http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. In the search for medication against Alzheimer's disease, scientists have focused – among other factors – on drugs that can break down Amyloid beta (A-beta). After all, it is the accumulation of A-beta that causes the known plaques in the brains of Alzheimer's patients. Starting point for the formation of A-beta is APP. Alessia Soldano and Bassem Hassan (VIB/KU Leuven) were the first to unravel the function of APPL – the fruit-fly version of APP – in the brain of healthy fruit flies. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-strategy-required-alzheimer-drugs.html Alzheimer's disease & dementia Fri, 24 May 2013 08:42:11 EST news288603723 One of the major frontiers of modern science is a comprehensive understanding of the human brain and its functions to guide the development of new technologies in information and communication. In a major announcement for the globalization of science, two Japanese research organizations, the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST) and RIKEN, will join forces with a large European consortium on the Human Brain Project (HBP) which the European Commission has officially announced as one of two Future and Emerging Technology (FET) Flagship projects. The new project will federate international efforts to understand and simulate the human brain for the creation of new technological advances for society. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-japanese-contribute-human-brain.html Neuroscience Fri, 24 May 2013 08:40:02 EST news288600987 (Medical Xpress)—UCD researchers led by Conway Fellow, Professor David Brayden in UCD School of Veterinary Medicine have successfully reduced inflammation in the swollen arthritic knees of a murine model using a novel nanoparticle. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-experimental-inflammatory-arthritis.html Arthritis & Rheumatism Fri, 24 May 2013 08:40:01 EST news288601858 A new investigational device - the Helio System (TF-FA) - being developed for use with the Sapien XT Transcatheter Heart Valve was successfully deployed in all four patients in a small, first-in-human feasibility study of its use in high-risk aortic insufficiency reported at EuroPCR 2013. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-feasibility-trial-deployment-device-tavi.html Cardiology Fri, 24 May 2013 08:32:11 EST news288603124 Transformative research from Western University has identified new hormones in the body which may suppress breast cancer and stimulate the regression of breast tumors. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-breast-cancer-hormone.html Cancer Fri, 24 May 2013 08:30:04 EST news288600254 Fun in the summer often means kids spending time in the water, whether at a pool, the beach, a lake or river. A pediatric safety expert at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) stresses proper training and supervision to avoid drowning and other injuries. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-summer-fun-safe.html Health Fri, 24 May 2013 08:30:01 EST news288601832 A new way of interpreting information from a low-tech, age-old method used in pregnancy care is expected to more accurately identify potential health issues for mothers and babies. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-pregnant-bellies-tape-technique.html Health Fri, 24 May 2013 08:20:04 EST news288600455 A new program for treating the emotional health of mothers of children with ADHD has shown significant benefits for the children themselves, finds a new study by University of Maryland researchers. The program combines treatment for a mother's stress/depression with behavioral parenting skills training. The study's findings were recently published in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-parenting-benefits-adhd-children.html Attention deficit disorders Fri, 24 May 2013 08:20:01 EST news288600213 (Medical Xpress)—Curtin University researchers have found evidence that targeting specific cells in the body can reverse the effects of cancer on the immune system. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-ground-cancer-immune-link.html Cancer Fri, 24 May 2013 08:20:01 EST news288601940 Cardiac research from the University of Alberta had serious impact as a source for the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association's new guidelines on how to treat patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-cardiac-source-guidelines-people-coronary.html Cardiology Fri, 24 May 2013 08:00:01 EST news288599762 (Medical Xpress)—Patients with diabetes who are depressed are much more likely to develop episodes of dangerously low blood sugars, or hypoglycemia, than are those who are not depressed, a new study has found. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-depression-diabetics-severe-blood-sugar.html Psychology & Psychiatry Fri, 24 May 2013 07:54:30 EST news288600853 (Medical Xpress)—The way Alzheimer's disease is portrayed by advocacy groups and the media is having undue influence on the euthanasia debate, according to a Deakin University nursing ethics professor. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-alzheimer-disease-soft-euthanasia-debate.html Alzheimer's disease & dementia Fri, 24 May 2013 07:50:01 EST news288599625 Can human genes be patented? That was the question posed by Alan J. Snyder, vice president and associate provost for research and graduate studies at Lehigh, and Lee Kaplan, scientific director of cellular and molecular genetics at Health Network Laboratories, at a panel discussion on campus this spring. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-patenting-human-genome.html Genetics Fri, 24 May 2013 07:37:46 EST news288599855 A leading expert in childhood cancer at The University of Nottingham is spearheading a Europe-wide lobby of the European Parliament to try to make it easier for doctors to develop and test new treatments on children and young people with rare cancers. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-eu-children-survive-cancer.html Cancer Fri, 24 May 2013 07:32:04 EST news288599516 (AP)—Researchers examining the incidence of brain cancer at jet engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney in Connecticut say they have found no statistically significant elevations in the rate of cancer among workers. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-higher-cancer-conn-pratt.html Cancer Fri, 24 May 2013 06:30:02 EST news288594396 The World Health Organization voiced deep concern Thursday over the SARS-like virus that has killed 22 people in less than a year, saying it might potentially spread more widely between humans. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-voices-deep-sars-like-virus.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Fri, 24 May 2013 06:20:01 EST news288594342 Artemio Martinez balanced his corpulent frame on a stool in a Mexico City street taco stand, downing a sweet soda and eating a final pork-filled corn tortilla. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-obesity-soda-guzzler-mexico.html Health Fri, 24 May 2013 06:05:24 EST news288594317 The British Menopause Society and Women's Health Concern have today released updated guidelines on Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) to provide clarity around the role of HRT, the benefits and the risks. The new guidelines appear in the society's flagship title, Menopause International. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-hormone-therapyclarity.html Cancer Fri, 24 May 2013 04:37:51 EST news288589055 High blood glucose is associated with poor outcomes in hospitalized patients, and use of intensive insulin therapy (IIT) to control hyperglycemia is a common practice in hospitals. But the recent evidence does not show a consistent benefit and even shows harms associated with the use of IIT, according to the American College of Physicians' (ACP) Clinical Guidelines Committee in a new evidence-based paper published today online in the American Journal of Medical Quality. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-acp-issues-high-blood-glucose.html Other Fri, 24 May 2013 00:00:01 EST news288551092 (HealthDay)—Type 2 diabetes is more aggressive in children than adults, with signs of serious complications seen just a few years after diagnosis, new research finds. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-diabetes-faster-kids.html Diabetes Thu, 23 May 2013 20:20:01 EST news288544335 (HealthDay)—Glucosamine supplements that millions of Americans take to help treat hip and knee osteoarthritis may have an unexpected side effect: They may increase risk for developing glaucoma, a small new study of older adults suggests. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-glucosamine-supplements-tied-eye-condition.html Ophthalmology Thu, 23 May 2013 19:20:01 EST news288544303 People eating at fast food restaurants largely underestimate the calorie content of meals, especially large ones, according to a paper published today in BMJ. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-consumers-largely-underestimating-calorie-content.html Health Thu, 23 May 2013 18:30:02 EST news288551044 Treatment with high potency statins (especially atorvastatin and simvastatin) may increase the risk of developing diabetes, suggests a paper published today in BMJ. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-statin-linked-diabetes.html Diabetes Thu, 23 May 2013 18:30:01 EST news288550995 (HealthDay)—In patients who have previously been considered difficult to image, dual-source cardiac (DSC) computed tomography (CT) can identify clinically significant coronary artery disease, according to a review published in the May issue of Radiology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-dual-source-cardiac-ct-ids-cad.html Cardiology Thu, 23 May 2013 18:20:01 EST news288544285 Two out of five medical students have an unconscious bias against obese people, according to a new study by researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. The study is published online ahead of print in the Journal of Academic Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-future-doctors-unaware-obesity-bias.html Other Thu, 23 May 2013 18:00:52 EST news288550796 International efforts to combat a new pneumonia-like virus that has now killed 22 people are being slowed by unclear rules and competition for the potentially profitable rights to disease samples, the head of the World Health Organization warned Thursday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-scientific-red-tape-mars-efforts.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 23 May 2013 18:00:02 EST news288549885 (AP)—Merck & Co. says it is ending development of an experimental Parkinson's disease drug because the drug wasn't working. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-merck-parkinson-disease-drug.html Medications Thu, 23 May 2013 17:43:51 EST news288549822 (Medical Xpress)—Regulating the distribution of power in neurons is done by a system that makes the national electric grid look simple by comparison. Each neuron has several thousand mitochondria confined into narrow neuritic farms. Near-incessant motion within these channels forces mitochondria to transact constant fusion and fission events whose roles in genetic repair are just beginning to be understood. Many common neurodegenerative diseases have been found to have an underlying mitochondrial deficit either in their ability to produce energy, or deal with the oxidative byproducts of producing that energy. It has recently emerged that deficits in the ability of mitochondria to translocate, fuse, and divide also contribute significantly to disease. A new study in Plos One now suggests that alterations in the way mitochondria move may directly underlie even more esoteric phenomena—like mood. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-mood-motions-mitochondria.html Neuroscience Thu, 23 May 2013 17:35:03 EST news288549263 Breast cancer characterized as "triple negative" carries a poor prognosis, with limited treatment options. In some cases, chemotherapy doesn't kill the cancer cells the way it's supposed to. New research from Western University explains why some cancer cells don't respond to chemotherapy, and identifies a mechanism to rectify that. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-cancer-cells-responsive-chemotherapy.html Cancer Thu, 23 May 2013 17:23:58 EST news288548605 Detection of HIV antibodies is used to diagnose HIV infection and monitor trials of experimental HIV/AIDS vaccines. New, more sensitive detection systems being developed use microspheres to capture HIV antibodies and can measure even small amounts of multiple antibodies at one time. This novel multiplex immunoassay approach is described in an article in BioResearch Open Access. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-microsphere-based-methods-hiv-antibodies.html HIV & AIDS Thu, 23 May 2013 17:23:12 EST news288548585