Body

Because of results seen in flat lab dishes, biologists have believed that cancers cells move through the body in a slow, aimless fashion, resembling an intoxicated person who cannot walk three steps in a straight line. This pattern, called a random walk, may hold true for cells traveling across two-dimensional lab containers, but Johns Hopkins researchers have discovered that for cells moving through three-dimensional spaces within the body, the "drunken" model doesn't hold true.

NEW ORLEANS─Statins have long been known to lower cholesterol and, more recently, to decrease the risk of deep vein thrombosis (blood clots) in healthy, non-surgical patients. New, first-of-its-kind research presented today at the 2014 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), found that statins, when used in conjunction with conventional blood clot prevention therapies, significantly reduced the risk for venous thromboembolic (VTE) events following total joint replacement (TJR) surgery.

Until Henry Ford's observational study, other research had shown that a high percentage of players returned to the same level of performance after UCL reconstruction, and the perception among players, coaches and parents was that UCL reconstruction would even lead to a higher level of performance. In the only other study involving just MLB pitchers (68 pitchers), 82 percent of them returned to the mound after surgery and had no significant decline in performance.

NEW ORLEANS─Ulnar collateral ligament (UCLR) reconstruction, otherwise known as "Tommy John Surgery," is a procedure frequently performed on Major League Baseball (MLB) pitchers with a damaged or torn ulnar collateral ligament, a common elbow injury, typically from overuse.

NEW ORLEANS─Genetics may explain why some senior athletes are high functioning despite having one or both hip abnormalities typically associated with early onset osteoarthritis (OA): developmental dislocation of the hip (dysplasia), a loose hip joint; or femoroacetabular impingement (FAI), a condition in which the hip bones are abnormally shaped, according to new research presented today at the 2014 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS).

Certain women with vaginal prolapse are most likely to benefit from undergoing vaginal mesh surgery, a technique that has become controversial and is the focus of numerous lawsuits. The findings, which are published early online in Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology, provide valuable information regarding who should and should not be considered candidates for the surgery.

In the fall of 2008, the booster club in Muscatine, Iowa took a chance. Researchers from the University of Iowa asked whether the club would add healthy foods – from apples to string cheese – to its concessions menu. And, by the way, would it also consider putting healthier ingredients in big sellers like nachos and popcorn?

These new findings were reported by scientists from the German Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research Berlin (IZW). The study – published in the British Ecological Society's Journal of Applied Ecology – is the first to show that seed-dispersing bats avoid feeding in light-polluted areas.

A short-term study found that oral glucosamine supplementation is not associated with a lessening of knee cartilage deterioration among individuals with chronic knee pain. Findings published in Arthritis & Rheumatology, a journal of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) journal, indicate that glucosamine does not decrease pain or improve knee bone marrow lesions—more commonly known as bone bruises and thought to be a source of pain in those with osteoarthritis (OA).

PULLMAN, Wash.—Washington State University researchers have documented dramatic differences in the swimming ability of domesticated trout and their wilder relatives. The study calls into question the ability of hatcheries to mitigate more than a century of disturbances to wild fish populations.

Kristy Bellinger, who did the study for her work on a Ph.D. in zoology, said traditional hatcheries commonly breed for large fish at the cost of the speed they need to escape predators in the wild.

Drinking alcohol during the first three months of pregnancy may heighten the risk of having a premature or unexpectedly small baby, suggests research published online in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

In the UK the Department of Health recommends that pregnant women and those trying to conceive should not drink alcohol at all and no more than 1-2 units a week.

Middle class women were most likely to drink more than this, the study found.

Following the 2013 Food and Drug Administration warning on azithromycin use and the risk of potential fatal heart rhythms, researchers in South Carolina evaluate a national cohort of veterans receiving care at the Department of Veterans Affairs to investigate whether cardiac arrhythmia and mortality risks are observed in older male patients receiving azithromycin, amoxicillin and levofloxacin.

DURHAM, N.C. – One person's unique ability to fight HIV has provided key insights into an immune response that researchers now hope to trigger with a vaccine, according to findings reported by a team that includes Duke Medicine scientists.

The person had a rare combination of both lupus and HIV. Lupus, specifically systemic lupus erythematosus, or SLE, is a disease in which the immune system attacks the body's cells and tissue.

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery – especially in the predator/prey/poison cycle.

In nature, bright colors are basically neon signs that scream, "Don't eat me!" But how did prey evolve these characteristics? When did predators translate the meaning?

A new study by UCLA scientists and colleagues adds further proof to earlier findings by Dr. Claire Lugassy and Dr. Raymond Barnhill of UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center that deadly melanoma cells can spread through the body by creeping like tiny spiders along the outside of blood vessels without ever entering the bloodstream.