Diagnosis Archives

HIV infected child appears to have been cured of HIV infection

Toddler ‘functionally cured’ of HIV infection, NIH-supported investigators report — Discovery provides clues for potentially eliminating HIV infection in other children – This is the first well-documented case of an HIV-infected child who appears to have been functionally cured of HIV infection. A two-year-old child born with HIV infection and treated with antiretroviral drugs beginning in the first days of life no longer has detectable levels of virus using conventional testing despite not taking HIV medication for 10 months.

Folic acid in pregnancy lowers autism risk in baby

Folic acid supplements early in pregnancy may reduce child’s risk of autism by 40 percent — Large study in Norway finds early timing of folic acid supplements is critical – Prenatal folic acid supplements appear to reduce the risk for autistic spectrum disorders. It is estimated that about 1 in 88 children in the U.S. have been identified with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

Multivitamins reduce risk of cancer in men

Daily multivitamins reduce risk of cancer in men — Brigham and Women?s Hospital study is the first to examine the long-term affect of multivitamins on a major chronic diseases – A daily multivitamin can help a man reduce his risk of cancer. The Physicians’ Health Study II is the first clinical trial to test the affects of multivitamins on a major disease such as cancer.

Stroke becoming more common in young people

Study: Stroke becoming more common in young people – Stroke may be affecting people at a younger age, revealed by researchers. “The reasons for this trend could be a rise in risk factors such as diabetes, obesity and high cholesterol,” said study author Brett Kissela, MD, MS, with the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine in Ohio and a Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology.

Smoking, heavy drinking linked to pancreatic cancer risk

Smoking, heavy drinking linked to earlier onset of pancreatic cancer — University of Michigan Health System study makes step toward learning when cancer screenings should start – Those who smoke and drink heavily may develop pancreatic cancer at an earlier age than those who don’t. In a recent study, published in the American Journal of Gastroenterology, heavy smokers with pancreatic cancer were diagnosed around age 62 and heavy drinkers at age 61 ? almost a decade earlier than the average age of 72.

Six hours or less of sleep per night linked to aggressive breast cancer

Lack of sleep found to be a new risk factor for aggressive breast cancers — First-of-its-kind study published in Breast Cancer Research and Treatment – Lack of sleep is linked to more aggressive breast cancers, according to new findings published in the August issue of Breast Cancer Research and Treatment by physician-scientists from University Hospitals Case Medical Center’s Seidman Cancer Center and Case Comprehensive Cancer Center at Case Western Reserve University.

Autism in children linked to Father’s Age

deCODE Genetics Study Finds Father?s Age?Not Mother?s Critical to New Mutations Passed to Offspring — Nature Published Study Signals Rise in Autism Spectrum Disorder May Be Partially Tied to Increasing Age of Fathers at Time When Children are Conceived – deCODE Genetics, a global leader in analyzing and understanding the human genome, in collaboration with Illumina, a global leader in the making of instruments to analyze the genome, reported in the journal Nature that a father?s age, not a mother?s, at the time a child is conceived is the single largest contributor to the passing of new hereditary mutations to offspring.

Breast cancer charity Komen overstated screening benefits

Breast cancer charity under fire for overstating the benefits of screening — Experts challenge ‘pink ribbon’ creator for misusing statistics to generate false hope – Professors Lisa Schwartz and Steven Woloshin of the Center for Medicine and the Media at The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice argue that last year’s breast cancer awareness month campaign by Susan G Komen for the Cure “overstates the benefit of mammography and ignores harms altogether.”

Free HIV Testing by Erase Doubt at Walgreens

Erase Doubt Teams Up With Walgreens And Greater Than AIDS To Offer Free HIV Testing During HIV Testing Week 2012 – June 27 is National HIV Testing Day. In Los Angeles County, a whole week is dedicated to offering free HIV testing. During the week of June 25 – July 2, 2012 residents can find free HIV testing available throughout the county.

High blood pressure risk rising in US kids

More hospitalizations, higher charges, for kids with high blood pressure – Hospitalizations for children with high blood pressure and related charges dramatically increased during 10 years ending in 2006, according to a study published in the American Heart Association journal Hypertension. This nationally-based study is the first in which researchers examined hypertension hospitalizations in children.

GI cancers risk higher among childhood cancer survivors

Study finds high risk of GI cancers among childhood cancer survivors – Survivors of childhood cancers are at an increased risk of another battle with cancer later in life, according to new research published by the Annals of Internal Medicine. Researchers found that childhood cancer survivors develop these malignancies at a rate nearly five times that of the general population.

Stroke risk greater for older women with atrial fibrillation

Risk of stroke greater for women than men among older patients diagnosed with atrial fibrillation – In a study that examined use of the anticoagulant medication warfarin and risk of stroke following a diagnosis of atrial fibrillation in older patients, women, especially those 75 years or older, had a higher risk of stroke than men, regardless of their risk profile and use of warfarin, suggesting that current anticoagulant therapy to prevent stroke might not be sufficient for older women.