New study shows that a prescription of antibiotics taken within the previous two months doubles the chances of patients carrying antibiotic resistant bacteria.
A new study has shown that a prescription of antibiotics taken within the previous two months doubles the chances of patients carrying antibiotic resistant bacteria. The same effect was not seen in patients who had had antibiotics prescribed within the previous 12 months.
While information from large data sets sug
SMOKERS who give up are much less likely to lose their teeth prematurely than those who don’t kick the habit, pioneering research has shown.
Dental researchers at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, observed a group of cigarette smokers with chronic gum disease over one year and found some symptoms were more likely to improve in the people who quit during the study period.
Chronic gum disease, which is characterised by inflamed gums that increasingly recede from t
A ground-breaking comparative genomics study appears online today in the journal Genome Research. Led by Adam Siepel, graduate student in Dr. David Haussler’s laboratory at the University of California, Santa Cruz, the study describes the most comprehensive comparison of conserved DNA sequences in the genomes of vertebrates, insects, worms, and yeast to date.
One of their major findings was that as organism complexity increases, so too does the proportion of conserved bases
In the first study of its kind to focus on college-trained IT professional women working in positions from systems analysts to IT project leaders, a team of Penn State researchers have found new evidence that organizations need better policies and programs to foster women in the IT workplace.
The researchers recommend that employers address ways to retain women in those critical moments when they are bearing and caring for young children. These ways could range from supporting p
Johns Hopkins scientists have uncovered new details of how smelly things create signals in the nose that eventually go to the brain. The findings raise issues about how the process involved has been described for many years in biology textbooks.
The textbooks say that our sense of smell converts odors into brain signals just like our vision converts light into brain signals. But the new work shows that while a key protein pathway is used in both, it behaves quite differently in t
What could the fierce dinosaur T. rex and a modern songbird such as the sparrow possibly have in common? Their pulmonary systems may have been more similar than scientists previously thought, according to new research from Ohio University and Harvard University.
Though some scientists have proposed that predatory dinosaurs had lungs similar to crocodiles and other reptiles, a new study published in this week’s issue of the journal Nature suggests the ancient beasts boasted
Scientists at New York University School of Medicine reveal the important role of early experience in shaping neuronal development and brain plasticity in a new study published in the July 14 issue of the journal Nature.
In mice, the researchers found that sensory deprivation prevented the substantial loss of synapses that typically occurs in growing animals. The effects were most pronounced in the period from young adolescence to adulthood. Synapses are the gaps between neur
There has been considerable concern about the risk that many over-the counter (OTC) cosmetic preparations may pose to the public, since many of these are not regulated by the FDA and are commonly used without medical supervision. Progesterone, which is commonly prescribed in women, is often used in hormone replacement therapy in postmenopausal women, and for the treatment of amenorrhea, infertility and premature labor. Past studies revealing the health risks of FDA–approved hormone replacement
Two new studies point to neutrophils, the immune system’s ’first responders’
Each year, 200,000 Americans find out that the largest blood vessel in their body, the aorta, may burst open at any time. About 20,000 die suddenly from such a rupture. And another 36,000 have surgery to repair or replace the swelling section of aorta before time runs out.
But despite the deadly toll of this condition, called abdominal aortic aneurysm or AAA (“triple A”), experts kno
Body mass index proves to be an unexpectedly valuable tool for runners
The conspicuous size differences between beefy sprinters and lithesome distance runners are dictated by simple rules of form and function, according to researchers from Rice University and the Texas Medical Center’s National Center for Human Performance. Specifically, the greater bulk of speed demons is explained by their need to hit the running surface harder to attain their faster speeds.
De
Gender may impact fitness level
Obese men may not process carbohydrates as efficiently as obese women, a condition that can, ultimately, lead to a decrease in fitness level and the development of metabolic disorders. A new study published in the July issue of CHEST, the peer-reviewed journal of the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP), showed that severely obese men were more carbohydrate intolerant and had less physical endurance than severely obese women, leading research
Methamphetamine, the drug of choice for long-distance truckers and college students pulling all-nighters, appears to do a similar trick for fruit flies, too. This finding is one of several in a new study that demonstrates a critical role for the neurotransmitter dopamine in the modulation of sleep, wake, and arousal states.
The work is reported by Dr. Ralph Greenspan and colleagues at The Neurosciences Institute in San Diego.
The researchers found that long, sleepless nights
Nearly two million Americans are treated for eye injuries per year, with males experiencing twice the rate of injury than that of females, according to a study in the July issue of Archives of Ophthalmology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals
Because eye injuries are rarely serious enough to require hospitalization, to understand the extent of eye injuries in the U.S., inpatient and outpatient facilities, in addition to other settings, must be considered, according to background information
Genetic disease offers clues to SIDS, sleep apnea
Imagine raising a child who stops breathing when falling asleep – and has to be reminded to visit the bathroom after drinking a Big Gulp. That’s the dilemma faced by parents of children born with congenital central hypoventilation syndrome (CCHS). Afflicting about 250 children in the United States, the genetic disease wreaks havoc in areas of the brain that control involuntary actions such as breathing, fluid regulation and heart
Treatment prevents symptoms for majority of young boys with adrenoleukodystrophy, ALD
Use of Lorenzo’s Oil in young boys who have been diagnosed with but are not yet showing signs of a pediatric neurological disorder known as X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy (X-ALD) may prevent the disease from developing in the body. According to a study of male children published today in the Archives of Neurology, use of the oil prevented onset of the disease in a majority of cases. For
Doctors “talking” to computer screens instead of patients during a physical exam is a problem easily cured, say researchers at the Indiana University School of Medicine and the Regenstrief Institute, Inc.
Their comprehensive study of the effect of exam room computer placement and the doctor-patient relationship appears in the August issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine.
The researchers found that doctors with poor communications skills tended to get lost
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