Health & Medicine : Science World Report

Mar 23, 2012 10:56 AM EDT

Study Finds Electrotherapy Dampens Brain Connections

Scientists have discovered how electroconvulsive or electric shock therapy - a controversial but effective treatment - acts on the brains of severely depressed people and say the finding could help improve diagnosis and treatment of mental illness.

Mar 23, 2012 09:16 AM EDT

Ultrasound-guided Surgery is Best Way to Remove Breast Tumours

The use of ultrasound-guided surgery to remove tumours from women who have palpable breast cancer is much more successful than standard surgery in excising all the cancerous tissue while sparing as much healthy tissue as possible, according to the results of a randomised controlled trial.

Mar 23, 2012 08:26 AM EDT

Overweight and Obese Women at Greater Risk of Breast Cancer Recurrence

Women who are overweight or obese when they are diagnosed with breast cancer are at higher risk of cancer recurrence or related death than are leaner women, according to a new study to be presented to the 8th European Breast Cancer Conference (EBCC-8) today (Friday). This finding held true even thou...

Mar 23, 2012 06:40 AM EDT

Funding Cuts Put 3.4 Million TB Patients at Risk: NGOs

A $1.7 billion funding shortfall to fight tuberculosis (TB) over the next five years means 3.4 million patients will go untreated and gains made against the disease will be reversed, three non-governmental (NGO) agencies said on Friday.

Mar 22, 2012 11:54 AM EDT

Bloomberg Charity Adds $220 Million to Anti-smoking Effort

Michael Bloomberg's charitable foundation will commit $220 million over the next four years to fight tobacco use globally, including for the funding of legal challenges against the industry.

Mar 22, 2012 11:08 AM EDT

Study: Weight Loss Won't Necessarily Help Teen Girls' Self-esteem

Obese white teenage girls who lose weight may benefit physically, but the weight change does not guarantee they are going to feel better about themselves, according to a Purdue University study.

Mar 22, 2012 08:29 AM EDT

Salk Scientists Open New Window into How Cancers Override Cellular Growth Controls

Rapidly dividing cancer cells are skilled at patching up damage that would stop normal cells in their tracks, including wear and tear of telomeres, the protective caps at the end of each chromosome.

Mar 22, 2012 08:10 AM EDT

Montreal Researchers Repel Mortality in Malian Mothers

In the hope of reducing maternal mortality in a region where 1 woman in 31 loses her life as she carries or gives birth to her baby*, a workshop has been organized in Mali today by the Global Health Initiative of the University of Montreal Superhospital Research Centre (CRCHUM) and the Government of...

Mar 22, 2012 07:13 AM EDT

Paul Allen Gives $300 Million to Expand Brain Research

Microsoft Corp co-founder Paul Allen has donated an additional $300 million to a foundation aimed at expanding research into how the brain works and how best to treat brain-related disorders.

Mar 21, 2012 03:55 PM EDT

Computer Model of Spread of Dementia Can Predict Future Disease Patterns Years Before They Occur

Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College have developed a computer program that has tracked the manner in which different forms of dementia spread within a human brain. They say their mathematic model can be used to predict where and approximately when an individual patient's brain will suffer f...

Mar 21, 2012 03:46 PM EDT

Smoking Deaths Triple over Decade: Tobacco Report

Tobacco-related deaths have nearly tripled in the past decade and big tobacco firms are undermining public efforts that could save millions, a report led by the health campaign group the World Lung Foundation (WLF) said on Wednesday.

Mar 21, 2012 01:08 PM EDT

Nemours Researchers Uncover New Evidence of Cancer-causing agent Present in Gaseous Phase of Cigarette Smoke

A team of researchers led by A. K. Rajasekaran, PhD, Director of the Nemours Center for Childhood Cancer Research, has shown that a key protein involved in cell function and regulation is stopped by a substance present in cigarette smoke. Their work is published online in the American Journal of Phy...