_ The Drug That Improves Anti-Cancer Viruses By Jane Farrell articleCombining a widely used medication with a cancer-killing virus might improve the effectiveness of the virus in battling malignancies, according to a new study.
_ Pain ManagementGetting Rid of Chronic Pain By Jane Farrell articleAs people age, chronic pain becomes a real problem. In your younger years, you probably had pain for a short while – from a broken arm, say, or a bad toothache. But pain can become a constant, unwelcome companion for older people who have age-related illnesses like arthritis, cancer or diabetes.However, though chronic pain often accompanies aging, that doesn’t mean it’s something you should put up with. Don’t delay going to your doctor. Here, from the National Institute on Aging (NIA), are tips on how to talk to your doctor so your pain problem can be solved.
_ Facebook and Your Friends' Feelings By Jane Farrell articleReading your Facebook news feed may do more than keep you up to date. It may also influence the emotional state of your status updates – and that will affect your friends as well.To reach that conclusion, social scientists at Cornell University, the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and Facebook, studied the news feed of 689,003 randomly selected Facebook users. In their experiment, they controlled the news feed of the users to add more negative stories or more positive stories.
_ ExercisePeople Underestimate Intensity of Exercise By Jane Farrell articleIf you think you’re exercising enough, you just might be mistaken, a new study shows.The investigation, by researchers from York University in Toronto, found that many people over-estimate the effort required to work out at a moderate intensity level.
_ Is Medical Marijuana Safe? By Jane Farrell articleEditor’s note: As of earlier this year, 20 states have legalized the use of marijuana for some serious medical conditions, including cancer, glaucoma and HIV/AIDS. But using medical marijuana isn’t a casual decision. Here, the National Institute on Drug Abuse offers (NIDA) offers a briefing on the most controversial medicine of our time:According to NIDA, the term “medical marijuana” refers to the whole unprocessed marijuana plant or its crude extracts. The federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) doesn’t recognize or approve those substances as medicine.
_ Estrogen May Affect Male Obesity By Jane Farrell articleAn imbalance of female hormones may contributing to obesity among men in Western nations.In a paper published in the journal PLOS ONE, researchers from the University of Adelaide's School of Medical Sciences, in Australia, said that part of the massive weight gain among men could be linked with exposure to substances containing estrogen."Hormonally driven weight gain occurs more significantly in females than in males, and this is very clear when we look at the rates of obesity in the developing world," said medical student James Grantham, co-author of the study.
_ A New Kind of Drug for Alzheimer's? By Jane Farrell articleResearchers have discovered a new drug target to fight Alzheimer’s, and the finding could lead to a new diagnostic tool as well.Earlier drugs have long targeted the amyloid protein called plaques, which can cause neurons in the brain to die. But Penn State University researchers have found that another substance, a neurotransmitter known as GABA, could also be implicated in the development of Alzheimer’s.
_ Watching Out for Bedbugs By Jane Farrell articleAlong with other insect-related problems we’re worrying about (bites from ticks, mosquitos and ants, to name a few) we’re got an even nastier one: bedbugs. And they’re growing in number.
_ FriendshipFriends and Your Health By Jane Farrell articleFriendships can have a major impact on your health and well-being, but it's not always easy to build or maintain friendships. Understand the importance of friendships in your life and what you can do to develop and nurture friendships.What are the benefits of friendships?Good friends are good for your health. Friends can help you celebrate good times and provide support during bad times. Friends prevent loneliness and give you a chance to offer needed companionship, too. Friends can also:Increase your sense of belonging and purpose
_ Frailty Means Greater Hospital Complications By Jane Farrell articleResearchers have found that elderly patients who are frail are likelier to experience in-hospital complications following trauma. Previously, complications had been associated with age alone.The investigators, from the University of Arizona Medical Center, Tucson, examined statistics from 250 patients according to the 50-item Canadian Frailty Index, which measures social and daily living activities, nutrition and mood.
PetsKeeping Your Pet (and Yourself) Healthy By Jane Farrell articleWe Americans love our pets – and we’ve got millions of them. According to the Humane Society of the United States, there are 164 million owned pets across the country, in 62 percent of our households. But while pets provide love, comfort and companionship, they may also have health issues, and some of them can affect us. Here, from the federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC), are some tips on keeping your pet (and your family) healthy.
_ Heart HealthA Better Assessment Tool For Heart-Disease Risk By Jane Farrell articleAn international team of researchers has created a heart disease risk assessment tool designed to better evaluate the likelihood of heart disease in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.People with rheumatoid arthritis are twice as likely as the average person to develop heart problems.
_ A Breakthrough in Anti-Aging Treatment By Jane Farrell articleThe hormone oxytocin – associated with childbirth, sex and social attachments – is also essential for muscle maintenance and repair, researchers have found. But an animal experiment found that it declines with age.The new study, published) in the journal Nature Communications, indicates that oxytocin, if it could be administered to humans, could eventually be a treatment for age-related muscle wasting, or sarcopenia.The discovery is especially significant because oxytocin is already approved by the Food and Drug Admnistration for use in people.
Breast CancerA Possible Link Between Carbohydrates and Breast Cancer By Jane Farrell articleLimiting carbohydrate intake could reduce the risk of one type of breast cancer, researchers have found.The findings, published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention, focused on the cancer whose tumor tissue has the IGF-1 receptor."There is a growing body of research demonstrating associations between obesity, diabetes, and cancer risk," said lead author Jennifer A. Emond, an instructor in the Department of Community and Family Medicine at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College.
_ Depression LInked to Quicker Progression of Alzheimer's By Jane Farrell articleLate-life depression could be a major risk factor for developing Alzheimer’s more quickly than those who aren’t depressed.The finding was presented at the annual meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging.“Our results clearly indicate that mild cognitively impaired subjects with depressive symptoms suffer from elevated amyloid-levels when compared with non-depressed individuals,” said the study’s principal scientist Axel Rominger, MD, from the department of nuclear medicine at the University of Munich in Germany.
_ Gene Variants Identified As Source of Deadly Illnesses By Jane Farrell articleTwo widely carried gene variants that lead to longer chromosome caps also increase the risk of developing the brain cancers known as gliomas.The researchers, led by scientists from the University of California, San Francisco, found that the variants lead to longer telomeres, the caps on chromosome ends that are thought to protect cells from aging.The genetic variants, in two genes known as TERT and TERC, are respectively carried by 51 percent and 72 percent of the general population.
_ Vision HealthFive Crucial Questions About Cataracts By Jane Farrell articleCataract is one of the leading causes of blindness in the United States. Approximately 24.5 million Americans have the lens-clouding eye condition, and the incidence is set to grow by 50 percent by 2020. If they’re not treated through a change in eyeglass prescription or surgery, cataracts can increase the risk of permanent blindness.
_ How Obesity-Induced Diabetes Begins By Jane Farrell articleScientists from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have discovered the sequence of early cellular responses that can ultimately lead to obesity-induced insulin resistance and diabetes. The cells respond, the investigators said, to a high-fat diet.“We’ve described the etiology [cause] of obesity-related diabetes. We’ve pinpointed the steps, the way the whole thing happens,” said Jerrold M. Olefsky, MD, associate dean for Scientific Affairs and Distinguished Professor of Medicine at UC San Diego.