When costs outweigh benefits, successful pregnancies are less likely to occur.
Life is all about tradeoffs and recently published research by Virginia J. Vitzthum, a senior scientist at Indiana University's Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction, and professor in the IU College of Arts and Sciences' Department of Anthropology, has shown that during periods of intense labor and low food intake, rates of early pregnancy loss can more than double.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Lowers blood pressure, encourages exercise, improves psychological health— these may sound like the effects of a miracle drug, but they are actually among the benefits of owning a four-legged, furry pet. This fall, the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine Research Center for Human-Animal Interaction (ReCHAI) will explore the many ways animals benefit people of all ages during the International Society for Anthrozoology and Human-Animal Interaction Conference in Kansas City, Mo., on Oct. 20-25.
ST. PAUL, Minn. – One out of every eight strokes is preceded by a "warning stroke," which is a transient ischemic attack (TIA) or mild stroke, according to research published in the September 29, 2009, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
More than 12 million people in the U.S. suffer from sleep apnea, most common among the overweight and obese. More than just loud snoring, it can lead to high blood pressure, stroke, cardiovascular disease and a poor quality of life. For years, doctors have told patients with sleep apnea that their best bet for alleviating it would be to lose weight, but there's been very little research-based evidence to prove that.
Hospital-at-home care may be a practical alternative to traditional hospital inpatient care for patients with acutely decompensated (suddenly worsening) chronic heart failure, according to a report in the September 28 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
CHAPEL HILL - Although screening for prostate cancer with the Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) test in men ages 50-70 can detect the cancer before it becomes symptomatic, knowing whether screening is beneficial for these men is uncertain.
Recent trials have shown small or no reductions in prostate cancer mortality among those screened. The small potential for benefit must be balanced against the more common and immediate downsides of increasing the chance of prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment-related complications.
Monday, September 27, 2009, Rockville, Md. – Counterfeit and adulterated food and drugs and advances in measurement science used to detect them emerged as key themes of the Annual Scientific Meeting (ASM) hosted by the U.S. Pharmacopeial (USP) Convention. Held in Toronto, Canada, more than 300 people from 26 countries attended, making this a truly multinational event. Experts from all countries need to grapple with the worldwide proliferation of fakes – notably manifest in drugs sold over the internet – and presentations highlighted the many efforts being made to combat the problem.
Exposure to light and possibly photosynthesis itself could be helping disease-causing bacteria to be internalized by lettuce leaves, making them impervious to washing, according to research published in the October issue of the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology.
Worldwide, there are estimated to be 10 million cases of measles and 197,000 deaths from the disease each year. While vaccines exist to protect children against measles, the vaccines are often difficult to store, costly to transport and may be prone to contamination when shipped to developing countries. Research to be presented at the 2009 American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) Annual Meeting and Exposition will reveal new methods for delivering measles vaccines that could potentially reduce costs and improve safety.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - More of the fertilizers and pesticides used to grow corn would find their way into nearby water sources if ethanol demands lead to planting more acres in corn, according to a Purdue University study.
Grand Rapids, Mich. (Sept. 28, 2009) – Van Andel Research Institute (VARI) researchers are one step closer to finding new ways to treat Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS), a bone marrow disease that strikes up to 15,000 people each year in the United States, and that sometimes results in acute myeloid leukemia. Researchers found that the gene RhoB is important to the disease's progression and could prove to be a therapeutic target for late-stage MDS.
Surgical treatment for mitral valve disease includes either repairing the patient's diseased valve or replacing it with a metal, mechanical valve or an animal tissue valve. The majority of those procedures are open-heart operations that require a major incision in the chest. Now, after a six-year study, surgeons at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore conclude that minimally invasive mitral valve repair techniques, through only a two-inch incision in the right side of the chest, are safe, durable and effective.
Heparin, a commonly used anticoagulant, can cause skin lesions, reports a study http://www.cmaj.ca/press/cmaj081729.pdf in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) www.cmaj.ca. Skin lesions caused by heparin may indicate the presence of a life-threatening decrease in the number of platelets, a condition called "heparin-induced thrombocytopenia" or a, in most cases self-limiting, allergic skin reaction.
Contrary to current policies recommending that non-invasive ventilation be avoided during an infectious outbreak, the authors of a commentary in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) argue that it should be used in this setting.
UCLA scientists have identified two chemicals that convince cells to ignore premature signals to stop producing important proteins. Published in the Sept. 28 edition of the Journal of Experimental Medicine, the findings could lead to new medications for genetic diseases, such as cancer and muscular dystrophy, that are sparked by missing proteins.