http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. A new study by researchers in Boston Children's Hospital's Division of Emergency Medicine indicates that a nationwide standard on booster seat laws for children 4 feet 9 inches and shorter, or up to 8 years old, would save lives. The findings were published online Nov. 5, 2012, in the journal Pediatrics. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-standardized-booster-seat-laws-children.html Pediatrics Mon, 05 Nov 2012 13:06:21 EST news271343171 (Medical Xpress)—For babies, the trip from the womb to the outside world is a transition from a blank, sterile slate to host for what will eventually be trillions of microscopic organisms. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-cheap-simple-bacteria-newborns-deadly.html Medical research Fri, 02 Nov 2012 08:08:17 EST news271062481 Researchers at National Jewish Health have discovered a novel target for the treatment of food allergies. Erwin Gelfand, MD, and his colleagues report in the October 2012 issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology that levels of the enzyme Pim 1 kinase rise in the small intestines of peanut-allergic mice. Inhibiting activity of Pim 1 markedly reduced the allergic response to peanuts. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-food-allergy-treatment.html Immunology Thu, 01 Nov 2012 13:39:50 EST news270995977 Studying gut bacteria can reveal a range of human illness. Now, new research shows that the composition of a person's intestinal bacteria could play an important role in the development of type 2 diabetes. These results, from a joint European and Chinese research team, have just been published in the journal Nature. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-gut-bacteria-diabetes.html Diabetes Wed, 26 Sep 2012 13:00:02 EST news267877099 (HealthDay)—Six separate recalls of bagged lettuce since April haven't done much to bolster the public's confidence in pre-cut and pre-washed greens. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-lettuce-bagged.html Health Fri, 07 Sep 2012 12:07:34 EST news266238444 Treating very young infants with antibiotics may predispose them to being overweight in childhood, according to a study of more than 10,000 children by researchers at the NYU School of Medicine and the NYU Wagner School of Public Service and published in the online August 21, 2012, issue of the International Journal of Obesity. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-antibiotic-infants-months-overweight-childhood.html Overweight and Obesity Tue, 21 Aug 2012 05:00:02 EST news264699617 Results from a study conducted at Georgia State University suggest that a "fight" between bacteria normally living in the intestines and the immune system, kicked off by another type of bacteria, may be linked to two types of chronic disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-bacteria-immune-chronic-diseases.html Inflammatory disorders Thu, 02 Aug 2012 13:43:15 EST news263133777 Amid the growing recognition that only a small fraction of the cells and genes in a typical human being are human, scientists are suggesting a revolutionary approach to developing new medicines and treatments to target both the human and non-human components of people. That's the topic of an article, which reviews work relating to this topic from almost 100 studies, in ACS' Journal of Proteome Research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-drugs-human-non-human-cells-people.html Medical research Wed, 11 Jul 2012 15:45:05 EST news261240297 Healthy humans harbor an enormous and diverse group of bacteria and other bugs that live within their intestines. These microbial partners provide beneficial aid in multiple ways – from helping digest food to the development of a healthy immune system. In a new study published online in the journal Immunity, David Artis, PhD, associate professor of Microbiology, and Michael Abt, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher in the Artis lab, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, show that commensal bacteria are also essential to fight off viral infections. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-brothers-arms-commensal-bacteria-viruses.html Immunology Mon, 18 Jun 2012 15:35:54 EST news259252478 The first biologically tissue-engineered vein grown from a patient's own stem cells has been successfully transplanted into a 10-year-old girl with portal vein obstruction, dramatically enhancing her quality of life. These pioneering results, published online first in the Lancet, could offer a potential new way for patients lacking healthy veins to undergo dialysis or heart bypass surgery without the problems of synthetic grafts (that are prone to clots and blockages) or the need for lifelong immunosuppressive drugs. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-successful-transplantation-tissue-engineered-vein-child.html Immunology Wed, 13 Jun 2012 18:30:01 EST news258811550 Certain saturated fats that are common in the modern Western diet can initiate a chain of events leading to complex immune disorders such as inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) in people with a genetic predisposition, according to a study to be published early online in the journal Nature. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-western-diet-gut-bacteria-triggers.html Medical research Wed, 13 Jun 2012 13:00:01 EST news258810652 Next time your digestive system malfunctions in some embarrassing way, you can always blame man's best friend - not the dog, but the bacterial cells that live in your intestines. Not everyone has a dog but we all have enormous communities of bacteria that help us digest food. They don't always do a perfect job, but without them we'd have a tough time surviving. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-bacteria-people.html Medical research Tue, 12 Jun 2012 14:40:02 EST news258719980 (HealthDay) -- People with inflammatory bowel disease, which includes Crohn's disease and colitis, may be at increased risk for flare-ups when they fly or travel to high altitudes for skiing or mountain climbing, a new study suggests. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-high-altitudes-tied-crohn-colitis.html Inflammatory disorders Sat, 26 May 2012 08:17:00 EST news257239002 By simply shining a tiny light within the small intestine, close to that organ's junction with the pancreas, physicians at Mayo Clinic's campus in Florida have been able to detect pancreatic cancer 100 percent of the time in a small study. The light, attached to a probe, measures changes in cells and blood vessels in the small intestine produced by a growing cancer in the adjoining pancreas. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-pancreatic-cancer-simple-intestinal-probe.html Cancer Mon, 21 May 2012 18:18:17 EST news256843086 (AP) -- A Romanian baby born with virtually no intestines who confounded doctors by tenaciously clinging to life and captured international attention and offers of medical help, died on Thursday. He was nine months old. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-romanian-baby-born-stunted-intestines.html Other Thu, 10 May 2012 15:56:29 EST news255884179 Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is hard to diagnose as well as treat, but researchers at the Sahlgrenska Academy, at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, have discovered a way of confirming the disorder using stool samples. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-biomarkers-reveal-bowel-syndrome.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 07 May 2012 12:44:24 EST news255613456 (AP) -- Baby Andrei has confounded doctors just by being alive: The tiny boy with twig-thin limbs was given just days to live when he was born with almost no intestines - eight months ago. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-romania-baby-born-stunted-intestines.html Other Thu, 05 Apr 2012 14:58:13 EST news252856659 Researchers at the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, have discovered a previously unknown mechanism which helps intestinal bacteria to affect the formation of blood vessels. The results, which are presented in Nature, may provide future treatments of intestinal diseases and obesity. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-body-bacteria-affect-intestinal-blood.html Medical research Mon, 26 Mar 2012 09:32:41 EST news251973147 When the intestines are not able to properly process our diet, a variety of disorders can develop, with chronic diarrhea as a common symptom. Chronic diarrhea can also be inherited, most commonly through conditions with genetic components such as irritable bowel syndrome. Researchers in Norway, India, and at the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology have identified one heritable DNA mutation that leads to chronic diarrhea and bowel inflammation. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-genetic-mutation-familial-chronic-diarrhea.html Genetics Wed, 21 Mar 2012 17:00:12 EST news251566027 The number of people who died from gastroenteritis (inflammation of the stomach and intestines that causes vomiting and diarrhea) more than doubled from 1999 to 2007. The findings of this study will be presented today at the International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases in Atlanta. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-deaths-gastroenteritis.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 14 Mar 2012 16:18:31 EST news250960704 Researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center have demonstrated that cancer of the appendix is different than colon cancer, a distinction that could lead to more effective treatments for both diseases. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-cancer-appendix.html Cancer Wed, 07 Mar 2012 15:37:23 EST news250357037 Urinary tract infections are common conditions that occur when bacteria from the intestines enter the urinary tract. New research, however, suggests that the bacteria causing these infections may come from contaminated food - especially chickens. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-urinary-tract-infections-linked-contaminated.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 20 Feb 2012 12:10:45 EST news248962227 Brazil's conjoined twins Israel and Levi were separated successfully Wednesday at Maternity Hospital of Goiania in a surgery that lasted nearly 10 hours, the twins' doctor told AFP. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-hour-surgery-brazilian-conjoined-twins.html Other Thu, 16 Feb 2012 05:00:01 EST news248589539 (Medical Xpress) -- Doctors at the UCL Institute of Child Health have made progress towards engineering donated intestines, so that they can be implanted without rejection. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-intestine-transplant-patient-cells.html Medical research Thu, 09 Feb 2012 06:50:01 EST news247992031 (Medical Xpress) -- Scrapie is a neurodegenerative disease which can function as a model for other diseases caused by an accumulation of proteins resulting in tissue malformations (proteinpathies), such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-prion-protein-interaction-immune.html Immunology Wed, 21 Dec 2011 09:39:06 EST news243682692 Conjoined 10-month-old twin girls separated by a Chilean medical team are in critical condition after the surgery, and one is close to death, hospital officials said Friday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-chilean-conjoined-twins-critical.html Other Fri, 16 Dec 2011 17:38:03 EST news243279470 Chilean doctors successfully separated conjoined twin girls early Wednesday after a marathon 18-hour surgery widely followed in the South American country on television and the Internet. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-chilean-surgeons-conjoined-twins.html Other Wed, 14 Dec 2011 10:06:44 EST news243079581 A Chilean medical team Tuesday began an operation to separate 10-month-old Siamese twin girls joined at the chest and pelvis in one of the most complex procedures ever in the South American nation. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-chilean-doctors-siamese-twins.html Other Tue, 13 Dec 2011 13:30:02 EST news243004360 A pair of 2-year-old formerly conjoined twin girls from the Philippines are recovering well after an operation to separate them in California, a hospital spokeswoman said Wednesday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-philippine-twins-op.html Other Thu, 03 Nov 2011 05:57:43 EST news239518648 Conjoined two-year-old girls born in the Philippines are to undergo surgery on Tuesday to separate them at the chest and abdomen, said the California hospital where the operation will take place. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-surgery-conjoined-twins-philippines.html Other Mon, 31 Oct 2011 17:31:20 EST news239301060