ScienceDaily: Top Health News

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• Scientists find brain region that helps you make up your mind
• Study identifies protein essential for immune recognition, response to viral infection
• Gene-silencing study finds new targets for Parkinson's disease
• Update: 50 percent of patients in new brain cancer study alive after five years
• Continued increases in adhd diagnoses, treatment with meds among US children
• Study of human blood fluke parasites identifies drug resistance mutations
• New technique improves accuracy, ease of cancer diagnosis
• Breaking the code on environmental illnesses
• Study finds gene network associated with alcohol dependence
• Scientists show how cells protect DNA from catastrophic damage
• Study pinpoints cell type, brain region affected by gene mutations in autism
• Scientists find invisibility cloak that shields HIV-1 from immune system
• Scientists identify gene that regulates body weight in humans, mice
• Fungus-fighting drug may make mild flu meaner
• Preventing marijuana-induced memory problems with over-the-counter painkillers
• Attractants prevent nerve cell migration
• Cancer treatment: A step towards personalized chronotherapy

Scientists find brain region that helps you make up your mind Posted: 24 Nov 2013 05:05 PM PST One of the smallest parts of the brain is getting a second look after new research suggests it plays a crucial role in decision making.

Study identifies protein essential for immune recognition, response to viral infection Posted: 24 Nov 2013 05:05 PM PST A research team has identified an immune cell protein that is critical to setting off the body's initial response against viral infection. They found that a protein called GEF-H1 is essential to the ability of macrophages -- major contributors to the innate immune system -- to respond to viral infections like influenza.

Gene-silencing study finds new targets for Parkinson's disease Posted: 24 Nov 2013 05:05 PM PST Scientists have used RNA interference technology to reveal dozens of genes that may represent new therapeutic targets for treating Parkinson's disease. The findings also may be relevant to several diseases caused by damage to mitochondria, the biological power plants found in cells throughout the body.

Update: 50 percent of patients in new brain cancer study alive after five years Posted: 24 Nov 2013 06:35 AM PST Eight of 16 patients participating in a study of an experimental immune system therapy directed against the most aggressive malignant brain tumors – glioblastoma multiforme – survived longer than five years after diagnosis, according to new research.

Continued increases in adhd diagnoses, treatment with meds among US children Posted: 22 Nov 2013 08:27 AM PST New study reports that half of U.S. children diagnosed with ADHD received that diagnosis by age 6. The study found that an estimated two million more children in the United States (U.S.) have been diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) between 2003-04 and 2011-12. One million more U.S. children were taking medication for ADHD between 2003-04 and 2011-12.

Study of human blood fluke parasites identifies drug resistance mutations Posted: 21 Nov 2013 11:21 AM PST An international group of scientists has identified the mutations that result in drug resistance in a parasite infecting 187 million people in South America, Africa and Asia. The new finding allows detailed understanding of the drugs' mechanism of action and raises prospects of improved therapies.

New technique improves accuracy, ease of cancer diagnosis Posted: 21 Nov 2013 10:56 AM PST A team of researchers has demonstrated a technique, deformability cytometry, that measures the physical properties of individual cells and can diagnose cancer from body fluids with very high accuracy.

Breaking the code on environmental illnesses Posted: 21 Nov 2013 10:56 AM PST You may be sensitive to gluten, but you're not sure. Perhaps you can't put your finger on a recurring malaise, and your doctor is at a loss to figure it out. A diagnostic method recently developed can reveal -- on a molecular level -- the factors behind conditions thought to have environmental triggers.

Study finds gene network associated with alcohol dependence Posted: 21 Nov 2013 10:56 AM PST Using a new approach that combines genome-wide association studies with information about which human proteins interact with one another, researchers have identified a group of 39 genes that together are strongly associated with alcoholism.

Scientists show how cells protect DNA from catastrophic damage Posted: 21 Nov 2013 10:00 AM PST Researchers have unveiled a profound biological process that explains how DNA can be damaged during genome replication. In addition, the scientists developed a new analytical tool to measure the cell's response to chemotherapy, which could have an important impact on future cancer therapy.

Study pinpoints cell type, brain region affected by gene mutations in autism Posted: 21 Nov 2013 09:59 AM PST A team has identified the disruption of a single type of cell -- in a particular brain region and at a particular time in brain development -- as a significant factor in the emergence of autism.

Scientists find invisibility cloak that shields HIV-1 from immune system Posted: 21 Nov 2013 09:59 AM PST Of the two major types of HIV, only one, HIV-1, typically causes AIDS in infected people who don't receive treatment. A study reveals how HIV-1 escapes detection by essentially becoming invisible to a patient's immune system, whereas HIV-2 triggers protective immune responses in patients. This understanding of how HIV-1's "invisibility cloak" works could lead to the development of effective vaccines against HIV-1.

Scientists identify gene that regulates body weight in humans, mice Posted: 21 Nov 2013 09:59 AM PST Research has pointed to the importance of genetic factors in human obesity and has shown that heritability plays a role in 40 percent to 90 percent of cases. Now investigators have found that loss of a particular gene's function in humans and mice causes morbid obesity. The study of a morbidly obese family provides insights into pathways that control body weight and nutritional status, and the results could be useful for designing therapies for obesity and malnutrition.

Fungus-fighting drug may make mild flu meaner Posted: 21 Nov 2013 09:58 AM PST Mice given a drug commonly used in patients to fight systemic fungal infections more often succumb to what would otherwise be a mild case of the flu. The evidence shows that the drug called Amphotericin B, which has an estimated $330 million in sales around the world each year, can render a protein important for antiviral defense ineffective in both cells and mice.

Preventing marijuana-induced memory problems with over-the-counter painkillers Posted: 21 Nov 2013 09:58 AM PST In addition to being used as a recreational drug, marijuana has been used for centuries to treat a variety of conditions, from chronic pain to epilepsy. However, its medical value is greatly limited by debilitating side effects. A study has revealed the molecular pathways responsible for marijuana-induced learning and memory problems. The findings suggest that preventing these side effects could be as easy as taking an over-the-counter painkiller.

Attractants prevent nerve cell migration Posted: 21 Nov 2013 07:51 AM PST A vision is to implant nerve precursor cells in patients with Parkinson's and Huntington's diseases. However, the implanted nerve cells frequently do not migrate as hoped. Scientists have now discovered an important cause of this: Attractants secreted by the precursor cells prevent the maturing nerve cells from migrating into the brain.

Cancer treatment: A step towards personalized chronotherapy Posted: 21 Nov 2013 07:38 AM PST Cancer chronotherapy consists in administering treatment at an optimal time. Because the body is governed by precise biological rhythms, the efficacy of anti-cancer drugs can be doubled and their toxicity reduced five-fold depending on the exact timing of their administration. However, important differences in biorhythms exist between individuals, which chronotherapy has not been able to take into account until now. An international study conducted on mice has paved the way towards personalized chronotherapy treatments.

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