1. Smoking linked to loss of Y
chromosome in males 12/5/14
Only men have the Y
chromosome, which “may in part explain why men in general have a shorter life
span than women, and why smoking is more dangerous for men,” says lead
researcher Prof. Jan Dumanski, of Uppsala University in Sweden. Researchers
have already shown that male smokers are more likely to develop cancer outside
of the respiratory tract than female smokers. In the new study, the discovery
of a potential link between smoking and genetic damage that only affects men
could account for this difference. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/286474.php
2. Researchers link vitamin D deficiency to
seasonal affective disorder 12/7/14
Seasonal affective
disorder (SAD), a form of depression that usually begins in the fall, continues
throughout the winter months. Symptoms include feeling sad or anxious, fatigue,
concentration problems, irritability and feelings of guilt and hopelessness. In
this latest study, Stewart and colleagues present the idea that vitamin D
deficiency may be behind all of the aforementioned theories related to SAD. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/286496.php
3. More than salt, sugars may contribute to
high blood pressure 12/11/14
Cardiovascular
disease is the number one cause of premature mortality in the developed world,
and hypertension is its most important risk factor. The researchers indicate
“sugar may be much more meaningfully related to blood pressure than sodium, as
suggested by a greater magnitude of effect with dietary manipulation.” http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/286795.php
4. Alcohol disrupts body’s sleep regulator 12/11/14
Around
20% of adult Americans use alcohol, known to be a powerful sleep inducer to
help them fall asleep. However, new research shows that while alcohol may bring
on sleepiness, it can disrupt sleep and, over time, cause insomnia by
interfering with the body’s system for regulating sleep. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/286827.php
5.
Endurance training alters skeletal muscle ‘at an epigenetic level’ 12/13/14
Long-term
endurance training alters the epigenetic pattern of the human skeletal muscle,
according to new research from the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, published
in the journal Epigenetics. A key finding of the study was that the majority of
epigenetic changes occurred in “enhancers,” which are regulatory regions of the
genome. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/286929.php
6. A year in medicine: review of 2014 12/19/14
Looking
back on 2014, perhaps two medical stories stick most in the memory-one because
of its popularity in social media, the other because of its newsworthiness.
Stem cells, dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, Ebola, E-cigarettes, health
policy, innovative technology, paralysis, and personal health tracking. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/285692.php
7. Eat more whole grains to reduce CVD, total
mortality risk 1/6/15
Whole
grains form a part of many diets deemed to be beneficial for health – such as
the Mediterranean diet. But what health benefits do whole grains offer in their
own right? According to a new study, eating more of them may reduce mortality,
particularly deaths resulting from cardiovascular disease. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/287573.php
8. Most
physicians in Asia ‘withhold life-sustaining treatment for terminally ill
patients’ 1/14/15
According to the
study researchers, including Jason Phua of the National University Hospital in
Singapore, more than half of all cases of critical illness, mechanical
ventilation and deaths in intensive care units occur in Asia. Over 70% of
physicians in Asia would withhold life-sustaining treatments.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/287897.php
9. First lab-grown contracting human muscle 1/14/15
In
a new study, researchers from Duke University in Durham, NC, reveal they have
grown the first ever human skeletal muscle that contracts in response to
external stimuli, such as electrical impulses and pharmaceuticals, The team
says their creation paves the way for testing of new drugs and the study of
diseases without having to put a patient’s health at risk. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/288012.php
10. Video-based treatment may improve
autism-related behavior in at-risk infants 1/25/15
A
new study published in The Lancet Psychiatry suggests video-based therapy may
improve the engagement, attention and social behavior of infants at risk of
autism and reduce their risk of developing the condition. Compared with the
infants who did not receive the iBASIS-VIPP therapy, those who did showed
significant improvements in engagement, attention and social behavior. On the
AOSI scale, infants who received the intervention had lower scores for
autism-related behavior than those who did not receive the treatment. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/288450.php
11. Pluripotent stem cells used to generate
hair growth 1/28/15
Though
common, hair loss is a distressing disorder. It can dent a person’s confidence and
provoke feelings of depression. Now, researchers from Sanford-Burnham Medical
Research Institute in La Jolla, Ca, say they are one step closer to a new
treatment for the condition; they have found a way to generate new hair using
human pluripotent stem cells. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/288657.php
12. Organ transplants in the US ‘have saved
almost 2,3 million years of life 1/31/15
Little
more than 50 years ago, the world’s first successful kidney transplant took
place. Now, more than 16,000 kidney transplants take place each year in the US
alone, indicative of just how far organ transplantation has come. Now,
researchers have analyzed 25 years of transplant data to determine how many
years of life have been saved by the procedure. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/288673.php
13. Antibiotic use has more unwanted effects
than previously thought 2/11/15
Scientists
are beginning to discover that antibiotic use - and overuse especially - is
associated with a range of problems that affect, among other things, glucose
metabolism, the immune system, food digestion and behavior. They also suspect
it is linked to obesity and stress. Disruption in host-microbe dialog can not
only disrupt digestion, cause diarrhea and ulcerative colitis, but new research
is also linking it to immune function, obesity, food absorption, depression,
sepsis, asthma and allergies. The team also found that the antibiotics and
bacteria that have developed resistance to them cause significant changes to
mitochondria, leading to more cell death. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/289259.php
14. Designer protein ‘blocks all known strains
of HIV’ 2/18/15
The results of the
study, which are published in the journal Nature, demonstrate how the new drug
candidate blocked every strain of HIV-1, HIV-2 and SIV (simian immunodeficiency
virus), including the variants that are most difficult to block. Studies like
this support the idea that killing bad bacteria with antibiotics is perhaps not
a good way to deal with infection - given the increasing list of side-effects
and problems they cause. Prof. Morgun suggests boosting the healthy bacteria so
they outcompete the unwanted ones might be a better approach. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/289611.php
15. Daily antiretroviral medication ‘highly
protective’ against HIV infection 2/25/15
Pre-exposure
prophylaxis (PrEP) was found to reduce the risk of infection by 86% for this
group during the PROUD study (Pre-exposure Option for reducing HIV in the UK:
immediate or deferred). The effects were so pronounced that a group of
participants who had been deferred access to PrEP were offered the treatment
ahead of schedule. A total of 22 HIV infections occurred among the participants
during the first year of the study. Of these, 3 were in the group receiving
PrEP and 19 were in the group whose access to PrEP was deferred. The
researchers calculate that this gave the PrEP group an HIV incidence of 1.3 per
100 person years, compared with 8.9 per 100 person-years in the deferred group.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/289949.php
16. Could too much sleep increase the risk of
stroke? 2/26/15
According to the
National Sleep Foundation, adults aged 18-64 should get 7-9 hours of sleep each
night. But this latest study, involving more than 9,000 people with an average
age of 62, found that getting more than 8 hours sleep each night was associated
with a 46% increased risk of stroke. What is more, the researchers found that
people who increased their amount of sleep from 6-8 hours each night to more
than 8 hours during follow-up were four times more likely to have a stroke,
compared with those who consistently slept for 6-8 hours a night.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/289876.php