ScienceDaily: Top Health News

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• What is it about your face? Researchers provide new insight into why each human face is unique
• Yeast, human stem cells drive discovery of new Parkinson's disease drug targets
• Gene variants in immune system pathways correlated with composition of microbes of human body
• Obesity may increase risk of Clostridium difficile infection
• Researchers apply brainpower to understanding neural stem cell differentiation
• Bee sting allergy could be a defense response gone haywire
• Genetic mutation provides clues to battling childhood obesity
• Review of daily aspirin dosage highlights concerns about side effects
• Conflicting criteria for diagnosing polycystic ovary syndrome clarified
• Curing HIV/AIDS gets tougher: Far more 'hidden' active virus than thought
• Global HIV vaccine shows promise in monkeys
• Sleep apnea study uncovers more hidden dangers for women
• Physicists decode decision circuit of cancer metastasis
• Gene variant that raises risk for colorectal cancer from eating processed meat present in one-in-three people
• PVC as flooring material in childhood is related to asthma 10 years later
• Need different types of tissue? Just print them!
• Overuse of radiation therapy services when urologists profit through self-referral
• Preventive effect of plant sterols in Alzheimer’s disease
• Uterine fibroids have significant impact on quality of life, workplace performance
• New links between sleep deprivation, immune system discovered
• Food additive may prevent spread of deadly new avian flu
• Seeing the song: Study aims to understand how, when the auditory system registers complex auditory-visual synchrony
• Oral bacteria create a 'fingerprint' in your mouth

What is it about your face? Researchers provide new insight into why each human face is unique Posted: 24 Oct 2013 11:33 AM PDT Researchers have found thousands of gene enhancers -- regulatory sequences of DNA that act to turn-on or amplify the expression of a specific gene -- are involved in the development of the human face. These enhancers help explain why every human face is as unique as a fingerprint.

Yeast, human stem cells drive discovery of new Parkinson's disease drug targets Posted: 24 Oct 2013 11:31 AM PDT Using a discovery platform whose components range from yeast cells to human stem cells, scientists have identified a novel Parkinson's disease drug target and a compound capable of repairing neurons derived from Parkinson's patients.

Gene variants in immune system pathways correlated with composition of microbes of human body Posted: 24 Oct 2013 09:18 AM PDT Human genes in immunity-related pathways are likely associated with the composition of an individual's microbiome, which refers to the bacteria and other microbes that live in and on the body.

Obesity may increase risk of Clostridium difficile infection Posted: 24 Oct 2013 09:17 AM PDT Researchers have identified obesity as a possible risk factor for Clostridium difficile infection. These findings may contribute to improved clinical surveillance of those at highest risk of disease.

Researchers apply brainpower to understanding neural stem cell differentiation Posted: 24 Oct 2013 09:14 AM PDT How do humans and other mammals get so brainy? In a new paper, researchers explain how neural stem and progenitor cells differentiate into neurons and related cells called glia. Neural stem and progenitor cells offer tremendous promise as a future treatment for neurodegenerative disorders, and understanding their differentiation is the first step towards harnessing this therapeutic potential.

Bee sting allergy could be a defense response gone haywire Posted: 24 Oct 2013 09:14 AM PDT Scientists are providing an evolutionary explanation for severe allergic reactions. Researchers show that mice injected with a small dose of bee venom were later resistant to a potentially lethal dose of the same venom. The study is the first experimental evidence that the same immune response involved in allergies may have evolved to serve a protective role against toxins.

Genetic mutation provides clues to battling childhood obesity Posted: 24 Oct 2013 09:14 AM PDT A new paper identifies a possible genetic root to the insatiable appetite and slow metabolism of some obese patients. The study, which sequenced 2,101 individuals with severe early-onset obesity, found that patients harboring mutations in a particular gene, KSR2, had an increased appetite and a slower metabolism, suggesting that drugs developed to modulate the activity of the protein encoded by the KSR2 gene could provide new treatment options for obesity and Type 2 diabetes.

Review of daily aspirin dosage highlights concerns about side effects Posted: 24 Oct 2013 09:13 AM PDT Researchers have published the most comprehensive review of the benefits and risks of a daily dose of prophylactic aspirin and warn that greater understanding of side effects is needed.

Conflicting criteria for diagnosing polycystic ovary syndrome clarified Posted: 24 Oct 2013 09:12 AM PDT A Clinical Practice Guideline (CPG) was published today for the diagnosis and treatment of polycystic ovary syndrome, the most common hormone disorder in women of reproductive age and a leading cause of infertility.

Curing HIV/AIDS gets tougher: Far more 'hidden' active virus than thought Posted: 24 Oct 2013 09:11 AM PDT Just when some scientists were becoming more hopeful about finding a strategy to outwit HIV's ability to resist, evade and otherwise survive efforts to rid it from the body, another hurdle has emerged to foil their plans, new research shows.

Global HIV vaccine shows promise in monkeys Posted: 24 Oct 2013 09:11 AM PDT The considerable diversity of HIV worldwide represents a critical challenge for designing an effective HIV vaccine. Now a scientific team shows that mosaic antigens might overcome this challenge.

Sleep apnea study uncovers more hidden dangers for women Posted: 24 Oct 2013 07:22 AM PDT A new study shows that autonomic responses -- the controls that impact such functions as blood pressure, heart rate, sweating -- are weaker in people with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), but even more so in females than males. While women with sleep apnea may appear to be healthy (i.e. blood pressure normal), their symptoms of OSA tend to be subtler, which often times means their sleep problem is missed and they get diagnosed with other conditions.

Physicists decode decision circuit of cancer metastasis Posted: 24 Oct 2013 07:22 AM PDT Researchers have deciphered the operating principles of a genetic circuit that allows cancer to metastasize. The study revealed that the decision circuit has three settings, an oddity that could open the door to cancer treatments that disrupt the circuit.

Gene variant that raises risk for colorectal cancer from eating processed meat present in one-in-three people Posted: 24 Oct 2013 07:21 AM PDT A common genetic variant that affects one in three people significantly increases the risk of colorectal cancer from the consumption of red meat and processed meat.

PVC as flooring material in childhood is related to asthma 10 years later Posted: 24 Oct 2013 07:20 AM PDT Children who had PVC floorings in the bedroom at baseline were more likely to develop asthma during the following 10 years period when compared with children living without such flooring material. Furthermore, there were indications that PVC flooring in the parents' bedrooms were stronger associated with the new cases of asthma when compared with child's bedroom. This could be an indication that prenatal exposure is of importance.

Need different types of tissue? Just print them! Posted: 24 Oct 2013 07:20 AM PDT What sounds like a dream of the future has already been the subject of research for a few years: simply printing out tissue and organs. Now scientists have further refined the technology and are able to produce various tissue types.

Overuse of radiation therapy services when urologists profit through self-referral Posted: 24 Oct 2013 07:19 AM PDT A comprehensive review of Medicare claims for more than 45,000 patients from 2005 through 2010 found that nearly all of the 146 percent increase in intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) for prostate cancer among urologists with an ownership interest in the treatment was due to self-referral, according to new research.

Preventive effect of plant sterols in Alzheimer’s disease Posted: 24 Oct 2013 06:00 AM PDT It's no secret that many of the phytochemicals in fruit and vegetables have a positive effect on our health. For instance, plant sterols (also known as phytosterols) help to lower cholesterol levels. According to a new study, they also appear to prevent the onset of Alzheimer's disease.

Uterine fibroids have significant impact on quality of life, workplace performance Posted: 24 Oct 2013 05:58 AM PDT Uterine fibroids cause significant fear and morbidity, and can compromise workplace performance, according to a recently published survey of nearly 1,000 women in the U.S. The findings shed new light on the impact, prevalence and treatment concerns related to uterine leiomyomas (fibroids), which affect up to 80 percent of women by age 50.

New links between sleep deprivation, immune system discovered Posted: 23 Oct 2013 03:39 PM PDT The fact that sleep deprivation has an impact on the function of the human immune system is well known. In a recent study, results have shown new biological links between sleep loss and the immune system. The results provide at least a partial explanation of why sleep deprivation increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes.

Food additive may prevent spread of deadly new avian flu Posted: 23 Oct 2013 03:39 PM PDT A common food additive can block a deadly new strain of avian influenza virus from infecting healthy cells, report researchers.

Seeing the song: Study aims to understand how, when the auditory system registers complex auditory-visual synchrony Posted: 23 Oct 2013 03:32 PM PDT Imagine the brain's delight when experiencing the sounds of Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" while simultaneously taking in a light show produced by a visualizer. A new study did more than that. To understand how the brain responds to complex auditory-visual stimuli like music and moving images, the study tracked parts of the auditory system involved in the perceptual processing of "Moonlight Sonata" while synchronized with the light show made by the iTunes Jelly visualizer.

Oral bacteria create a 'fingerprint' in your mouth Posted: 23 Oct 2013 03:32 PM PDT The bacteria in the human mouth -- particularly those nestled under the gums -- are as powerful as a fingerprint at identifying a person's ethnicity, new research shows.

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