New TMS Clinic at Rush University Medical Center Offers Non-Invasive Treatment for Major Depression
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Rush University Medical Center has opened the Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) Clinic to offer patients suffering from major depression a safe, effective, non-drug treatment. TMS therapy is the first FDA-approved, non-invasive antidepressant device-based treatment clinically proven for treatment of depression.
Psychiatrists at Rush University Medical Center were among the first to test the technique and Dr. Philip Janicak, professor of psychiatry and lead investigator at Rush for the clinical trials of TMS, helped to develop this therapy.
The TMS therapy system delivers highly focused magnetic field pulses to a specific portion of the brain, the left prefrontal cortex, in order to stimulate the areas of the brain linked to depression. The repeated short bursts of magnetic energy introduced through the scalp excite neurons in the brain.
Genes may be important in back, neck pain
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A person’s genetic makeup may play an important role in the odds of suffering neck or back pain, new research suggests.
In a study of more than 15,000 twins ages 20 to 71, Danish researchers found that genetic susceptibility seemed to explain a large share of the risk of suffering back and neck aches.
Chronic and recurrent pain along the spine is one of the most common health complaints among adults, yet the precise cause remains unknown in most cases. And in general, researchers know little about the mechanisms underlying these aches and pains.
Hybrid molecules show promise for exploring, treating Alzheimer’s
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One of the many mysteries of Alzheimer’s disease is how protein-like snippets called amyloid-beta peptides, which clump together to form plaques in the brain, may cause cell death, leading to the disease’s devastating symptoms of memory loss and other mental difficulties.
In order to answer that key question and develop new approaches to preventing the damage, scientists must first understand how amyloid-beta forms the telltale clumps.
University of Michigan researchers have developed new molecular tools that can be used to investigate the process. The molecules also hold promise in Alzheimer’s disease treatment. The research, led by assistant professor Mi Hee Lim, was published online this week in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
Though the exact mechanism for amyloid-beta clump formation isn’t known, scientists do know that copper and zinc ions are somehow involved, not only in the aggregation process, but apparently also in the resulting injury. Copper, in particular, has been implicated in generating reactive oxygen species, which can cause cell damage.
CTRC, AACR and Baylor College of Medicine to Host San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium
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What:
Now in its 32nd year, the CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium remains the top venue for research and discovery in breast cancer. This year’s conference will bring together delegates from all over the world. Among the expected highlights:
• Five-year results of the groundbreaking Herceptin trial.
• Definitive data on the role of bisphosphonates in breast cancer prevention.
• The role hormone therapies may play in lung cancer treatment.
• New data on the role of obesity and alcohol in breast cancer risk.
• Emerging therapies that could change the treatment landscape.
To help you plan your coverage of the conference, the program schedule is available online at http://www.sabcs.org. Although the full abstracts will not be available online until the conference begins, an electronic press kit containing the press releases and select highlighted abstracts will be available on Dec. 2, 2009 to reporters registered through the AACR and those with a subscription to Eurekalert and/or Newswise.
New national study finds increasing number of injuries from hot tubs
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Though hot tubs, whirlpools and spas are widely used for relaxation and fun, they can pose serious risk for injury. Over the past two decades, as recreational use of hot tubs has increased, so has the number of injuries. A recent study conducted by the Center for Injury Research and Policy of The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital found that from 1990-2007, the number of unintentional hot tub-related injuries increased by 160 percent, from approximately 2,500 to more than 6,600 injuries per year.
According to the study, published in the online issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 73 percent of the patients with hot tub-related injuries were older than 16 and approximately one half of all injuries resulted from slips and falls. Lacerations were the most commonly reported injuries (28 percent) and the lower extremities (27 percent) and the head (26 percent) were the most frequently injured body parts.
“While the majority of injuries occurred among patients older than 16, children are still at high risk for hot tub-related injuries,” said study author Lara McKenzie, PhD, principal investigator at the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. “Due to the differing mechanisms of injury and the potential severity of these injuries, the pediatric population deserves special attention.”
Low cholesterol may shrink risk for high-grade prostate cancer
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Men with lower cholesterol are less likely than those with higher levels to develop high-grade prostate cancer - an aggressive form of the disease with a poorer prognosis, according to results of a Johns Hopkins collaborative study.
In a prospective study of more than 5,000 U.S. men, epidemiologists say they now have evidence that having lower levels of heart-clogging fat may cut a man’s risk of this form of cancer by nearly 60 percent.
“For many reasons, we know that it’s good to have a cholesterol level within the normal range,” says Elizabeth Platz, Sc.D., M.P.H., associate professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and co-director of the cancer prevention and control program at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center. “Now, we have more evidence that among the benefits of low cholesterol may be a lower risk for potentially deadly prostate cancers.”
WHO urges pregnant women to get swine flu jab now
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Pregnant women and other people at high risk should be vaccinated against the H1N1 swine flu virus as the cold weather begins to bite in the northern hemisphere, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Tuesday.
It voiced concern that some vulnerable people are shying away from the pandemic vaccine, which the WHO stressed had not caused any unusual side effects in hundreds of thousands of people to have received it worldwide so far.
“Certainly the fact that the vaccine isn’t being used by those who would have access to it and who would be in priority risk groups is of concern, yes,” WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl told a news briefing.
Elton John aims for return to stage after illness
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Elton John is recovering in hospital from a serious case of e-coli bacterial infection and influenza that forced him to cancel a string of concerts, but he hoped to return to the stage soon, a spokesman said on Monday.
British pop star John, 62, postponed five gigs in England and Ireland starting with an October 23 date in Sheffield, and has also pulled out of three U.S. concerts scheduled for November 4, 7 and 10 at which he was to appear with Billy Joel.
