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In recent months a spate of mutations have been found in a disease protein called TDP-43 that is implicated in two neurodegenerative disorders: amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also called Lou Gehrig's disease, and certain types of frontotemporal dementia. These mutations could potentially become candidates for drug targets. Recently, scientists have found two more mutations.

Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder appear likely to experience sleep problems, according to a new report. Sleep problems in these children may be associated with poorer child psychosocial quality of life, child daily functioning, caregiver mental health and family functioning.

Patient safety incidents cost the federal Medicare program $8.8 billion and resulted in 238,337 potentially preventable deaths during 2004 through 2006, according to HealthGrades' fifth annual Patient Safety in American Hospitals Study. Analysis of 41 million Medicare patient records found that patients treated at top-performing hospitals had, on average, a 43 percent lower chance of experiencing one or more medical errors compared to the poorest-performing hospitals.

Mice given caffeine equivalent to a human drinking six to eight cups of coffee a day were protected from developing experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, the animal model for the human disease multiple sclerosis, according to researchers at Cornell University.

This is the first demonstration that neurons derived from reprogrammed cells can integrate into an adult animal brain and improve symptoms of a neurodegenerative disease. The results may indicate a path to future therapeutic use in human patients, once hurdles associated with reprogramming adult cells have been addressed.

Over 1 million babies born annually in the United States are exposed to drugs, alcohol or tobacco while in utero. New research suggests that prenatal exposure to these substances (alone or in combination) may have effects on the baby's brain structure that persist into adolescence.

No mechanism currently exists to ensure that genetic tests are supported by adequate evidence before they go to market, or that marketing claims are truthful and not misleading, according to a policy analysis in Science. Misleading claims about genetic tests may lead health care providers and patients to make inappropriate decisions about which tests to take and how to use genetic tests that have potential for profound medical consequences, the authors argue.

Scientists tell us that the evidence the Earth is warming is "unequivocal." Increases in global average air and sea temperature, ice melting and rising global sea levels all help us understand and prepare for the coming challenges. In addition to these observed changes, climate-sensitive impacts on human health are occurring today. They are attacking the pillars of public health. And they are providing a glimpse of the challenges public health will have to confront on a large scale.

You can't treat a disease until you understand what triggers it in the first place. Scientists know that about 75 percent of breast cancers are hormone dependent, meaning estrogen is the driving force. Here's why: Estrogen binds with what's called estrogen receptors within acell. Think of estrogen as the car and estrogen receptors as the garage with a big "park here" sign on them. When estrogen arrives, it tells the cells to grow and divide. That's all well and good unless these growing and dividing cells mutate, resulting in cancer.

Researchers from Harvard School of Public Health, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and elsewhere have described a possible reason why some studies have been unable to replicate associations between genes and traits -- namely that the strength of a gene/trait association might vary with age and that current study designs typically fail to take that into account.