Researchers at the University of York are beginning a major study into the ethical and personal issues raised by a potential revolution in healthcare, which could incorporate individualised medical care – pharmacogenetics – into clinical practice.
The use of genetic testing as a routine part of medical treatment opens exciting horizons, but brings with it the responsibility to understand the concerns individuals may have about DNA sampling, and about wider issues such as the possi
Blocking growth factor stops rejection process
For the first time scientists have found that a growth factor called vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-3 (VEGFR-3), known to cause the growth of lymphatic vessels in the body, controls how immune cells traffic (move) within the eye and also stimulates the immune system to reject corneal transplants–the most common type of transplantation performed. The researchers from the Schepens Eye Research Institute and the Massachusetts E
The extreme toxicity of botulism makes it a potentially lethal type of food poisoning – and a possible agent of bioterrorist attack
The extreme toxicity of botulism makes it a potentially lethal type of food poisoning – and a possible agent of bioterrorist attack. Data from the Republic of Georgia (a former Soviet nation south of Russia) suggest that an infected person’s symptoms could help doctors predict how immediate the risk of death is, allowing physicians to prioritize victim
A brain imaging study by the NIH’s National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) has found that an emotion-regulating brain circuit is overactive in people prone to depression – even when they are not depressed. Researchers discovered the abnormality in brains of those whose depressions relapsed when a key brain chemical messenger was experimentally reduced. Even when in remission, most subjects with a history of mood disorder experienced a temporary recurrence of symptoms when their brains were exper
A new technology assessment from the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) states that the use of chemotherapy sensitivity and resistance assays (CSRAs) to select chemotherapeutic agents for cancer patients should not be undertaken outside of the clinical trial setting.
CSRAs are an in-vitro laboratory analysis used to help determine whether a specific chemotherapy regimen might inhibit tumor growth in a specific patient. This type of analysis contrasts with so-called empiric
The first study to compare survival between women with breast cancer whose treatment was based on consensus guidelines and those whose treatment was not shows that adhering to established guidelines improves survival and reduces the risk of recurrence. The study retrospectively examined whether the systemic therapy prescribed after surgery for women with early-stage breast cancer was consistent with treatment guidelines established for at the time. Systemic therapy includes chemotherapy and hormonal
Staph bacteria are not uncommon in health care settings. In fact, they account for a large number of hospital-related infections each year. Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is one of these types of bacteria which is now found among athletes, military recruits and others in the general population. What is particularly concerning to medical experts is that MRSA is resistant to many common antibiotics.
An MRSA infection causes skin and soft tissue lesions and, when left untre
As American college students gear up to head back to campus later this month, they’ll look forward to all the usual college traditions: football games, late-night discussions, and pizza with new friends after classes.
But almost half of all college students share a tradition that could wreck their futures: heavy alcohol drinking that puts them at risk for everything from bad grades and date rape to fights, serious injuries and even death.
At a time when kegs of beer and shots of
Just a few years ago, hormone therapy was thought to be the best way to protect bone health during and after menopause. After menopause, your body no longer makes as much new bone as it did before — setting the stage for osteoporosis.
Because research has revealed health risks associated with long-term hormone therapy, other medications have begun to emerge as better options for treating and preventing postmenopausal bone loss and fractures.
The August issue of Mayo Clinic
What’s your risk of having a heart attack or stroke in the next 10 years?
The August issue of Mayo Clinic Women’s HealthSource tells how you can calculate it and why it’s important.
Heart disease is the leading killer of women in the United States, and about 85 percent of women with coronary heart disease have at least one main risk factor — smoking, diabetes, high cholesterol or hypertension. Because many risk factors are either preventable or treatable, learning about
Researchers at the University of Warwick have found a way of using a test devised in the 1930s, and used to gauge the stress on the superchargers in wartime spitfire fighter planes, to model the stress that surgical procedures would put on an aortic aneurysm. An aortic aneurysm is a dangerous bulge in the body’s largest artery -the aorta. The aorta is a crucial artery as it carries all the blood pumped from the heart.
Photoelasticity is a technique that has been used for decades in industr
A new study suggests that wounds on mice that prefer multiple mates heal at the same rate, whether the mice are housed with a mate or live in isolation.
But the same doesn’t ring true for monogamous mice, said Courtney DeVries, an assistant professor of psychology and neuroscience at Ohio State University.
She and Erica Glasper, a doctoral student in psychology at Ohio State, took a closer look at the effects social bonding had on wound healing in monogamous and non-monoga
Blood pressure readings recorded in a computerized database provide as much valid information on care as doctor’s notes, suggesting that automated health databases can help physicians monitor chronic diseases like hypertension, according to new research.
Extra information contained in doctors’ notes changed the assessment of whether or not high blood pressure was controlled for a given patient in fewer than 2 percent of the cases examined by Ann Borzecki, M.D., M.P.H., of the Bedfor
Reviewing the last 10 years of cancer research much as they might the production of a play complete with cast members, opening acts and an ever-twisting plot, two of the most cited names in science say that one of the most promising roles that newly discovered cancer genes may perform is in early detection, which likely will be as important as new treatments.
In an editorial review that is the centerpiece of Nature Medicine’s 10th anniversary August issue, Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer
If your travel plans include a Caribbean cruise or another tropical destination, the August issue of Mayo Clinic Health Letter offers a convincing reason to pack the mosquito repellant — dengue fever.
Certain mosquitoes spread dengue (DENG-gay) fever, a severe flu-like illness that leaves you feeling miserable for one to two weeks. Dengue fever is a major health concern, with an estimated 50 million dengue infections occurring every year. There’s no treatment other than bed rest,
Men, if you’re trudging to the bathroom four or five times a night, it might be more than an inconvenience.
With age, many men develop an enlarged prostate. Symptoms such as frequent urination or difficulty starting urination may seem like nuisances you can tolerate. But if left untreated too long, an enlarged prostate can damage your bladder muscle and your kidneys.
The August issue of Mayo Clinic Health Letter recommends that men see their doctor sooner rather than later
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