 diabetes.

How bacteria exploit proteins to trigger potentially lethal infections Posted: 02 May 2014 07:24 AM PDT The way bacteria exploits human proteins during infections has recently become better understood, thanks to new research. Scientists studied how Staphylococcus aureus, which can cause life-threatening human infections, attach to two proteins fibronectin and fibrinogen found in human blood. The human proteins play important roles in clot formation and wound healing and the bacteria appear to exploit them during the process of infection.

UK has one of the highest death rates for children in western Europe Posted: 02 May 2014 05:14 AM PDT The UK has one of the highest rates of death for children under five in western Europe, according to new research. Although, by international standards, the UK has very low rates of deaths in children, the figures show that within western Europe, the UK has a higher rate of deaths in children than nearly every other country in the region. The mortality rate in the UK for children under five is 4.9 deaths per 1000 births, more than double that in Iceland (2.4 per 1000 births), the country with the lowest mortality rates. 3800 children under five died in the UK in 2013, the highest absolute number of deaths in the region.

MERS coronavirus can be transmitted from camel to humans Posted: 02 May 2014 05:13 AM PDT The so-called Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) coronavirus was first found in June 2012 in a patient from Saudi Arabia, who suffered from severe pneumonia. Since this time, more than 300 persons have developed an infection, of whom about a third died. The fact that the Arabian camel is the origin of the infectious disease has been confirmed recently. The transmission pathways of the viruses, however, have not been clear until now.

New form of treatment to reduce risk of surgery-related ischemic brain injury? Posted: 02 May 2014 05:13 AM PDT Ischemic brain injury due to heart and vascular surgery causes more than 100,000 deaths annually in Europe and the United States. In addition, approximately 10–20% of patients undergoing heart and vascular surgery – at least 1.5 million people in Europe and the United States every year – suffer from ischemic brain injury as a side-effect of their surgery. Now researchers suggest that they may have come up with a new treatment to this problem.

Using speed of video game processors to improve cancer patient care Posted: 02 May 2014 05:12 AM PDT The speed of video game processors are being used to promote research that is aimed at improving patient care, a new study says. In recent years, video game processors, known as graphic processing units, or GPUs, have become massively powerful as game makers support increasingly elaborate video graphics with rapid-fire processing. Now medical researchers are looking to these GPUs for inspiration. One practical application is reducing the time required to calculate the radiation dose delivered to a tumor during proton radiotherapy, for example. The faster video processors can reduce the time of the most complex calculation method from 70 hours to just 10 seconds.

World's smallest, leadless heart pacemaker implanted Posted: 02 May 2014 05:12 AM PDT The smallest heart pacemaker available is about the size of a vitamin pill, and now another American hospital is about to test this emerging technology. "With this investigational device, the battery, the pacing electrodes, everything is in a little piece of metal sitting inside the heart. We believe that will eliminate a lot of risk for infection and complications," said a cardiologist and principal investigator of the trial.

New smart phone apps help doctors manage pain patients Posted: 01 May 2014 06:14 PM PDT Mobile medicine is helping chronic pain patients cope with and manage their condition thanks to new smartphone apps, which can track patients from a distance and monitor pain, mood, physical activity, drug side effects, and treatment compliance. Investigators found that internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy could significantly decrease pain levels, improve function, and decrease costs compared to standard care. They added that electronic diaries maintained by patients are more effective than paper diaries for evaluating pain levels, daily activities, treatment compliance and mood.

Atypical form of Alzheimer's disease may be present in more widespread number of patients than thought Posted: 01 May 2014 04:28 PM PDT A subtype of Alzheimer's disease has been identified by neuroscientists that they say is neither well recognized nor treated appropriately. The variant, called hippocampal sparing AD, made up 11 percent of the 1,821 AD-confirmed brains examined by researchers -- suggesting this subtype is relatively widespread in the general population. It is estimated that 5.2 million Americans are living with AD. And with nearly half of hippocampal sparing AD patients being misdiagnosed, this could mean that well over 600,000 Americans make up this AD variant, researchers say.

10-year study shows 'Lethal Factor' could be X-factor for new anthrax vaccine Posted: 01 May 2014 04:26 PM PDT A section of the anthrax toxin Lethal Factor that could help produce a more effective vaccine, researchers report. Anthrax is a potentially lethal disease caused by a bacterium. The bacteria produce spores that when inhaled, ingested or absorbed into the skin release toxins. When anthrax affects the lungs or intestines it can cause death within a few days. Infection can occur from contact with infected livestock, meat or hides, but most people know about anthrax from its use as a biological weapon, notably in the 2001 attacks through the US postal system.

Statins for kidney disease patients: Protection for heart but no effects on kidneys Posted: 01 May 2014 04:24 PM PDT For patients with chronic kidney disease, statin treatment appears to lower LDL cholesterol, decrease the risk of heart disease and stroke, and has no impact on the development of kidney failure, research concluded. Investigators have said that statin treatment is safe and well tolerated for those with chronic kidney disease.

Investigators find something fishy with classical evidence for dietary fish recommendations Posted: 01 May 2014 01:56 PM PDT Oily fish are currently recommended as part of a heart healthy diet. This guideline is partially based on the landmark 1970s study that connected the low incidence of coronary artery disease (CAD) among the Inuit of Greenland to their diet, rich in whale and seal blubber. Now, researchers have found that the Inuit people actually suffered from CAD at the same rate as their Caucasian counterparts, meaning there is insufficient evidence to back previous claims on which dietary recommendations were built.

Electronic nose sniffs out prostate cancer using urine samples Posted: 01 May 2014 01:56 PM PDT We may soon be able to make easy and early diagnoses of prostate cancer by smell. Investigators have established that a novel noninvasive technique can detect prostate cancer using an electronic nose. In a proof of principle study, the eNose successfully discriminated between prostate cancer and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) by "sniffing" urine headspace (the space directly above the urine sample). Results using the eNose are comparable to testing prostate specific antigen (PSA).

Statin use associated with reduced risk of prostate cancer recurrence Posted: 01 May 2014 01:56 PM PDT Men who begin taking statins after prostate cancer surgery are less likely to have a recurrence of their cancer, according to a retrospective analysis. "Our findings suggest that beginning statins after surgery may reduce the risk of prostate cancer recurrence, so it's not too late to start statins after a diagnosis," said the lead author.

Quit bugging me! Tips on coping with bug bites this summer Posted: 01 May 2014 10:25 AM PDT Warmer weather has folks venturing outdoors, and while the risk of running into a snake, bear or other menacing animal exists, the critters far more likely to be encountered in the great outdoors are ticks, mosquitos and other insects.

New syndrome caused by mutations in AHDC1 Posted: 01 May 2014 09:34 AM PDT The gene underlying a newly recognized genetic syndrome that has symptoms of sleep apnea, delayed speech and hyptonia, or generalized upper body weakness, has been discovered by researchers. "Little is known about this gene and the discovery of its link to this syndrome is an important advance towards analyzing its function," said a corresponding author. "This study illustrates a remarkable confluence of advanced technical development, data sharing and detailed clinical studies."

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