Sleep pattern linked with teen’s behavior
New study findings suggest that a preference for nighttime over daytime activities may be associated with antisocial behavior in adolescences, even in children as young as 8 years old.
Those who prefer later bedtimes appear to exhibit more antisocial behavior than those who like to wake early and participate in daytime recreational activities, researchers report.
Common gene mutations affect heart disease
Researchers say they have pinpointed six common genetic variations that may cause heart disease and the discovery may help to predict who is at greatest risk.
A study published on Wednesday in The New England Journal of Medicine said changes in the DNA on the chromosomes were associated with increased risk of developing coronary artery disease and heart attacks.
Menstruation key to bone rebuilding in anorexics
Adequate nutrition can rebuild bone mass in women with anorexia, but the restoration of normal menstrual periods appears to be necessary for fully normal bone metabolism to be recovered, a new study shows.
“Our observations may be important to an understanding of the mechanism of possible reversal of osteoporosis in anorexia nervosa, for which there is as yet no effective treatment,” Dr. Jennifer Dominguez of Columbia University Medical Center in New York City and her colleagues conclude.
Women with HIV fight fear and stigma
When Papua New Guinea’s Maura Elaripe was diagnosed with HIV she thought it was a death sentence, but 10 years later she is still fighting the disease and the fear and stigma associated with it in her homeland.
The 31-year-old former nurse said many afflicted with the disease are left untreated to die in Papua New Guinea, a developing nation where black magic still rules many people’s lives.
Chinese “elephant man” to go under the knife
A Chinese “elephant man” with a crippling 15 kg (33 lb) tumour drooping from his head and face—the biggest on record—undergoes life-threatening surgery on Tuesday to have it removed.
Huang Chuncai, 31, from the southern province of Hunan, can hardly speak because the mass is so huge, he has to cradle it when he stands. His left eye is totally covered, his left ear hangs to his shoulder, and his right ear and jaw have been engulfed.
Latest drugs improve survival for metastatic breast cancer
Newer drug therapies available since the 1990s, in particular aromatase inhibitors, improve the survival of women with metastatic breast cancer in the general population, according to a new study. Published in the September 1, 2007 issue of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the study is the first to demonstrate that drugs made available to the general public in the 1990s have had a significant impact on population-based metastatic breast cancer survival rates, confirming findings from earlier clinical trials. Survival improved by approximately 30 percent as systemic therapy, in particular aromatase inhibitors, became more widely used.
Currently, women with metastatic breast cancer survive an average of approximately 24 months.
