Tag: Staying Current

Researchers are getting closer to understanding the workings of Staphylococcus aureus, a bacterium that causes more than 60,000 infections each year. And that could lead to better treatment for the infections. The bacterium, S. aureus, is often a harmless organism found in the nose and skin of 30 percent of people. But it can cause… Continue reading Staph and A Secret Weapon

Poorly-made dental restorations (veneers, crowns, inlays) can cause patients discomfort and even some health problems, but, according to dental-industry experts, most patients aren’t aware of where their dental restorations are coming from, what materials are used in the process and whether they are getting the restorations from a reliable source. Some patients believe their restorations… Continue reading A Warning About Dental Restorations

Raw honey may spell victory in the battle against antibiotic-resistant infections. Researchers from Lund University in Sweden have identified a group of 13 lactic-acid bacteria that are found in fresh honey. The bacteria produce many antimicrobial compounds. They were tested successfully on some severe bugs including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Pseudomonas aeruginosa and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus… Continue reading A Sweet Solution to Dangerous Infections

A new study has expanded our understanding of Ebola, by discovering one way the deadly virus dodges the body’s defenses. The discovery, by researchers from the Washington University School of Medicine, provides an insight that could lead to new treatments for the terrifying virus. In their work, the investigators detailed how an Ebola protein, VP24,… Continue reading Understanding How Ebola Works

A “culture change” to a more residential atmosphere in nursing homes can lead to significant improvements in quality of care, according to a new study.

Researchers from Brown University examined the effect of culture change – an adjustment in nursing homes to allow a more flexible lifestyle for patients. Specifically, that means, among other adjustments, more resident choices in schedules and activities, and more input into care management from “front-line” workers who have close daily contact with residents.

Three widely used drugs, known as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs, alter the activity of enzymes within cell membranes and could lead to unwanted side effects.

Those side effects could be the results of taking the drugs for a long period of time and/or at a higher-than-approved dosage level.

The NSAIDS, sold over the counter as aspirin, ibuprofen and naproxen, would have the effects primarily at prescription levels.

Antibacterial soap may not have the health benefits you thought: A new study shows that washing with the soap exposes hospital workers to a high level of the potentially unsafe levels of the chemical triclosan.

Here’s another addition to our Third Age video collection. Press play to start learning.

Spanish researchers have found the strongest proof yet that inhibition of a gene could be used to fight cancerous tumors.

Research led by the Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO), Barcelona, found that the inhibiting mutations of the Myc gene could be accomplished via the drug Omomyc. That inhibitor was designed by Laura Soucek, Principal Investigator of VHIO´s Mouse Models of Cancer Therapies Group.

The findings were published in the journal Nature Communications.

MS can happen to just about anyone.

The central nervous system disorder affects your brain and spinal cord. But it spares the nerves and muscles that lead away from the spinal cord. Nearly 350,000 people in the United States have MS.

MS is a long-term illness. Infection-fighting white blood cells enter the nervous system and cause injury by stripping off the myelin sheath that protects nerves. When this happens, the nerves cannot conduct electricity as well as they should. This causes symptoms.

In a new study, researchers found that more than half of elderly patients in a hospital emergency room were either malnourished or at risk of malnutrition.

Additionally, more than half of the patients who were malnourished hadn’t been diagnosed with the condition.

Researchers focused on patients 138 65 and older who were seen at the University of North Carolina hospitals over an eight-week period. The patients were not cognitively impaired or critically ill. None of them lived in a nursing home or skilled nursing facility.

Here’s another video from our Third Age collection. Press play to start learning.

Experts are developing a genetic computer model that may eventually predict whether a patient going to suffer from a mental illness, including bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

The researchers, from the University of Texas, Arlington; the University of Illinois; and the Beijing Genomics Institutes in Wuhan, China, published their findings in the journal Biomed Research International.

Projects involving gas drilling, including hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, should be subject to public-health and community analysis before they begin, an expert panel says.

The panel called for groundwater and air quality testing before, during, and after the drilling, saying that the analysis is a key component of guaranteeing the safety of communities near the drilling site.