Category Archives: Health

Breakthrough Technique Images Breast Tumors in 3-D with Great Clarity, Reduced Radiation

By Guest PostOctober 23, 2012Health, Science3d picture, alberto mittone, aniko sztrokay, blind evaluation, bone, breakthrough, breast cancer, breast tissue, computing algorithm, ct scanner, digital, dual view, equally sloped tomography, est, european, european colleague, france, Germany, image, jianwei miao, ludwig maximilians university, mammogram, mammography, maximilian reiser, oscillation, paola coan, patient, paul claude diemoz, radiation, radiation facility, researcher, scientist, screening, sergei gasilov, susanne liebhardt, synchrotron, technique, three-dimensional, tomography, tumor, ucla, united states, xray, yunzhe zhao, zhifeng huang

Like cleaning the lenses of a foggy pair of glasses, scientists are now able to use a technique developed by UCLA researchers and their European colleagues to produce three-dimensional images of breast tissue that are two to three times sharper than those made using current CT scanners at hospitals. The technique also uses a lower dose of X-ray radiation than a mammogram.

These higher-quality images could allow breast tumors to be detected earlier and with much greater accuracy. One in eight women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer during her lifetime.

The research is published the week of Oct. 22 in the early edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (more…)

Germs in Space: Preventing Infection on Long Flights

By Guest PostOctober 22, 2012Health, Scienceair filtration, antimicrobial resistance, astronaut, brown university, charles hobaugh, deep space, duane pierson, earth, energy budget, Environment, environmental cleaning, germs, harmful pathogen, hazardous vapors, hepa, hospital disinfectants, hygiene product, immune system, infection, infectious disease, janet kavandi, Johnson Space Center, leonard mermel, long spaceflight, mars, meningococcus, microbiologist, microgravity, microorganisms, NASA, outbreak, pneumoccocus, pneumococcus, purell, rhode island hospital, salmonella, Science, space life, spacecraft, steven lindsey, vaccinating astronauts, vitamin

On a long spaceflight unique conditions including microgravity could give microbes the upper hand, but not if astronauts and their spacecrafts are properly prepared. In a new paper, infectious disease expert Dr. Leonard Mermel brings together a broad base of research to come up with specific recommendations for keeping astronauts safe in deep space.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — The cabin of a spacecraft halfway to Mars would be the least convenient place — one cannot say “on earth” — for a Salmonella or Pneumococcus outbreak, but a wide-ranging new paper suggests that microgravity and prolonged space flight could give unique advantages to germs. What’s a space agency to do? Brown University and Rhode Island Hospital infectious disease expert Dr. Leonard Mermel offers several ideas.

And no, they are not to add more Vitamin C to the Tang, or to give each crew member a bottle of Purell. It’s a lot more complicated than that. (more…)

Medication Beliefs Strongly Affect Individuals’ Management of Chronic Diseases, MU Expert Says

By Guest PostOctober 21, 2012Healthalternative, basel, belgium, blood pressure, bottle cap, chronic condition, chronic disease, electronic, fabienne dobbels, heart disease, high, leuven, life, medication, medication regimen, missouri, objective feedback, patient, pill, pilot study, quality, risk, sabina de geest, salt consumption, shortened lifespan, side effect, stroke, switzerland, todd ruppar, treatment, university

Health practitioners should use behavior-change tactics so patients take medications as prescribed

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Nearly half of patients taking medications for chronic conditions do not strictly follow their prescribed medication regimens. Failure to use medications as directed increases patients’ risk for side effects, hospitalizations, reduced quality of life and shortened lifespans. Now, a University of Missouri gerontological nursing expert says patients’ poor adherence to prescribed medication regimens is connected to their beliefs about the necessity of prescriptions and concerns about long-term effects and dependency.

MU Assistant Professor Todd Ruppar found that patients’ beliefs about the causes of high blood pressure and the effectiveness of treatment alternatives significantly affected their likelihood of faithfully following prescribed medication regimens. In his pilot study, Ruppar focused on older patients’ adherence to medication treatments that control high blood pressure, a condition that affects nearly 70 million adults in the U.S. and can lead to heart disease and stroke. (more…)

Taking Race Out of the Equation in Measuring Women’s Risk of Osteoporosis and Fractures

By Guest PostOctober 20, 2012Healthafrican american, age, arun karlamangla, background, bone fracture, bone health, bone size, carolyn crandall, caucasian, chinese heritage, data, ethnic, ethnicity, ethnicity information, gail greendale, hip fracture, jane cauley, japanese, mei hua huang, michelle danielson, mixed, national database, new method, osteoporosis, pittsburgh, race, racial, racial line, racial mixture, risk, shinya ishii, ucla, university, women

For women of mixed racial or ethnic backgrounds, a new method for measuring bone health may improve the odds of correctly diagnosing their risk of osteoporosis and bone fractures, according to a UCLA-led study.

Currently, assessing osteoporosis and the risk of fractures from small accidents like falls requires a bone density scan. But because these scans don’t provide other relevant fracture-related information, such as bone size and the amount of force a bone is subjected to during a fall, each patient’s bone density is examined against a national database of people with the same age and race or ethnicity. (more…)

New Insights into How Genetic Differences among Individuals Influence Breast Cancer Risk from Low-Dose Radiation

By Guest PostOctober 17, 2012Health, Scienceandy wyrobek, antoine snijders, berkeley lab, breast cancer, cancer risk, cellular, cellular proliferation, chemical therapy, ct scan, department, dna repair, energy, gene, genetic makeup, gland cancer, immune response, ionizing radiation, joe gray, low dose, mammary tissue, mechanism, mice, non radiation, radiotherapy, resistance, risk, scientist, strain, survival outcome, therapy, tissue mechanism, tissue stress, woman

Berkeley Lab research could lead to new ways to ID women who have higher risk of breast cancer from low-dose radiation

Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have identified tissue mechanisms that may influence a woman’s susceptibility or resistance to breast cancer after exposure to low-dose ionizing radiation, such as the levels used in full-body CT scans and radiotherapy.

The research could lead to new ways to identify women who have higher or lower risks of breast cancer from low-dose radiation. Such a predictive tool could help guide the treatment of cancer patients who may be better served by non-radiation therapies. (more…)

Exercise May Lead to Better School Performance for Kids with ADHD

By Guest PostOctober 17, 2012Health, Scienceadhd, american children, attention, brain activity, cartoon fish, challenge, charles hillman, children, computer game, daniel picchietti, deficit, disorder, eeg cap, error, exercise, hyperactivity, inhibitory control, journal, kids, matthew pontifex, michigan, mistake, nonpharmaceutical treatment, pediatrics, physical activity, physical education, program, state university, swimming, treadmill, walking briskly

EAST LANSING, Mich. — A few minutes of exercise can help children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder perform better academically, according to a new study led by a Michigan State University researcher.

The study, published in the current issue of the Journal of Pediatrics, shows for the first time that kids with ADHD can better drown out distractions and focus on a task after a single bout of exercise. Scientists say such “inhibitory control” is the main challenge faced by people with the disorder. (more…)

Gold Nanoparticle Prostate Cancer Treatment Found Safe in Dogs, MU Study Shows

By Guest PostOctober 16, 2012Healthancer death, bodily function, cancer, cancer patient, cause, chemotherapy, clinical trial, dose, efficient way, gold nanoparticle, human patient, kattesh katti, missouri, mizzou advantage, one health, one medicine area, prostate cancer, prostate tumor, radioactive, reduction, sandra axiak bechtel, side effect, toxic, travel, treatment, tumor, tumor volume, university, us men, vital organ

New treatment may have fewer side effects than traditional cancer therapy

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Currently, large doses of chemotherapy are required when treating certain forms of cancer, resulting in toxic side effects. The chemicals enter the body and work to destroy or shrink the tumor, but also harm vital organs and drastically affect bodily functions. Now, scientists at the University of Missouri have proven that a new form of prostate cancer treatment that uses radioactive gold nanoparticles, and was developed at MU, is safe to use in dogs. Sandra Axiak-Bechtel, an assistant professor in oncology at the MU College of Veterinary Medicine, says that this is a big step for gold nanoparticle research.

“Proving that gold nanoparticles are safe to use in the treatment of prostate cancer in dogs is a big step toward gaining approval for clinical trials in men,” Axiak-Bechtel said. “Dogs develop prostate cancer naturally in a very similar way as humans, so the gold nanoparticle treatment has a great chance to translate well to human patients.” (more…)