Blood News and Research

RSS

Diabetes care accounts for one of every eight health care dollars in 2005

About one of every eight federal health care dollars in fiscal year 2005, or nearly $80 billion, was spent treating people with diabetes, according to a study released on Tuesday by the National Changing Diabetes Program and the Congressional Diabetes Caucus, CQ HealthBeat reports.

22 Jun 2007

Autistic boys have high levels of growth hormones

Boys with autism and autism spectrum disorder had higher levels of hormones involved with growth in comparison to boys who do not have autism, reported researchers from the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Cincinnati Children's Hospital and the University Of Cincinnati College Of Medicine.

22 Jun 2007

Stem cells to repair damaged heart muscle

In the first trial of its kind in the world, 60 patients who have recently suffered a major heart attack will be injected with selected stem cells from their own bone marrow during routine coronary bypass surgery.

22 Jun 2007

Women more prone than men to have mid-life strokes

After analysing data from 17,000 people over the age of 18, taking part in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, researchers in the United States have found that women were more likely than men to have a stroke in mid-life.

21 Jun 2007

HRT not such a bad idea after all!

Older women struggling to cope with the symptoms of the menopause will be reassured by the latest research into hormone replacement therapy (HRT).

21 Jun 2007

Rheumatoid factor is a risk factor for heart disease in men

Scientists have found that a product of white blood cells linked to rheumatoid arthritis could cause heart disease in men.

20 Jun 2007

Men fall short when it comes to managing their personal health

From skipping important health screenings to avoiding a visit to the doctor altogether, new results from a survey released by the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) indicate men continue to fall short when it comes to managing their personal health.

20 Jun 2007

Why excessive body weight increases the risk for heart disease

New research from The University of Arizona Sarver Heart Center helps explain why excessive body weight increases the risk for heart disease.

20 Jun 2007

Two complementary commanders in charge of the brain

A probe of the upper echelons of the human brain's chain-of-command has found strong evidence that there are not one but two complementary commanders in charge of the brain, according to neuroscientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

20 Jun 2007

Novel therapeutic cancer strategy

Cancer sometimes involves processes that should only occur in the embryo being mistakenly reactivated in adult cells.

20 Jun 2007

Even pre-diabetes 'ups' the risk for heart disease

Australian researchers have found that even before the disease becomes full blown diabetes increases a persons risk for heart disease.

20 Jun 2007

Death rate for women with diabetes higher than that of men

A new analysis of data from three large national databases finds that in the 29 years between 1971 and 2000, the death rate of men with diabetes has dropped significantly, in line with the overall decline of the death rate for all Americans.

19 Jun 2007

Researchers develop artificial blood vessels from muscle-derived stem cells and a biodegradable polymer

University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine investigators have engineered artificial blood vessels from muscle-derived stem cells (MDSCs) and a biodegradable polymer that exhibit extensive remodeling and remain free of blockages when grafted into rats.

19 Jun 2007

Ethical dilemma of international tissue donation

When the world's poorest sell their bodies to the world's wealthiest in the international tissue donation market they often secure their economic health at the cost of their physical health.

19 Jun 2007

A review of PSA use in screening for prostate cancer

Screening for prostate cancer using prostate specific antigen (PSA) testing continues to be problematic. Even though it is unproven whether population-wide screening with PSA can reduce death, illness or disability from prostate cancer, testing has become common in North America.

19 Jun 2007

New target for therapies for retinopathy

A protein long thought to be one of the body's supporting players has quietly been taking a lead role in healthy eyesight, a discovery that could rapidly lead to treatments for babies born before their eyes are finished growing, University of Florida and Harvard Medical School researchers have found.

19 Jun 2007

People with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease have greater arterial stiffness

The researchers also found that those COPD patients with osteoporosis, a common complication of the respiratory disease, had even greater arterial stiffness. These premature signs of aging may explain why COPD patients are at greater risk for cardiovascular disease.

19 Jun 2007

Noninvasive screening in early pregnancy reduces Down's births by 50 percent

Non-invasive screening of pregnant women with ultrasound early in pregnancy, combined with maternal blood analysis, has reduced the number of children born in Denmark with Down Syndrome by 50%, a scientist will tell the annual conference of the European Society of Human Genetics today.

19 Jun 2007

Lead poisoning in New York City at lowest level in more than a decade

Although childhood lead poisoning remains a serious problem, the number of new cases identified in 2006 marks the lowest level in more than a decade.

19 Jun 2007

Safe blood for safe motherhood

On the occasion of World Blood Donor Day, the theme of which this year is "Safe blood for safe motherhood", WHO is launching a new initiative to improve the availability and use of safe blood to save the lives of women during and after childbirth.

19 Jun 2007