 |
|||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
March 26th, 2013
10:04 AM ET
Cold sores linked to cognitive declineThe virus causing your cold sore may put you at risk for something more insidious: Lower cognitive abilities. In a study of 1,625 people, researchers at Columbia University measured specific antibodies to common infectious agents in each person's blood, and using this information, created an "infectious burden index." Participants higher on the infectious burden index were more likely to have worse cognition, or cognitive abilities. The study, published Monday in the journal Neurology, further suggests a link between cognitive decline and herpesviridae viral infections in particular, which previous studies have also linked to Alzheimer's disease and risk of stroke, an accompanying editorial notes. Herpesviridae is a family of viruses including HSV-1 or herpes simplex virus-1, which causes cold sores and can cause genital herpes, and HSV-2, which commonly causes genital herpes. 
March 20th, 2013
04:54 PM ET
Abuse could mean higher risk of autistic childrenBeing abused as a child may increase a mother's chance of having a child with autism, according to a new study, but researchers aren't sure why. Investigators at The Harvard School of Public Health looked at more than 50,000 women in the Nurses' Health Study II group, and found that those who reported the highest levels of abuse as children themselves were 60% more likely to have children with some type of autism-spectrum disorder. The reasons for the apparent connection, reported Wednesday in the journal JAMA Psychiatry, remain murky. FULL POST
March 20th, 2013
04:09 PM ET
CDC: Higher number of children with autismThe number of children with autism is "significantly" higher than previously thought, according to a new report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. School-aged boys were four times more likely to have an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis than girls, according to the new data. The CDC released a report a year ago estimating 1 in 88 American children has a form of autism spectrum disorder - neurodevelopmental disorders that lead to impaired language, communication and social skills. The report looked at medical and educational records of all 8-year-olds living in 14 areas of the United States during 2008. FULL POST  Left: The nasal bone structure of a person of African origin. Right: Nose of a person of European origin.
March 20th, 2013
12:06 PM ET
Why our noses are different shapesThere are pouches on each side of the human nose below the eyes that are called maxillary sinuses. They're involved in sinus infections, so you may already have a bias against them. But Nathan Holton, a postdoctoral research fellow in the department of orthodontics at the University of Iowa, wanted to find out why there's such variation in these structures, and how they are affected by variation in the nasal cavity. A study on the subject is published in the journal The Anatomical Record. Holton and colleagues took computed tomography scans of 40 people. About half of them were European-Americans, and the other half were African-Americans or native South Africans. FULL POST 
March 18th, 2013
12:03 AM ET
Why teens may be behind on vaccinationsA new survey finds even though vaccines for certain teenage illnesses are available and are found to be safe, many parents aren't having their teens inoculated. The question is why? Researchers looked at parent questionnaires collected through a national survey called "Reasons for Not Vaccinating Adolescents: National Survey of Teens, 2008-2010." Investigators wanted to better understand why moms and dads aren't taking their older children in for recommended inoculations. “These vaccines are safe and effective and people should really have their teens get them," says Dr. Paul Darden, lead author of the study and professor of pediatrics at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine. “Parents say pediatricians are telling them about the vaccines, yet they just don’t seem to understand why they are necessary or are skeptical about their safety." FULL POST 
March 10th, 2013
07:58 PM ET
Lessons about disease...from mummiesTalk about a startling juxtaposition: A mummy in a CT scanner. You may be wondering: Why in the world would a mummy get a CT scan? It turns out that preserved peoples are great study subjects, especially when you are trying to figure out the roots of health problems that span millennia. A study released Sunday in The Lancet suggests that atherosclerosis - the disease that makes arteries go rigid, and is a leading cause of death worldwide - may have been around for thousands of years. "We like to say that we found the serial killer that's stalked mankind for 4,000 years," said Dr. Randall Thompson, attending cardiologist at Saint Luke's Mid America Heart Institute, and lead author of the study.
February 28th, 2013
04:29 PM ET
Sitting less may reduce diabetes riskHow long have you been sitting today? Here's one more reason that you should get up and move around once in a while. A new study in the journal Diabetologia suggests that reducing your sitting time is more important in lowering your risk of diabetes than exercise. This is just the latest in a string of research suggesting that moving around helps your health. But the new results should not replace standard recommendations for exercise, and more research is required to understand the reasons for the findings, said lead study author Joseph Henson. "It looks as if just sitting for long periods of time has a real negative impact upon overall health," Henson said.
February 26th, 2013
04:02 PM ET
Metastatic breast cancer rising in patients younger than 40Diagnosis of metastatic breast cancer in women younger than 40 has increased 2% a year, every year, from 1976 to 2009, according to a study published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The increase was seen in women aged 25 to 39 of all races and ethnicities, living in both rural and urban areas. It's a devastating diagnosis, particularly because a woman younger than 40 who is diagnosed with breast cancer is more likely to have an aggressive form of the disease and face lower survival rates. But for perspective, the overall population of women who are affected still remains small. FULL POST
February 25th, 2013
03:43 PM ET
Antibiotics less likely to be prescribed for kids' ear achesGuidelines for diagnosing and treating ear infections are changing and the result may mean fewer prescriptions for antibiotics. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) on Monday released the new guidelines for diagnosing and managing acute otitis media (AOM), the most common form of ear infections. Going forward, pediatricians should only diagnose acute ear infections if the child's eardrum is moderately to severely bulging or if there is discharge leaking from the ear, according to the recommendations. They may diagnose a middle ear infection if the child's ear drum is mildly bulging and there is recent onset of pain or intense redness. FULL POST A vaccine can help protect preteen boys and girls against some types of human papillomavirus that can lead to disease.
February 13th, 2013
05:03 PM ET
CDC: 20 million new sexually transmitted infections yearlyThere are about 20 million new sexually transmitted infections (STIs) each year in the United States, costing some $16 billion in direct medical costs, according to numbers released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Young people are disproportionately affected, the agency said, with half of all new infections occurring in people ages 15 through 24. "In general, CDC estimated the total number of infections in the calendar year, rather than the number of individuals with infection, since one person can have more than one STI at a given time" or more than one episode of a single STI, officials said. But "CDC used conservative assumptions in generating its estimates, so the true numbers of STIs in the United States may be even higher than estimated." FULL POST |
  About this blog
Get a behind-the-scenes look at the latest stories from CNN Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen and the CNN Medical Unit producers. They'll share news and views on health and medical trends - info that will help you take better care of yourself and the people you love. Recent Comments
 |
||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||
© 2012 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
| Advertise with us | About us | Help | Advertising Practices
