Stress can send your stomach into a painful tailspin, causing cramps, spasms and grumbling. But trouble in the gut can also affect the brain. This two-way relationship may be an unlikely key to solving one of medicine's most pressingand perplexingmysteries: autism. Nearly 60 years after the disorder was first identified, the number of cases has surged, and the United Nations estimates that up to 70 million people worldwide fall on the autism spectrum. Yet there is no known cause or cure. But scientists have found promising clues in the gut. Research has revealed striking differences in the trillions of bacteria - collectively known as the microbiomein the intestines of autistic and healthy children. But the gut bacteria in autistic individuals aren't just different. Researchers at the California Institute of Technology have shown for the first time that they may actually contribute to the disorder. Last month, they reported in the journal Cell that an experimental probiotic therapy alleviated autism-like behaviors in mice and are already planning a clinical trial. Today autism is treated primarily through behavioral therapy. But the new study suggests that treatment may one day come in the form of a probioticlive, "friendly" bacteria like those found in … Continue reading →

Hilary Wong Friday, November 14, 2014 A special ward for stroke patients at Queen Elizabeth Hospital has cut by 13 minutes the time to administer life-saving injections. That advance follows a 24-hour intravenous thrombolytic service set up in 2009 for stroke patients at the hospital. A support team was established two years later. Neurology consultant Fong Wing-chi said that before acute stroke ward H6 was set up the time between a patient being admitted to an emergency room and receiving the injection was 74 minutes. Now it is 61 minutes. "Nearly 40 percent of stroke patients can receive treatment within 60 minutes of arriving at the accident and emergency department," Fong added. And from December last year to last month, over 73 percent of stroke patients received treatment in the stroke ward. Benefits were being seen in the proportion of patients being discharged directly from the hospital after treatment, rising to 52.8 percent in December 2012 to November 2013 compared to 41 percent from December 2010 to November 2011. Also on the special ward, nurses are ready to provide thrombolysis service at any time, Fong said. View post: Lifeline action quickens after stroke's slam … Continue reading →

Contact Information Available for logged-in reporters only Newswise BIRMINGHAM, Ala. A gradual loss of kidney function over time or chronic kidney disease (CKD) increases the risk of heart disease and stroke. Two sets of cholesterol-treatment guidelines published in 2013 inform the decision to use statins. One set is specifically for patients with CKD, while the other is for the general population. University of Alabama at Birmingham experts compared them to find similarities and differences and to also determine if CKD patients are taking statins unnecessarily. Around 26 million adults in the United States have CKD, according to the National Kidney Foundation, and heart disease and stroke are major causes of death among them. In Contrasting Cholesterol Management Guidelines for Adults with CKD, published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, UAB School of Public Health investigators compared the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association cholesterol treatment guideline and the Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes Foundation Clinical Practice Guideline for Lipid Management in CKD. Study lead author Lisandro Colantonio, M.D., doctoral candidate in the UAB Department of Epidemiology, said the two guidelines target different populations in treatment recommendations. The ACC/AHA guideline is aimed toward statin treatment decisions for the … Continue reading →