http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. The globe remains unprepared to deal with the risk of a massive virus outbreak, the deputy chief of the World Health Organization warned Tuesday, amid fears that H7N9 bird flu striking China could morph into a form that spreads easily among people. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-world-ready-flu-outbreak.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 21 May 2013 15:40:03 EST news288368629 (HealthDay)—The monstrous tornado that devastated Moore, Okla., on Monday, killing dozens of adults and children, is a stunning example of violent weather that can affect a child's mental well-being. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-weather-threaten-child-mental-health.html Psychology & Psychiatry Tue, 21 May 2013 15:40:01 EST news288368918 A study of veterans at high risk for developing lung cancer shows that low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) can be highly effective in helping clinicians spot tiny lung nodules which, in a small number of patients, may indicate the earliest stages of the disease. LDCT uses less than a quarter of the radiation of a conventional CT scan. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-scans-cancer-earliest-stages.html Cancer Tue, 21 May 2013 15:18:35 EST news288368304 Among patients with acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) requiring hospital admission, a 5-day glucocorticoid treatment course was non-inferior (not worse than) to a 14-day course with regard to re-exacerbation during 6 months of follow-up, according to a study published online by JAMA. The study is being released early online to coincide with its presentation at the American Thoracic Society international conference. The authors write that these findings support a shorter-course glucocorticoid treatment regimen, which would reduce glucocorticoid exposure and the risk of possible adverse effects. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-shorter-duration-steroid-therapy-similar.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 21 May 2013 15:18:08 EST news288368280 African-Americans are less likely than whites and women are more likely than men to have had a prior diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) regardless of their current disease severity, according to a new study. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-gender-diagnosis-copd.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 21 May 2013 15:17:30 EST news288368244 Variation in the gene MUC5B among patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis was associated with improved survival, according to a study published online by JAMA. The study is being released early online to coincide with its presentation at the American Thoracic Society international conference. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-genetic-variation-patients-pulmonary-fibrosis.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 21 May 2013 15:14:58 EST news288368090 As many as 35 percent of Mexican young adults may have a genetic predisposition for obesity, said a University of Illinois scientist who conducted a study at the Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosί. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-genetic-obesity-mexican-young-adults.html Overweight and Obesity Tue, 21 May 2013 15:12:14 EST news288367926 Researchers at USC have found that a class of pharmaceuticals can both prevent and treat Alzheimer's Disease in mice. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-drugs-alzheimer-disease-mice.html Alzheimer's disease & dementia Tue, 21 May 2013 14:17:42 EST news288364654 The decision to limit life support in patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) appears to be significantly influenced by physician practices and/or the culture of the hospital, suggests new findings from researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania presented at the American Thoracic Society International Conference on May 21. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-decisions-forgo-life-heavily-icu.html Other Tue, 21 May 2013 14:00:02 EST news288357068 Children with obstructive sleep apnea who had a common surgery to remove their tonsils and adenoids showed notable improvements in behavior, quality of life and other symptoms compared to those treated with "watchful waiting" and supportive care, according to a new study. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-behavior-tonsiladenoid-surgery-kids.html Sleep apnea Tue, 21 May 2013 14:00:01 EST news288357036 Children with autism showed significant improvement after six months of simple sensory exercises at home using everyday items such as scents, spoons and sponges, according to UC Irvine neurobiologists. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-enrichment-therapy-effective-children-autism.html Autism spectrum disorders Tue, 21 May 2013 13:37:06 EST news288362216 Overweight and obese patients are significantly more likely than their normal-weight counterparts to repeatedly switch primary care doctors, a practice that disrupts continuity of care and leads to more emergency room visits, new Johns Hopkins research suggests. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-doctor-obese-patients-negatively-affects.html Overweight and Obesity Tue, 21 May 2013 13:36:24 EST news288362175 An attack on glioblastoma brain tumor cells that uses a modified poliovirus is showing encouraging results in an early study to establish the proper dose level, researchers at Duke Cancer Institute report. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-poliovirus-vaccine-trial-early-recurrent.html Cancer Tue, 21 May 2013 13:31:22 EST news288361876 (Medical Xpress)—Despite spending billions of dollars on research and development, drug companies have been unable to come up with effective treatments for dementia and Alzheimer's Disease (AD). Now, A. David Smith at the University of Oxford and his colleagues have discovered that, in some patients experiencing mild cognitive impairment (MCI), a cocktail of high-dose B vitamins could prevent gray matter loss associated with progression to AD. The study appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-vitamins-dementia.html Neuroscience Tue, 21 May 2013 13:22:54 EST news288361359 Children who are exposed to secondhand smoke in early childhood are more likely to grow up to physically aggressive and antisocial, regardless of whether they were exposed during pregnancy or their parents have a history of being antisocial, according to Linda Pagani and Caroline Fitzpatrick of the University of Montreal and its affiliated CHU Sainte-Justine hospital. No study to date has controlled for these factors. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-aggressive-behavior-linked-specifically-secondhand.html Health Tue, 21 May 2013 13:00:01 EST news288357002 You're standing near an airport luggage carousel and your bag emerges on the conveyor belt, prompting you to spring into action. How does your brain make the shift from passively waiting to taking action when your bag appears? http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-potential-brain-behavior.html Neuroscience Tue, 21 May 2013 12:43:55 EST news288359022 Widely available in pharmacies and health stores, phosphatidylserine is a natural food supplement produced from beef, oysters, and soy. Proven to improve cognition and slow memory loss, it's a popular treatment for older people experiencing memory impairment. Now a team headed by Prof. Gil Ast and Dr. Ron Bochner of Tel Aviv University's Department of Human Molecular Genetics have discovered that the same supplement improves the functioning of genes involved in degenerative brain disorders, including Parkinson's disease and Familial Dysautonomia (FD). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-common-food-supplement-degenerative-brain.html Medical research Tue, 21 May 2013 12:20:01 EST news288356860 Most elite athletes consider doping substances "are effective" in improving performance, while recognising that they constitute cheating, can endanger health and entail the obvious risk of sanction. At the same time, the reasons why athletes start to take doping substances are to achieve athletic success, improve performance, for financial gain, to improve recovery and to prevent nutritional deficiencies, as well as "because other athletes also use them". http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-elite-athletes-doping-substances-effective.html Health Tue, 21 May 2013 12:10:01 EST news288355671 Youth who had a schoolmate die by suicide are significantly more likely to consider or attempt suicide, according to a study in published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). This effect can last 2 years or more, which has implications for strategies following schoolmate suicides. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-teens-exposed-schoolmate-death-suicide.html Psychology & Psychiatry Tue, 21 May 2013 12:09:19 EST news288356939 Knee replacement surgery is a very common procedure. However, it does not always resolve function or pain in all the recipients of new knees. A study by Robert Barrack, MD and his colleagues from the Washington University School of Medicine wanted to determine if any socioeconomic factors were associated with less successful outcomes of knee replacement surgery. Their study, which appears in Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research, published by Springer, found that lower-income individuals reported higher levels of dissatisfaction and poorer function than those with higher incomes. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-people-higher-incomes-happier-knees.html Other Tue, 21 May 2013 11:50:36 EST news288355827 Surgeons investigated sexual function in 62 patients, 50 years and older, who had received extensive spinal–pelvic instrumentation for spinal deformity at the University of Virginia Health Center. Based on their results, the surgeons found that it is very possible for older people to achieve satisfactory sexual function despite having extensive spinal–pelvic instrumentation. Details of this study are disclosed in "Sexual function in older adults following thoracolumbar to pelvic instrumentation for spinal deformity. Clinical article," by Dr. D. Kojo Hamilton and colleagues, published today online, ahead of print, in the Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-sexual-function-older-adults-thoracolumbar-pelvic.html Surgery Tue, 21 May 2013 11:50:01 EST news288355093 Researchers at Emory University have identified a protein that stimulates a pair of "orphan receptors" found in the brain, solving a long-standing biological puzzle and possibly leading to future treatments for neurological diseases. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-family-pair-orphan-receptors-brain.html Medical research Tue, 21 May 2013 11:49:55 EST news288355780 Prostaglandin analogues (PGAs), drugs which lower intraocular pressure, are often the first line of treatment for people with glaucoma, but their use is not without risks. PGAs have long been associated with blurred vision, dryness, changes in eye color and other side effects. Now a new study has found that these drugs also cause upper and lower eyelid drooping and other issues that can interfere with vision. The findings are described in PLOS ONE. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-glaucoma-drug-droopy-eyelids.html Ophthalmology Tue, 21 May 2013 11:47:21 EST news288355624 The level of immunity to the recently circulating H7N9 influenza virus in an urban and rural population in Vietnam is very low, according to the first population level study to examine human immunity to the virus, which was previously only found in birds. The findings have implications for planning the public health response to this pandemic threat. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-reveal-population-immunity-bird-flu.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 21 May 2013 11:46:37 EST news288355588 Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is primarily associated with the respiratory symptoms that are its hallmark, but in fact, patients who struggle with the disease also experience significant amounts of chronic pain. A new study conducted by researchers in Pennsylvania and New Mexico estimates the degree of pain suffered by these patients to be close to that experienced by patients with osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-copd-significant-persistent-pain.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 21 May 2013 11:43:41 EST news288355411 Depression is common in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and has been linked with disease severity and impaired quality of life. Now, for the first time, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have linked the systemic inflammation associated with COPD with depression in these patients. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-inflammation-depression-copd-patients.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 21 May 2013 11:39:07 EST news288355140 Physicians at Monash University and The Alfred Hospital in Melbourne, Australia describe the logistic, medical, and societal challenges faced in treating spine trauma in morbidly obese patients. Based on a case series of six patients injured in high-speed motor vehicle accidents, the authors categorize difficulties faced in the care of morbidly obese patients from on-scene immobilization and medical transport through spinal imaging, surgery, and postoperative care. Details of the six cases and a thorough discussion of challenges posed by morbid obesity and possible solutions are covered in "Challenges in the surgical management of spine trauma in the morbidly obese patient: a case series. Clinical article," by Hannah E. Rosenfeld and colleagues, published today online, ahead of print, in the Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-encountered-surgical-spine-trauma-morbidly.html Surgery Tue, 21 May 2013 11:37:09 EST news288354999 In a striking, unexpected discovery, researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have determined that vitamin C kills drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) bacteria in laboratory culture. The finding suggests that vitamin C added to existing TB drugs could shorten TB therapy, and it highlights a new area for drug design. The study was published today in the online journal Nature Communications. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-vitamin-drug-resistant-tb-video.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 21 May 2013 11:34:25 EST news288354848 Doctors are trained to think "common disease" when they meet patients in their practices, and as they rarely or never meet a rare disease, it often takes many years to reach the right diagnosis. A new search tool called FindZebra developed at the Technical University of Denmark can dramatically reduce this time in many cases. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-rare.html Other Tue, 21 May 2013 11:32:37 EST news288354684 Arachnoid cysts are a common type of brain lesion that is usually harmless, but with a risk of rupture or bleeding. A new study identifies risk factors for rupture or bleeding in children with "incidentally" detected arachnoid cysts, reports the May issue of Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-factors-rupture-arachnoid-cysts-children.html Surgery Tue, 21 May 2013 11:27:00 EST news288354414