Latest Health News

In an early step toward letting severely paralyzed people speak with their thoughts, University of Utah researchers translated brain signals into words using two grids of 16 microelectrodes implanted beneath the skull but atop the brain. "We have been able to decode spoken words using only signals from the brain with a device that has promise for long-term use in paralyzed patients who cannot now speak," says Bradley Greger, an assistant professor of bioengineering...

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) may affect more men than women research published in the journal Neurology claims. The study of 2,050 people aged 70-89 living in Olmstead County, Minnesota found MCI was 1.5 times higher in men than women with 19 percent of men having MCI compared to 14 percent of women. The study also found that people with a low level of education or who had never married also had a higher rate of MCI. MCI includes problems with memory or thinking beyond that explained by the normal rate of aging and often leads to Alzheimer's disease...

Cancer is a difficult disease to treat because it's a personal disease. Each case is unique and based on a combination of environmental and genetic factors. Conventional chemotherapy employs treatment with one or more drugs, assuming that these medicines are able to both "diagnose" and "treat" the affected cells. Many of the side effects experienced by chemotherapy patients are due to the fact that the drugs they are taking aren't selective enough...

Like some people, cells eat when they are under pressure - but they consume parts of themselves. A multi-function protein helps control this form of cannibalism, according to a study in the September 6 issue of the Journal of Cell Biology. Cells often respond to hunger or stress by digesting some of their contents. The process, known as autophagy, helps free nutrients and clean up cytoplasmic trash such as worn-out organelles and misshapen proteins...

Newborn babies with low levels of vitamin D have an increased risk of developing schizophrenia later in life, researchers at the Queensland Brain Institute have found. The research team used tiny samples of blood taken as part of routine screening from newborn babies in Denmark. They then compared vitamin D concentrations in babies who later developed schizophrenia with healthy controls - and the study confirmed those with low vitamin D had a twofold increased risk of developing the disorder. Vitamin D, or the "sunshine hormone", is the result of sunshine on the skin...

MSD (known in the and as Merck) (NYSE:MRK) and Cardiome Pharma Corp. (NASDAQ: CRME/ TSX: COM) announced that the intravenous (IV) formulation of 'Brinavess'™ (vernakalant) has been granted marketing approval in the European Union (EU), and for the conversion of recent onset atrial fibrillation (AF) to sinus rhythm in adults. The full indication is for the rapid conversion of recent onset AF to sinus rhythm in adults: for non-surgery patients with AF of seven days or less and for post-cardiac surgery patients with AF of three days or less...

Bob Katter has shown a lack of understanding of the health needs of rural Australians, with country hospitals and health services barely getting a look-in on his 20 point wish list. Dr Nola Maxfield, President of the Rural Doctors Association of Australia (RDAA), said she was extremely disappointed with the low priority he has given rural health. "Health services are consistently listed as the number one concern for rural Australians," Dr Maxfield said...

The use of bariatric or weight loss surgery has increased ten-fold in NHS hospitals in England since 2000, finds a study published on bmj.com. One reason for this rapid rise is increased demand from obese patients as they become more aware of surgery as a viable treatment option, suggest the researchers. Bariatric surgery is performed on people who are dangerously obese, for the purpose of losing weight...

As Finance Ministers from the European Union gather in Brussels for a formal meeting to discuss the establishment of an EU-wide financial transaction tax, international medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières calls on them to dedicate a proportion of the receipts from any fundraising mechanism to global health. "The EU is in a unique position to act here," said Dr. Tido von Schoen-Angerer, Director of MSF's Campaign for Access to Essential Medicines...

On 2-3 September 2010, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) hosted the first international scientific workshop on nanomedicines. Some 200 European and international participants from 27 countries including Australia, Canada, India, Japan and the United States discussed benefits and challenges arising from the application of nanotechnologies to medicines. Participants included representatives from patients' organisations, health care professionals' organisations, academia, regulatory authorities and pharmaceutical industry...

CGC Genetics, a 18 year-old European medical genetic testing company has recently expanded to the USA. The company offers a broad menu of more than 1,500 molecular diagnostic, cytogenetic and clinical genomic CLIA laboratory tests that cover all the major disciplines of medicine. One of the company's product offerings is a MicroArray Panel for Molecular Diagnosis of Thrombophilia and Warfarin Pharmacogenetics...

Reliable intradermal (ID) flu vaccination1, amplifying the immune response of older vulnerable people, will help to protect them from flu and its complications during this year's flu season.2,3,4,5 Available now in the UK, the Intanza®15µg micro-needle injection system* is simple for healthcare practitioners to use, with a narrow (30G), short (1.5mm) needle that is nearly imperceptible for patients...

Children as young as four weeks old are being fed a poor diet of biscuits, ice-cream and soft drinks, according to new Australian research. A study published in the journal Nutrition & Dietetics found some month-old babies had been introduced to high fat, salt and sugar foods, despite health authorities recommending exclusive breastfeeding to six months of age. Researcher Jane Scott and colleagues tracked 587 women from two Perth maternity hospitals through regular phone interviews for 12 months to understand how the new mothers fed their babies...

Giving iron supplements to children with marginally low birth weights (2000-2500 grams) dramatically reduces the risk of developing iron deficiency and anemia. This is shown by Umea researcher Magnus Domellöf and associates in the coming edition of the pediatric scientific journal Pediatrics. It has recently been discovered that both birth weight and the infants' nutrition supply are important risk factors for later morbidity in adulthood...

Risky sexual behavior among members of a subset of the gay community is still adding to the spread of HIV. Research published in the open access journal BMC Infectious Diseases has found that young white homosexual men have an important contribution in the local spread of HIV. Despite increased education and awareness of HIV in the Western world, the number of new infections continues to rise each year...

A surface molecule on bacteria that instructs bone cells to die could be the target for new treatments for bone disease, says a scientist speaking at the Society for General Microbiology's autumn meeting. Blocking the death signal from bacteria could be a way of treating painful bone infections that are resistant to antibiotics, such as those caused by Meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Bone disease, or osteomyelitis, affects 1 in 5,000 people around the world...

Coughing and wheezing patients could someday benefit from quicker, more accurate diagnosis and treatment for respiratory infections such as flu, through a simple blood test, according to scientists. Dr. Aimee Zaas, presenting her work at the Society for General Microbiology's autumn meeting in Nottingham describes how simply looking at an individuals blood 'signature' can be used to quickly diagnose and treat ill patients and could even predict the onset of a pandemic...

Cockroaches could be more of a health benefit than a health hazard according to scientists from the University of Nottingham, who have discovered powerful antibiotic properties in the brains of cockroaches and locusts. Simon Lee, a postgraduate researcher who is presenting his work at the Society for General Microbiology's autumn meeting in Nottingham, describes how the group identified up to nine different molecules in the insect tissues that were toxic to bacteria. These substances could lead to novel treatments for multi-drug resistant bacterial infections...

If your body releases cortisol with fixed regularity then you can cope with stress better, says NWO-funded researcher Angela Sarabdjitsingh. She investigated the rhythm of corticosterone production in rats. This rat hormone is comparable to the human stress hormone cortisol. Rats deal considerably less well with stress if the pattern of corticosterone release changes. An irregular release pattern is a characteristic of chronic stress and stress-related diseases. It might therefore be possible to treat these by restoring the rhythm...

There have been several studies into the impact of completeness of revascularisation in recent years, yet few clear recommendations are available on the likely clinical outcomes. This topic is not formally addressed in either the European Society of Cardiology guidelines or those jointly issued by the American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology...