Health News

Collaborative study looks for clues on hard-to-treat breast cancer
Thursday, May 17, 2012 - 15:09

Some types of breast cancer can be successfully treated with drugs such as tamoxifen, but treatment for a type of breast cancer more common in young and black women is still limited to radiation and general chemotherapy. Called triple negative breast cancer, this type of cancer is the focus of a 20-month, $8.6-million research project that aims to find new diagnostic tools and options for drugs.

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Babies’ susceptibility to colds linked to immune response at birth
Thursday, May 17, 2012 - 13:30

Innate differences in immunity can be detected at birth, according to new research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. And babies with a better innate response to viruses have fewer respiratory illnesses in the first year of life.

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Suspicion resides in two regions of the brain
Thursday, May 17, 2012 - 13:08

Scientists at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute have found that suspicion resides in two distinct regions of the brain: the amygdala, which plays a central role in processing fear and emotional memories, and the parahippocampal gyrus, which is associated with declarative memory and the recognition of scenes.

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Prosthetic retina offers simple solution to restoring sight
Thursday, May 17, 2012 - 11:47

A device which could restore sight to patients with one of the most common causes of blindness in the developed world is being developed in an international partnership. Researchers from the University of Strathclyde and Stanford University in California are creating a prosthetic retina for patients of age related macular degeneration (AMD), which affects one in 500 patients aged between 55 and 64  and one in eight aged over 85.

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New Study Shows Simple Task at Six Months of Age May Predict Risk of Autism
Thursday, May 17, 2012 - 11:28

A new prospective study of six-month-old infants at high genetic risk for autism identified weak head and neck control as a red flag for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and language and/or social developmental delays. Researchers at the Kennedy Krieger Institute concluded that a simple "pull-to-sit" task could be added to existing developmental screenings at pediatric well visits to improve early detection of developmental delays.

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Specialized care by experienced teams cuts death & disability from bleeding brain aneurysms, new guide says
Thursday, May 17, 2012 - 11:21

People with bleeding brain aneurysms have the best chance of survival and full recovery if they receive aggressive emergency treatment from a specialized team at a hospital that treats a large number of patients like them every year, according to new guidelines just published by the American Stroke Association.

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