The world's first ever analysis of data from a full scale clinical trial in adults shows that training Health Visitors to assess and psychologically support mothers after childbirth can prevent the development of depression over the following year.
But the substantial reduction in the number of NHS health visitors was identified by researchers as a key issue for the health and well-being of mums.
Emodin, a natural product that can be extracted from various Chinese herbs including Rheum palmatum and Polygonum cuspidatum, shows promise as an agent that could reduce the impact of type 2 diabetes. Findings published in this month's edition of the British Journal of Pharmacology show that giving emodin to mice with diet-induced obesity lowered blood glucose and serum insulin, improved insulin resistance and lead to more healthy levels of lipid in the blood. It also decreased body weight and reduced central fat mass.
Individuals on long term incapacity benefit because of mental health problems could be identified by their GPs three years before they stop working, finds a research paper published on bmj.com today.
Is the government's decision to ring fence NHS funding fair? Two experts debate the issue on bmj.com today.
John Appleby, Chief Economist at the King's Fund argues that the alternative to ring fencing is too painful. "If the NHS were not protected it would have to find cuts amounting to around 14% of its budget (equivalent to £18bn) over the next few years," he writes.
Despite the many cosmetic products, surgical treatments, food supplements, and drugs designed specifically to reverse the biological effects of aging in humans, long-lived aspen clones aren't so lucky. Researchers at the University of British Columbia have shown that as long-lived male aspen clones age, their sexual performance declines. Dilara Ally, who conducted this research for her Ph.D., also showed that with that loss of sex and sexual fitness, ultimately the lineage could go extinct. The findings will be published next week in the online, open access journal PLoS Biology.
STANFORD, Calif. — Gene variants associated with an increased risk for type-1 diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis may confer previously unknown benefits to their human carriers, say researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. As a result, the human race may have been evolving in the recent past to be more susceptible, rather than less, to some complex diseases, they conclude.
Contradicting previous study results, insertion of a sponge that contains the antibiotic gentamicin at the time of surgical closure following cardiac surgery did not reduce the rate of sternal wound infections after 3 months, compared to patients who did not receive the intervention, according to a study in the August 18 issue of JAMA.
A prediction score that included such factors as age, blood pressure, heart and respiratory rate for patients who received out-of-hospital emergency care was associated with the development of critical illness during hospitalization such as severe sepsis, the need for mechanical ventilation or death, according to a study in the August 18 issue of JAMA.
Middle-aged and elderly Swedish women who regularly ate a small amount of chocolate had lower risks of heart failure risks, in a study reported in Circulation: Heart Failure, a journal of the American Heart Association.
Scientists have discovered an accomplice in breast cancer – a master control switch with the power to set off a cascade of reactions orchestrated by a cancer-causing gene (or oncogene) named Wnt1. This executive molecule and its modus operandi are reported in back-to-back papers featured on the cover of the August 15 issue of Cancer Research.
Scientists may have discovered in Australia the oldest fossils of animal bodies. These findings push back the clock on the scientific world's thinking regarding when animal life appeared on Earth. The results suggest that primitive sponge-like creatures lived in ocean reefs about 650 million years ago.
Cold Spring Harbor, NY -- One of the most tantalizing developments in anti-cancer therapy over recent years has been the advent of targeted treatments, which have proven highly effective in holding aggressive cancers at bay in certain patients, although typically only for a limited period of time.
HOUSTON -- (Aug. 17, 2010) -- The most robust statistical examination to date of our species' genetic links to "mitochondrial Eve" -- the maternal ancestor of all living humans -- confirms that she lived about 200,000 years ago. The Rice University study was based on a side-by-side comparison of 10 human genetic models that each aim to determine when Eve lived using a very different set of assumptions about the way humans migrated, expanded and spread across Earth.
The research is available online in the journal Theoretical Population Biology.
MADISON — Most cancers are easier to treat if detected early, so cancer educators emphasize the benefits of screening and prompt treatment. But for immigrants and other "medically underserved communities," simply handing out a brochure on early detection — even if it's been translated into the appropriate language — may not work.
"Medical interventions fail if the intervention does not match the community's level of readiness to address the issue," says Tracy Schroepfer, an assistant professor of social workat the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
