Philadelphia, June 28, 2016 - A new national survey by Health Union of more than 1,000 individuals with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) reveals that the condition is difficult to diagnose and often even more difficult to treat. Respondents often found healthcare providers and the public in general lacking in empathy and understanding of the full impact of the disease. Self-treatment often becomes the norm and controlling symptoms difficult.

In a study appearing in the June 28 issue of JAMA, Christiane E. Angermann, M.D., of University Hospital Wurzburg, Germany, and colleagues examined whether 24 months of treatment with the antidepressant escitalopram would improve mortality, illness, and mood in patients with chronic heart failure and depression.

In a study appearing in the June 28 issue of JAMA, Peter E. Morris, M.D., of the University of Kentucky, Lexington, and colleagues compared outcomes for standardized rehabilitation therapy to usual intensive care unit (ICU) care for acute respiratory failure.

La Jolla, Calif., June XX, 2016 (embargoed until 11:00 A.M. EST) -- A new study led by scientists at the Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute (SBP) describes a technology that could lead to new therapeutics for traumatic brain injuries. The discovery, published today in Nature Communications, provides a means of homing drugs or nanoparticles to injured areas of the brain.

"We have found a peptide sequence of four amino acids, cysteine, alanine, glutamine, and lysine (CAQK), that recognizes injured brain tissue," said Erkki Ruoslahti, M.D., Ph.D., distinguished professor in SBP's NCI-Designated Cancer Center and senior author of the study. "This peptide could be used to deliver treatments that limit the extent of damage."

MADISON, Wis. -- University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers studying monkeys have shown that one infection with Zika virus protects against future infection, though pregnancy may drastically prolong the time the virus stays in the body.

The researchers, led by UW-Madison pathology Professor David O'Connor, published a study today (June 28, 2016) in the journal Nature Communications describing their work establishing rhesus macaque monkeys at the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center as a model for studying the way Zika virus infections may progress in people.

Alcohol consumption in Australia has declined steadily during the past decade, with per capita consumption in 2013-14 reaching its lowest level since the early 1960s. A new study published today by the scientific journal Addiction shows that the overall decline in drinking is due mainly to less drinking among people in their teens and early twenties.

BUFFALO, N.Y. - Most people recoil at the thought of ingesting E. coli. But what if the headline-grabbing bacteria could be used to fight disease?

Researchers experimenting with harmless strains of E. coli - yes, the majority of E. coli are safe and important to healthy human digestion - are working toward that goal. Specifically, they have developed an E. coli-based transport capsule designed to help next-generation vaccines do a more efficient and effective job than today's immunizations.

TUCSON, Ariz. - Physicians may be drawing conclusions too soon about survival outcomes of patients who suffered a cardiac arrest outside the hospital.

A study led by Bentley Bobrow, MD, professor at the University of Arizona Colleges of Medicine in Tucson and Phoenix and co-director of the Arizona Emergency Medicine Research Center - Phoenix, and his fellow UA emergency medicine researchers, showed that physicians may need to allow comatose cardiac arrest patients much more time to awaken before making a prognosis.

Gary Brauchla knows this from first-hand experience.

A receptor, first known for its role in mediating the harmful effects of the environmental pollutant dioxin in our body, is now understood to play other important roles in modulating the innate immune response.

Our immune system is vital as a protective mechanism against foreign agents, including viruses and bacteria. However, an exaggerated immune response can have damaging effects on the body, as is the case in autoimmune diseases, for example. The regulation of this system is thus important.

Researchers have discovered a type of dune on Mars intermediate in size between tiny ripples and wavier dunes, and unlike anything seen on Earth.

Because dunes can be preserved in rock over time, these mysterious sedimentary deposits may represent a way to gain insights into the evolution of Mars' atmosphere from a more hospitable realm to the harsh, dry climate observed there today. On Earth, wind and water passing over sand causes the formation of either large dunes or small ripples, collectively called bedforms.