Category Archives: Health

Study Shows Extreme Form of Pregnancy-Related Morning Sickness Could be Genetic

By Guest PostNovember 8, 2010Health, Sciencegenetic component, grandmothers, gynecology, hg, hyperemesis gravidarum, marlena fejzo, morning sickness, mothers, nausea, pregnancy, pregnant women, sisters, vomiting

*Pregnant women whose sisters had condition are 17 times more likely to have it*

Approximately 60,000 pregnant women are hospitalized each year due to hyperemesis gravidarum (HG), an extreme form of nausea and vomiting that endangers their lives and often forces them to reluctantly terminate their pregnancies.

And for women with sisters, mothers and grandmothers on either side of the family who have experienced extreme morning sickness during pregnancy, the risk of HG may be heightened, according to a new study led by researchers from UCLA and the University of Southern California. (more…)

New 3-D Model of RNA ‘Core Domain’ of Enzyme Telomerase May Offer Clues to Cancer, Aging

By Guest PostNovember 6, 2010Health, Scienceaging, cancer, cells, chromosomes, DNA, dna damage, enzyme, helical extension, juli feigon, medicine, nmr, nobel prize, nuclear magnetic resonance, physiology, proteins, pseudoknot, qi zhang, rna, spectroscopy, telomerase, telomeres, virus

A model representation of telomerase's RNA "core domain," determined by Juli Feigon, Qi Zhang and colleagues in Feigon's UCLA laboratory. Image credit: Juli Feigon, UCLA Chemistry and Biochemistry/PNAS

Telomerase is an enzyme that maintains the DNA at the ends of our chromosomes, known as telomeres. In the absence of telomerase activity, every time our cells divide, our telomeres get shorter. This is part of the natural aging process, as most cells in the human body do not have much active telomerase. Eventually, these DNA-containing telomeres, which act as protective caps at the ends of chromosomes, become so short that the cells die.

But in some cells, such as cancer cells, telomerase, which is composed of RNA and proteins, is highly active and adds telomere DNA, preventing telomere shortening and extending the life of the cell.

UCLA biochemists have now produced a three-dimensional structural model of the RNA “core domain” of the telomerase enzyme. Because telomerase plays a surprisingly important role in cancer and aging, understanding its structure could lead to new approaches for treating disease, the researchers say. (more…)

‘Study Reveals Why Brain Has Limited Capacity for Repair After Stroke’

By Guest PostNovember 4, 2010Health, Scienceadult disability, brain, brain cells, brain repair, chemical system, neurological recovery, phasic inhibition, recovery, stroke, stroke damage, tom carmichael, tonic inhibition

Stroke is the leading cause of adult disability, due to the brain’s limited capacity for recovery. Physical rehabilitation is the only current treatment following a stroke, and there are no medications available to help promote neurological recovery.

Now, a new UCLA study published Nov. 3 in the journal Nature offers insights into a major limitation in the brain’s ability to recover function after a stroke and identifies a promising medical therapy to help overcome this limitation.

Researchers interested in how the brain repairs itself already know that when the brain suffers a stroke, it becomes excitable, firing off an excessive amount of brain cells, which die off. The UCLA researchers found that a rise in a chemical system known as “tonic inhibition” immediately after a stroke causes a reduction in this level of excitability. (more…)

Turning the Tide on South Africa’s HIV/AIDS Epidemic

By Guest PostNovember 2, 20102 commentsHealthaids activists, aids epidemic, epidemic of aids, picture of aids

Dr. Thembi Xulu. Image credit: Yale University

Thirty years after it was given a name, the epidemic of AIDS and its related illnesses continues to kill millions of people around the world. But nowhere are the numbers as high today as in sub-Saharan Africa, and in particular, the nation of South Africa.

Last week, a physician who has watched her country seesaw from denial to resolve delivered the seventh annual C. Davenport Cook Grand Rounds Lecture in International Child Health at Yale School of Medicine, speaking about how things are changing in South Africa and, perhaps, all of sub-Saharan Africa. Some of the changes she described are medical, others, attitudinal.

Dr. Thembi Xulu is medical director of Right to Care, a leading non-profit HIV/AIDS organization based in Johannesburg, as well as one of this year’s Yale World Fellows. Xulu has for many years been a persistent advocate for educating South Africans about the causes of AIDS and ways to prevent it, and for bringing affordable medication to those afflicted with it. She has grappled with governments in denial, unyielding cultural traditions, lack of funding and victims too ashamed to seek help. (more…)

Breakthrough: Scientists Harness the Power of Electricity in the Brain

By Guest PostNovember 1, 2010Health, Sciencebiomedical engineering, brain, brain impulses, brain waves, daniel ferris, electrical brain activity, electrode, harnesses, joe gwin, mri-based model, neuroscience, orchestra, paralyzed patient, power of electricity, robotic exoskeleton, symphony

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— A paralyzed patient may someday be able to “think” a foot into flexing or a leg into moving, using technology that harnesses the power of electricity in the brain, and scientists at University of Michigan School of Kinesiology are now one big step closer.

Researchers at the school and colleagues from the Swartz Center for Computational Neuroscience at the University of California, San Diego have developed technology that for the first time allows doctors and scientists to noninvasively isolate and measure electrical brain activity in moving people. (more…)

Knowledge of Genetic Cancer Risks Often Dies with Patients, Finds VCU Massey Cancer Center

By Guest PostOctober 29, 20101 commentHealth, Sciencebanking, cancer, cancer patients, dna testing, genetic risk, genetic testing, genetics, hereditary, john m quillin, thomas j smith, vcu massey researchers

Richmond, Va. – If you were dying from cancer, would you consider genetic testing? A recent study conducted by researchers from Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center showed that most terminally ill cancer patients who were eligible for genetic testing never received it despite that it could potentially save a relative’s life.

The research, “Exploring Hereditary Cancer Among Dying Cancer Patients—A Cross-Sectional Study of Hereditary Risk and Perceived Awareness of DNA Testing and Banking,” was recently published in the Journal of Genetic Counseling, and is the first to document the prevalence of hereditary cancer risk and the need for genetic services and patient education among terminally ill cancer patients. (more…)

Obesity: Yale Researcher Explains Why It’s All in Our Heads

By Guest PostOctober 28, 20101 commentHealth, Sciencealzheimer, appetite, diabetes, environmental factors, estrogen, genetic, higher brain functions, human brain imaging, hungary, hypothalamus, metabolic disorders, metabolism, neurodegenerative diseases, obesity, parkinson, pioneer award, tamas horvath, type 2 diabetes, veterinary medicine, yale daily bulletin

Tamas Horvath. Image credit: Yale University

Tamas Horvath is the first to tell you that he doesn’t study obesity. But his research on the effects of metabolism on higher brain functions could provide deeper understanding of the brain’s link to appetite, weight and to metabolic disorders such as diabetes and obesity.

His lab was the first to provide evidence that the brain uses fat as fuel. Horvath has also studied how endocrine signals in the brain regulate neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.

Horvath followed his father and grandfather into veterinary medicine in his native Hungary, but his training sparked a passion for basic research. His achievements have earned him a long title that speaks to his varied research interests. He became chair of the Department of Comparative Medicine at Yale School of Medicine in 2005, and he is also a professor in the Departments of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences and Neurobiology. Horvath also heads the Program on Integrative Cell Signaling and the Neurobiology of Metabolism. (more…)

IBM Analytics Helps Medical Researchers Detect Complication In Stroke Patients

By Guest PostOctober 26, 2010Health, Technologyanalytics technology, bleeding stroke, brain, brain injury, columbia university medical center, delayed ischemia, early warning signs, ibm, ibm research labs, ibm streaming analytics analyzes, michael schmidt, nagui halim, ruptured brain aneurysm, treatment

IBM Corporate Headquarters, Armonk NY. Image credit: IBM

LAS VEGAS, – 26 Oct 2010:

IBM today announced a new project in which researchers at Columbia University Medical Center will utilize IBM’s streaming analytics technology to potentially detect severe complications in brain injured patients up to 48 hours earlier than traditional methods.

For patients that have suffered a bleeding stroke from a ruptured brain aneurysm, recovery can involve serious complications. One of the most severe and frequent complications is delayed ischemia, a life threatening condition in which the brain does not get enough blood to function properly. Currently, detectable symptoms only appear once blood flood has been significantly reduced, forcing medical professionals to be reactive instead of preventative in their treatment. In 20 percent of patients with this complication, there are no observable symptoms at all and it is only after it is too late that their doctor realizes that the patient needed treatment. (more…)