Speed of PSA increase matters more than PSA level
In the largest study of its kind to date, Mayo Clinic researchers report that prostate specific antigen (PSA) kinetics, both velocity and doubling time, can be used to predict disease progression and likelihood of death after radical prostatectomy surgery, suggesting that this could be used to guide treatment decisions. Study results are published in the December issue of The Journal of Urology.
“The level of PSA in t
Exercise is a lot like spinach … everybody knows it’s good for you; yet many people still avoid it, forgoing its potential health benefits.
But researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign who study the effects of exercise on aging point to new findings that may inspire people to get up, get out and get moving on a regular basis. The research team, led by kinesiology professor Edward McAuley, found that previously sedentary seniors who incorporated exercise into t
Torture impacts mental health of Tibetan refugees
The incidence of mental illness and torture amongst Tibetan refugees is much higher than previously expected, according to a study published in the open access journal BMC International Health and Human Rights. Researchers say that NGOs and foreign governments should be aware that the human rights abuses levied on this vulnerable population may have lasting health effects and are unacceptable under international law.
Ma
Difference in treatment causes women more ongoing heart problems
Women with one of a group of heart problems known as acute coronary syndromes (ACS) are almost one-third less likely to receive invasive treatments when compared with men with the same conditions, according to data from an international study of more than 12,000 people. Consequently, women are about one-sixth more likely than men to suffer additional chest pain or other recurrent heart problems, reports the new pap
Modern Europeans may largely be descended from ’old stone age’ hunter-gatherers
The farmers who brought agriculture to central Europe about 7,500 years ago did not contribute heavily to the genetic makeup of modern Europeans, according to the first detailed analysis of ancient DNA extracted from skeletons of early European farmers.
The passionate debate over the origins of modern Europeans has a long history, and this work strengthens the argument that peopl
Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers have discovered that pheromones essential for mating behavior in mice are recognized by the nose and not by the vomeronasal system, as researchers had long suspected.
The new studies demonstrate that the main olfactory epithelium, which was presumed to be mostly involved with the sense of smell, plays a critical role in pheromone detection.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator Catherine Dulac and colleagues Hayan Yoon,
A study by a leading UK fertility centre has found that the numbers of men – especially students – coming forward as potential sperm donors fell sharply after 2000, almost certainly due to growing awareness that changes in the law would be removing the right to anonymity.
The fall in applications, leading to a significant decline in the numbers recruited, has prompted researchers from the Newcastle Fertility Centre at LIFE to call for urgent action to attract more volunteers – part
Nine percent of children allergic to almonds, pecans, cashews and other tree nuts outgrow their allergy over time, including those who’ve had a severe reaction such as anaphylaxis shock, according to researchers at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center.
Their study, reported in the November issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, also found that clinicians can use blood levels of tree nut antibody (TN-IgE) as an accurate guideline in estimating the lik
Findings support theory that ibs is caused by bacterial overgrowth in the gut
Researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center have found that a nonabsorbable antibiotic – one that stays in the gut – may be an effective long-term treatment for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), a disease affecting more than an estimated 20 percent of Americans. The findings, which showed that participants benefited from the antibiotic use even after the course of treatment ended, support previously publishe
Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have shown for the first time that a sample of children who either have or are at high risk for bipolar disorder score higher on a creativity index than healthy children. The findings add to existing evidence that a link exists between mood disorders and creativity.
The small study, published in the November issue of the Journal of Psychiatric Research, compared creativity test scores of children of healthy parents with
An observational study of more than 1,000 patients at the Yale Center for Sleep Medicine found that obstructive sleep apnea significantly increases the risk of stroke or death from any cause, and that the risk is linked to sleep apnea severity. The researchers found the increased risk to be independent of other factors, including hypertension. Participants were over age 50 without a history of heart attack or stroke at the start of the study. They were followed for an average of just under 3.5 year
North Carolina parents strongly favor making tobacco use prevention a higher priority across the state, a new University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill study shows.
More than 90 percent of parents surveyed thought it very important for policymakers to take more steps to prevent and reduce tobacco use among N.C. children and adolescents, the study found.
“Over 85 percent of parents asked strongly supported making schools 100 percent tobacco free,” said Dr. Adam O. Gold
The Access Project reveals another financial consequence of medical debt
In a new analysis of the financial consequences that can strike those in the U.S. with health care bills they cannot pay, the Boston-based Access Project released a report today showing that medical debt is threatening homeownership or housing stability for many American working families, including those with health insurance.
“Like other research done in this area, we found a high prevalence of m
The first study to use a cannabis-based medicine (CBM) for treating rheumatoid arthritis has found that it has a significant effect on easing pain and on suppressing the disease.
Writing in the medical journal Rheumatology [1], the researchers say that although the differences were small and variable in the group of 58 patients they studied, the results are statistically significant and a larger trial is needed to investigate in more detail the effects of CBM on the disease whi
Study implicates viral-mediated cell fusion as a possible engine of tumor formation
In some cases, the fusion of human cells is a normal process that leads, for instance, to the formation of muscle and bone. Viral infections can also cause cell fusion, but cells fused by viruses are widely considered to be harmless because they are generally believed to die without consequences for the host. According to a recent study, however, cell fusion triggered by viruses is a possible
A multidisciplinary team consisting of researchers from McGill/MUHC and the CHUM have been awarded a grant of nearly $700,000 by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) to continue their groundbreaking research on pain suffered by some women during sexual intercourse. The new funding will allow the team, consisting of psychologists, gynecologists, physical therapists and statistician/epidemiologists, to root-out the cause of a condition experienced recurrently by at least 15% of Canadian
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