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June 10th, 2014
04:52 PM ET
The cause of autism is still unknown, but researchers hope harnessing the power of Google will help them solve this neurodevelopmental puzzle.
The research and advocacy group Autism Speaks announced Tuesday they are collaborating with the Google Cloud Platform to build the largest autism genome database to date. The collaboration, known as The Autism Speaks Ten Thousand Genomes Program (AUT10K), will combine extensive DNA databases with cloud storage technology, in hopes of moving mountains in autism research, according to a press release.
Autism Speaks believes the AUT10K program holds the potential to radically transform ASD genomics research. "Working with Google is a game-changer," said Rob Ring, who is the organization's chief science officer.
This collaboration is part of a larger movement in the medical field to use big data to speed research efforts. IBM's supercomputer Watson, for instance, is helping oncologists find treatments for a rare aggressive brain cancer in partnership with the New York Genome Center.
Autism Speaks has already donated 12,000 DNA samples, which members describe as the "the largest private collection" with diagnostic and specific genetic information. The organization says the collaboration with Google will allow them to provide researchers access to what will eventually be huge amounts of data. This, in turn, should help researchers find connections between patients faster.
Zachary Warren, director of Vanderbilt University's autism research institute, says in order to understand the vast developmental and behavioral differences linked to ASD, more powerful platforms to analyze genetic data are needed.
"Only by understanding autism risk can we begin to develop treatments that target not just the symptoms but the root causes of autism spectrum disorder," his colleague and genetic autism researcher Dr. Jeremy Veenstra-VanderWeele said in agreement.
The number of children with autism has continued to go up over the past decades, as have the costs for caring for someone with ASD.
Earlier this year, the CDC reported that 1 in 68 children in the United States has autism. A new study, published Monday in JAMA Pediatrics, estimates the lifetime cost of supporting an individual with ASD can be up to $2.4 million.
May 22nd, 2014
07:32 AM ET
Alprazolam, the prescription sedative more commonly known by its brand name, Xanax, is being implicated in a spiraling number of emergency room visits, according to a new report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
Over the past few years, the number of ER visits associated with misuse of the drug more than doubled. In 2005, the number of patient cases involving Xanax was 57,419, and by 2011 (the last year for which there is data), there were 123,744.
"We have been clamping down on opiates (prescription painkillers) but Xanax is becoming a fast-riser in the game," said Dr. Howard Mell, an emergency room physician based in Cleveland, Ohio.
"It's not even a little surprising," he said of the new figures. "I wish it was."
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May 14th, 2014
02:24 PM ET
About half of all Americans take at least one prescription drug each month, and 10% take more than four, according to a new government report.
"Health, United States, 2013" is an annual report on the nation's health prepared by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics. This year's report includes a special section on prescription drugs.
Here are a few key facts from that section:
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May 14th, 2014
09:39 AM ET
Ask the average person how to treat alcoholism, and they'll probably describe an AA meeting or maybe a 30-day stint in a fancy rehab center. What won't leap to mind, even for most experts, is medication.
That's a missed opportunity, according to an analysis of more than 120 research studies that found that prescription medication helps addicts reduce their drinking and the associated harms.
Taken together, the studies involved 22,803 patients who abused alcohol. The bulk of the papers looked at the medications naltrexone or acamprosate. Both made addicts less likely to drink again and reduced the number of "drinking days" when they did relapse.
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May 12th, 2014
04:00 PM ET
In the workplace, fumes from solvents such as paints, glues, degreasers and adhesives have been implicated in cognitive damage - in other words, impaired thinking and memory abilities. Now, researchers report in the journal Neurology that the detriments linked to these chemicals might last many years.
"What it shows is that these chemicals might have more long-term effects than have previously been thought, and continue to affect people long after they are retired," said Erika Sabbath, research fellow at the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies and lead author of the study.
A solvent is a substance used to dissolve another chemical. For instance, water dissolves salt. The solvents targeted in this study included benzene (found in detergents and plastics), chlorinated solvents (found in paint strippers and dry cleaning solutions) and petroleum solvents (found in varnish).
But note that researchers did not directly measure whether these chemicals cause brain damage. They simply found a statistical association between impairment on tests and exposure to chemicals. More research would be needed to prove that one directly results in the other.
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April 29th, 2014
10:00 AM ET
Multiple sclerosis sufferers may benefit from taking medical marijuana, according to a new study in the journal Neurology.
MS patients who used marijuana either as a pill or as an oral spray found relief from a number of symptoms, according to the study. The findings were released Monday at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology (AAN).
"Medical marijuana can be considered to relieve particular symptoms of MS, including spasticity, pain related to spasms, or central pain from MS lesions," says Dr. Barbara Koppel, main author of the research analysis.
Koppel, a neurologist at New York Medical College in New York, says medical marijuana did not help MS patients who had tremors, nor did it relieve abnormal involuntary movements in late-stage Parkinson's disease. Researchers also didn't find enough evidence to recommend the treatment for other conditions they looked at, including epilepsy, she says. FULL POST
April 28th, 2014
09:57 AM ET
Can watching a funny cat video at work actually improve your productivity?
Maybe!
A study presented at this year's annual Experimental Biology conference finds that when people laugh, their brains are activated in the same way as when people are mindfully meditating.
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April 16th, 2014
04:13 PM ET
Being apathetic is usually defined as showing a lack of enthusiasm or energy. Most people who experience it say they just aren't motivated to do anything.
Although anyone in any age group can become apathetic, it has been well documented that apathy tends to affect those in their golden years. Now scientists believe that an elderly person's lack of emotion and indifference to the world could be a sign his or her brain is shrinking.
A study published Wednesday in the journal Neurology, and funded by the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Aging, found that older folks, who are apathetic - but not depressed - may be suffering from smaller brain volumes than those without apathy. FULL POST
April 16th, 2014
03:47 PM ET
It can be one of the most difficult diagnoses for a doctor to make: whether a brain-damaged patient is in a permanent vegetative state and will never wake up, or if he is in a minimally conscious state and may one day recover.
In fact, for patients with significant swelling in the brain, a doctor's outcome prediction is currently "a little better than flipping a coin," researchers Jamie Sleigh and Catherine Warnaby write in The Lancet this week.
However, a new study published with their editorial suggests that some types of brain imaging could make an accurate diagnosis much more likely. FULL POST
Study participants were asked to stick pins in a voodoo doll that represented their spouse to measure aggression.
April 14th, 2014
03:02 PM ET
You've heard the term "hangry," right? People who are hungry often report being unreasonably angry until they're fed.
"Hangry" is a relatively new buzz word, but science is backing it up. A new study published in the journal PNAS suggests married couples are more aggressive when they have low blood sugar levels.
Background
Everyone gets upset at their spouse or significant other sometimes. But self-control hopefully prevents you from taking that anger out on them in a physical manner.
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Get a behind-the-scenes look at the latest stories from CNN Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen and the CNN Medical Unit producers. They'll share news and views on health and medical trends - info that will help you take better care of yourself and the people you love.