ScienceDaily: Top Health News

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• Critical gaps discovered in breast cancer research
• Finding the place where the brain creates illusory shapes and surfaces
• When cells 'eat' their own power plants: Scientists solve mystery of basic cellular process
• Biological link between diabetes and heart disease discovered
• National screening strategy for hepatitis C urged for Canada
• Small brain biopsies can be used to grow patient's own brain cells
• Cocaine use may increase HIV vulnerability
• Researchers ferret out function of autism gene
• Researchers gain insight into 'lazy ear'
• The immune system benefits from life in the countryside
• Niacin, the fountain of youth
• Leukemia cells are addicted to healthy genes
• Forty-eight new genetic variants associated with MS
• Psychotropic medication use in young children leveling off
• ER visits for kids with concussions skyrocketing
• Atherosclerosis: The Janus-like nature of JAM-A
• And in the beginning was histone 1
• New compounds display strong therapeutic potential for cystic fibrosis
• Aspirin may act on blood platelets to improve survival in colon cancer patients
• Erratic proteins: New insights into a transport mechanism
• Organized screening for prostate cancer does more harm than good
• Study finds new moves in protein's evolution
• New paradigm for nanoscale resolution MRI experimentally achieved
• Cell nuclei harbor factories that transcribe genes

Critical gaps discovered in breast cancer research Posted: 30 Sep 2013 06:16 PM PDT Critical gaps have been identified in breast cancer research. Scientists report on a gap analysis that critically assessed issues and new challenges emerging from recent breast cancer research, and propose strategies for translating solutions into practice.

Finding the place where the brain creates illusory shapes and surfaces Posted: 30 Sep 2013 12:27 PM PDT Neuroscientists have identified the location in the brain's visual cortex responsible for generating a common perceptual illusion: Seeing shapes and surfaces that don't really exist when viewing a fragmented background.

When cells 'eat' their own power plants: Scientists solve mystery of basic cellular process Posted: 30 Sep 2013 11:05 AM PDT A team of scientists reports that they have solved the mystery of a basic biological function essential to cellular health. By discovering a mechanism by which mitochondria signal that they need to be eliminated, the team has opened the door to potential research into cures for disorders such as Parkinson's disease that are believed to be caused by dysfunctional mitochondria in neurons.

Biological link between diabetes and heart disease discovered Posted: 30 Sep 2013 09:18 AM PDT Researchers have identified for the first time a biological pathway that is activated when blood sugar levels are abnormally high and causes irregular heartbeats, a condition known as cardiac arrhythmia that is linked with heart failure and sudden cardiac death.

National screening strategy for hepatitis C urged for Canada Posted: 30 Sep 2013 09:16 AM PDT Canada should begin screening 'Baby Boomers' for the hepatitis C virus infection, since this age group is likely the largest group to have the illness, and most don't know they have it, say a group of liver specialists. Unlike many other chronic viral infections, early treatment makes hepatitis C curable.

Small brain biopsies can be used to grow patient's own brain cells Posted: 30 Sep 2013 08:41 AM PDT Scientists have grown brain cells in the laboratory that may be re-integrated into patients' brains to treat neurological conditions. Research shows biopsied brain cells can be used to grow new healthy cells with powerful attributes to protect the brain from future injury. These cells may hopefully yield specific cell types needed for particular treatments, or cross the "blood-brain barrier" as specific therapeutic agents released directly into the brain.

Cocaine use may increase HIV vulnerability Posted: 30 Sep 2013 08:41 AM PDT Cocaine use may increase one's vulnerability to HIV infection, according to a new research. In the report, scientists show that cocaine alters immune cells, called "quiescent CD4 T cells," to render them more susceptible to the virus, and at the same time, to allow for increased proliferation of the virus.

Researchers ferret out function of autism gene Posted: 30 Sep 2013 08:41 AM PDT Researchers say it's clear that some cases of autism are hereditary, but have struggled to draw direct links between the condition and particular genes. Researchers have found that mutations in one autism-linked gene, dubbed NHE9, which is involved in transporting substances in and out of structures within the cell, causes communication problems among brain cells that likely contribute to autism.

Researchers gain insight into 'lazy ear' Posted: 30 Sep 2013 08:38 AM PDT Short-term hearing loss during childhood may lead to persistent hearing deficits, long after basic auditory sensitivity has returned to normal. Researchers have gained new insight into how this works.

The immune system benefits from life in the countryside Posted: 30 Sep 2013 07:18 AM PDT Research has demonstrated that exposure to a farming environment may prevent or dampen hypersensitivities and allergies -- even in adults.

Niacin, the fountain of youth Posted: 30 Sep 2013 07:18 AM PDT The vitamin niacin has a life-prolonging effect, as demonstrated in roundworms. This study also concludes that so-called reactive oxygen species are healthy, which disagrees with other research findings.

Leukemia cells are addicted to healthy genes Posted: 30 Sep 2013 06:39 AM PDT Researchers have discovered that a "standoff" between a mutated gene and its normal counterpart keeps certain cancer cells alive.

Forty-eight new genetic variants associated with MS Posted: 30 Sep 2013 06:38 AM PDT Scientists have identified an additional 48 genetic variants influencing the risk of developing multiple sclerosis. This work nearly doubles the number of known genetic risk factors and thereby provides additional key insights into the biology of this debilitating neurological condition. The study is the largest investigation of multiple sclerosis genetics to date.

Psychotropic medication use in young children leveling off Posted: 30 Sep 2013 06:38 AM PDT The use of psychotropic prescription medications to treat ADHD, mood disorders, anxiety and other mental health disorders in very young children appears to have leveled off.

ER visits for kids with concussions skyrocketing Posted: 30 Sep 2013 06:38 AM PDT Researchers report a skyrocketing increase in the number of visits to the emergency department for kids with sports-related traumatic brain injuries, such as concussions. The study shows that emergency visits for sports-related TBI increased 92 percent between 2002 and 2011.

Atherosclerosis: The Janus-like nature of JAM-A Posted: 30 Sep 2013 06:37 AM PDT A new study sheds light on the role of the adhesion molecule JAM-A in the recruitment of immune cells to the inner layer of arteries – which promotes the development of atherosclerosis.

And in the beginning was histone 1 Posted: 30 Sep 2013 06:37 AM PDT A research team has identified an essential protein for embryonic viability during the first cell divisions in the fly Drosophila. This protein, called dBigH1, which is a variant of histone 1, could also be associated with fertility issues.

New compounds display strong therapeutic potential for cystic fibrosis Posted: 30 Sep 2013 06:37 AM PDT Cystic fibrosis is a lethal genetic disorder that in France affects one child per 4,500 births. An international team has recently discovered two new compounds that could be used to treat patients carrying the most common mutation. By means of virtual screening and experiments on mice and human cells in culture, the scientists were able to screen 200,000 compounds and selected two that allowed the causal mutated protein to express itself and fulfill its function.

Aspirin may act on blood platelets to improve survival in colon cancer patients Posted: 30 Sep 2013 06:35 AM PDT Researchers believe they have discovered how aspirin improves survival in patients diagnosed with colon cancer.

Erratic proteins: New insights into a transport mechanism Posted: 30 Sep 2013 06:35 AM PDT The outer membrane of bacteria contains many proteins that form tiny pores. They are important for absorbing nutrients and transmitting signals into the cell. Research has now shown for the first time at atomic resolution, that these pore proteins are transported in an unstructured, constantly changing state to the outer bacterial membrane.

Organized screening for prostate cancer does more harm than good Posted: 29 Sep 2013 11:26 AM PDT Prostate cancer screening using the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test is widely used in France despite a lack of evidence showing that it reduces cancer deaths. Now, researchers have shown that men experience more harm than good from routine PSA screening.

Study finds new moves in protein's evolution Posted: 29 Sep 2013 11:23 AM PDT Highlighting an important but unexplored area of evolution, scientists have found evidence that, over hundreds of millions of years, an essential protein has evolved chiefly by changing how it moves, rather than by changing its basic molecular structure. The work has implications not only for the understanding of protein evolution, but also for the design of antibiotics and other drugs that target the protein in question.

New paradigm for nanoscale resolution MRI experimentally achieved Posted: 27 Sep 2013 09:35 AM PDT A team of researchers has devised a novel nuclear magnetic resonance imaging technique that delivers a roughly 10-nanometer spatial resolution. This represents a significant advance in MRI sensitivity -- modern MRI techniques commonly used in medical imaging yield spatial resolutions on the millimeter length scale, with the highest-resolution experimental instruments giving spatial resolution of a few micrometers.

Cell nuclei harbor factories that transcribe genes Posted: 27 Sep 2013 09:34 AM PDT Copies of the DNA exit the nucleus to be read and translated into proteins in the cell cytoplasm. The transit between the nucleus and the cytoplasm takes place through the nuclear pores, genuine "customs agents" that monitor the import-export between these two compartments. Researchers have just discovered how nuclear pores also regulate the production speed of these DNA copies.

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