ScienceDaily Health Headlines -- for Saturday, November 5, 2011

ScienceDaily Health Headlines

for Saturday, November 5, 2011

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New ways to image and therapeutically target melanoma using nanomedicine? (November 4, 2011) -- Because the incidence of malignant melanoma is rising faster than any other cancer in the US, medical researchers are working overtime to develop new technologies to aid in both malignant melanoma diagnosis and therapy. A tool of great promise comes from the world of nanomedicine. ... > full story

Skin 'sees' UV light, starts producing pigment (November 4, 2011) -- Biologists report that melanocyte skin cells detect ultraviolet light using a photosensitive receptor previously thought to exist only in the eye. This eye-like ability of skin to sense light triggers the production of melanin within hours, more quickly than previously thought, in an apparent rush to protect against damage to DNA. ... > full story

Brain probe that softens after insertion causes less scarring (November 4, 2011) -- A hard probe inserted in the cerebral cortex of a rat model turns nearly as pliable as the surrounding gray matter in minutes, and induces less of the tough scarring that walls off hard probes that do not change, researchers have found. ... > full story

11/11/11: Maya scholar debunks doomsday myths (November 4, 2011) -- This fall, Hoopes and his students have watched two predicted cataclysmic dates -- Oct. 21 and 28 -- come and go with little fanfare. Oct. 21 was a date selected by California evangelist Harold Camping after his original May 21, 2011, prediction passed without calamity. Swedish pharmacologist, self-help advocate and self-taught Maya cosmologist Carl Johan Calleman was among those predicting that Oct. 28 would usher in a worldwide unified consciousness. ... > full story

Cerebral palsy-like brain damage prevented in mice (November 4, 2011) -- Scientists have shown that a protein may help prevent the kind of brain damage that occurs in babies with cerebral palsy. ... > full story

Alternate ending: Living on without telomerase (November 4, 2011) -- Scientists have discovered an alternative mechanism for the extension of the telomere repeat sequence by DNA repair enzymes. ... > full story

Starving prostate cancer: Scientists discover how to cut off cancer's food supply (November 4, 2011) -- Researchers in Australia have discovered a potential future treatment for prostate cancer -- through starving the tumor cells of an essential nutrient they need to grow rapidly. Their work, with human cells grown in the lab, reveals targets for drugs that could slow the progress of early and late stage prostate cancer. ... > full story

Interactive play with blocks found to facilitate development of spatial vocabulary (November 4, 2011) -- Parents and researchers have long speculated that play with construction toys might offer a rich environment that would support later learning in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines. Researchers have found that when playing with blocks under interactive conditions, children hear the kind of language that helps them think about space, such as "over," "around" and "through." ... > full story

Mechanism in brain cancer responsible for neuron death discovered (November 4, 2011) -- Researchers have discovered a mechanism by which glioblastoma multiforme, the most common form of brain cancer, promotes the loss of function or death of neurons, a process known as neurodegeneration. ... > full story

Analysis reveals malaria, other diseases as ancient, adaptive and persistent foes (November 4, 2011) -- One of the most comprehensive analyses yet done of the ancient history of insect-borne disease concludes for the first time that malaria is not only native to the New World, but it has been present long before humans existed and has evolved through birds and monkeys. ... > full story

New DNA test to identify Down syndrome in pregnancy is ready for clinical use (November 4, 2011) -- A new DNA-based prenatal blood test that can strikingly reduce the number of risky diagnostic procedures needed to identify a pregnancy with Down syndrome is ready to be introduced into clinical practice. ... > full story

Secluding aggressive young offenders is always the last resort, four-country study finds (November 4, 2011) -- Seclusion should always be the last resort when it comes to dealing with aggressive episodes involving young offenders with psychiatric disorders, according to a study covering forensic units for 12 to 18-year-olds in Belgium, Finland, the Netherlands and UK. 58 staff took part in the study including nurses, doctors, psychologists, social workers, educators, support workers, occupational, art and family therapists and sports instructors. ... > full story