Health News

Wireless signals could transform brain trauma diagnostics
Wednesday, May 15, 2013 - 10:08

New technology developed at the University of California, Berkeley, is using wireless signals to provide real-time, non-invasive diagnoses of brain swelling or bleeding. The device analyzes data from low energy electromagnetic waves that are similar to those used to transmit radio and mobile signals. The technology, described in the May 14 issue of the journal PLOS ONE, could potentially become a cost-effective tool for medical diagnostics and to triage injuries in areas where access to medical care, especially medical imaging, is limited.

 

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Researchers find widespread but neglected disease as real health threat in Africa
Wednesday, May 15, 2013 - 09:58

Researchers have identified leptospirosis as a significant health threat in Botswana. The world’s most common disease transmitted to humans by animals according to the World Health Organization, leptospirosis is a two-phase disease that begins with flu-like symptoms but can cause meningitis, liver damage, pulmonary hemorrhage, renal failure, and even death if untreated.

 

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Body fat hardens arteries after middle age
Wednesday, May 15, 2013 - 09:47

Having too much body fat makes arteries become stiff after middle age, a new study has revealed. In young people, blood vessels appear to be able to compensate for the effects of obesity. But after middle age, this adaptability is lost, and arteries become progressively stiffer as body fat rises – potentially increasing the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease.

 

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Alzheimer’s markers predict start of mental decline
Tuesday, May 14, 2013 - 14:55

Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have helped identify many of the biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease that could potentially predict which patients will develop the disorder later in life. Now, studying spinal fluid samples and health data from 201 research participants at the Charles F. and Joanne Knight Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, the researchers have shown the markers are accurate predictors of Alzheimer’s years before symptoms develop.

 

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Using clay to grow bone
Tuesday, May 14, 2013 - 12:32

In new research published online May 13, 2013 in Advanced Materials, researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) are the first to report that synthetic silicate nanoplatelets (also known as layered clay) can induce stem cells to become bone cells without the need of additional bone-inducing factors. Synthetic silicates are made up of simple or complex salts of silicic acids, and have been used extensively for various commercial and industrial applications, such as food additives, glass and ceramic filler materials, and anti-caking agents.

 

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Fish oil may stall effects of junk food on brain
Tuesday, May 14, 2013 - 09:13

Data from more than 180 research papers suggests fish oils could minimise the effects that junk food can have on the brain, a review by researchers at the University of Liverpool has shown.

 

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