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Steroids help reverse rapid bone loss tied to rib fractures
Feb. 5, 2013 New research in animals triggered by a combination of serendipity and counterintuitive thinking could point the way to treating fractures caused by rapid bone loss in people, including patients with metastatic cancers. A series of studies at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine found that steroid drugs, known for inducing bone loss with prolonged use, actually help suppress a molecule that’s key to the rapid bone loss process.
Tourists face health risks from contact with captive sea turtles
Feb. 5, 2013 Tourists coming into contact with sea turtles at holiday attractions face a risk of health problems, according to research published February 5 by JRSM Short Reports . Encountering free-living sea turtles in nature is quite safe, but contact with wild-caught and captive-housed sea turtles, typically through handling turtles in confined pools or through consuming turtle products, carries the risk of exposure to toxic contaminants and to zoonotic (animal to human) pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites.
Obesity in dads may be associated with offspring’s increased risk of disease
Feb. 5, 2013 A father’s obesity is one factor that may influence his children’s health and potentially raise their risk for diseases like cancer, according to new research from Duke Medicine.
Air pollution primes children for asthma-related cockroach allergy
Feb. 6, 2013 An allergic reaction to cockroaches is a major contributor to asthma in urban children, but new research suggests that the insects are just one part of a more complex story. Very early exposure to certain components of air pollution can increase the risk of developing a cockroach allergy by age 7 and children with a common mutation in a gene called GSTM may be especially vulnerable
High-risk pregnancy on the rise: Older moms, larger families and heavier women are driving the need for specialty care
Feb. 6, 2013 At a time when society struggles to find a definition for the “typical” American family, perinatologists at Greenwich Hospital are helping women start and grow families when a pregnancy is considered “high risk” due to age or other factors.
Quantum dots deliver vitamin D to tumors for possible inflammatory breast cancer treatment
Feb. 1, 2013 The shortened daylight of a Maine winter may make for long, dark nights — but it has shone a light on a novel experimental approach to fighting inflammatory breast cancer (IBC), an especially deadly form of breast cancer. The new approach enlists the active form of Vitamin D3, called calcitriol, which is delivered therapeutically by quantum dots
Genetically modified tobacco plants produce antibodies to treat rabies
Feb. 1, 2013 Smoking tobacco might be bad for your health, but a genetically altered version of the plant might provide a relatively inexpensive cure for the deadly rabies virus. In a new research report appearing in The FASEB Journal , scientists produced a monoclonal antibody in transgenic tobacco plants that was shown to neutralize the rabies virus.
Bioelectric signals can be used to detect early cancer
Feb. 1, 2013 Biologists at Tufts University School of Arts and Sciences have discovered a bioelectric signal that can identify cells that are likely to develop into tumors
Engineered oncolytic herpes virus inhibits ovarian and breast cancer metastases
Jan. 31, 2013 A genetically reprogrammed Herpes simplex virus (HSV) can cure metastatic diffusion of human cancer cells in the abdomen of laboratory mice, according to a new study published January 31 in the Open Access journal PLOS Pathogens
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