“This study demonstrates that MDS is a very common blood cancer of the elderly, and that those who have it are at high risk of dying prematurely from other causes,” says lead author Stuart L. Goldberg, M.D., a hematologist/oncologist who is Chief of the Division of Leukemia, John Theurer Cancer Center. “This has implications for [...]
Archive for April, 2010
New tool may help improve organ donation rates
April 26, 2010
A new tool may help neurologists predict which coma patients may be candidates for organ donation, according to a study published in the April 27, 2010, print issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
Organ donations must take place [...]
As the country endures the highest unemployment rates in decades, the recent economic stimulus (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) made $7 billion available to be split among state unemployment insurance programs if they adopt certain measures to increase eligibility.
H. Luke Shaefer, assistant professor at the U-M School of Social Work, said these measures, among other [...]
Four unhealthy behaviors combine to increase death risk
April 26, 2010
Four unhealthy behaviors — smoking, lack of physical activity, poor diet and alcohol consumption — appear to be associated with a substantially increased risk of death when combined, according to a report in the April 26 issue of Archives of Internal [...]
Radiation therapy is used to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. But because radiation also damages normal cells, doctors must limit the dose. Melanin, the naturally occurring pigment that gives skin and hair its color, helps shield the skin from the damaging effects of sunlight and has been shown to protect against radiation.
“A technique for [...]
In 2005, California approved a law banning the sale and rental of violent video games to children under the age of 18, and ordered game makers to post explicit warnings on such games.
The law was quickly challenged, and was overturned by a lower federal court and again on appeal in February 2009 on grounds that [...]
The drop is estimated to have occurred some 137 million years ago during a time when dinosaurs roamed the Earth, and would have seen the islands fall from an average of 13 degrees centigrade (ocean temperature) to as low as four degrees.
The findings, which were published in the journal Geology and featured as a highlight [...]
New study: The kitchen-counter diet
April 26, 2010
Professor Brian Wansink and a team of researchers from Cornell University shared the findings of their “Serve Here; Eat There” study at the Experimental Biology conference in Anaheim, Calif. Results showed that when people left their serving dishes on the stove and off the table, [...]
Now Jean-Paul Paluzzi, a PhD candidate in biology at the University of Toronto Mississauga, believes that manipulating physiology to prevent the insects from leaving their messy calling card represents the best hope for stopping the transmission of the illness, known as Chagas’ disease.
“This is a disease of the poor,” says Paluzzi, who has visited [...]
The Molecular Mechanics of Hearing and Deafness (w/ Video)
April 26, 2010
(PhysOrg.com) — Our senses are essential for survival and for the exploration of natural environments, and much has been learned about the molecular basis of vision, olfaction, and taste. Yet only a few of the molecules mediating touch and sound perception have [...]