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Researchers examine trends in prescription opioid use for non-cancer pain

A review of more than 4 million insured patients with private coverage and Medicaid, published in the The Journal of Pain showed that rates of opioid use did not differ widely between non-cancer pain conditions but there were higher rates of opioid use among Medicaid patients.

18 Nov 2008

Stress found to impair decision making in rats

Neuroscientists from the University of Washington have found that a single exposure to uncontrollable stress impairs decision making in rats for several days, making them unable to reliably seek out the larger of two rewards.

18 Nov 2008

Patients with depressive disorders or schizophrenia more likely to re-attempt suicide

Men and women who have tried to kill themselves and are suffering from unipolar disorder (major depression), bipolar disorder (manic depression) or schizophrenia are at a very high risk of committing suicide within a year of their first attempt, concludes a study published today on bmj.com.

18 Nov 2008

Object-tracking exercises train athlete brains to react faster

All great athletes know that in order to perform well, they can't just depend on their physical capabilities.

18 Nov 2008

New rapid screening test to detect mild cognitive impairment

With millions of baby boomers entering late adulthood, the number of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) is expected to drastically rise over the next several decades.

18 Nov 2008

Neuralstem enters stem cell collaboration for Huntington's disease in Germany

Neuralstem, Inc. announced today that it has entered into a collaboration with Professor Guido Nikkah Ph.D, of Albert-Ludwigs-University in Freiburg, Germany, to advance development of Neuralstem's human neural stem cell therapies.

18 Nov 2008

Lower socioeconomic status decreases chances of early detection and survival of colorectal cancer

An abstract presented at the American Association for Cancer Research's Seventh Annual International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research shows that lower socioeconomic status reduced the chance of early stage diagnosis and survival of colorectal cancer in Colorado.

18 Nov 2008

Kinase inhibitors may offer new therapeutic approach for treatment of type 1 diabetes

Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco have reported that two common cancer drugs have been used to block and reverse type 1 diabetes in mice.

18 Nov 2008

Discovery of new gene linked to epilepsy

A University of Iowa-led international research team has found a new gene associated with the brain disorder epilepsy.

18 Nov 2008

Risk of non-AIDS cancer higher for individuals infected with HIV

The risk of non-AIDS cancer is higher for individuals infected with HIV than for the general population, according to a meta-analysis presented here at the American Association for Cancer Research's Seventh Annual International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research.

18 Nov 2008

Home-based program to improve exercise and diet improves senior cancer survivors' physical function

A home-based program to improve exercise and diet led to significant, clinically meaningful improvement in body weight and physical function among older long-term cancer survivors in preliminary findings from the RENEW (Reach-out to ENhancE Wellness) trial, according to Wendy Demark-Wahnefried, Ph.D., from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center's Department of Behavioral Science.

18 Nov 2008

Ginkgo biloba does nothing for dementia, Alzheimer's

One of the most widely used herbal supplements for improving memory and cognition has no impact on the development of dementia or Alzheimer's disease, according to new results from a $30 million, multi-center study.

18 Nov 2008

Doctors hesitant to discuss options to preserve fertility with cancer patients

Although some teenagers and young adults become infertile following cancer treatment, physicians are hesitant to discuss options to preserve fertility with patients, according to a new Florida study.

18 Nov 2008

Discovery of 13 new tumor-suppressor genes in liver cancer

Over the years, hunting for cancer-related genes and understanding how they work has been an important, although time-consuming, exercise.

18 Nov 2008

Researchers examines working couple's retirement patterns

When retiring, men are more likely than women to move directly from work to retirement, but overall the retirement patterns for dual-income married couples are complex and call for additional considerations in planning for the future, according to a new study from the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve University.

18 Nov 2008

Cancer survival rates impact type of Web communities used by patients

Online support communities for high survival rate cancers contain a greater amount of emotional support content than online support communities for cancers with low survival rates, according to a new study from the University of Michigan Health System and the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System.

18 Nov 2008

Cruciferous vegetables may lower lung cancer risk in smokers

The cancer preventive properties of broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables appear to work specifically in smokers, according to data presented at the American Association for Cancer Research's Seventh Annual International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research.

18 Nov 2008

Kynurenic acid in brain shows potential as schizophrenia target

New research has traced elevated levels of a specific compound in the brain to problem-solving deficits in patients with schizophrenia.

18 Nov 2008

Protein transporter in the gut could speed drug 'take up'

For poorly absorbed medications, drug makers should consider using natural homing devices to drive the drugs through the hazards of gastrointestinal acidity and enzymes to reach the bloodstream quicker, James Polli, PhD, said today at the annual meeting of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) in Atlanta.

18 Nov 2008

Antibiotics can cause pervasive, persistant changes to microbiota in human gut

Using a novel technique developed by Mitchell Sogin of the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) to identify different types of bacteria, scientists have completed the most precise survey to date of how microbial communities in the human gut respond to antibiotic treatment.

18 Nov 2008