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Monthly Archives: May 2016

Loss of Y chromosome in blood cells is associated with developing Alzheimer’s disease: new research could lead to a simple test to identify those at risk

Barcelona, Spain: Men with blood cells that do not carry the Y chromosome are at greater risk of being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and this is in addition to an increased risk of death from other causes, including many … Continue reading →

Published Tuesday, May 24th, 2016 at 12:01 am
Posted in Genetics

Discovery of new disease gene will lead to better screening for severe paediatric heart disease

Barcelona, Spain: Cardiomyopathy, or a deterioration of the ability of the heart muscle to contract, generally leads to progressive heart failure. It is frequently inherited, and, because approximately 40% of children born with it are likely to die within five … Continue reading →

Published Tuesday, May 24th, 2016 at 12:01 am
Posted in Genetics

Dietary experiments in mice point the way to early detection of cancer development in humans

Barcelona, Spain: Colorectal cancer is the second most common cause of cancer-related deaths in the Western world, mainly because it is usually diagnosed too late. Finding ways to identify those people who are at increased risk of developing colon cancer … Continue reading →

Published Monday, May 23rd, 2016 at 12:01 am
Posted in Genetics

How does obesity cause disease in organs distant from those where fat accumulates? New genetic evidence points the way

Barcelona, Spain: Obesity is on the rise throughout the world, and in some developed countries two-third of the adult population is either overweight or obese. This brings with it an increased risk of serious conditions such as heart disease, stroke, … Continue reading →

Published Sunday, May 22nd, 2016 at 12:01 am
Posted in Genetics

World report on fertility treatments reveals high use of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI); editor attacks the over-use of ICSI as ‘ineffective and costly care’

The editor-in-chief of one of the world’s leading reproductive medicine journals has attacked the rising use of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) for the treatment of infertility, following publication of the latest world report on assisted reproductive technologies (ART) [1]. The … Continue reading →

Published Saturday, May 21st, 2016 at 12:05 am
Posted in Fertility

Radiotherapy for lung cancer patients is linked to increased risk of non-cancer deaths: researchers set out to investigate new heart-sparing techniques

Turin, Italy: Researchers have found that treating patients who have early stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with a type of radiotherapy called stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) is associated with a small but increased risk of death from causes … Continue reading →

Published Monday, May 2nd, 2016 at 12:01 am
Posted in Cancer

Largest study of patients with early stage II testicular cancer shows radiation therapy is more effective than chemotherapy

Turin, Italy: A large study of testicular cancer patients has shown that radiation therapy is a better treatment than chemotherapy for patients with stage IIa disease (where one or more regional lymph nodes contain cancer cells but they are less … Continue reading →

Published Monday, May 2nd, 2016 at 12:01 am
Posted in Cancer

Radiation and immunotherapy combination can destroy both primary and secondary tumours

Turin, Italy: Radiation therapy not only kills cancer cells, but also helps to activate the immune system against their future proliferation. However, this immune response is often not strong enough to be able to cure tumours, and even when it … Continue reading →

Published Sunday, May 1st, 2016 at 12:01 am
Posted in Cancer