Curated News: Featured: MedWire

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While the search continues for the Fountain of Youth, researchers may have found the body’s “fountain of aging”: the brain region known as the hypothalamus. For the first time, scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University report that the hypothalamus of mice controls aging throughout the body. Their discovery of a specific age-related signaling pathway opens up new strategies for combating diseases of old age and extending lifespan. The paper was published today in the online edition of Nature.

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Listening to the hormonal ‘conversation’ between mother and fetus could reveal new opportunities for preeclampsia detection and prevention.

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New study finds when assessed for major depressive episodes using a structured interview, only 38.4 percent of adults with clinician-identified depression met a 12-month criteria for depression, despite the majority of participants being prescribed and using psychiatric medications.

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Research from the University of Adelaide suggests that mothers who eat junk food while pregnant have already programmed their babies to be addicted to a high fat, high sugar diet by the time they are weaned.

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The largest study to date finds that eating foods that contain omega-3 fatty acids, found in fish, chicken and salad dressing and avoiding saturated fats, meat and dairy foods may be linked to preserving memory and thinking abilities. However, the same association was not found in people with diabetes. The research is published in the April 30, 2013, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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A UAB study suggests that the Mediterranean diet, which urges consuming foods that contain omega-3 fatty acids found in fish, chicken and salad dressing, and avoiding saturated fats, meat and dairy foods, may be linked to preserving memory and thinking abilities.

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Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) – among the most widely prescribed antidepressant medications – are associated with increased risk of bleeding, transfusion, hospital readmission and death when taken around the time of surgery, according to an analysis led by researchers at UC San Francisco and Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, Mass.

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About one-third of patients suffer depression following a stroke, and depression in turn increases the risk of stroke. Antidepressant medications known as SSRIs are effective when given to stroke patients as a preventive measure.

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Pandemic flu continues to threaten public health, especially in the wake of the recent emergence of an H7N9 low pathogenic avian influenza strain in humans.

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The teenage years may be a key period of vulnerability related to living in the “stroke belt” when it comes to future stroke risk, according to a new study published in the April 24, 2013, online issue of 2TUNeurologyUP®P2T, the medical journal of the 2TUAmerican Academy of NeurologyU2T.

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Long-term exposure to air pollution may be linked to heart attacks and strokes by speeding up atherosclerosis, or "hardening of the arteries," according to a University of Michigan public health researcher and colleagues from across the U.S.

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The Cancer News Source, made possible through a collaboration between the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and Newswise, provides up-to-date, comprehensive, quality content on the latest developments in cancer research, patient care, treatment innovations, and scientific advances. The Cancer News Source, and the weekly Cancer News Wire sent by email each Tuesday, serves as a resource for journalists, communicators, and members of the public interested in cancer news.

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Children can get five to 10 colds each year, so it’s not surprising that adults often turn to over-the-counter cough and cold medicines to relieve their little ones’ symptoms. But a new University of Michigan poll shows that many are giving young kids medicines that they should not use.

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Consuming grapes may help protect against organ damage associated with the progression of metabolic syndrome, according to research presented this week at the Experimental Biology conference in Boston.

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Health disparities between white and black adults in the South are not connected to a lack of exercise but more likely related to other factors such as access to health care, socioeconomic status and perhaps genetics, according to a Vanderbilt study published in the journal PLoS ONE.

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Establishing smoke-free policies for public housing would help protect residents, visitors and employees from the harmful effects of smoking and result in significant cost savings, reports a new study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

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The taste of beer, without any effect from alcohol itself, can trigger dopamine release in the brain, which is associated with drinking and other drugs of abuse, Indiana University School of Medicine researchers reported.

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Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and elsewhere have decoded the genome of the platyfish, a cousin of the guppy and a popular choice for home aquariums. Among scientists, the fish are meticulously studied for their tendency to develop melanoma and for other attributes more common to mammals, like courting prospective mates and giving birth to live young.

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A 100-car naturalistic driving study conducted by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute has shown that fatigue is a cause of 20 percent of crashes, rather than the 2 or 3 percent previously estimated based on surveys, simulator studies, and test tracks.

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Athletes with a vocal cord disorder that restricts breathing are more likely to be misdiagnosed and inappropriately treated for exercise-induced asthma.

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A genetic analysis of the avian flu virus responsible for at least nine human deaths in China portrays a virus evolving to adapt to human cells, raising concern about its potential to spark a new global flu pandemic.

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Previous data has shown that areas of the south — specifically Mississippi and Alabama – are the fattest in the U.S. But new data from the REGARDS study proves this wrong.

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Every day, millions of people with bipolar disorder take medicines to stabilize their moods. But just how these drugs work is still a mystery. Now, a new study of brain tissue helps reveal what might actually be happening. And further research using stem cells programmed to act like brain cells is already underway.

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Walter Kaye, MD, professor of psychiatry and director of the Eating Disorder Treatment and Research Program at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine. and colleagues are beginning to be use advanced brain imaging technologies to study and improve eating disorder treatments.

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For scientists working to uncover the mysteries of the brain, fat is a problem. The fats inside cells bend and scatter light, obscuring researchers’ views when they try to peer deep into tissue. A new technique developed by HHMI scientists solves that problem by removing the fat from the brain and supporting the remaining brain structures in a hydrogel—literally giving scientists a clear view of an intact brain. The technique, called CLARITY, transforms biological tissue into an optically transparent sample that retains its original structure and molecular information.

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Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown they can coax cells to move toward a beam of light. The feat is a first step toward manipulating cells to control insulin secretion or heart rate using light.

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Restructuring work hours for first-year medical residents to accommodate a 2011 duty hour limit of no more than 16 shift hours substantially increases patient handovers, but doesn’t significantly affect efficiency and quality of care among medical inpatients, a Vanderbilt University Medical Center study has found.

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A new study from Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center found that it is nearly impossible for patients to determine the true cause of their migraine episodes without undergoing formal experiments.

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Researchers in the Life Sciences Institute at the University of Michigan have challenged a long-held belief that whitening of skeletal muscle in diabetes is harmful.

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Building upon 30 years of research, Mark Buller, Ph.D., professor of molecular microbiology and immunology at Saint Louis University, studies protecting U.S. armed forces against pox viruses.

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Joint study by U-M Health System and RAND estimates total dementia care costs at $159- $200 billion a year, expected to nearly double with aging population

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A study in mice with genetic mutations seen in human Alzheimer's disease found that the feeling of hunger itself may protect against the disease.

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National survey shows adults who work and volunteer with children and teens do not believe youth have appropriate access to mental health care.

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A new study raises the intriguing possibility that drugs prescribed to lower cholesterol may be effective against macular degeneration, a blinding eye disease.

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A study published in the April issue of Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology found 65 to 75 percent of asthmatic adults have an allergy.

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Risk prediction tools that estimate future risk of heart disease and stroke may be more useful predictors of future decline in cognitive abilities, or memory and thinking, than a dementia risk scores, according to a new study published in the April 2, 2013, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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Men with an inherited genetic condition called Lynch syndrome face a higher lifetime risk of developing prostate cancer and appear to develop the disease at an earlier age, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.

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Faculty in the UNC Department of Psychiatry report on a successful pilot peer support program called “Single Fathers Due to Cancer” they created to help these men. The program is the first of its kind in the United States.

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The need for professional care of African-American children with autism can go unmet. Some of the disparity could stem from cultural differences in parental perceptions of behavior, says autism expert Margaret C. Souders, PhD, RN, assistant professor of human genetics at Penn Nursing.

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Study published in PLoS Pathogens suggests new target for treatment and the eventual cure of HIV/AIDS.

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Most older adults with dementia can successfully be taken off antipsychotic medications, which have negative side effects and increase the risk of death, finds a new evidence review from The Cochrane Library.

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• The current number of cancer survivors is 13.7 million. • The increase is primarily due to aging of the population. • Survival is not uniform across cancer types.

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Climate drives a large part of diarrheal disease in Sub-Saharan Africa and makes communities vulnerable to climate change.

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The virus that causes cold sores, along with other viral or bacterial infections, may be associated with cognitive problems, according to a new study published in the March 26, 2013, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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A wireless personal health monitoring system using smartphones to upload data via the Internet will revolutionize the U.S. healthcare industry, its pioneering creators say.

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Collaborating scientists from Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Baylor Institute for Immunology Research, and Mount Sinai School of Medicine have identified an important mechanism for stimulating protective immune responses following seasonal influenza vaccinations. The study was published in Science Translational Medicine, a journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

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St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital plays key role in research showing that drug shortages erode the quality and increase the cost of cancer care; experts warn that shortages persist despite efforts to fix the problem.

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New research from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine for the first time explains exactly how two brain regions interact to promote emotionally motivated behaviors associated with anxiety and reward. The findings could lead to new mental health therapies for disorders such as addiction, anxiety, and depression.

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Children who are later diagnosed with autism have subtle but measurable differences in attention as early as 7 months of age, finds a study published today in the American Journal of Psychiatry. Results indicate a precursor to “sticky attention” problems seen in children with autism

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A new study finds that Infants at 7 months of age who go on to develop autism are slower to reorient their gaze and attention from one object to another when compared to 7-month-olds who do not develop autism, and this behavioral pattern is in part explained by atypical brain circuits.