Dysphagia, or difficulty swallowing, is associated with longer hospital stays among patients with any diagnosis, is increasingly prevalent with older age and is an indicator of a poor prognosis, according to a report in the August issue of Archives of Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
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A new discovery about selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) suggests that these drugs, which are used to treat mental health disorders like depression and anxiety, have multiple effects on our cells. In a research report published in the August 2010 issue of GENETICS (http://www.genetics.org), researchers used yeast cells to identify secondary drug targets or pathways affected by SSRIs.
In experiments with potentially broad health care implications, a research team led by a University of Washington physicist has devised a method that works at a very small scale to sequence DNA quickly and relatively inexpensively.
That could open the door for more effective individualized medicine, for example providing blueprints of genetic predispositions for specific conditions and diseases such as cancer, diabetes or addiction.
A UCSF-led team has discovered at least one key reason why blood stem cells are susceptible to developing the genetic mutations that can lead to adult leukemia. Their finding also may explain, they say, why some other age-related hematological disorders develop.
The study, reported in "Cell Stem Cell" (Aug. 6, 2010) and reviewed in Cell Stem Cell and Cell, opens a new frontier for studying the molecular underpinnings of adult leukemia.
Another reason for including asthma on the list of potential health risks posed by secondhand tobacco smoke, especially for non-smokers, has been uncovered. Furthermore, the practice of using ozone to remove the smell of tobacco smoke from indoor environments, including hotel rooms and the interiors of vehicles, is probably a bad idea.
Troy, N.Y. – Building on an enzyme found in nature, researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have created a nanoscale coating for surgical equipment, hospital walls, and other surfaces which safely eradicates methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), the bacteria responsible for antibiotic resistant infections.
Is the science of diagnosing pain causing a number of pain sufferers to defend their honor? Research out of the University of Cincinnati is examining the diagnosis of pain that evades scientific testing, and the additional emotional suffering that can result for the patient.
BOSTON – Researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) have uncovered the genes that regulate MDM2, an oncogene that, in turn, regulates the tumor suppressor protein p53. But instead of an on-off switch for MDM2, the team found what looks like a dimmer switch, suggesting a more complicated signaling pathway that is sensitive to a changing environment.
New research in the Journal of General Physiology helps explain how the body's "flight-or-fight" response is mediated. The study, which may provide new answers to the question of how the heart pacemaker—the sinoatrial (SA) node—is regulated, appears online on August 16 (www.jgp.org).
HOUSTON - For the first time, Salt Inducible Kinase 2 (SIK2) has been found to play a critical role in cell division and to regulate the response of some ovarian cancers to chemotherapy.
HOUSTON - A protein associated with cancer progression when abundant inside of tumors also unexpectedly regulates the creation of new blood vessels that feed the tumor outside, a research team led by scientists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center reports in the August edition of Cancer Cell.
Ann Arbor, Mich. – Urinary catheters are often left in place longer than needed, and new research shows that reminder systems that encourage hospital staff to remove catheters promptly can reduce the rate of catheter-associated urinary tract infections by 52 percent.
DALLAS – Aug. 17, 2010 – Young adults who abuse amphetamines may be at greater risk of suffering a tear in the main artery leading from the heart, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have found.
In the study, published in the August issue of American Heart Journal, researchers examined medical records from nearly 31 million people between 18 and 49 years old hospitalized from 1995 to 2007 and found that amphetamine abuse was associated with a threefold increase in the odds of aortic dissection.
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Just what causes the birth of a human fat cell is a mystery, but scientists using mathematics to tackle the question have come up with a few predictions about the proteins that influence this process.
The research is intended to increase understanding of how and why preadipocytes, or pre-fat cells, either lie dormant, copy themselves or turn into fat. But the findings eventually could lead to a way to freeze these early cells in their current state before they can ever become the basis of fat tissue, according to Ohio State University researchers.