http://medicineworld.org/news/healthnews.html MedicineWorld.Org brings daily health news from various sources to keep you updated on the latest events in the world of health. Medicineworld health news service is one of the most comprehensive health news services on the internet. We keep an archive of previous few days of news on this site. Please go down through the list to find the older news items. Tue, 13 Jan 2009 05:53:56 GMT en-us http://medicineworld.org/images/steth.jpg http://medicineworld.org/news/healthnews.html 90 90 http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/1-2009/cold-weather-leads-to-higher-blood-pressure.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/1-2009/cold-weather-leads-to-higher-blood-pressure.html Tue, 13 Jan 2009 05:53:56 GMT Outdoor temperature and blood pressure appear to be correlated in the elderly, with higher rates of high blood pressure in cooler months, as per a report in the January 12 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Seasonal variations in blood pressure have been recognized among the general population for 40 years, as per background information in the article. However, few prior studies have looked specifically at elderly adults. "Elderly persons appears to be especially susceptible to temperature-related variations in blood pressure," the authors write. "The baroreflex, which is one of the mechanisms of blood pressure regulation, is modified in elderly subjects, and it has been hypothesized that disorders of baroreflex control and enhanced vasoreactivity [sensitivity of blood vessels] could contribute to the aging-associated increase in cardiovascular morbidity [illness]"........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/1-2009/stress-at-workplace-may-increase-risk-of-stroke.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/1-2009/stress-at-workplace-may-increase-risk-of-stroke.html Tue, 13 Jan 2009 05:53:56 GMT Japanese men in high-stress jobs appear to have an increased risk of stroke compared with those in less demanding positions, as per a report in the January 12 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Stress is considered a risk factor for stroke, as per background information in the article. Several models of job stress have been developed and provide clues as to how occupational factors appears to be modified to reduce risk. "The job demandcontrol model is the most often used occupational stress model," the authors write. "It posits that workers who face high psychological demands in their occupation and have little control over their work (i.e., those who have job strain) are at a greater risk of becoming ill than are workers with low psychological demands and a high degree of control in their occupation (i.e., those with low-strain occupations)"........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/1-2009/diabetes-dementia-and-brain-injuries.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/1-2009/diabetes-dementia-and-brain-injuries.html Tue, 13 Jan 2009 05:53:56 GMT Patients with dementia and diabetes appear to display a different pattern of injuries in their brains than patients with dementia but without diabetes, as per an article posted online today that will appear in the March print issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. "The association between diabetes mellitus and increased risk for dementia in the elderly is well documented," the authors write as background information in the article. Several possible mechanisms have been proposed for this association, including the direct effects of high blood glucose and insulin, the build-up of beta-amyloid plaques in the brain and the effects of diabetes-related vascular disease on blood vessels in the brain........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/1-2009/if-you-sleep-less-you-catch-cold.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/1-2009/if-you-sleep-less-you-catch-cold.html Tue, 13 Jan 2009 05:53:56 GMT Individuals who get less than seven hours of sleep per night appear about three times as likely to develop respiratory illness following exposure to a cold virus as those who sleep eight hours or more, as per a report in the January 12 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/1-2009/brain-helps-us-learn-and-remember.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/1-2009/brain-helps-us-learn-and-remember.html Tue, 13 Jan 2009 05:53:56 GMT The healthy brain is in a constant struggle between learning new experiences and remembering old experiences, a newly released study in this week's PLoS Biology reports. Virtually all social interactions require the rapid exchange of new and old information. For instance, normal conversation requires that while listening to the new information another person is providing, we are already retrieving information in preparation of an appropriate reply. Yet, some memory theories assume that these different modes of memory cannot happen at the same time and compete for priority within our brain........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/1-2009/younger-adults-could-be-at-risk-for-heart-disease.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/1-2009/younger-adults-could-be-at-risk-for-heart-disease.html Tue, 13 Jan 2009 05:53:56 GMT Even younger adults who have few short-term risk factors for heart disease may have a higher risk of developing heart disease over their lifetimes, as per new findings by a UT Southwestern Medical Center researcher. The findings, based on clinical studies and appearing in the Jan. 26 issue of the journal Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association, suggest that traditional methods of identifying heart disease risk might not adequately identify patients who actually have a higher lifetime risk........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/1-2009/new-weapon-in-battle-against-hiv-infection.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/1-2009/new-weapon-in-battle-against-hiv-infection.html Tue, 13 Jan 2009 05:53:56 GMT Scientists have discovered a potentially important new resistance factor in the battle against HIV: blood types. An international team of scientists from Canadian Blood Services, The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) and Lund University in Sweden have discovered that certain blood types are more predisposed to contracting HIV, while others are more effective at fending it off........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/1-2009/new-clues-to-understanding-cancer.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/1-2009/new-clues-to-understanding-cancer.html Tue, 13 Jan 2009 05:53:56 GMT In the 13th January print edition of the journal Current Biology, Instituto Gubenkian de Ciencia scientists provide insight into an old mystery in cell biology, and offer up new clues to understanding cancer. Ins Cunha Ferreira and Mnica Bettencourt Dias, working with scientists at the universities of Cambridge, UK, and Siena, Italy, unravelled the mystery of how cells count the number of centrosomes, the structure that regulates the cell's skeleton, controls the multiplication of cells, and is often transformed in cancer........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/1-2009/nanoparticles-based-drug-delivery-system.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/1-2009/nanoparticles-based-drug-delivery-system.html Tue, 13 Jan 2009 05:53:56 GMT A tiny particle syringe composed of polymer layers and nanoparticles may provide drug delivery that targets diseased cells without harming the rest of the body, as per a team of chemical engineers. This delivery system could be robust and flexible enough to deliver a variety of substances. "People probably fear the effects of some therapys more than they fear the disease they treat," says Huda A. Jerri, graduate student, chemical engineering. "The drugs are poison. Treatment is a matter of dosage so that it kills the cancer and not the patient. Targeted therapy becomes very important"........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/1-2009/organic-substance-may-help-heal-broken-hearts.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/1-2009/organic-substance-may-help-heal-broken-hearts.html Tue, 13 Jan 2009 05:53:56 GMT Imagine new therapys for heart disease or muscle loss that direct the body to repair damaged tissue rather than helping it cope with a weakened condition. That's not hard to do thanks to Canadian researchers, who for the first time, have developed an organic substance that attracts and supports cells necessary for tissue repair and can be directly injected into problem areas. This development, published online in The FASEB Journal (http://www.fasebj.org) is a major step toward therapys that allow people to more fully recover from injury and disease rather than having to live with chronic health problems. It may even help reduce the need for organ transplantation by allowing physicians to save organs that would have been previously damaged beyond repair........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/1-2009/epidural-anesthesia-is-safe.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/1-2009/epidural-anesthesia-is-safe.html Tue, 13 Jan 2009 05:53:56 GMT The largest ever prospective study [1,2] into the major complications [3] of epidurals and spinal anaesthetics reported in the British Journal of Anaesthesia today (Monday 12 January 2009) concludes that prior studies have over-estimated the risks of severe complications of these procedures. The study concludes that the estimated risk of permanent harm following a spinal anaesthetic or epidural is lower than 1 in 20,000 and in a number of circumstances the estimated risk is considerably lower........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/1-2009/fighting-cholesterol-with-synthetic-hdl.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/1-2009/fighting-cholesterol-with-synthetic-hdl.html Tue, 13 Jan 2009 05:53:56 GMT Buttery Christmas cookies, eggnog, juicy beef roast, rich gravy and creamy New York-style cheesecake. Happy holiday food unfortunately can send blood cholesterol levels sky high. Northwestern University researchers now offer a promising new weapon -- synthetic high-density lipoprotein (HDL), the "good" cholesterol -- that could help fight chronically high cholesterol levels and the deadly heart disease that often results........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/1-2009/where-am-i.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/1-2009/where-am-i.html Tue, 13 Jan 2009 05:53:56 GMT We've all experienced the feeling of not knowing where we are. Being disoriented is not pleasant, and it can even be scary, but luckily for most of us, this sensation is temporary. The brain employs many tricks to reorient us, keeping our confusion to a minimum and quickly pointing us in the right direction. Research has suggested that animals and young children mainly rely on geometric cues (e.g. lengths, distances, angles) to help them get reoriented. Human adults, however, can also make use of feature cues (e.g. color, texture, landmarks) in their surrounding area. But which method do we use more often? Psychology experts Kristin R. Ratliff from the University of Chicago and Nora S. Newcombe from Temple University conducted a set of experiments investigating if human adults have a preference for using geometric or feature cues to become reoriented........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/1-2009/insulin-levels-breast-cancer-risk.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/1-2009/insulin-levels-breast-cancer-risk.html Tue, 13 Jan 2009 05:53:56 GMT Higher-than-normal levels of insulin place postmenopausal women at increased risk of breast cancer, scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University report. Their findings, reported in the January 7 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, suggest that interventions that target insulin and its signaling pathways may decrease breast cancer risk in these women........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/1-2009/new-genes-that-fuse-in-cancer.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/1-2009/new-genes-that-fuse-in-cancer.html Tue, 13 Jan 2009 05:53:56 GMT Using new technologies that make it easier to sequence the human genome, scientists at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center have identified a series of genes that become fused when their chromosomes trade places with each other. These recurrent gene fusions are believed to be the driving mechanism that causes certain cancers to develop........ ]]>