Body

Pro athletes should drink more water

Top athletes must always perform to their maximum capacity, making them the most vulnerable to the effects of dehydration. Now, a new study conducted by researchers from the Universidad de Castilla la Mancha (UCLM) claims that 91% of professional basketball, volleyball, handball and football players are dehydrated when they begin their training sessions.

In the largest human study to date on the topic, researchers have uncovered evidence of the possible influence of human sex hormones on the structure and function of the right ventricle (RV) of the heart.

RICHLAND, Wash. -- A new technique that searches blood for the tiniest remnants of broken down proteins has revealed new information about how cells crank up cancer activators called proteases. The results improve researchers' understanding of the mechanics of breast cancer and point to where to look for possible indicators of early disease.

Curcumin, the major component in the spice turmeric, when combined with the drug Cisplatin enhances the chemotherapy's suppression of head and neck cancer cell growth, researchers with UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center have found.

 How humans impact partnerships in the natural world

Mutually beneficial partnerships among species may play highly important but vastly underrecognized roles in keeping the Earth's ecosystems running, a group of evolutionary biologists suggests in a study.

The authors present evidence that human impacts may be forcing these mutualist systems down unprecedented evolutionary paths.

Survival rates of the world's most common cancer might soon be increased with a new vitamin E treatment which could significantly reduce tumour regrowth.

Queensland University of Technology (QUT) prostate cancer researchers are leading the fight against a disease which kills 3000 Australian men a year.

Monmouth Junction, NJ (October 19, 2010) – Patients undergoing CIED (Cardiac Implantable Electronic Device) implantation with TYRX, Inc.'s FDA-cleared AIGISRx Antibacterial Envelope enjoyed a 99.5% rate of successful implantation with an overall infection rate of 0.48% in the first 1.9 months following the procedure, as reported in newly published results of TYRX's COMMAND Clinical Study. There were no infections in patients receiving initial implantations of pacemakers, implantable cardioverter-defibrillators, or cardiac resynchronization therapy devices.

Stem cell therapies hold increasing promise as a cure for multiple diseases. But the massive potential of a healthy stem cell has a flip side, as faulty regulation of stem cells leads to a huge range of human diseases. Even before birth, mistakes made by the stem cells of the foetus are a major cause of congenital defects, and cancer is also caused by the body losing control of stem cell function. Guiding stem cells along the correct pathways and, where necessary, reversing their mistakes is the goal of everyone in this field.

High fat diets cause a dramatic immune system overreaction to sepsis, a condition of systemic bacterial infection. An experimental study in mice, published in the open access journal BMC Physiology, has shown that a diet high in saturated fat, sugars and cholesterol greatly exaggerates the inflammatory response to sepsis.

More research and evaluation are needed to determine the most effective community programmes to encourage cycling, says a study published on bmj.com today.

The authors, led by Dr David Ogilvie from the Institute of Public Health in Cambridge, say that it is unclear whether community approaches to increase cycling amongst children and adults have anything more than a modest effect.

Spain's excellent record on organ donation rates has nothing to do with its presumed consent legislation, say experts in an article published on bmj.com today.

Professor John Fabre, from the Department of Hepatology and Transplantation at King's College London, Paul Murphy from the Department of Neuroanaesthesia and Critical Care at the Leeds General Infirmary, and Rafael Matesanz from the Orgaizacion Nacional de Trasplantes in Madrid say that the Spanish example shows that higher rates can be achieved without presumed consent.

A change to the way paramedics use oxygen when treating patients with chronic lung disease could cut the death rate in these cases by up to 78%, according to a new study published on bmj.com today.

Researchers based in Australia found the risk of death in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) was significantly reduced by using titrated (controlled) oxygen therapy instead of the current common approach of high concentration oxygen.