A further step along the road to the personalisation of cancer medicine, where treatment is based on the individual molecular characteristics of tumours rather than their primary site, will be presented at the 2013 European Cancer Congress (ECC2013), which starts on Friday 27 September in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Dr Christophe Le Tourneau, Head of the […]
Length of human pregnancies can vary naturally by as much as five weeks
The length of a human pregnancy can vary naturally by as much as five weeks, according to research published online in Europe’s leading reproductive medicine journal Human Reproduction [1]. Normally, women are given a date for the likely delivery of their baby that is calculated as 280 days after the onset of their last menstrual […]
Large study reveals increased cancer risks associated with family history of the disease
A family history of cancer increases the risk of other members of the family developing not only the same cancer (known as a concordant cancer) but also a different (discordant) cancer, according to a large study of 23,000 people in Italy and Switzerland. The research, published in the leading cancer journal Annals of Oncology [1], […]
Study of over 73,000 patients with high blood pressure finds non-adherence to medication greatly increases risk of fatal and non-fatal strokes
People with high blood pressure, who don’t take their anti-hypertensive drug treatments when they should, have a greatly increased risk of suffering a stroke and dying from it compared to those who take their medication correctly. A study of 73,527 patients with high blood pressure, published online in the European Heart Journal [1], found that […]
People’s perception of the effect of stress on their health is linked to risk of heart attacks
People who believe that stress is having an adverse impact on their health are probably right, because they have an increased risk of suffering a heart attack, according to new research published online in the European Heart Journal [1]. The latest findings from the UK’s Whitehall II study, which has followed several thousand London-based civil […]
Death rates from heart disease continue to decline in most of the EU, but some countries are ‘cause for concern’
Death rates from heart disease in the European Union have more than halved in many countries since the early 1980s, according to new research published in the European Heart Journal [1]. In the majority of countries, there have been ongoing steady reductions in heart disease death rates in both sexes and most age groups, including […]
Long-distance cross-country skiers at increased risk of heart rhythm disturbances
Cross-country skiers who take part in one of the world’s most challenging ski races, the 90 km Vasaloppet in Sweden, are at increased risk of developing arrhythmia – problems with the rate or rhythm of their heart beat – according to a study of nearly 53,000 race participants published online in the European Heart Journal […]
Genetic research clarifies link between hypertension and Vitamin D deficiency
Paris, France: Low levels of vitamin D can trigger hypertension, according to the world’s largest study to examine the causal association between the two. Although observational studies have already shown this link, a large-scale genetic study was necessary before the cause and effect could be proven, researchers told the annual conference of the European Society […]
Diabetes drug shows promise in treatment of neurodegenerative disease
Paris, France: A drug used to control Type II diabetes can help repair the spinal cords of mice suffering from the inherited disease adrenoleukodystrophy which, untreated, leads eventually to a paralysis, a vegetative state and death. This is an important step along the road to the development of a therapy for the human disease for […]
Significant under-use of genetic testing for inherited cancers puts health of entire families at risk
Paris, France: A new study of the use of genetic testing for cancer-causing mutations in affected families in France has found that its take-up is very low. Professor Pascal Pujol, Head of the Cancer Genetics Department, Montpellier University Hospital, Montpellier, France, told the annual conference of the European Society of Human Genetics that analysis of […]