Correct treatment of common diabetic foot infections can reduce amputations
Diabetic foot infections are an increasingly common problem, but proper care can save limbs and, ultimately, lives, suggest new guidelines released by the Infectious Diseases Society of America. Read more...
EurekAlert! - Breaking News, May 22, 12:00am
How one strain of MRSA becomes resistant to last-line antibiotic
Researchers have uncovered what makes one particular strain of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) so proficient at picking up resistance genes, such as the one that makes it resistant to vancomycin, the last line of defense for hospital-acquired infections. They report their findings in mBio, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology, on Tuesday May 22. Read more...
EurekAlert! - Breaking News, May 22, 12:00am
Voters' views of Mormonism still hamper Romney's campaign
Mitt Romney's religion was a major stumbling block for his 2008 presidential aspirations, and remains so for his candidacy in 2012, according to David Campbell at the University of Notre Dame. Real time voter analysis of the 2008 primaries reveals that while the social barriers of race and gender were largely overcome during the last US presidential campaign, religious affiliation (in this case, the Church of Latter Day Saints) is still a significant hurdle. Read more...
EurekAlert! - Breaking News, May 22, 12:00am
AAPS National Biotechnology Conference to highlight innovative vaccines
Vaccination studies from Mercer University (Ga.) headline the groundbreaking research being unveiled at the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists' (AAPS) National Biotechnology Conference (NBC). Read more...
EurekAlert! - Breaking News, May 21, 12:00am
Report using private health claims data shows prices are driving health spending growth
Rising prices for care were the chief driver of health care costs for privately insured Americans in 2010, according to the first report from the newly formed Health Care Cost Institute. HCCI has produced the first comprehensive picture of health care spending for the privately insured, examining trends in inpatient and outpatient care, professional services, and prescription drugs. Read more...
EurekAlert! - Breaking News, May 21, 12:00am
Folic acid may reduce some childhood cancers
Folic acid fortification of foods may reduce the incidence of the most common type of kidney cancer and a type of brain tumors in children, finds a new study by Kimberly J. Johnson, Ph.D., assistant professor at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, and Amy Linabery, Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow at the University of Minnesota. Incidence reductions were found for Wilms' tumor, a type of kidney cancer, and primitive neuroectodermal tumors, a type of brain cancer. Read more...
EurekAlert! - Breaking News, May 21, 12:00am
Obese adolescents have heart damage
Obese adolescents with no symptoms of heart disease already have heart damage, according to new research. Read more...
EurekAlert! - Breaking News, May 21, 12:00am
Nordic walking improves health of heart failure patients
Nordic walking enables heart failure patients to exercise more intensely than walking without poles. Read more...
EurekAlert! - Breaking News, May 21, 12:00am
Physical properties predict stem cell outcome
Tissue engineers can use mesenchymal stem cells derived from fat to make cartilage, bone, or more fat. The best cells to use are ones that are already likely to become the desired tissue. Brown University researchers have discovered that the mechanical properties of the stem cells can foretell what they will become, leading to a potential method of concentrating them for use in healing. Read more...
EurekAlert! - Breaking News, May 21, 12:00am
'Orphan' sleep drug may be potent cancer-fighting agent
An inexpensive "orphan drug" used to treat sleep disorders appears to be a potent inhibitor of cancer cells, according to a new study led by scientists at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Their novel approach, using groundbreaking technology that allows rapid analysis of the genome, has broad implications for the development of safer, more effective cancer therapies. Read more...
EurekAlert! - Breaking News, May 21, 12:00am
Modifying scar tissue can potentially improve outcome in chronic stroke
New research from the Buck Institute shows that modifying the scar tissue that develops following a stroke is a promising avenue for future treatments. The need for therapeutics for chronic stroke is compelling. Aside from physical and occupational therapy, treatments for the six million patients in the US who suffer from chronic stroke are lacking; the vast majority of patients remain in an ongoing state of disability with little hope of return to normal function. Read more...
EurekAlert! - Breaking News, May 21, 12:00am
Hunter-gatherers and horticulturalist lifestyle linked to lower blood pressure increases
Traditional "hunter-gatherer" and "horticulturalist" populations have significantly lower age-related increases in blood pressure and less risks of atherosclerosis than "modernized" populations. Lifestyle factors of these traditional populations -- high physical activity and high fruit and vegetable diets -- may protect against normal aging phenomena, high blood pressure and hardening of the arteries. Read more...
EurekAlert! - Breaking News, May 21, 12:00am
Taking cholesterol drugs in hospital may improve stroke outcomes
A new study suggests that using cholesterol-lowering medications known as statins after having a stroke may increase the likelihood of returning home and lessen the chance of dying in the hospital. The research is published in the May 22, 2012, print issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Read more...
EurekAlert! - Breaking News, May 21, 12:00am
Totally rad: Stanford bioengineers create rewritable digital data storage in DNA
Scientists from Stanford's Department of Bioengineering have devised a method for repeatedly encoding, storing and erasing digital data within the DNA of living cells. Read more...
EurekAlert! - Breaking News, May 21, 12:00am
Study finds moderate weight loss reduces levels of sex hormones linked to breast cancer risk
Even a moderate amount of weight loss can significantly reduce levels of circulating estrogen that are associated with an increased risk of breast cancer, according to a study by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center -- the first randomized, controlled clinical trial to test the effects of weight loss on sex hormones in overweight and obese postmenopausal women, a group at elevated risk for breast cancer. Read more...
EurekAlert! - Breaking News, May 21, 12:00am
Pandemic 2009 H1N1 vaccination produces antibodies against multiple flu strains
The pandemic 2009 H1N1 vaccine can generate antibodies in vaccinated individuals not only against the H1N1 virus, but also against other influenza virus strains including H5N1 and H3N2. This discovery adds an important new dimension to the finding last year that people infected with pandemic 2009 H1N1 virus produced high levels of antibodies that were broadly cross-reactive against a variety of flu strains. Read more...
EurekAlert! - Breaking News, May 21, 12:00am
Squid ink from Jurassic period identical to modern squid ink, U.Va. study shows
An international team of researchers, including a University of Virginia professor, has found that two ink sacs from 160-million-year-old giant squid fossils discovered 2 years ago in England contain the pigment melanin, and that it is essentially identical to the melanin found in the ink sacs of modern-day squid. Read more...
EurekAlert! - Breaking News, May 21, 12:00am
Mayo Clinic: Pancreatic cancer may be detected with simple intestinal probe
By simply shining a tiny light within the small intestine, close to that organ's junction with the pancreas, physicians at Mayo Clinic in Florida have been able to detect pancreatic cancer 100 percent of the time in a small study. Read more...
EurekAlert! - Breaking News, May 21, 12:00am
Diabetes drug target identified
New research from the University of Cincinnati points to the naturally produced protein apolipoprotein A-IV as a potential target for a new diabetes therapeutic. Read more...
EurekAlert! - Breaking News, May 21, 12:00am
Study examines effect of prednisolone in patients with Bell palsy
Treatment for Bell palsy (a condition involving the facial nerve and characterized by facial paralysis) with the corticosteroid prednisolone within 72 hours appeared to significantly reduce the number of patients with mild to moderate palsy severity at 12 months, according to a report in the May issue of Archives of Otolaryngology -- Head & Neck Surgery, a JAMA Network publication. Read more...
EurekAlert! - Breaking News, May 21, 12:00am
Sudden cardiac death higher in men with slower electrical impulses through heart
Men whose electrical impulses take a few milliseconds longer to travel through the lower chambers of the heart had an increased risk of sudden cardiac death. On an electrocardiogram, the delay is shown on the QRS complex. The longer the QRS duration, the higher the sudden cardiac death risk. Read more...
EurekAlert! - Breaking News, May 21, 12:00am
Study suggests obese patients have more advanced, aggressive papillary thyroid cancer
A review of medical records of patients treated at an academic tertiary care center suggests that obese patients present to their physicians with more advanced stage and more aggressive forms of papillary thyroid cancer, according to a report published online first by Archives of Surgery, a JAMA Network publication. Read more...
EurekAlert! - Breaking News, May 21, 12:00am
Treatment with bisphosphonates associated with increased risk of atypical femoral fractures
Treatment with bisphosphonate therapy appears to be associated with an increased risk of atypical fractures of the femur, according to a report published online first by Archives of Internal Medicine, a JAMA Network publication. Read more...
EurekAlert! - Breaking News, May 21, 12:00am
Study finds surgical residents often fatigued
A study involving 27 orthopedic surgery residents suggests that surgical residents are often fatigued during their awake time, according to a report in the May issue of Archives of Surgery, a JAMA Network publication. Read more...
EurekAlert! - Breaking News, May 21, 12:00am
Vigorous physical activity associated with reduced risk of psoriasis
A study of US women suggests that vigorous physical activity may be associated with a reduced risk of psoriasis, according to a report published online first by Archives of Dermatology, a JAMA Network publication. Read more...
EurekAlert! - Breaking News, May 21, 12:00am
NIH study shows poor quality malaria drugs pose threat
Poor quality antimalarial drugs lead to drug resistance and inadequate treatment that pose an urgent threat to vulnerable populations, according to a National Institutes of Health study published May 22 in the Lancet Infectious Diseases journal. Emergence of malaria strains that are resistant to artemisinin drugs on the Thailand-Cambodia border make it imperative to improve the drug supply, stressed the authors. Read more...
EurekAlert! - Breaking News, May 21, 12:00am
Modern dog breeds genetically disconnected from ancient ancestors
Cross-breeding of dogs over thousands of years has made it extremely difficult to trace the ancient genetic roots of today's pets, according to a new study led by Durham University. Read more...
EurekAlert! - Breaking News, May 21, 12:00am
New study examines relationship between social status and wound healing in wild baboons
A new study by University of Notre Dame biologist Beth Archie and colleagues from Princeton University and Duke University finds that high-ranking male baboons recover more quickly from injuries and are less likely to become ill than other males. Read more...
EurekAlert! - Breaking News, May 21, 12:00am
Richer parasite diversity leads to healthier frogs, says University of Colorado study
Increases in the diversity of parasites that attack amphibians cause a decrease in the infection success rate of virulent parasites, including one that causes malformed limbs and premature death, says a new University of Colorado Boulder study. Read more...
EurekAlert! - Breaking News, May 21, 12:00am
Strategy discovered to activate genes that suppress tumors and inhibit cancer
A promising new strategy for "reactivating" genes that cause cancer tumors to shrink and die has been developed by a research team led by two Penn State University scientists. The discovery may aid the development of an innovative anti-cancer drug that effectively targets unhealthy, cancerous tissue without damaging healthy, non-cancerous tissue and vital organs. Read more...
EurekAlert! - Breaking News, May 21, 12:00am
Study: Heart damage after chemo linked to stress in cardiac cells
Blocking a protein in the heart that is produced under stressful conditions could be a strategy to prevent cardiac damage that results from chemotherapy, a new study suggests. Read more...
EurekAlert! - Breaking News, May 21, 12:00am
Purdue professor to speak before Congress about nanotechnology in brain treatment research
Researchers at Purdue University are working with the US Army and neurosurgeons at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to create a new type of "bioactive" coating for stents used to treat brain aneurisms including those caused by head trauma from bomb blasts. Read more...
EurekAlert! - Breaking News, May 21, 12:00am
The Women's Health Initiative study and hormone therapy -- what have we learned 10 years on?
In July 2002 the publication of the first Women's Health Initiative report caused a dramatic drop in Menopausal hormone therapy use throughout the world. Now a major reappraisal by international experts, published as a series of articles in the peer-reviewed journal Climacteric (the official journal of the International Menopause Society), shows how the evidence has changed over the last 10 years. Read more...
EurekAlert! - Breaking News, May 21, 12:00am
Touching tarantulas
A brief therapy session for adults with a lifelong debilitating spider phobia resulted in lasting changes to the brain's response to fear. The therapy was so successful, the adults were able to hold a tarantula in their bare hands six months after the treatment. This is the first study to document the immediate and long-term brain changes after treatment and to illustrate how the brain reorganizes long-term to reduce fear. Read more...
EurekAlert! - Breaking News, May 21, 12:00am
Today's environment influences behavior generations later
Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin and Washington State University have seen an increased reaction to stress in animals whose ancestors were exposed to an environmental compound generations earlier. The findings, published in the latest Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, put a new twist on the notions of nature and nurture, with broad implications for how certain behavioral tendencies might be inherited. Read more...
EurekAlert! - Breaking News, May 21, 12:00am
The heart rules the head when we make financial decisions
Our 'gut feelings' influence our decisions, overriding 'rational' thought, when we are faced with financial offers that we deem to be unfair, according to a new study. Even when we are set to benefit, our physical response can make us more likely to reject a financial proposition we consider to be unjust. Read more...
EurekAlert! - Breaking News, May 21, 12:00am
New discoveries about severe malaria
Researchers from Seattle BioMed, University of Copenhagen and University of Edinburgh have uncovered new knowledge related to host-parasite interaction in severe malaria, concerning how malaria parasites are able to bind to cells in the brain and cause cerebral malaria -- the most lethal form of the disease. "Identifying the molecules that allow malaria parasites to 'stick' to the brain takes us one step closer to new treatments," said Joseph Smith, Ph.D., leader of the Seattle team. Read more...
EurekAlert! - Breaking News, May 21, 12:00am
G protein-coupled receptor mediates the action of castor oil
Action mechanism of one of the oldest drugs known to man elucidated. Read more...
EurekAlert! - Breaking News, May 21, 12:00am
Surgical removal of abdominal fat reduces skin cancer in mice
In animal studies, Rutgers scientists have found that surgical removal of abdominal fat from mice fed a high-fat diet reduces the risk of ultraviolet-light induced skin cancer - the most prevalent cancer in the United States with more than two million new cases each year - by up to 80 percent. Read more...
EurekAlert! - Breaking News, May 21, 12:00am
Mayo Clinic: Standard heart disease risk tools underrate danger in rheumatoid arthritis
Heart disease risk assessment tools commonly used by physicians often underestimate the cardiovascular disease danger faced by rheumatoid arthritis patients, a Mayo Clinic study has found. Read more...
EurekAlert! - Breaking News, May 21, 12:00am
UCLA researchers develop way to strengthen proteins with polymers
In a new study published in the Journal of the American Society of Chemistry, investigators from the UCLA Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA describe how they synthesized polymers to attach to proteins in order to stabilize them during shipping, storage and other activities. The study findings suggest that these polymers could be useful in stabilizing protein formulations. Read more...
EurekAlert! - Breaking News, May 21, 12:00am
Tufts Medical Center researchers finds marker in premies' saliva predicts readiness to feed by mouth
Tufts Medical Center researchers have shown that presence of a gene strongly linked to appetite regulation is highly predictive of a premature infant's readiness to feed orally. An analysis of just a drop of an infant's saliva could be the key to preventing many feeding problems and the expensive medical complications that can occur when infants are fed by mouth too early. Read more...
EurekAlert! - Breaking News, May 21, 12:00am
Origami-inspired design method merges engineering, art
Researchers have shown how to create morphing robotic mechanisms and shape-shifting sculptures from a single sheet of paper in a method reminiscent of origami, the Japanese art of paper folding. Read more...
EurekAlert! - Breaking News, May 21, 12:00am
New musical pacifier helps premature babies get healthy
The innovative PAL device uses musical lullabies to help infants quickly learn the muscle movements needed to suck, and ultimately feed. Read more...
EurekAlert! - Breaking News, May 21, 12:00am
Muslim Brotherhood candidate trails in race for Egypt's presidency: UMD poll
As Egypt prepares to elect its first president since the 2011 revolution, a new University of Maryland poll by Shibley Telhami finds the Muslim Brotherhood's candidate tied for fourth place in a fluid race. The poll confirms the strategic damage inflicted by the Brotherhood's decision to field its own candidate, after saying it would not. The poll shows widespread support for making Shari'a law the basis for Egypt's national system. Read more...
EurekAlert! - Breaking News, May 21, 12:00am
Type of viral infection of eye associated with disease causing blindness in the elderly
A team of researchers, including a scientist from the Viral Immunology Center at Georgia State University, have found that a type of herpesvirus infection of the eye is associated with neovascular age-related macular degeneration, a disease that causes blindness in the elderly. Read more...
EurekAlert! - Breaking News, May 21, 12:00am
Financial tool considered climate change uncertainty to select land for conservation
A tool commonly used by financial strategists to determine what shares to purchase to create a diversified stock portfolio was used to develop a diversified portfolio of another kind -- land to be set aside for conservation purposes given the uncertainty about climate change. Read more...
EurekAlert! - Breaking News, May 21, 12:00am
2 NASA satellites spy Alberto, the Atlantic Ocean season's first tropical storm
The first tropical storm of the Atlantic Ocean hurricane season formed off the coast of South Carolina on Saturday, May 19, 2012 at 5 p.m. EDT, and NASA satellites were immediately keeping track of it. NASA's TRMM and Aqua satellites have provided a visible look at the compact storm and its rainfall rates. Read more...
EurekAlert! - Breaking News, May 21, 12:00am
NASA sees Tropical Depression 03W's 'hot tower' on approach to Guam
NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite has caught two tropical cyclones with "hot towers" this week, and that's a hallmark that they'll intensify. Tropical Depression 03W is approaching Guam and is expected to strengthen. Read more...
EurekAlert! - Breaking News, May 21, 12:00am
Weight struggles? Blame new neurons in your hypothalamus
New nerve cells formed in a select part of the brain could hold considerable sway over how much you eat and consequently weigh, new animal research by Johns Hopkins scientists suggests in a study published in the May issue of Nature Neuroscience. Read more...
EurekAlert! - Breaking News, May 21, 12:00am