Top 10 Daily Medical News Stories (4/15/13)

Here you will find listed the top 10 daily news stories from reputable sources across the internet. No more searching multiple health websites for health news as they are accessible from here. Only at the MedFriendly Medical Blog. Bookmark for future reference.

1. New Utah law allows organ donations from prisoners; nearly 250 sign up: Utah’s governor, Gary R. Herbert, signed the first state law on March 28 that explicitly permits general prisoners to sign up for organ donation -- and cracks the door to the controversial option of allowing death-row inmates to donate as well.

2. Death toll from bird flu in China rises to 13: Two more people have died in China from a new strain of bird flu, raising the death toll from the virus to 13, state media reported Sunday.

3. U.S. top court weighs patentability of human genes: Soon after learning that his son had autism, Hollywood producer Jon Shestack ("Air Force One") tried to get researchers investigating the genetic causes of the disorder to pool their DNA samples, the better to identify genes most likely to cause that disorder. But his approach to scientists at universities across the country in the late 1990s hit a brick wall: They refused to join forces, much less share the DNA.

4. Lab-made rat kidneys raise hopes for dialysis patients: Scientists have discovered yet another way to make a kidney - at least for a rat - that does everything a natural one does, researchers reported on Sunday, a step toward savings thousands of lives and making organ donations obsolete.

5. Gastric Bypass Surgery Corrects Genes As Well As Shrinking Waists: Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery does not only shrink waists, but also results in gene-expression alterations, researchers from the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden, and the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, reported in the journal Cell Reports.



6. Freezing Treatment May Help Destroy Lung Tumors: Study: A method designed to target, freeze and destroy a tumor's cellular function seems effective in combating lung tumors, a small ongoing study finds.

7. Boulder, Colo., least likely to be obese, McAllen, Texas, most likely: Residents of Boulder, Colo., are the least likely to be obese and those of McAllen-Edinburg-Mission in Texas are most likely, a survey of U.S. cities indicates.

8. The Antioxidant Controversy: The jury is still out, but food sources probably win over pills.

9. Utah Researchers Studying Benefits Of Fasting: Many members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints fast as a way to grow closer to God, but Utah medical researchers want to know whether the practice is also reducing their risk of diabetes and heart disease.

10. Researchers Investigate Benefits Of Aquatic Exercise For Older Women: Women who participated in a six month, high-intensity aquatic workout plan became stronger and suffered fewer falls on average, researchers from the Universidade Federal de São Paulo claim in a new study.