Body

Breast augmentation patients report high satisfaction rates, says study

Philadelphia, Pa. (May 1, 2013) – Ninety-eight percent of women undergoing breast augmentation surgery say the results met or exceeded their expectations, according to a prospective outcome study published in the May issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery®, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS).

Half of US plastic surgeons market their practice via social media

Philadelphia, Pa. (May 1, 2013) – Half of U.S. plastic surgeons are using Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms in their professional practice, according to a survey in the May issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery®, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS).

Progress in introducing cleaner cook stoves for billions of people worldwide

It may be the 21st century, but nearly half the world's population still cooks and heats with open fires or primitive stoves that burn wood, animal dung, charcoal and other polluting solid fuels. The article in the ACS journal Environmental Science & Technology describes impressive progress being made to remedy that situation and the obstacles that remain.

New evidence on how fluoride fights tooth decay

In an advance toward solving a 50-year-old mystery, scientists are reporting new evidence on how the fluoride in drinking water, toothpastes, mouth rinses and other oral-care products prevents tooth decay. Their report appears in the ACS journal Langumir.

Reflections on chevaline

Horse meat as time-honored European cuisine, its detection when mixed into meatballs and other food and the angst over consumption of chevaline in the United States, is food for a thoughtful installment of the popular Newscripts column in the current edition of Chemical & Engineering News. C&EN is the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society.

'Traffic' in our cells works both for and against us

Jerusalem, May 1, 2013 – A mechanism that permits essential substances to enter our cells while at the same time removing from them harmful components also has a "down side." This negativeaspect prevents vital drugs, such as anti-cancer drugs, from achieving their designed functions, while also enabling bacterial cells to develop resistance to penetration of antibiotics.

UEA research reveals consequences of a lifetime of sexual competition

Research published today in the journal Evolution reveals how fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) that are subjected to continual competition from mating rivals, mate for longer and produce more offspring in early life.

But they pay a high price – a shorter lifespan and reduced mating ability later in life.

CPR 'hands-only' guidelines may not be best for rural areas

TORONTO, May 1,2013—Hands-only CPR (CPR without mouth-to-mouth resuscitation), may not be the best method for rural or remote areas or for anyone who has to wait more than a few minutes for an ambulance, a new study suggests.

New guidelines released by the American Heart Association in 2010 permit the use of simpler hand-only or compression-only CPR in some cases instead of conventional CPR. If ambulances come quickly, experts believe that instructing people to just "push hard, push fast" saves more lives.

'Dirty dozen' invasive species threaten UK

The researchers, Dr Bellinda Gallardo and Dr David Aldridge from the University of Cambridge, focussed on the 'dirty dozen' – a group of high-risk invasive aquatic plants and animals. Some, like the killer shrimp (Dikerogammarus villosus) and the bloody red mysid (Hemimysis anomala) are already in UK but have yet to spread. Others, such as the Asian clam (Corbicula fluminalis) and the marmokrebs, a crayfish (Procambarus fallax) may not yet have arrived.

Bird fossil sheds light on how swift and hummingbird flight came to be

Durham, NC — A tiny bird fossil discovered in Wyoming offers clues to the precursors of swift and hummingbird wings. The fossil is unusual in having exceptionally well-preserved feathers, which allowed the researchers to reconstruct the size and shape of the bird's wings in ways not possible with bones alone.

Researchers spotted the specimen — the nearly complete skeleton of a bird that would have fit in the palm of your hand and weighed less than an ounce — while working at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago.

No link between anesthesia, dementia in elderly, Mayo Clinic Study finds

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- Elderly patients who receive anesthesia are no more likely to develop long-term dementia or Alzheimer's disease than other seniors, according to new Mayo Clinic research. The study analyzed thousands of patients using the Rochester Epidemiology Project -- which allows researchers access to medical records of nearly all residents of Olmsted County, Minn. -- and found that receiving general anesthesia for procedures after age 45 is not a risk factor for developing dementia. The findings were published Wednesday, May 1, online in Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

Regional anesthesia technique significantly improves outcomes of hip and knee replacement

A highly underutilized anesthesia technique called neuraxial anesthesia, also known as spinal or epidural anesthesia, improves outcomes in patients undergoing hip or knee replacement, according to a new study by researchers at Hospital for Special Surgery. The study, which appears in the May issue of the journal Anesthesiology, found that neuraxial anesthesia, a type of regional anesthesia, reduced morbidity, mortality, length of hospital stay and costs when compared with general anesthesia.

Researchers look to mathematics, nature, to understand the immune system and its role in cancer

Can the patterns in tree branches or the meandering bends in a river provide clues that could lead to better cancer therapies? According to a new study from Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center, these self-similar, repeating patterns in nature known as fractals help scientists better understand how the immune system is organized and may one day be used to help improve stem cell transplant outcomes in leukemia patients by predicting the probability of transplant complications.

HRT improves muscle function

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) significantly improves muscle function – down to the muscle fibre level – in postmenopausal women, a new study published today [1 May] in The Journal of Physiology shows.

Some studies published over the last decade have led to negative publicity around HRT, a treatment used to relieve symptoms of menopause, resulting in many women being reluctant to use it. However this new study offers a positive outcome from the treatment.

Psychological trauma after miscarriage is more likely in women using assisted reproduction

Subfertile women who conceive through assisted reproduction are more likely to experience a greater traumatic impact following early pregnancy loss compared with women who conceive naturally, suggests a new study published today (1 May) in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

Miscarriage is the most common complication of pregnancy affecting 20% of all clinically recognised pregnancies.