Health – Page 117 – Shamskm: A site to exchange knowledge and solutions

Death and dying 2000-2009: Hospice Use Rises; So Does Aggressive Care

By Guest PostFebruary 14, 2013General, Healthadd-on, aggressive care, brown university, chronic, data, david goodman, death and dying, dying seniors, end of life, hospice use, icu utilization, joan teno, medical centers, obstructive pulmonary disease, pedro gozalo, physician culture, poor communication, regional differences, repeat hospitalizations, research team, susan miller, thomas scupp, trajectory

A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association documents an increase in hospice use over the last decade but also finds more ICU utilization, more repeat hospitalizations, and more late health care transitions. The data raises concern about whether aggressive care and burdensome transitions at the end of life are consistent with the wishes of patients or those of their family members.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — A study published Feb. 6 in the Journal of the American Medical Association finds that while more seniors are dying with hospice care than a decade ago, they are increasingly doing so for very few days right after being in intensive care. The story told by the data, said the study’s lead author, is that for many seniors palliative care happens only as an afterthought. (more…)

Few Pregnant Women Treated for Sexually Transmitted Infections

By Guest PostFebruary 14, 2013Healthchlamydia in pregnancy, gonorrhea in pregnancy, pregnant sti treatment, untreated sti risks

Many pregnant women with sexually transmitted infections aren’t getting the treatment they need when they visit emergency rooms, according to a new Michigan State University study that highlights a wholly preventable risk to unborn children and raises questions about current medical guidelines. (more…)

Zinc Helps against Infection by Tapping Brakes in Immune Response

By Guest PostFebruary 13, 2013Healthaction, against infection, andrew rudawsky, animal studies, beans, bug, cell culture, charlie pyle, collateral damage, dairy products, daren knoell, excessive inflammation, fortified cereals, human monocytes, ikkb, immune response, inflammatory pathway, invading pathogen, key cells, mark wewers, ming jie liu, nf kb pathway, nuts, ohio state university, protein, shengying bao, some shellfish, sustain human life, tapping brakes, toxic levels, united states, vulnerability to infection, whole grains, zinc, zinc deficiency, zinc deficient mice, zinc supplementation, zinc transporter, zip8

COLUMBUS, Ohio – New research suggests that zinc helps control infections by gently tapping the brakes on the immune response in a way that prevents out-of-control inflammation that can be damaging and even deadly.

Scientists determined in human cell culture and animal studies that a protein lures zinc into key cells that are first-responders against infection. The zinc then interacts with a process that is vital to the fight against infection and by doing so helps balance the immune response. (more…)

Bisphenol A Affects Sex-Specific Reproductive Behaviors in a Monogamous Animal Species, Says MU Researcher

By Guest PostFebruary 13, 2013Environment, Health, Scienceaggression, american public, anxiety, assess, beer, behavioral effects, behaviors of males, bisphenol a, boys versus girls, bpa, california mouse, canned goods, chemical exposure, cheryl rosenfeld, david geary, denise warzak, eldin jasarevic, female hormones, females, gregory vandas, human body, human societies, mark ellersieck, monogamous rodent, nutritional support, offspring, paper receipts, peromyscus californicus, plastic containers, post natal exposure, pre, r michael roberts, reproductive associated behaviors, researchers, risk to children, rodents, rosenfelds lab, scott williams, sex specific, soda cans, species, university of missouri

Animal Findings Suggest That Gender May Also Influence Chemical Exposure Risks for Humans

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Parents, teachers and psychologists know boys and girls behave differently. However, that difference isn’t taken into account by most methods used to assess the risk to children from chemical exposure, according to Cheryl Rosenfeld, associate professor of biomedical sciences in the University of Missouri’s Bond Life Sciences Center. A series of experiments by Rosenfeld studied the effects of prenatal exposure to bisphenol A (BPA) on later reproductive-associated behaviors using a socially and genetically monogamous rodent, the California mouse, which may better mirror most human societies than other rodents. (more…)

Vitamin D, Omega-3 May Help Clear Amyloid Plaques Found in Alzheimer’s

By Guest PostFebruary 12, 2013Healthalzheimer, amyloid beta, amyloid beta absorption, amyloid plaques, avi siani, blood samples, brain, cell death, critical immune cells, dihydroxyvitamin d3, docosahexaenoic acid, eicosapentaenoic acid, fatty acid dha, fatty acid epa, fatty acids, guanghao liu, immune system, improve plaque clearance, inflammation, inflammatory genes, james sayre, larry magpantay, macrophages, mathew mizwicki, milan fiala, nutrition molecule, omega 3 dha, omega-3, oxidation, vitamin D, vitamin d3

A team of academic researchers has pinpointed how vitamin D3 and omega-3 fatty acids may enhance the immune system’s ability to clear the brain of amyloid plaques, one of the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease.

In a small pilot study published in the Feb. 5 issue of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, the scientists identified key genes and signaling networks regulated by vitamin D3 and the omega-3 fatty acid DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) that may help control inflammation and improve plaque clearance. (more…)

Samoan Obesity Epidemic Starts at Birth

By Guest PostFebruary 12, 2013Healthamerican samoa, birth, breastfeeding, brown university, early infancy, epidemiology, gain weight, macrosomia, nicola hawley, obesity, pacific island, pediatric obesity, polynesian populations, population, risk factor, samoan epidemic, samoan obesity epidemic, stephen mcgarvey, united states, us mainland, westernized

Born slightly heavy on average, a sample of hundreds of infants in American Samoa continued to gain weight quickly after birth, achieving high rates of obesity within 15 months. Breastfeeding slowed weight gain in boys. Findings may presage infant obesity in other populations where obesity is increasing population wide.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — As some Pacific island cultures have “westernized” over the last several decades, among the changes has been a dramatic increase in obesity. Researchers don’t understand all the reasons why, but even a decade ago in American Samoa 59 percent of men and 71 percent of women were obese. A new Brown University study finds that the Samoan epidemic of obesity may start with rapid weight gain in early infancy. (more…)

UCLA Findings Buck Conventional Wisdom about How Stress-Response Protein Works

By Guest PostFebruary 11, 2013Health, Scienceage related, biomarker, cell stress, cell types, chaperones, class of molecules, clouding, conventional wisdom, environmental conditions, epithelial cells, eye institute, eye lens, fibroblast cells, gene, heart muscle degeneration, heat shock factor, heat shock factor4, heat shock protein, hsf1, hsf4, infection, inflammation, jules stein, macular degeneration, monitor for diseases, multiple sclerosis, stress response protein, toxins, transcription factors, ucla researchers, zhe jing, αb crystallin

UCLA researchers, in a finding that runs counter to conventional wisdom, have discovered for the first time that a gene thought to express a stress-response protein in all cells that come under stress instead expresses the protein only in specific cell types.

The research team, from the Jules Stein Eye Institute at UCLA and the UCLA Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, focused on αB-Crystallin, one of a class of molecules known as heat shock proteins, which are involved in the folding and unfolding of other proteins, helping them recover from stress so they can do their job. (more…)

MU Scientists Build Harness for Powerful Radiation Cancer Therapy

By Guest PostFebruary 11, 2013Healthactinium, alpha emitter, alpha particles, beta particles, bone cancer, cancer cells, cancer patients, cancer site, cannon balls, david robertson, gold nanoparticle, gold plated nanoparticle, groundbreaking work, healthy organs, human clinical trials, knoxville, low energy, mark mclaughlin, national laboratory, oak ridge, radiation cancer therapy, radioactive particles, radiopharmaceuticals, radium 223 chloride, tissues, treatments for cancer, tumors for treatment, university of missouri, university of tennessee

Scientists at MU, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee at Knoxville created a gold nanoparticle that can transport powerful radioactive particles directly to tumors for treatment.

We’ve all heard that “it’s not wise to use a cannon to kill a mosquito.” But what if you could focus the cannon’s power to concentrate power into a tiny space? In a new study, University of Missouri researchers have demonstrated the ability to harness powerful radioactive particles and direct them toward small cancer tumors while doing negligible damage to healthy organs and tissues. The study is being published this week in PLOS ONE, an international, peer-reviewed and open-access publication. (more…)

Category Archives: Health