Category Archives: Health

Experimental drug shows encouraging results in treating most common form of lung cancer

An experimental cancer drug that has shown promise in the treatment of melanoma has also shown early potential as an effective treatment for patients with non-small cell lung cancer, the leading cause of cancer death among men and women worldwide.

Dr. Edward Garon, director of thoracic oncology at UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, presented the preliminary results of a Phase 1B study of the new drug, called MK-3475, on Oct. 29 at the World Conference on Lung Cancer in Sydney, Australia. (more…)

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Marrow microenvironment

Research provides new insights into bone biology

Bone marrow, the spongy tissue inside long bones, produces new blood cells and helps the lymphatic system work properly.  But it may also turn out to be a progressively hostile microenvironment that induces vascular dysfunction and ossification, or hardening, of blood vessels.

Rhonda Prisby, who is using a rat model to study bone vascular physiology and morphology, was recently surprised when she used light microscopy to look at bone marrow vessels. (more…)

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Brain may play key role in blood sugar metabolism and diabetes development

A growing body of evidence suggests that the brain plays a key role in glucose regulation and the development of type 2 diabetes, researchers write in the Nov. 7 ssue of the journal Nature. If the hypothesis is correct, it may open the door to entirely new ways to prevent and treat this disease, which is projected to affect one in three adults in the United States by 2050.

In the paper, lead author Dr. Michael W. Schwartz, UW professor of medicine and director of the Diabetes and Obesity Center of Excellence, and his colleagues from the universities of Cincinnati, Michigan, and Munich,  note that the brain was originally thought to play an important role in maintaining normal glucose metabolism  With the discovery of insulin in the 1920s, the focus of research and diabetes care shifted to almost exclusively to insulin. Today, almost all treatments for diabetes seek to either increase insulin levels or increase the body’s sensitivity to insulin. (more…)

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Georgia Tech Helps Design Easy-to-Open, Child-Resistant Medicine Bottle for a Pfizer Medication

Opening prescription medicine bottles can be a struggle for individuals with arthritis. When the medicine inside the bottle is supposed to relieve the pain, but opening the bottle causes additional pain, the experience can be even more frustrating. (more…)

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Question: Do your legs know what your tongue is doing?

UCLA researchers build a multisensory virtual world

To survive, animals must explore their world to find the necessities of life. It’s a complex task, requiring them to form them a mental map of their environment to navigate the safest and fastest routes to food and water. They also learn to anticipate when and where certain important events, such as finding a meal, will occur.
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Breast screening: The new high-tech, simpler approach

In two years, 3D screening has picked up more early cancers than mammography while cutting down on the number of callbacks. One radiologist calls it “a game changer.”

October 2013) No woman wants to get a call that her radiologist has found a suspicious image on her mammogram, and then learn that she might need a biopsy—only to find out it was all a false alarm. Now, thanks to new technology, fewer women will get those calls.

Digital breast tomosynthesis, or 3-D mammography, is transforming breast screening by significantly reducing callbacks while picking up more cancers, and eliminating some of the fear and anxiety many women experience. All women who visit the Breast Center at Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale-New Haven for mammography are now getting tomosynthesis over plain 2D mammography, says Liane Philpotts, MD, chief of breast imaging for the Breast Center. (more…)

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