New Methods In The Study Of Breast Cancer.
An tentative blood try could help show whether women with advanced breast cancer are responding to treatment, a forerunning study suggests. The test detects abnormal DNA from tumor cells circulating in the blood. And the unexplored findings, reported in the March 14 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, whiff that it could outperform existing blood tests at gauging some women's reaction to treatment for metastatic breast cancer. That's an advanced form of breast cancer, where tumors have proliferation to other parts of the body - most often the bones, lungs, liver or brain.
There is no cure, but chemotherapy, hormonal psychoanalysis or other treatments can slow disease progression and ease symptoms. The sooner doctors can recognize whether the treatment is working, the better. That helps women avoid the marginal effects of an ineffective therapy, and may enable them to switch to a better one.
Right now, doctors monitor metastatic chest cancer with the help of imaging tests, such as CT scans. They may also use certain blood tests - including one that detects tumor cells floating in the bloodstream, and one that measures a tumor "marker" called CA 15-3.
But imaging does not put the unbroken story, and it can expose women to significant doses of radiation. The blood tests also have limitations and are not routinely used. "Practically speaking, there's a colossal want for novel methods" of monitoring women, said Dr Yuan Yuan, an subordinate professor of medical oncology at City of Hope cancer center in Duarte, Calif.
For the creative study, researchers at the University of Cambridge in England took blood samples from 30 women being treated for metastatic mamma cancer and having standard imaging tests. They found that the tumor DNA evaluation performed better than either the CA 15-3 or the tumor cell assess when it came to estimating the women's treatment response. Of 20 women the researchers were able to follow for more than 100 days, 19 showed cancer extension on their CT scans.
And 17 of them had shown rising tumor DNA levels. In contrast, only seven had a rising handful of tumor cells, while nine had an increase in CA 15-3 levels. For 10 of those 19 women, tumor DNA was on the spring up an middling of five months before CT scans showed their cancer was progressing. "The take-home message is that circulating tumor DNA is a better monitoring biomarker than the existing Food and Drug Administration-approved ones," said chief researcher Dr Carlos Caldas.
Sunday 28 February 2016
Saturday 27 February 2016
Patients With Alzheimer's Disease Observed Blunting Of Emotional Expression
Patients With Alzheimer's Disease Observed Blunting Of Emotional Expression.
Patients with Alzheimer's malady often can seem secluded and apathetic, symptoms frequently attributed to memory problems or strain finding the right words. But patients with the progressive brain disorder may also have a reduced talent to experience emotions, a new study suggests. When researchers from the University of Florida and other institutions showed a petite group of Alzheimer's patients 10 positive and 10 negative pictures, and asked them to pace them as pleasant or unpleasant, they reacted with less intensity than did the group of healthy participants.
And "For the most part, they seemed to sympathize the emotion normally evoked from the picture they were looking at ," said Dr Kenneth Heilman, ranking author of the study and a professor of neurology at the University of Florida's McKnight Brain Institute. But their reactions were distinctive from those of the healthy participants. "Even when they comprehended the scene, their warm reaction was very blunted". The study is published online in the Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences.
The research participants - seven with Alzheimer's and eight without - made a impression on a piece of paper that had a happy face on one end and a sad one on the other, putting the mark closer to the gratified face the more pleasing they found the picture and closer to the sad face the more distressing. Compared to the vigorous participants, those with Alzheimer's found the pictures less intense.
They didn't find the pleasant pictures (such as babies and puppies) as toothsome as did the healthy participants. They found the negative pictures (snakes, spiders) less negative. "If you have a blunted emotion, males and females will say you look withdrawn". One important take-home implication is for families and physicians not to automatically think a patient with blunted emotions is depressed and appeal for or prescribe antidepressants without a thorough evaluation first.
Patients with Alzheimer's malady often can seem secluded and apathetic, symptoms frequently attributed to memory problems or strain finding the right words. But patients with the progressive brain disorder may also have a reduced talent to experience emotions, a new study suggests. When researchers from the University of Florida and other institutions showed a petite group of Alzheimer's patients 10 positive and 10 negative pictures, and asked them to pace them as pleasant or unpleasant, they reacted with less intensity than did the group of healthy participants.
And "For the most part, they seemed to sympathize the emotion normally evoked from the picture they were looking at ," said Dr Kenneth Heilman, ranking author of the study and a professor of neurology at the University of Florida's McKnight Brain Institute. But their reactions were distinctive from those of the healthy participants. "Even when they comprehended the scene, their warm reaction was very blunted". The study is published online in the Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences.
The research participants - seven with Alzheimer's and eight without - made a impression on a piece of paper that had a happy face on one end and a sad one on the other, putting the mark closer to the gratified face the more pleasing they found the picture and closer to the sad face the more distressing. Compared to the vigorous participants, those with Alzheimer's found the pictures less intense.
They didn't find the pleasant pictures (such as babies and puppies) as toothsome as did the healthy participants. They found the negative pictures (snakes, spiders) less negative. "If you have a blunted emotion, males and females will say you look withdrawn". One important take-home implication is for families and physicians not to automatically think a patient with blunted emotions is depressed and appeal for or prescribe antidepressants without a thorough evaluation first.
Friday 19 February 2016
A Tan Is Still Admired By Ignoring The Danger Of Cancer
A Tan Is Still Admired By Ignoring The Danger Of Cancer.
Despite significant concerns about hull cancer, a more than half of Americans nevertheless dream that having a tan is an attractive, desirable and healthy look, a new national survey finds. The win was conducted by the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) in January, and included just over 7100 men and women nationwide. "Our appraisal highlighted the contradictory feelings that many people have about tanning - they derive the way a tan looks but are concerned about skin cancer, which is estimated to choose about one in five Americans in their lifetime," Dr Zoe D Draelos, a dermatologist and consulting professor at Duke University School of Medicine in Durham NC, said in a dope release.
So "What they may not accomplish is that no matter whether you tan or burn, a tan from the sun or tanning beds damages the epidermis and can cause wrinkles, age spots and skin cancer. The challenge is changing the long-standing attitudes about tanning to correlate with people's apprehension about skin cancer".
Despite significant concerns about hull cancer, a more than half of Americans nevertheless dream that having a tan is an attractive, desirable and healthy look, a new national survey finds. The win was conducted by the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) in January, and included just over 7100 men and women nationwide. "Our appraisal highlighted the contradictory feelings that many people have about tanning - they derive the way a tan looks but are concerned about skin cancer, which is estimated to choose about one in five Americans in their lifetime," Dr Zoe D Draelos, a dermatologist and consulting professor at Duke University School of Medicine in Durham NC, said in a dope release.
So "What they may not accomplish is that no matter whether you tan or burn, a tan from the sun or tanning beds damages the epidermis and can cause wrinkles, age spots and skin cancer. The challenge is changing the long-standing attitudes about tanning to correlate with people's apprehension about skin cancer".
Wednesday 17 February 2016
Smokers Often Die From Lung Cancer
Smokers Often Die From Lung Cancer.
Smokers who have a CT survey to slow for lung cancer stand a nearly one-in-five chance that doctors will find and potentially use a tumor that would not have caused illness or death, researchers report. Despite the finding, major medical groups indicated they are inclined to to stick by current recommendations that a select segment of long-time smokers weather regular CT scans. "It doesn't invalidate the initial study, which showed you can shrinking lung cancer mortality by 20 percent," said Dr Norman Edelman, chief medical adviser for the American Lung Association.
And "It adds an interesting caution that clinicians ought to reflect about - that they will be taking some cancers out that wouldn't go on to kill that patient". Over-diagnosis has become a controversial concept in cancer research, singularly in the fields of prostate and breast cancer. Some researchers argue that many occupy receive painful and life-altering treatments for cancers that never would have harmed or killed them.
The new work used data gathered during the National Lung Screening Trial, a major seven-year swotting to determine whether lung CT scans could help prevent cancer deaths. The bane found that 20 percent of lung cancer deaths could be prevented if doctors perform CT screening on grass roots aged 55 to 79 who are current smokers or quit less than 15 years ago. To ready for screening, the participants must have a smoking history of 30 pack-years or greater.
In other words, they had to have smoked an so so of one pack of cigarettes a day for 30 years. Based on the study findings, the American Lung Association, the American Cancer Society, the American College of Radiology and other medical associations recommended fine screenings for that particular segment of the smoking population. The federal management also has issued a draft rule that, if accepted, would make the lung CT scans a recommended counteractive health measure that insurance companies must cover fully, with no co-pay or deductible.
Smokers who have a CT survey to slow for lung cancer stand a nearly one-in-five chance that doctors will find and potentially use a tumor that would not have caused illness or death, researchers report. Despite the finding, major medical groups indicated they are inclined to to stick by current recommendations that a select segment of long-time smokers weather regular CT scans. "It doesn't invalidate the initial study, which showed you can shrinking lung cancer mortality by 20 percent," said Dr Norman Edelman, chief medical adviser for the American Lung Association.
And "It adds an interesting caution that clinicians ought to reflect about - that they will be taking some cancers out that wouldn't go on to kill that patient". Over-diagnosis has become a controversial concept in cancer research, singularly in the fields of prostate and breast cancer. Some researchers argue that many occupy receive painful and life-altering treatments for cancers that never would have harmed or killed them.
The new work used data gathered during the National Lung Screening Trial, a major seven-year swotting to determine whether lung CT scans could help prevent cancer deaths. The bane found that 20 percent of lung cancer deaths could be prevented if doctors perform CT screening on grass roots aged 55 to 79 who are current smokers or quit less than 15 years ago. To ready for screening, the participants must have a smoking history of 30 pack-years or greater.
In other words, they had to have smoked an so so of one pack of cigarettes a day for 30 years. Based on the study findings, the American Lung Association, the American Cancer Society, the American College of Radiology and other medical associations recommended fine screenings for that particular segment of the smoking population. The federal management also has issued a draft rule that, if accepted, would make the lung CT scans a recommended counteractive health measure that insurance companies must cover fully, with no co-pay or deductible.
Brain Scans Can Reveal The Occurrence Of Autism
Brain Scans Can Reveal The Occurrence Of Autism.
A epitome of perceptiveness imaging that measures the circuitry of brain connections may someday be used to name autism, new research suggests. Researchers at McLean Hospital in Boston and the University of Utah hand-me-down MRIs to analyze the microscopic fiber structures that make up the brain circuitry in 30 males old 8 to 26 with high-functioning autism and 30 males without autism. Males with autism showed differences in the whey-faced matter circuitry in two regions of the brain's temporal lobe: the excellent temporal gyrus and the temporal stem. Those areas are involved with language, passion and social skills, according to the researchers.
Based on the deviations in brain circuitry, researchers could distinguish with 94 percent correctness those who had autism and those who didn't. Currently, there is no biological test for autism. Instead, diagnosis is done through a verbose examination involving questions about the child's behavior, language and social functioning. The MRI proof could change that, though the study authors cautioned that the results are preliminary and need to be confirmed with larger numbers of patients.
So "Our scrutiny pinpoints disruptions in the circuitry in a brain division that has been known for a long time to be responsible for language, social and emotional functioning, which are the major deficits in autism," said engender author Nicholas Lange, director of the Neurostatistics Laboratory at McLean Hospital and an friend professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. "If we can get to the physical principle of the potential sources of those deficits, we can better understand how exactly it's happening and what we can do to develop more effective treatments". The inspect is published in the Dec 2, 2010 online edition of Autism Research.
A epitome of perceptiveness imaging that measures the circuitry of brain connections may someday be used to name autism, new research suggests. Researchers at McLean Hospital in Boston and the University of Utah hand-me-down MRIs to analyze the microscopic fiber structures that make up the brain circuitry in 30 males old 8 to 26 with high-functioning autism and 30 males without autism. Males with autism showed differences in the whey-faced matter circuitry in two regions of the brain's temporal lobe: the excellent temporal gyrus and the temporal stem. Those areas are involved with language, passion and social skills, according to the researchers.
Based on the deviations in brain circuitry, researchers could distinguish with 94 percent correctness those who had autism and those who didn't. Currently, there is no biological test for autism. Instead, diagnosis is done through a verbose examination involving questions about the child's behavior, language and social functioning. The MRI proof could change that, though the study authors cautioned that the results are preliminary and need to be confirmed with larger numbers of patients.
So "Our scrutiny pinpoints disruptions in the circuitry in a brain division that has been known for a long time to be responsible for language, social and emotional functioning, which are the major deficits in autism," said engender author Nicholas Lange, director of the Neurostatistics Laboratory at McLean Hospital and an friend professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. "If we can get to the physical principle of the potential sources of those deficits, we can better understand how exactly it's happening and what we can do to develop more effective treatments". The inspect is published in the Dec 2, 2010 online edition of Autism Research.
Tuesday 9 February 2016
Depression May Worsen Obesity
Depression May Worsen Obesity.
New inquiry provides more evidence of a component between depression and extra pounds around the waist, although it's not exactly clear how they're connected. The retreat raises the possibility that depression causes people to put on extra pounds around the belly. The inconsistent doesn't appear to be the case: researchers found that overweight people aren't more likely to become depressed than their normal-weight peers.
These findings come from researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, who examined facts from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults Study (CARDIA), a 20-year longitudinal learn of more than 5100 men and women grey 18-30. Longitudinal studies look for a link between cause and effect by observing a collect of individuals at regular intervals over a long period of time.
New inquiry provides more evidence of a component between depression and extra pounds around the waist, although it's not exactly clear how they're connected. The retreat raises the possibility that depression causes people to put on extra pounds around the belly. The inconsistent doesn't appear to be the case: researchers found that overweight people aren't more likely to become depressed than their normal-weight peers.
These findings come from researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, who examined facts from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults Study (CARDIA), a 20-year longitudinal learn of more than 5100 men and women grey 18-30. Longitudinal studies look for a link between cause and effect by observing a collect of individuals at regular intervals over a long period of time.
Thursday 4 February 2016
One Third Of All Strokes Have Caused High Blood Pressure
One Third Of All Strokes Have Caused High Blood Pressure.
A bountiful universal study has found that 10 risk factors account for 90 percent of all the chance of stroke, with high blood pressure playing the most potent role. Of that list, five jeopardize factors usually related to lifestyle - high blood pressure, smoking, abdominal obesity, aliment and physical activity - are responsible for a brim-full 80 percent of all stroke risk, according to the researchers. The findings come the INTERSTROKE study, a standardized case-control review of 3000 people who had had strokes and an equal number of healthy individuals with no depiction of stroke from 22 countries. It was published online June 18 in The Lancet.
The cramming - slated to be presented Friday at the World Congress on Cardiology in Beijing - reports that the 10 factors significantly associated with scrap risk are high blood pressure, smoking, true activity, waist-to-hip ratio (abdominal obesity), diet, blood lipid (fat) levels, diabetes, fire-water intake, stress and depression, and heart disorders. Across the board, serious blood pressure was the most important factor, accounting for one-third of all stroke risk.
And "It's superior that most of the risk factors associated with stroke are modifiable," said Dr Martin J O'Donnell, an confederate professor of medicine at McMaster University in Canada, who helped lead the study. "If they are controlled, it could have a biggish impact on the incidence of stroke".
Controlling blood pressure is important because it plays a chief role in both forms of stroke: ischemic, the most common form (caused by blockage of a knowledge blood vessel), and hemorrhagic or bleeding stroke, in which a blood vessel in the brain bursts. In contrast, levels of blood lipids such as cholesterol were noteworthy in the risk of ischemic stroke, but not hemorrhagic stroke.
So "The most significant thing about hypertension is its controllability," O'Donnell said. "Blood compel is easily measured, and there are lots of treatments". Lifestyle measures to control blood pressure allow for reduction of salt intake and increasing physical activity. He added that the other risk factors - smoking, abdominal obesity, victuals and physical activity - in the top five contributors to seizure risk were modifiable as well.
A bountiful universal study has found that 10 risk factors account for 90 percent of all the chance of stroke, with high blood pressure playing the most potent role. Of that list, five jeopardize factors usually related to lifestyle - high blood pressure, smoking, abdominal obesity, aliment and physical activity - are responsible for a brim-full 80 percent of all stroke risk, according to the researchers. The findings come the INTERSTROKE study, a standardized case-control review of 3000 people who had had strokes and an equal number of healthy individuals with no depiction of stroke from 22 countries. It was published online June 18 in The Lancet.
The cramming - slated to be presented Friday at the World Congress on Cardiology in Beijing - reports that the 10 factors significantly associated with scrap risk are high blood pressure, smoking, true activity, waist-to-hip ratio (abdominal obesity), diet, blood lipid (fat) levels, diabetes, fire-water intake, stress and depression, and heart disorders. Across the board, serious blood pressure was the most important factor, accounting for one-third of all stroke risk.
And "It's superior that most of the risk factors associated with stroke are modifiable," said Dr Martin J O'Donnell, an confederate professor of medicine at McMaster University in Canada, who helped lead the study. "If they are controlled, it could have a biggish impact on the incidence of stroke".
Controlling blood pressure is important because it plays a chief role in both forms of stroke: ischemic, the most common form (caused by blockage of a knowledge blood vessel), and hemorrhagic or bleeding stroke, in which a blood vessel in the brain bursts. In contrast, levels of blood lipids such as cholesterol were noteworthy in the risk of ischemic stroke, but not hemorrhagic stroke.
So "The most significant thing about hypertension is its controllability," O'Donnell said. "Blood compel is easily measured, and there are lots of treatments". Lifestyle measures to control blood pressure allow for reduction of salt intake and increasing physical activity. He added that the other risk factors - smoking, abdominal obesity, victuals and physical activity - in the top five contributors to seizure risk were modifiable as well.
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