Influenza, commonly known as the flu, is an infectious disease of birds and mammals caused by an RNA virus of the family Orthomyxoviridae, the influenza viruses. In people, common symptoms of influenza are fever, sore throat, muscle pains, severe headache, coughing, and weakness and fatigue.
Study of twins suggests genetic component of autism spectrum disorders may be moderate — Environmental component may be substantial – Shared environmental factors ? experiences and exposures common to both twin individuals ? accounted for 55% of strict autism and 58% of more broadly defined autism spectrum disorders (ASD), revealed by researchers. Genetic heritability accounted for 37% of autism and 38% of ASD.
The Aging Myth: Unlocking the Mysteries of Looking and Feeling Young by Joseph Chang has become number one Bestsellers in Health, Mind & Body in just four days. – The Aging Myth: Unlocking the Mysteries of Looking and Feeling Young by Joseph Chang has become number one Bestsellers in Health, Mind & Body at Amazon.com in just four days. Aging or Ageing is a gradual change in an organism that leads to increased risk of weakness, disease, and death. It takes place in a cell, an organ, or the total organism over the entire adult life span of any living thing.
Nearly half of women with advanced breast cancer in the US not receiving life-saving treatment – UT MD Anderson research finds use of post-mastectomy radiation therapy static despite evidence-based guidelines of its benefits – Forty-five percent of women with advanced breast cancer in the U.S. did not receive postmastectomy radiation therapy (PMRT) despite the publication of evidence-based guidelines outlining PMRT as a potentially lifesaving treatment, according to new research from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. The study, published in the July issue of Cancer, found that PMRT use rates for women with advanced breast cancer have remained static since 1999.
Research Shows 16-month-olds Infer Causes of Failed Actions — Findings have implications for learning strategies – Using a very small amount of statistical information, 16-month-old infants can distinguish between the influence of their own actions and the impact of the outside world, new research concludes. The findings, published in this week’s journal Science, give researchers insight into how infants integrate prior knowledge with a handful of statistical data to make accurate inferences about the causes of a failed action.
FDA approves new test to help determine if breast cancer patients are candidates for Herceptin treatment – Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related death among women. About 20 percent of women diagnosed with breast cancer are HER2-positive. The Inform Dual ISH test allows lab personnel to count the number of copies of HER2 genes on chromosome 17 in a small sample of the breast tumor. Copies of the HER2 gene appear black and copies of chromosome 17 appear red. Patients with more than the normal number of copies of the HER2 gene are considered candidates for Herceptin therapy.
Blood pressure changes are age-related – The main causes of increases in blood pressure over a lifetime are modifiable and could be targeted to help prevent cardiovascular disease: although high blood pressure sometimes has no obvious symptoms, this condition, which affects about a third of the adult UK and US populations, can lead to life-threatening heart attacks and stroke, so reducing blood pressure is very important for health.
Severity of facial wrinkles may predict bone density in early menopause – In postmenopausal women the appearance of the skin may offer a glimpse of the skeletal well-being, a relationship not previously described, said Lubna Pal, MD, a reproductive endocrinologist and associate professor at Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Conn. The worse a woman’s skin wrinkles are during the first few years of menopause, the lower her bone density is.
Breast cancer surgery patients benefit from adding radiation therapy – Additional radiation treatment improves disease free survival lessening the chance of cancer recurring in women with early breast cancer who have had breast conserving surgery (lumpectomy), interim results of a new study found. The results will be presented Monday, June_6 at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
Men May Have Greater Allergy Risk Than Women, Suggests Largest Ever National Allergy Study — Quest Diagnostics Health Trends analysis raises possibility that men are underdiagnosed for allergies – A study of nearly 14 million blood tests for aiding allergy diagnosis shows that men exhibited higher sensitivity to 11 common allergens than women when tested, contradicting other research suggesting women experience allergies more frequently than men.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves Incivek for hepatitis C – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Incivek (telaprevir) to treat certain adults with chronic hepatitis C infection. Incivek is used for patients who have either not received interferon-based drug therapy for their infection or who have not responded adequately to prior therapies.
Gene variation linked to infertility in women, study finds — Altered gene involved in both faulty cholesterol regulation and pregnancy hormone production – A variation in a gene involved in regulating cholesterol in the bloodstream also appears to affect progesterone production in women, making it a likely culprit in a substantial number of cases of their infertility, a new study from Johns Hopkins researchers suggests.
Coffee may reduce risk of lethal prostate cancer in men – It is a good news for men who regularly drink coffee. They appear to have a lower risk of developing a lethal form of prostate cancer, revealed by researchers from Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) US.
