http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. The new 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) appears to be as safe as the previous version used prior to 2010, the 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7), according to a Kaiser Permanente study published today in Vaccine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-pneumococcal-vaccine-safe-previously.html Medications Wed, 22 May 2013 11:00:01 EST news288435605 New research shows that craving drugs such as nicotine can be visualized in specific regions of the brain that are implicated in determining the value of actions, in planning actions and in motivation. Dr. Alain Dagher, from McGill University, suggests abnormal interactions between these decision-making brain regions could underlie addiction. These results were presented at the 2013 Canadian Neuroscience Meeting, the annual meeting of the Canadian Association for Neuroscience - Association Canadienne des Neurosciences (CAN-ACN). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-addiction-disorder-decision-making.html Neuroscience Wed, 22 May 2013 09:51:13 EST news288435064 On May 22, JoVE will publish details of a technique to measure the health of human genetic material in relation to a patient's age. The method is demonstrated by the laboratory of Dr. Gil Atzmon at New York's Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Dr. Atzmon hopes that the dissemination of this technique will lead to the development of a "genetic thermometer" to assess a patient's health in relation to other individuals of the same age. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-healthy-age.html Medical research Wed, 22 May 2013 09:50:48 EST news288435037 Research presented today shows that high-fructose corn syrup can cause behavioural reactions in rats similar to those produced by drugs of abuse such as cocaine. These results, presented by addiction expert Francesco Leri, Associate Professor of Neuroscience and Applied Cognitive Science at the University of Guelph, suggest food addiction could explain, at least partly, the current global obesity epidemic. These results were presented at the 2013 Canadian Neuroscience Meeting, the annual meeting of the Canadian Association for Neuroscience - Association Canadienne des Neurosciences (CAN-ACN). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-addiction-unhealthy-foods-global-obesity.html Overweight and Obesity Wed, 22 May 2013 09:49:35 EST news288434969 Indian doctors said Wednesday they have successfully carried out a first round of reconstructive surgery on the skull of a baby suffering from a rare disorder that caused her head to nearly double in size. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-indian-medics-reconstruct-baby-swollen.html Surgery Wed, 22 May 2013 09:26:49 EST news288433603 Study leader, Professor John Mathews from the University of Melbourne said this small increase in cancer risk must be weighed against the undoubted benefits from CT scans in diagnosing and monitoring disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-small-cancer-ct-scans-childhood_1.html Cancer Wed, 22 May 2013 09:22:50 EST news288433364 Blood thinners are the preferred treatment option to prevent heart attacks, blood clots and stroke, but they are not without risk, and not just because of their side effects. These high-risk drugs, known as anticoagulants, account for nearly 7 percent of medication errors in hospitalized patients. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-blood-thinner-medication-errors.html Cardiology Wed, 22 May 2013 09:22:34 EST news288433347 Results from a large observational study reported at EuroPCR 2013 today question whether bivalirudin is superior to heparin in the absence of GPIIb/IIIa blockade, showing similar 30-day mortality in patients with non-ST segment elevation acute coronary syndromes (NSTE-ACS) undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-registry-superiority-bivalirudin-heparin.html Cardiology Wed, 22 May 2013 09:20:00 EST news288433194 More than 40 percent of patients being treated for COPD at a federally funded clinic did not have the disease, researchers found after evaluating the patients with spirometry, the diagnostic "gold standard" for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-copd-over-diagnosed-uninsured-patients.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 22 May 2013 09:19:42 EST news288433175 The DESolve bioresorbable coronary scaffold system achieves good efficacy and safety with low rates of late lumen loss and major coronary adverse events at six months, show first results from the pivotal DESolve Nx trial reported at EuroPCR 2013 today. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-late-lumen-loss-bioresorbable-desolve.html Cardiology Wed, 22 May 2013 09:18:15 EST news288433088 (Medical Xpress)—Health care spending is much higher for older Americans than for younger adults and children, on average, and analysts have said that increasing spending leads to longer life expectancy. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-health-yield.html Health Wed, 22 May 2013 09:00:05 EST news288429838 (Medical Xpress)—High blood pressure is something that has traditionally been a problem in Scotland, but might there be a link to our climate? http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-chill-blood-pressure.html Health Wed, 22 May 2013 08:50:01 EST news288429803 (Medical Xpress)—A report published today shows a 2.6% decrease in the amount of alcohol sold per adult in Scotland in the year following the introduction of the Alcohol etc. (Scotland) Act in October 2011. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-alcohol-sales-fall-due-multi-buy.html Health Wed, 22 May 2013 08:40:02 EST news288429765 The University of Gothenburg Vaccine Research Institute (GUVAX) announces successful results in a placebo controlled phase I study of an oral, inactivated Escherichia coli diarrhea vaccine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-succesful-results-oral-vaccine-diarrhea.html Medications Wed, 22 May 2013 08:20:02 EST news288427521 (Medical Xpress)—Preschoolers universally recognize that one's choices are not always free – that our decisions may be constrained by social obligations to be nice to others or follow rules set by parents or elders, even when wanting to do otherwise. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-american-nepalese-kids-world-social.html Psychology & Psychiatry Wed, 22 May 2013 08:10:06 EST news288427315 (Medical Xpress)—Scientists supported by the National Institutes of Health have a new theory as to why a woman's fertility declines after her mid-30s. They also suggest an approach that might help slow the process, enhancing and prolonging fertility. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-molecular-explanation-age-related-fertility-decline.html Medical research Wed, 22 May 2013 08:10:03 EST news288427276 (AP)—Doctors in Poland say they have performed an urgent total face transplant on a 33-year-old man whose face was torn off in an accident which also crushed his jaws. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-life-saving-transplant-poland.html Surgery Wed, 22 May 2013 08:00:48 EST news288428441 (Medical Xpress)—Do ethicists engage in better moral behavior than other professors? The answer is no. Nor are they more likely than nonethicists to act according to values they espouse, according to researchers from the University of California, Riverside and Stetson University in Florida. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-ethicists-behavior-moral.html Psychology & Psychiatry Wed, 22 May 2013 07:50:49 EST news288427838 Cancer survivors are no more likely to stop smoking, cut down on alcohol, or exercise more often than the general population, according to new research published in the British Journal of Cancer today (Wednesday) http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-cancer-survivors.html Cancer Wed, 22 May 2013 07:50:04 EST news288426370 Researchers at the University of Alberta have discovered a new drug target, developed a new drug and identified a new way to design drugs—all of which could be a winning combination in the battle against viruses. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-medical-ways-drugs-viral-infection.html Medical research Wed, 22 May 2013 07:50:01 EST news288427071 Beta-blockers, normally used for high blood pressure, could enhance the effectiveness of chemotherapies in treating neuroblastoma, a type of children's cancer, according to a new study published in the British Journal of Cancer, today (Wednesday). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-beta-blockers-boost-chemo-effect-childhood.html Cancer Wed, 22 May 2013 07:40:01 EST news288426336 New mothers throughout Australia are needed to help QUT sleep researchers investigate whether the disrupted sleep experienced by mothers when caring for their new baby raises the risk of injury while driving. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-focuses-mums-sleepiness-injury-road.html Health Wed, 22 May 2013 07:32:21 EST news288426734 A Japanese cancer specialist said Wednesday she has started the world's first clinical trial of a powerful, non-surgical, short-term radiation therapy for breast cancer. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-japan-hospital-powerful-breast-cancer.html Cancer Wed, 22 May 2013 07:30:02 EST news288424325 New research at The University of Nottingham aimed at preventing harmful blood clots associated with heart disease and stroke has recently received a major funding boost from the British Heart Foundation. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-x-factor-tackle-cardiovascular-disease.html Medical research Wed, 22 May 2013 07:24:46 EST news288426264 Italian lawmakers on Wednesday gave their final approval to a law that allows limited use of a controversial type of stem cell therapy which has been condemned by many scientists but has given hope to families of terminally-ill children. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-italy-law-controversial-stem-cell.html Medical research Wed, 22 May 2013 07:10:02 EST news288423865 (AP)—Alabama health officials say a mysterious respiratory illness has left five people hospitalized and two dead in the southeastern part of the state. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-mysterious-illness-southeast-alabama.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 22 May 2013 07:00:01 EST news288423763 (AP)—The mayor of Portland, Ore., has conceded defeat in an effort to add fluoride to the city's drinking water. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-portland-ore-fluoridation.html Health Wed, 22 May 2013 06:40:27 EST news288423623 Is it permissible to harm one to save many? Those who tend to say "yes" when faced with this classic dilemma are likely to be deficient in a specific kind of empathy, according to a report published in the scientific journal PLOS ONE. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-empathy-key-role-moral-judgments.html Psychology & Psychiatry Wed, 22 May 2013 04:58:03 EST news288417470 Plastic additives known as phthalates (pronounced THAL-ates) are odorless, colorless and just about everywhere: They turn up in flooring, plastic cups, beach balls, plastic wrap, intravenous tubing and—according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—the bodies of most Americans. Once perceived as harmless, phthalates have come under increasing scrutiny. A growing collection of evidence suggests dietary exposure to phthalates (which can leech from packaging and mix with food) may cause significant metabolic and hormonal abnormalities, especially during early development. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-phthalates-links-chemicals-widely-plastics.html Pediatrics Wed, 22 May 2013 04:00:02 EST news288377310 The gap between life expectancy in patients with a mental illness and the general population has widened since 1985 and efforts to reduce this gap should focus on improving physical health, suggest researchers in a paper published today on BMJ. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-life-gap-widens-mental-illness.html Health Tue, 21 May 2013 18:30:05 EST news288376763