http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Treating chronic hepatitis C infection with antiviral drugs could halve the risk of developing the most common form of liver cancer, in some cases, indicates an analysis of the published research in one of the new BMJ Open Editions. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-antiviral-therapy-halve-liver-cancer.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 22 Oct 2012 18:30:04 EST news270137112 An Indiana University study has provided preliminary evidence that by measuring brain activity through the use of neuroimaging, researchers can predict who is likely to have an easier time getting off drugs and alcohol, and who will need extra help. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-relapse-recovery-neuroimaging-substance-addiction.html Neuroscience Sun, 14 Oct 2012 12:19:06 EST news269435938 (HealthDay)—After 15 years of follow-up, patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) who display disease activity despite treatment with interferon (IFN)β-1a tend to have unfavorable long-term outcomes, according to research published online Sept. 13 in the Annals of Neurology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-ms-early-disease-poor-outcome.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 27 Sep 2012 17:50:22 EST news267987012 Cannabis users have a greater chance of relapse to cannabis use when they experience certain withdrawal symptoms, according to research published Sep. 26 in the open access journal PLOS ONE led by David Allsop of the National Cannabis Prevention and Information Centre (NCPIC) at the University of New South Wales. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-cannabis-symptoms-clinical-importance.html Addiction Wed, 26 Sep 2012 17:00:04 EST news267895124 (Medical Xpress)—Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center, concerned that women who quit smoking during their pregnancies often resume smoking after they deliver their baby, tested self-help interventions designed to prevent postpartum smoking relapse. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-relapse-healthy-mothers-babies.html Health Wed, 26 Sep 2012 10:24:56 EST news267873851 Scientists at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin have succeeded in coming closer to determining the risk of relapse in detoxified alcohol-dependent patients. Using an imaging process (magnetic resonance tomography) it was shown that particular regions in the brain demonstrate structural as well as functional abnormalities in relapsed alcohol-dependent patients. Study findings are published in the journal Archives of General Psychiatry. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-functional-abnormalities-brains-relapsed-alcohol-dependent.html Psychology & Psychiatry Thu, 20 Sep 2012 13:03:15 EST news267364988 (Medical Xpress) -- A new study by researchers at the Menzies Research Institute Tasmania (Menzies) suggests that one of the main treatments for multiple sclerosis (MS) may also increase the amount of vitamin D patients receive from sun exposure. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-link-ms-treatment-vitamin-d.html Neuroscience Mon, 30 Jul 2012 09:40:04 EST news262859191 (Medical Xpress) -- This week the Journal of the American Medical Association published a study with unfortuate news for the millions of people who suffer from multiple sclerosis. In the large study, a therapy known as interferon beta failed to stave off the progression of the incurable disease. Albert Lo, associate professor of neurology and epidemiology, comments on what the study means for patients, why it was well-designed, and how a new effort to support research on the disease in Rhode Island could help. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-multiple-sclerosis-drug-disappoints-disability.html Neuroscience Mon, 23 Jul 2012 07:41:11 EST news262248063 Results of some preclinical trials have shown that low doses of the antidiabetic drug metformin may effectively destroy cancer stem cells, a group of cells that are considered to be responsible for tumor initiation and, because they are resistant to standard chemotherapies, tumor relapse. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-metformin-treatment-cancer-stem-cell.html Cancer Tue, 19 Jun 2012 15:30:18 EST news259332583 Researchers at the IMIM (Institut de Recerca Hospital del Mar) have proven that the absence of the 14-3-3 protein sigma in breast cancer cells is directly associated with these cells' capacity to activate the signalling of a protein complex called NF-kB, which is related to tumour progression. The activation of NF-kB in tumours was also identified as the best indicator for relapse in breast cancer patients, compared to other parameters currently used, such as the presence of affected ganglions or the tumour's size and degree. The investigators have also described a group of genes that are activated in breast cancer cells and that are also associated with a poor prognosis in other types of tumours. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-indicator-breast-cancer-relapse.html Cancer Tue, 19 Jun 2012 10:28:40 EST news259320513 (Medical Xpress) -- A drug shown to help break alcohol addiction can also help recovering methamphetamine addicts stay clean, a study led by University of Virginia School of Medicine researcher Dr. Bankole A. Johnson has found. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-meds-recovering-meth-addicts-sober.html Addiction Thu, 14 Jun 2012 06:29:13 EST news258874146 (HealthDay) -- Women with multiple sclerosis (MS) who undergo in vitro fertilization (IVF) are at greater risk of relapse after treatment, particularly if they receive gonadotrophin releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists or if IVF fails, according to a study published online June 11 in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-vitro-fertilization-linked-multiple-sclerosis.html Neuroscience Wed, 13 Jun 2012 14:47:31 EST news258817645 Many men with metastatic, hormone-sensitive prostate cancer live longer on continuous androgen-deprivation therapy (also known as hormone therapy) than on intermittent therapy, according to a seventeen-year study led by SWOG, a cancer research cooperative group funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-intermittent-hormone-therapy-prostate-cancer.html Cancer Sun, 03 Jun 2012 05:56:11 EST news257921670 (Medical Xpress) -- The use of 12-step programs, such as Alcoholics Anonymous, by adolescents with a history of drug and alcohol abuse not only reduces the risk of relapse but also leads to lower health care costs, according to research by the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-health-adolescent-substance-abused-step.html Addiction Fri, 01 Jun 2012 07:20:01 EST news257753437 Many people talk of problem gambling as an 'addiction' but work coming out of the University of Sydney's Gambling Treatment Clinic suggests that this may not be the case. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-gambling-addiction-university-sydney.html Addiction Mon, 14 May 2012 06:02:58 EST news256194172 Patients who were sexually active before suffering a heart attack were one and a half times more likely to recapture their sex lives if they received guidance on the topic before leaving the hospital, a new study finds. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-doctors-advice-key-heart-victims.html Health Wed, 09 May 2012 08:58:30 EST news255772657 While active monitoring of serum prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels in men over 50 has greatly improved early detection of prostate cancer, prediction of clinical outcomes after diagnosis remains a major challenge. Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have found that a genetic abnormality known as copy number variation (CNV) in prostate cancer tumors, as well as in the benign prostate tissues adjacent to the tumor and in the blood of patients with prostate cancer, can predict whether a patient will experience a relapse, and the nature of the relapse — aggressive or indolent. Their report is published in the June issue of The American Journal of Pathology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-genetic-abnormalities-benign-malignant-tissues.html Cancer Mon, 07 May 2012 04:21:22 EST news255583271 (HealthDay) -- A new study finds that antipsychotic drugs can help many people with schizophrenia, cutting patients' risk of relapse by 60 percent. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-antipsychotics-schizophrenia.html Psychology & Psychiatry Thu, 03 May 2012 15:20:03 EST news255274744 Health warnings on cigarette packs can help ex-smokers stave off the urge to start smoking again, indicates research published online in Tobacco Control. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-cigarette-health-ex-smokers-stave-urge.html Addiction Wed, 25 Apr 2012 18:30:02 EST news254592712 A history of binge eating -- consuming large amounts of food in a short period of time -- may make an individual more likely to show other addiction-like behaviors, including substance abuse, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers. In the short term, this finding may shed light on the factors that promote substance abuse, addiction, and relapse. In the long term, may help clinicians treat individuals suffering from this devastating disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-binge-addiction-like-behaviors.html Neuroscience Tue, 24 Apr 2012 11:16:46 EST news254485000 (Medical Xpress) -- Traditionally, treatment for drug addicts has centered around so-called extinction procedures designed to disassociate memories tied with taking drugs to help reduce the cravings that so often result in relapse. Unfortunately, while such procedures help addicts while still in treatment, they don’t do much for them afterwards in the real world. Because of this, treatment specialists often turn to drug related therapies to help reduce associative memories. The problem with that approach though is that it’s counterintuitive. Treating drug abuse by administering drugs just goes against common sense. Plus there are sometimes unpleasant side effects. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-kind-memory-drug-addicts-recover.html Addiction Fri, 13 Apr 2012 09:40:27 EST news253528799 Genetic mutations in cancer cells can lead to resistance to treatment, thereby potentially resulting in relapse. However, a new article, published April 3 in the magazine section of the online, open-access journal PLoS Biology, suggests that the converse may also happen. Steven Frank from the University of California, Irvine, and Marsha Rosner from the University of Chicago, propose that it may often be the case that a few cells become resistant before any genetic change, and then later acquire the genes to stabilize that resistance. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-cancers-resistant-chemotherapy.html Cancer Tue, 03 Apr 2012 17:00:01 EST news252689283 Medically prescribed heroin is more cost-effective than methadone for treating long-term street heroin users, according to a new study by researchers at Providence Health Care and the University of British Columbia. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-medically-heroin-effective-costly-current.html Addiction Mon, 12 Mar 2012 12:28:33 EST news250774107 (Medical Xpress) -- Twenty-nine pregnant women with a history of psychotic symptoms after previous deliveries, but not at other times, all remained stable without medication throughout their current pregnancies. Those who then began taking lithium or an antipsychotic within hours after delivery remained free of relapse after childbirth. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-treatment-pregnant-women-high-postpartum.html Psychology & Psychiatry Fri, 09 Mar 2012 08:40:56 EST news250504800 (Medical Xpress) -- Scientists from the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research describe how the protein phosphatase SHP2 promotes breast cancer with poor prognosis. As they report in the latest issue of Nature Medicine, SHP2 is necessary for the maintenance of the few tumor initiating cells (TICs) in a breast tumor. These cells are thought to sustain the growth of the tumor, promote metastasis and lead to relapses. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-breast-cancer-poor-prognosis.html Cancer Mon, 05 Mar 2012 08:56:18 EST news250160154 Opioid-dependent individuals who want to kick the habit typically begin the road to recovery with detoxification. But detox is ineffective as a stand-alone treatment, with relapse rates ranging from 65% to 80% just one month after discharge. New research published online today in the journal Addiction reveals that individuals with substance use disorders may be as much as ten times more likely to stay abstinent when they have access to drug-free recovery housing and day-treatment programs following detox. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-recovery-housing-treatment-relapse-recovering.html Addiction Tue, 28 Feb 2012 04:43:25 EST news249626579 Mark Twain said, "Giving up smoking is the easiest thing in the world. I know because I've done it thousands of times." Many smokers would agree that it's difficult to stay away from cigarettes. A new study in Biological Psychiatry this month now suggests that low dopamine levels that occur as a result of withdrawal from smoking actually promote the relapse to smoking. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-dopamine-relapse.html Psychology & Psychiatry Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:02:39 EST news247921352 The chemotherapy drugs required to push a common form of adult leukemia into remission may contribute to DNA damage that can lead to a relapse of the disease in some patients, findings of a new study suggest. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-chemotherapy-leukemia-relapse.html Cancer Wed, 11 Jan 2012 13:00:04 EST news245504668 The University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center breast oncologist Dr. Suleiman Massarweh and his research team presented findings from their studies on relapse of breast cancer at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium this month. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-uk-kentucky-breast-cancer-patients.html Cancer Fri, 23 Dec 2011 09:56:00 EST news243856552 Six months following molar pregnancies, women who have high (although decreasing) human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) concentrations can be treated with chemotherapy. A study published Online First by The Lancet shows that since these hCG levels will spontaneously fall in most cases, a surveillance-only policy is appropriate and would avoid unnecessary exposure to chemotherapy and its side-effects. The Article is by Professor Michael J Seckl, Charing Cross Hospital at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London, UK, and colleagues. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-surveillance-sufficient-women-molar-pregnancy.html Cancer Mon, 28 Nov 2011 18:30:01 EST news241715289