illness

Analysis Of Human Genome To Predict The Development Of Illnesses

The GARBAN project, drawn up by Navarre University, will enable the identification of therapeutic targets for cancer, depression and hepatitis. The School of Engineering at Navarre University and its Centre for Technical Studies and Research in Gipuzkoa (CEIT) have launched an advanced biochemical analysis tool that will help in predicting the evolution of diseases, accelerate their diagno...

New technique rapidly detects illness-causing bacteria

Cornell University scientists have developed a rapid, less costly and sensitive new technique for detecting group A streptococcus, the bacteria that cause scarlet fever. Details will be announced today at the Institute of Food Technologists Annual Meeting and Food Expo in New Orleans. The presentation by Sam Nugen, a graduate student in Cornell's food science department, will focus on dete...

Use of Antibiotics for Acne May Increase Risk of Common Illness

Novel use of genetic testing methods helped public health officials control and limit the further spread of four outbreaks of foodborne hepatitis A virus in 2003 related to the consumption of green onions, according to a detailed analysis published in the October 15 issue of The Journal of Infectious Diseases, now available online. The authors of the study, Joseph J. Amon, PhD, MSPH, and c...

Argonne researchers confirm lead in Beethoven's illness

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory have found elevated amounts of lead in bone fragments belonging to 19th Century composer Ludwig von Beethoven, consistent with their earlier finding of massive amounts of lead found in his hair. These results confirm the cause of his years of chronic debilitating illness. The bone fragments, confirmed by DNA testing...

Spousal illness can trigger partner death

In the largest study ever to quantify caregiver burden and the widower effect, researchers found that for people aged 65 and older, hospitalization of a spouse can harm the wellbeing of his or her partner and significantly contribute to that partner's death. This risk also varies with the ill spouse's diagnosis. The study appears in the Feb. 16 New England Journal of Medicine. "Our study shows th...

Highly concentrated botulinum preparation for cosmetic injections can result in severe illness

An examination of 4 cases of botulism following cosmetic injections to the face indicates that the adults received a highly concentrated, unlicensed preparation that resulted in toxin levels up to 40 times the estimated human lethal dose, according to a report in the November 22/29 issue of JAMA. Botulism is a rare paralytic illness caused by the toxins of the spore-forming bacterium Clos...

Gene linked with mental illness shapes brain region, researchers find

A gene variant associated with mental illness goes hand-in-hand with enlargement of a brain region that handles negative emotions, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center and the Central Texas Veterans Health Care System have found. "This might indicate that...

MRSA toxin acquitted: Study clears suspected key to severe bacterial illness

Researchers who thought they had identified the bacterial perpetrator of the often severe disease caused by community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) had better keep looking: Scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, have exonerated a toxin widely thought to be the guilty party....

Genetic roots of bipolar disorder revealed by first genome-wide study of illness

The likelihood of developing bipolar disorder depends in part on the combined, small effects of variations in many different genes in the brain, none of which is powerful enough to cause the disease by itself, a new study shows. However, targeting the enzyme produced by one of these genes could lead to development of new, more effective medications. The research was conducted by scientists at...