Scientists at Melbourne’s Howard Florey Institute have uncovered a clue about the causes of dementia in Huntington’s disease, one of the disease’s symptoms, by showing that mice susceptible to Huntington’s disease have problems with learning and memory before the diseases’ typical movement problems appear.
The Florey scientists also discovered that in Huntington’s diseased brains, information processing between neurons is disrupted, but the neurons d
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), primarily seen as a cause of illness in infants and children, often affects the elderly and high-risk adults as much as influenza, a study by University of Rochester Medical Center researchers demonstrates.
Although pediatricians are well aware of RSV, most internists rarely consider RSV in adult patients. However, an estimated 14,000 elderly and high-risk adults die annually from an RSV infection, according to research by Ann R. Falsey, M.D.,
The HIV Medicine Association has released guidelines for managing chronic kidney disease in patients living with HIV infection. They are published in the June 1 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, now available online.
The guidelines are the first of their kind. They recommend screening for kidney disease at the time of HIV diagnosis to identify early this serious complication of HIV infection.
Nearly one-third of HIV-infected patients have abnormal amounts of prot
A new report from the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies proposes a number of changes to the WIC nutrition assistance program to encourage participants to consume more whole grains, fruits, and vegetables, as well as to promote breast-feeding, among other goals. If implemented, these revisions would be the most substantial changes to the mix of foods offered through WIC since the supplemental nutrition program for low-income women, infants, and children was launched in 1974. The reco
Children facing surgery can be made more comfortable with little risk by allowing them to have certain liquids up to two hours before the operation, a new review of recent studies has found.
Like adults, children are often required to go without food or drink up to a half-day before surgery to prevent their stomach contents from being regurgitated or sucked into the lungs under general anesthesia. In the review of 43 randomized controlled trials involving 2,350 children, only one
An image of Saturn’s small moon, Epimetheus (epp-ee-MEE-thee-uss), was captured by the Cassini spacecraft in the closest view ever taken of the pockmarked body.
Epimetheus is irregularly shaped and dotted with soft-edged craters. The many large, softened craters on Epimetheus indicate a surface that is several billion years old. The moon shares an orbit with another of Saturn’s small moons, Janus. The two dance in a planetary tango as they move in almost identical orbits, exchang
Many patients already take herbal supplement available over counter
When it comes to her health, Janice Winfield of Portland, Ore., does her research. That’s why the stay-at-home mom, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in July 2000, was willing to turn to popular, over-the-counter herbal supplements like ginkgo biloba to deal with memory problems, fatigue and occasional muscle pain.
“I’m definitely interested in alternative medicine,” said Winfield, 49, whose for
A recently completed clinical study has found new prognostic markers that may help clinicians identify those children with leukaemia who are at high risk of relapse and are most in need of intensified treatment to improve their chance of survival.
The retrospective clinical study, performed jointly by the Centre for Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders (CCC&BD)at Sydney Children’s Hospital and Children’s Cancer Institute Australia, was recently published in the in
A multidisciplinary centre launched today will promote a far broader understanding of the role sugars play in human disease, scientists say.
Focused on glycobiology, the study of how sugars in human cells affect our biology, researchers hope it will accelerate the development of therapies for diseases such as HIV, cancers and muscular dystrophy.
The Glycobiology Training, Research and Infrastructure Centre (GlycoTRIC), established at Imperial College London, will promo
Everyone’s lives are touched by cancer – it is a disease that affects 1 in 3 of us throughout our lifetime. Future developments that lead to earlier diagnosis and more effective therapy lie in further successful collaboration between high energy physicists and the healthcare industry.
This was the key message to come from an event today (28th April) which brought together 130 leading healthcare professionals and physicists. Speaking at “The Future of Medical Imaging and Radiot
People with schizophrenia often die prematurely. However researchers from the University of Glasgow and NHS Greater Glasgow assert that much of the excess mortality of schizophrenia is preventable through lifestyle changes and the treatment of common diseases.
Schizophrenia, its treatment and the lifestyle of sufferers contribute to high rates of illness and mortality. Sufferers often have poorer diets, lower rates of physical activity and smoke more than the general population
Moderate alcohol consumption over a relatively long period of time can enhance the formation of new nerve cells in the adult brain. The new cells could prove important in the development of alcohol dependency and other long-term effects of alcohol on the brain. The findings are published by Karolinska Institutet.
The study, which was carried out on mice, examined alcohol consumption corresponding to that found in normal social situations. The results show that moderate drinking en
Computer algorithms were used in a recent study to identify the prevalence and incidence of epilepsy, and epilepsy-related mortality of patients in a managed care organization (MCO). Data showed that these tools were successful in identifying these trends and were useful in making informed decisions affecting the health care needs and quality of life for epilepsy patients.
“It is possible in MCOs to identify prevalent and incident cases from existing management information systems d
A robotic arm that can be worn at home is being developed to help stroke survivors regain the ability to reach and grasp objects and perform basic tasks such as feed themselves.
The device, built by a research team, led by biomedical engineer Jiping He, Ph.D., and his colleagues at Arizona State University and Kinetic Muscles, Inc., a start up biotech company, can also assess the effectiveness of the physical therapy so adjustments can be made to the regimen if necessary. He will
Rheumatoid arthritis patients treated with anti-inflammatory drugs are 10 times less likely to develop age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the most common form of blindness in people over 55, researchers at the University of British Columbia and University of Saskatchewan have found.
The study, recently published in the Neurobiology of Aging, is a joint effort of neurologist Dr. Patrick McGeer of UBC and rheumatologist Dr. John Sibley of the U of S.
The scientists
There are 300 million cases of malaria each year worldwide, causing one million deaths. Around 90% of these deaths occur in Africa, mostly in young children. One of the greatest challenges facing Africa in the fight against malaria is drug resistance; resistance to chloroquine (CQ), the cheapest and most widely used antimalarial, is common throughout Africa, and resistance to sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP), the first-developed and least expensive alternative to CQ, is also increasing. These trends h
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