Allergic conditions are on the rise in westernised countries and recent investigations have found that hospitalisations for anaphylaxis (a severe allergic reaction often involving more than one body system), urticaria (hives), and angioedema (allergic swelling of the face, lips and tongue) have been increasing since 1990.
Using household cleaning sprays and air fresheners as little as once a week can raise the risk of developing asthma in adults, say researchers in Europe. Such products have been associated with increased asthma rates in cleaning professionals, but a similar effect in nonprofessional users has never before been shown.
Increased levels of a protein called CUGBP1 play an important role in the adult-onset form of muscular dystrophy called myotonic dystrophy type 1, said Baylor College of Medicine researchers in a report that appears today in the journal Molecular Cell.
An intravenous “blood thinner” widely used in patients with acute coronary syndromes and during coronary artery stent placement appears to be safe in patients with sickle cell disease and may have beneficial anti-inflammatory effects, a small study at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine has found.
In a move that is viewed as a major step toward developing a secure and portable health information system for all Americans, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has awarded the Indiana University School of Medicine a $2.5 million contract to begin a trial implementation of a Nationwide Health Information Network.
A research team led by Dr. Paul Harch, Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center New Orleans and Director of the LSU Hyperbaric Medicine Fellowship Program, has published findings that show hyperbaric oxygen therapy improved spatial learning and memory in a model of chronic traumatic brain injury.
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have found that professional welders who work in enclosed spaces with poor ventilation may be at risk for loss of sense of smell. The study appears in Neurology.
Researchers have discovered new small molecules that may prevent prostate cancer cells from turning off normal genes in a process that transforms normal cells into cancer cells. This significant discovery in the field of epigenetics has immediate implications in the development of new diagnostic tests and cancer medications.
One year after completing the first large-scale report sequencing breast and colon cancer genes, Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center scientists have studied the vast majority of protein-coding genes which now suggest a landscape dominated by genes that each are mutated in relatively few cancers.
Women who overcome breast cancer have every reason to celebrate. But a heart filled with joy may also be a heart damaged by life-saving cancer therapies, a growing body of research shows.