Nausea Drug Shows Promise Against Opioid Addiction
A drug currently used to treat nausea can prevent symptoms of withdrawal from illegal and prescription opioid drugs such as heroin, morphine and codeine, a new study shows. The Stanford University scientists behind the research added it can do so without some of the serious side effects caused by existing treatments for addiction to these drugs. Initial tests in mice showed that the drug ondansetron... Read more
Menopause drug linked to breast cancer relapse: study
A synthetic steroid used to treat menopause symptoms and prevent osteoporosis significantly increases the risk of a relapse in breast cancer patients, according to a study released Tuesday. The steroid, called tibolone, should not be prescribed to a woman who has had or is suspected of having breast cancer, concluded the study, published in the British medical journal The Lancet Oncology. Women with... Read more
Eye Problems, Hearing Loss May Be Linked
About 20 percent of children with sensorineural hearing loss also have eye disorders, a new study has found. Sensorineural hearing loss, caused by damage to the inner ear or to the nerves that link the ear to the brain, affects up to three of every 1,000 children, according to background information in the study. Half of all cases in children are due to genetics, and one gene, GJB2, accounts for a... Read more
Parents Blamed for Childhood Obesity
Children tend to eat what their parents eat, finds a new study that suggests a parental contribution to the growing obesity problem among young children and teenagers. Researchers found adolescents are more likely to eat at least five servings of fruits and vegetables a day if their parents do. Contrarily, teens whose parents eat fast food or drink soda are more likely to do the same. Every day, more... Read more
Kids a possibility for girls with Turner syndrome
Girls born with a genetic defect that leads to infertility may yet be able to have children when they reach adulthood, according to researchers in Sweden. Turner syndrome occurs when a female is born with one X chromosome instead of two. Usually they stop growing prematurely and their ovaries shut down at an early age. In some cases, however, it may be possible to retrieve ovarian tissue containing... Read more
Two-Thirds of Hispanic Women Discover Breast Cancer Themselves
Most breast cancers in Hispanic women are detected by self-exam, despite high rates of screening mammography in this population, a new study shows. What’s troubling, however, is that about half of all women who noticed an abnormality during a self-exam waited at least a month before seeking medical help, according to new research being presented at the American Association for Cancer Research... Read more
Cancer survivors often forgo care due to cost
Even with health insurance, more than one million cancer survivors living in the United States report that they forgo needed medical care because of concerns about cost, according to research presented Wednesday at the American Association for Cancer Research conference on the Science of Health Care Disparities. “These survivors are either going without, or significantly delaying, dental care,... Read more
C-section may raise kids’ asthma risk: study
Children born by cesarean delivery are at increased risk for developing asthma, particularly if their parents have allergies, according to a report published this month. C-section has been thought to be a risk factor for asthma, although the relationship is controversial, Dr. H. A. Smit, from the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment in Bilthoven, the Netherlands, and colleagues... Read more
Respiratory virus common in U.S. children: study
A highly contagious respiratory virus is far more widespread among children than once thought and puts more of them in the hospital than influenza, U.S. researchers reported on Wednesday. They projected that the respiratory syncytial virus, known as RSV, affects 2.1 million children under the age of 5 each year. Over four years, from November through April, the virus was responsible for 20 percent... Read more
Smoking in pregnancy cuts blood flow to the fetus
Smoking during pregnancy reduces blood flow to the developing fetus and, in turn, retards growth, new research suggests. “We have known for 50 years that infants born to mothers who smoke during pregnancy have lower birth weights,” lead investigator Dr. Malene Rohr Andersen, from Gentoffe University Hospital in Hellerup, Denmark, said in a statement. “But this study provides a possible... Read more