Health Problems News

According to new research, obese women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) may be able to improve their health outlook with a particularly enjoyable form of therapy: regular sessions in a hot tub. The research found that soaking in a hot tub several times per week for two months results in improved measures of cardiovascular health,

Researchers investigating a key signaling protein in Huntington’s disease describe deleterious effects on heart function, going beyond the disease’s devastating neurological impact. By adjusting protein levels affecting an important biological pathway, the researchers improved heart function in experimental animals, shedding light on the biology of this fatal disease. “Heart disease is the second leading cause

An investigational drug in clinical trials for rheumatoid arthritis prevents a common, life-threatening side effect of stem cell transplants, new research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis shows. Studying mice, the researchers found the drug prevented what’s known as graft-versus-host disease, a debilitating, sometimes lethal condition that develops when transplanted stem cells

Farmers worldwide face mounting pressure to increase agricultural yields to keep up with human population growth. Consequently, chemical use is on the rise – in many cases a cocktail of chemicals, from fertilizers to herbicides to insecticides. But in countries where human population growth is highest, including China, South East Asia and South America, these

A University of Cambridge researcher is calling for the voices of women to be given a fairer platform at a leading scientific conference. Dr Heather Ford and her colleagues analysed data from the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting and found that, overall; female scientists are offered fewer opportunities than men to present their research.

The rate at which the protein beta-amyloid accumulates into the sticky plaques associated with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is already slowing by the time a patient would be considered to have preclinical AD, according to a longitudinal study of healthy adults published in JNeurosci. The research suggests that anti-amyloid therapies would be most effective before individuals

People across the UK expect their memory to worsen in their 50s, according to new research from Heriot-Watt University. The results from the “What Keeps You Sharp?” survey, released today, reveals the majority of those asked believe lifestyle and genetics are equally important contributors to the changes they might experience. Almost nine out of 10

People who are 30 pounds or more overweight may want to slim down a bit even if they don’t have high blood pressure or any other heart disease risk, according to scientists at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. In a study published in the May issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology,

Over the last 50 years climate change has not been the key driver of the human displacement or conflict in East Africa, rather it is politics and poverty, according to new research by UCL. Human displacement refers to the total number of forcibly displaced people, and includes internally displaced people — the largest group represented

There has been a recent global rise in “green fever”, with various jurisdictions either decriminalising or legalising cannabis. But alongside relaxing the rules comes concern about the health implications of cannabis use. We often hear of a link between cannabis use and psychosis. So how strong is the link, and who is at risk? What

(HealthDay)—Patients prefer physicians who engage in face-to-face (F2F) clinic visits, rather than those using an examination room computer (ERC), according to a research letter published online April 19 in JAMA Oncology. Ali Haider, M.D., from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, and colleagues conducted a randomized controlled crossover study involving 120

Women who’ve previously experienced a heart attack have twice the risk of later myocardial ischemia provoked by mental stress when compared to men with a similar history, according to a study published in Circulation. Hawkins Gay, MD, MPH, a third-year resident in internal medicine, was a co-author of the study, which sampled 418 individuals and

Children love to get toys from parents as presents. This craving for objects also underlies object hoarding disorders and shopping addiction. However, the biological causes of object pursuit have remained unknown. Part of the answer may lie with a neural circuit in the hypothalamus associated with “object craving,” according to neuroscientist Daesoo Kim from the

After surgery for breast cancer women who have undergone breast reconstruction using abdominal tissue do not have a higher risk of recurrence than women who do not undergo breast reconstruction. This has been shown by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in a study published in the British Journal of Surgery. In Sweden today, more than 90,000

Helicobacter pylori, the leading cause of peptic ulcer disease and stomach cancer. One factor important to H. pylori infection is the pore-forming toxin VacA. It is thought to gain entry into host cells by binding to specialized membrane domains called lipid rafts. Using Giant Plasma Membrane Vesicles (GPMVs), Anne Kenworthy, Ph.D., and colleagues studied how

A team of Russian scientists together with foreign colleagues, reports that the venom of the crab spider Heriaeus melloteei may be used as a basis for a treatment against hypokalemic periodic paralysis. This disease is caused by genetic mutation that leads to the occurrence of the so-called ω-currents, or leakage currents, via voltage-gated ion channels

Less than half the patients diagnosed with cancer respond favorably to chemotherapy, but a new method for testing how patients will respond to various drugs could pave the way for more personalized treatment. Using Doppler light scattering, like a weather radar, researchers can determine how a patient will respond to chemotherapy even before they begin

Six in seven women with a family history of breast cancer opt out of taking tamoxifen as a preventative measure, according to a study funded by Cancer Research UK and published in Breast Cancer Research and Treatment today. Researchers asked 258 healthy women across England who had been identified as having an increased risk of

When compared with nondrinkers, men and women who had one or more alcoholic drinks per day had an overabundance of oral bacteria linked to gum disease, some cancers, and heart disease. By contrast, drinkers had fewer bacteria known to check the growth of other, harmful germs. These are the main findings of a study published

For women, the answer to the loss of sexual desire does not lie in prescription pills but in the practice of mindfulness, says Lori Brotto, a UBC psychologist and sex researcher. In her first book, Better Sex through Mindfulness, Brotto, a professor in the University of British Columbia’s faculty of medicine and the executive director