Category Archives: Health

Protein Linked to Therapy Resistance in Breast Cancer

Berkeley Lab Researchers Identify Possible New Oncogene and Future Therapy Target

A gene that may possibly belong to an entire new family of oncogenes has been linked by researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) with breast cancer resistance to a well-regarded and widely used cancer therapy. (more…)

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Reading the Classics: It’s More than Just for Fun

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Reading a classic novel such as “Pride and Prejudice” can be entertaining, but, according to new research by a Michigan State University professor, it also can provide many other benefits beyond that.

Natalie Phillips, an MSU assistant professor of English, and her team placed study participants in an MRI machine and monitored their brain flow while reading the works of Jane Austen. (more…)

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Immune Systems of ‘Bubble Babies’ Restored by Gene Therapy, UCLA Researchers Find

UCLA stem cell researchers have found that a gene therapy regimen can safely restore immune systems to children with so-called “bubble boy” disease, a life-threatening condition that if left untreated can be fatal within one to two years.

In the 11-year study, researchers were able to test two therapy regimens for 10 children with ADA-deficient severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID), which has come to be known as “bubble boy” disease because some of its victims have been forced to live in sterile environments. (more…)

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Smoking: Quitting is Tough for Teens, too

A new study finds that relatively early into tobacco addiction, teens experience many of the same negative psychological effects during abstinence as adults do, with a couple of exceptions. The data can inform efforts to improve the efficacy of quitting and withdrawal treatment programs.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Abstinence from smoking seems to affect teens differently than adults in a couple of ways, but a new study provides evidence that most of the psychological difficulties of quitting are as strong for relatively new, young smokers as they are for adults who have been smoking much longer.

“Adolescents are showing — even relatively early in the dependence process — significant, strong, negative effects just after acute abstinence from smoking,” said L. Cinnamon Bidwell, assistant professor (research) in psychiatry and human behavior at the Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies. “Our study shows what those specific effects are. We chose a broad array” of factors to study. (more…)

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Precautions for Tick-Borne Disease Extend “Beyond Lyme”

Save the tick that bites you: it may not be the one you think

This year’s mild winter and early spring were a bonanza for tick populations in the eastern United States. Reports of tick-borne disease rose fast.

While Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne disease in the Northeast and Upper Midwest, new research results emphasize that it is not the greatest cause for concern in most Southeastern states.

The findings are published today in a paper in the journal Zoonoses and Public Health. (more…)

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The Best Strategy to Defeat HIV in South Africa

UCLA study challenges World Health Organization’s approach

The World Health Organization is about to roll out a new strategy for AIDS prevention in South Africa, a country where more than 5 million people are infected with HIV. Based on a mathematical model, the WHO predicts this strategy will completely eliminate HIV in South Africa within a decade. (more…)

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