Space Season: ScienceDaily Health Headlines -- for Sunday, February 27, 2011

ScienceDaily Health Headlines

for Sunday, February 27, 2011

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Transgenic fungi may be able to combat malaria and other bug-borne diseases (February 26, 2011) -- New findings indicate that a genetically engineered fungus carrying genes for a human anti-malarial antibody or a scorpion anti-malarial toxin could be a highly effective, specific and environmentally friendly tool for combating malaria, at a time when the effectiveness of current pesticides against malaria mosquitoes is declining. ... > full story

New technology pinpoints genetic differences between cancer and non-cancer patients (February 26, 2011) -- Scientists have developed a new technology that detects distinct genetic changes differentiating cancer patients from healthy individuals and could serve as a future cancer predisposition test. ... > full story

Bone drug zoledronic acid may help prevent spread of early lung cancer (February 26, 2011) -- A drug that is currently used to help treat bone metastases in patients with lung cancer could also be useful at an earlier stage of treatment, to prevent the cancer from spreading in the first place, researchers have found. ... > full story

Making the 'irrelevant' relevant to understand memory and aging (February 26, 2011) -- Age alters memory. But in what ways, and why? These questions comprise a vast puzzle for neurologists and psychologists. A new study looked at one puzzle piece: how older and younger adults encode and recall distracting, or irrelevant, information. The results can help scientists better understand memory and aging. ... > full story

Nanotechnology may lead to new treatment of liver cancer (February 26, 2011) -- Nanotechnology may open a new door on the treatment of liver cancer, according to researchers. They used molecular-sized bubbles filled with chemotherapy drugs to prevent cell growth and initiate cell death in test tubes and mice. ... > full story

Tweeting teenage songbirds reveal impact of social cues on learning (February 26, 2011) -- In a finding that once again displays the power of the female, neuroscientists have discovered that teenage male songbirds, still working to perfect their song, improve their performance in the presence of a female bird. ... > full story

Model for managing asthma in preschoolers leads to dramatic drop in ER visits and hospitalizations (February 26, 2011) -- Nearly one in 11 preschool children in the US has been diagnosed with asthma, yet few asthma management programs are designed for parents of preschool children. A new program offers educational activities to families as well as training to community pediatric providers. Following participation in the program, 85 percent of parents reported reducing their child's asthma triggers; visits to ER departments declined sharply, as did asthma-related hospitalizations. ... > full story

Happy children make happy adults (February 26, 2011) -- Being a "happy" teenager is linked to increased well-being in adulthood, new research finds. ... > full story

Targeting T cells effectively blocks multiple sclerosis in mice (February 25, 2011) -- In an effort to develop therapeutic remedies for multiple sclerosis, scientists debate two possible interventional approaches -- but they're on opposite sides of the spectrum. Researchers however, think they have now reached a definitive conclusion as to which approach is correct, putting an end to a long-disputed issue. They found that targeting white blood cells of the immune system known as T cells is the effective approach to block the disease in an animal model of MS. ... > full story

Scientists find a new way insulin-producing cells die (February 25, 2011) -- Diabetes researchers discover another way that insulin-secreting beta cells in the pancreas can be destroyed -- by the secretions of neighboring alpha cells. ... > full story

Staring contests are automatic: People lock eyes to establish dominance (February 25, 2011) -- Imagine that you're in a bar and you accidentally knock over your neighbor's beer. He turns around and stares at you, looking for confrontation. Do you buy him a new drink, or do you try to out-stare him to make him back off? New research suggests that the dominance behavior exhibited by staring someone down can be reflexive. ... > full story

Newborn heart muscle can grow back by itself, study shows (February 25, 2011) -- In a promising science-fiction-meets-real-world juxtaposition, researchers have discovered that the mammalian newborn heart can heal itself completely. ... > full story