Health News: Sugary drinks linked to 180000 deaths a year ♦ Human milk-sharing networks reflect a growing movement ♦ How small genetic changes changed human histor

Human milk-sharing networks reflect a growing movement There’s nothing new about the sharing of human breast milk. In earlier days, moms in tribal groups nursed babies other than their own when the baby’s mother died or wasn’t close by.

Sugary drinks linked to 180000 deaths a year Scientists are asking people across the globe to lay off sugary drinks, linking the consumption to an estimated 184,000 adult deaths each year, including more than 25,000 Americans. Overall, that means one in every 100 deaths from obesity-related diseases is caused by sugary beverages, according to a study published Monday in the journal Circulation.

Hantaviruses are highly dependent on cell membrane cholesterol to infect humans Hantaviruses use cholesterol in cell walls to gain access into cells and infect humans, according to laboratory research. Multiple genes involved in cholesterol sensing, regulation and production, including key components to a chemical pathway called SREBP (sterol response element binding protein), are critical to hantaviruses gaining entry.

Human urine helps prevent bacteria from sticking to bladder cells Human urine contains factors that prevent a common culprit in urinary tract infections (UTIs), uropathogenic Escherichia coli bacteria, from properly attaching to bladder cells, a necessary step for infection. The research reveals a weakness that could be exploited to develop more effective, non-antibiotic treatments for UTIs

How small genetic change in Yersinia pestis changed human history While studying Yersinia pestis, the bacteria responsible for epidemics of plague such as the Black Death, scientists found a single small genetic change that fundamentally influenced the evolution of the deadly pathogen, and thus the course of human history. They demonstrated how the acquisition of a single gene caused the shift of Y. pestis from causing a primarily gastrointestinal infection to a more serious and often fatal respiratory disease and how later modifications lead to infections associated with the bubonic plague.

Cancer Research: Nanoparticles target difficult tumors ♦ Novel drug mechanism that fights brain cancer ♦ Improving prostate cancer care + more

Flower-like magnetic nanoparticles target difficult tumors  Next-generation magnetic nanoparticles may soon be treating deep-seated and difficult-to-reach tumors within the human body Continue Reading

Novel drug mechanism that fights brain cancer Researchers have developed and characterized a molecule that interferes with the internal regulation of cancer cells, causing them to self-destruct. The investigators performed a series of studies utilizing high-content analysis, which quantifies changes in living cells in response to a drug treatment. The lab focused on the effects of a patented small molecule, known as UCD38B, on four different human glioma cell lines.Continue Reading

New type of biomarker shows promise in improving prostate cancer care  Two biomarkers have been discovered by researchers that may improve oncologists’ ability to predict which patients’ prostate cancer will recur after surgery, long before the development of visible cancer elsewhere in the body Continue Reading.

Magnetic material attracts attention for cancer therapy  An extraordinary self-regulating heating effect that can be achieved in a particular type of magnetic material may open the doors to a new strategy for hyperthermia cancer treatment, researchers say. "This strong, self-regulated heating effect is unmatched by other materials," an investigator said. "It opens a novel design strategy for realising in vivo hyperthermia therapy." Continue Reading

Naproxen plus acid blocking drug shows promise in preventing bladder cancer  Researchers combined the NSAID naproxen with the proton pump inhibitor omeprazole and found it reduced the incidence of bladder cancer in rats. The anti-inflammatory class of drugs NSAIDs have shown great promise in preventing cancers including colon, esophagus and skin. However, they can increase the risks of heart attacks, ulcers and rare but potentially life-threatening bleeds. Continue Reading