Health News Today

(World Journal of Gastroenterology) Fecal occult blood test is a world-wide spread screening test for colorectal cancer. Subjects with positive FOBT are usually examined by colonoscopy which can be incomplete. A research group in Italy reported the usefulness of computed tomography colonography to complete colonic examination in subjects with positive FOBT and incomplete colonoscopy from a population-based screening program. »»»

(The Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry) Researchers from the Peninsula Medical School in Plymouth, UK, have carried out research that suggests the one hour of moderate exercise a day recommended to children from health experts may not be enough to tackle the rising problem of childhood obesity. »»»

(The Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry) A research team from the Peninsula Medical School, the University of Exeter, the University of Plymouth and the University of Iowa, have found evidence linking bisphenol A to diabetes and heart disease in adults. »»»

Hospitals and GP surgeries should follow the lead of schools and ban sugary drinks and snacks, experts say. »»»

Heart transplants at a London hospital are reviewed after four people die within 30 days of their operations. »»»

A union threatens industrial action if health service jobs, including 722 nursing posts, are cut over the next three years. »»»

Women are more interested in the cult of celebrity than their own health, a charity claims. »»»

How students use 3D technology to beat cancer. »»»

Should politicians focus on making us happier, not richer? »»»

Astronauts' meals could help children with Crohn's »»»

A comprehensive guide to clinical conditions »»»

The Chinese government says three people have died after receiving herbal ginseng injections in Yunnan province. »»»

Cocaine addicts may have brain deficits that predispose them to drug abuse, and abusing drugs appears to make matters worse, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday. They said images of cocaine addicts??™ brains reveal abnormalities in the cerebral cortex??”the brain??™s outer surface??”and these changes relate to dysfunction in areas responsible for attention and decision-making. ???These data point to a mixture of both drug effects and predisposition underlying the structural alterations we observed,??? said Dr. Hans Breiter of Massachusetts General Hospital, whose research appears in the journal Neuron. »»»

Having an ???apple-shaped,??? rather than a ???pear-shaped??? body at middle-age appears to increase the later-life risk of dementia, California researchers report. Moreover, the link between abdominal obesity and increased dementia risk appears to be independent of overall body weight and the presence of diabetes or cardiovascular disease, report Dr. Rachel A. Whitmer, from Kaiser Permanente Division of Research, in Oakland, and colleagues. These findings, published in the medical journal Neurology, add to increasing evidence of the dangers of abdominal obesity. Previous research implicated large abdominal girth, as a risk factor for type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and stroke, Whitmer and colleagues note.  »»»

(International Osteoporosis Foundation) Convenient online registration to the IOF World Congress on Osteoporosis 2008, at greatly discounted rates, is available only until Oct. 31, 2008. »»»

(University of Houston) There soon may be more options for those needing a heart transplant thanks to a new device being developed by the Texas Heart Institute and University of Houston that emulates how the natural heart responds to physiological conditions within the body. Existing devices mimic the pulsating pump action of the natural heart. This proposed total artificial heart replaces the pulsatile feature with two pulseless continuous flow pumps, each about the size of a C battery. »»»

(Washington University School of Medicine) Scientists have used a technique originally developed for economic study to become the first to overcome a significant challenge in brain research: determining the flow of information from one part of the brain to another. »»»

(American Society for Microbiology) Over the past 25 years, the number of patients with compromised immune systems has grown astronomically. High-risk patients such as these require a unique set of healthcare solutions that take into consideration everything from the etiology and degree of immune suppression to the individual patient's nutritional status. A new text from ASM Press, "Diagnostic Microbiology of the Immunocompromised Host,"examines a wide range of approaches and challenges to infectious disease diagnostics for immunocompromised patients. »»»

(University of California - Riverside) Vitamin D, once linked to only bone diseases, is now recognized as a major player in contributing to overall human health, emphasizes UC Riverside's Anthony Norman, an international expert on vitamin D. He lists 36 organ tissues in the body whose cells respond biologically to vitamin D. The list includes bone marrow, breast, colon, intestine, kidney, lung, prostate, retina, skin, stomach and the uterus. According to Norman, vitamin D deficiency can impact all 36 organs. »»»

(University of Illinois at Chicago) A novel enzyme may play a major role in anencephaly, offering hope for a genetic test or even therapy for the rare fatal birth defect in which the brain fails to develop, according to a study from researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine. »»»