New Technique To Study The Genetics Of Breast Cancer (November 13, 2008) -- A new technique to study genetic changes that can lead to breast cancer could be one step closer. ... > full story
Steps To Block Key Enzyme Action In Heart Failure Mapped (November 13, 2008) -- Taking a cue from the way drugs like Viagra put the biological brakes on a key enzyme involved in heart failure, scientists have mapped out a key chemical step involved in blocking the enzyme. ... > full story
Molecular Clipping Mechanism Confirmed Behind Stem Cell Development (November 13, 2008) -- Stem cells don't just become a part of the liver or the brain in a flash; it takes a complex molecular choreography and requires that specific genes be switched on and off at specific times. Some of these genes are regulated through a process by which proteins in the cell nucleus, called histones, are chemically modified by small "chemical marks" such as acetyl or methyl groups. ... > full story
U.S. Gets A 'D' As March Of Dimes Releases Premature Birth Report Card (November 13, 2008) -- In the first Premature Birth Report Card, the United States received a "D" and no U.S. state earned an "A," when the March of Dimes compared preterm birth rates to Healthy People 2010 objectives. Premature birth affects more than 530,000 babies annually in the United States. Premature birth is the leading cause of newborn death and lifelong disability. ... > full story
Overnight Hemodialysis Dramatically Improves Survival, Study Shows (November 13, 2008) -- For hemodialysis patients, undergoing dialysis for eight hours overnight, three times weekly, reduces the risk of death by nearly 80 percent, compared to conventional, four-hour dialysis, according to new research. ... > full story
Wide Variability In Rheumatoid Arthritis Drug Suggests Alternative Dosing Should Be Considered (November 13, 2008) -- Methotrexate is commonly used to treat rheumatoid arthritis and is suggested as the "anchor" drug in treating the disease. Despite its widespread use, the understanding of its mechanism of action and pharmacokinetics is limited. ... > full story
No Drop In IQ Seen After Bypass For Child Heart Surgery (November 13, 2008) -- The use of cardiopulmonary bypass does not cause short-term neurological problems in children and teenagers after surgery for less complex heart defects, according to pediatric researchers. The new finding contrasts favorably with previous studies that showed adverse neurological effects after newborn surgery for more complex heart conditions. ... > full story
Low Potassium Linked To High Blood Pressure (November 12, 2008) -- As a risk factor for high blood pressure, low levels of potassium in the diet may be as important as high levels of sodium -- especially among African-Americans, according to new research. ... > full story
Primary Insomnia Linked To Neurochemical Abnormality In Young And Middle-aged Adults (November 12, 2008) -- A new study in the journal Sleep is the first demonstration of a specific neurochemical abnormality in adults with primary insomnia, providing greater insight to the limited understanding of the condition's pathology. ... > full story
Computerized Carer Lessens Dementia Load (November 12, 2008) -- An artificial intelligence coaching system has been developed that will help carers of older adults with moderate dementia. The COACH system uses a camera and computer to deliver interactive advice -- lessening the workload on often-overburdened carers. ... > full story
Mandatory HPV Vaccination Is Unwarranted And Unwise, According to Experts (November 12, 2008) -- A new article in the Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics suggests that it is premature for states to currently mandate the HPV vaccine as a condition for school attendance. Gardasil is relatively new and long-term safety and effectiveness in the general population is unknown, experts point out. ... > full story
Molecule That Stops SARS Invented (November 12, 2008) -- A newly created compound prevents the replication of the virus that causes SARS and could lead to a treatment for the disease. In addition to its ability to block the SARS virus, the molecular compound that inhibits the virus provides new insights into a group of proteins found in a range of diseases including childhood croup, herpes and cancer. ... > full story
Tumors Grow Faster Without Blood-supply Promoting Molecule (November 12, 2008) -- Dense networks of blood vessels thought to spur cancer's growth could actually hinder rather than promote tumor progression. The findings partly explain why drugs designed to treat cancer by strangling its blood supply have been disappointing when used alone and why those treatments are more effective when combined with traditional chemotherapy. Despite their rapid progression, tumors fed by more normal vascular were also more vulnerable to the effects of standard chemotherapy drugs. ... > full story
Hip Resurfacing Is Not For Everyone, Study Suggests (November 12, 2008) -- Hip resurfacing is often seen as a modern alternative to the more conventional total hip replacement, but new data suggest that a patient's age and gender are key to the operation's success. ... > full story
Certain Types Of Thinking Are Best Suited To Certain Types Of Problem-solving (November 12, 2008) -- Geometry problems are best solved by a combination of verbal and spatial strategies, but not shape-based imagery strategies. ... > full story
Blood-brain Barrier Disarmed In Rodents: Hormone Shows Promise In Reversing Alzheimer's Disease And Stroke (November 12, 2008) -- Researchers have disarmed the blood-brain barrier sentry that keeps a potential treatment for stroke and Alzheimer's disease from getting into the brain. The brain is protected by the blood-brain barrier (BBB), a gate-keeping system of cells that lets in nutrients and keeps out foreign substances. The blood-brain barrier passes no judgment on which foreign substances are trying to get into the brain to treat diseases and which are trying to do harm, so it blocks them without discrimination. ... > full story
Rheumatoid Arthritis Breakthrough (November 12, 2008) -- Rheumatoid arthritis is a painful, inflammatory type of arthritis that occurs when the body's immune system attacks itself. A new article in PLoS Biology, reports a breakthrough in the understanding of how autoimmune responses can be controlled, offering a promising new strategy for therapy development for rheumatoid arthritis. ... > full story
Over 50% Of People With High Blood Pressure Unaware They Have Condition (November 12, 2008) -- Results from a European project show that too many hypertensive people are not aware of their condition, while drugs fail to achieve optimal blood pressure in more than half of those under treatment. The European map of cardiovascular risk is changing, with England doing better than Italy. ... > full story
Text Messaging May Help Children Fight Off Obesity (November 12, 2008) -- Cell phone text messaging could be used to reduce children's chances of becoming overweight or obese later in life, by helping them monitor and modify their own behaviors now. ... > full story
Stem Cells From Monkey Teeth Can Stimulate Growth And Generation Of Brain Cells (November 12, 2008) -- Researchers have discovered dental pulp stem cells can stimulate growth and generation of several types of neural cells. Findings suggest dental pulp stem cells show promise for use in cell therapy and regenerative medicine, particularly therapies associated with the central nervous system. ... > full story
New Method Provides Panoramic View Of Protein-RNA Interactions In Living Cells (November 12, 2008) -- Scientists have developed a genome-wide platform to study how specialized proteins regulate RNA in living, intact cells. The platform allows researchers to identify, in a single experiment, every sequence within every strand of RNA to which proteins bind. The result is an unbiased and unprecedented look at how differences in RNA can explain how a worm and a human can each have 25,000 genes yet be so different. ... > full story
Airport Malaria: Cause For Concern In U.S. (November 12, 2008) -- "Airport malaria" is a term coined by researchers to explain the more recent spread of malaria to areas such as the United States and Europe, which some scientists credit to warmer climate changes. ... > full story
New Technology Could Revolutionize Breast Cancer Screening (November 12, 2008) -- The world's first radar breast imaging system that could revolutionize the way women are scanned for breast cancer is currently under clinical trial. Scientists have been working for a number of years to develop a breast-imaging device which uses radio waves and therefore has no radiation risk unlike conventional mammograms. ... > full story
Fatty Diet During Pregnancy Makes New Cells In Fetal Brain That Cause Early Onset Obesity (November 12, 2008) -- A study in rats shows that exposure to a high-fat diet during pregnancy produces permanent changes in the offspring's brain that lead to overeating and obesity early in life. This surprising finding provides a key step toward understanding mechanisms of fetal programming involving the production of new brain cells that may help explain the increased prevalence of childhood obesity during the last 30 years. ... > full story
Antibiotic Use Increases At Academic Medical Centers (November 12, 2008) -- Antibacterial drug use appears to have increased at academic medical centers between 2002 and 2006, driven primarily by greater use of broad-spectrum agents and the antibiotic vancomycin, according to a new article. ... > full story
New Nanomaterial Could Be Breakthrough For Implantable Medical Devices (November 12, 2008) -- Researchers have made a breakthrough that could lead to new dialysis devices and a host of other revolutionary medical implants. The researchers have found that the unique properties of a new material can be used to create new devices that can be implanted into the human body, including blood glucose sensors for diabetics and artificial hemo-dialysis membranes that can scrub impurities from the blood. ... > full story
Football Players: Staying Active May Lower Health Risks For Large, Retired Athletes (November 12, 2008) -- Retired NFL players have fewer heart disease risk factors overall, but higher cholesterol and glucose levels. Physical activity may have prevented the development of higher rates of diabetes or greater amounts of atherosclerosis. Since today's players are 50 percent larger than 25 years ago, further study is needed on whether current players are at greater risk for cardiovascular events or death, researchers said. ... > full story
Genetic Blueprint Revealed For Kidney Design And Formation (November 12, 2008) -- Researchers have generated the first comprehensive genetic blueprint of a forming mammalian organ, shedding light on the genetic and molecular dynamics of kidney development. ... > full story
Positive Results In Phase 2 Trial Of Treatment Of C-difficile-associated Diarrhea (November 12, 2008) -- A Phase 2 trial of an anti-C. difficile antibody combination treatment in patients with C. difficile associated diarrhea successfully met its primary objective. The top-line results from the recently completed multi-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 2 trial indicated a statistically significant reduction in recurrences of CDAD when compared with placebo. ... > full story
Previous Abortions And Exercise: Do They Affect Pregnancy? (November 12, 2008) -- Women who have had two or more induced abortions have a reduced risk of pre-eclampsia by 60 percent. It is not currently understood to what degree physical activity during pregnancy protects against pre-eclampsia, compared to previous studies. ... > full story
Obese Kids' Artery Plaque Similar To Middle-aged Adults (November 12, 2008) -- The plaque buildup in the neck arteries of obese children or those with high cholesterol is similar to levels in middle-aged adults. Using ultrasound images, researchers equated the "vascular age" to be 45 years old in these children. Obese children who have high triglycerides are the most likely to have prematurely aging arteries; these children should be treated as high risk for cardiovascular disease, researchers concluded. ... > full story
Muscular Dystrophy: Sarcospan, A Little Protein For A Big Problem (November 12, 2008) -- The overlooked and undervalued protein, sarcospan, just got its moment in the spotlight. Researchers now show that adding it to muscle cells might ameliorate the most severe form of muscular dystrophy. ... > full story
What Happens In Vegas? Place As A Risk Factor For Suicide (November 12, 2008) -- The vast majority of recent studies on suicide have focused on identifying psychiatric risk factors. However, a new study in Social Science and Medicine, explores time and place as factors in suicide by closely analyzing the patterns of suicide in a single geographic area, Las Vegas, over a 30 year period. ... > full story
Joyful Music May Promote Heart Health (November 12, 2008) -- Listening to your favorite music may be good for your cardiovascular system. Researchers have shown for the first time that the emotions aroused by joyful music have a healthy effect on blood vessel function. The research team concluded that the cardiovascular benefits of music were similar to those found in their previous study of laughter. ... > full story
Genetic Basis For Some Birth Defects Uncovered (November 12, 2008) -- Scientists have uncovered a common genetic pathway for a number of birth defects that affect the development of the heart and head. Abnormal development of the jaw, palate, brain and heart are relatively common congenital defects and frequently arise due to genetic errors that affect a key developmental pathway. ... > full story
Flu Shot Protects Kids, Even During Years With A Bad Vaccine Match (November 12, 2008) -- Children who receive all recommended flu vaccine appear to be less likely to catch the respiratory virus that the CDC estimates hospitalizes 20,000 children every year. This study found that, even though the 2003-2004 and 2004-2005 flu seasons had poor matches between the vaccine and the circulating flu strains, the shots were clearly protective during the 2004-05 year and possibly even during the 2003-04 year. ... > full story
Minority Children Waiting For Heart Transplants Have Higher Death Rates (November 12, 2008) -- Minority children on the waitlist for a heart transplant have a greater risk of dying than white children do. Socioeconomic factors explain only a small fraction of this increased risk. When all factors including race, area income and insurance were simultaneously considered, children with Medicaid insurance were 20 percent more likely to die while awaiting transplant. ... > full story
Alzheimer's-associated Plaques Found In Symptom-free Older Adults (November 11, 2008) -- Pittsburgh Compound B, an imaging agent that could facilitate the early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease, has been used to identify amyloid deposition in the brains of clinically older adults. The findings could not only shed more light on how the illness progresses, but also open the door to the possibility of prevention strategies. ... > full story
Refractive Surgical Practices In HIV-Positive Persons (November 11, 2008) -- People who are HIV-positive are now living longer, healthier lives, thanks to antiretroviral therapy and other treatment advances, and the number of HIV-positive people seeking LASIK, intraocular lenses following cataract removal, and similar procedures is likely to grow in coming years. ... > full story
First Trial Of Gene Therapy For Advanced Heart Failure Shows Promising Results (November 11, 2008) -- Phase I results of the first clinical trial of gene therapy for patients with advanced heart failure show the approach to be promising, with improvements in several measures of the condition's severity. ... > full story
Cancer Risk From Cardiac CT Overstated, Researchers Say (November 11, 2008) -- Radiology and cardiovascular researchers have presented new data that shows the risk of cancer from exposure to radiation during computed tomography for cardiovascular disease has been overstated and that new estimates are several times lower than previously published conclusions. ... > full story
Obese Women More Impulsive Than Other Females, Study Suggests (November 11, 2008) -- A new study finds that obese women display significantly weaker impulse control than normal weight women. ... > full story
New Insights Into Thalidomide-birth Defect Episode (November 11, 2008) -- Scientists in Germany have discovered why the medication thalidomide appeared safe in animal tests before going on the market 50 years ago, only to cause perhaps the most extensive outbreak of drug-induced birth defects in medical history. ... > full story
Obese People At Increased Risk Of Cardiovascular Disease, Even If They Don't Have High Cholesterol Or Diabetes (November 11, 2008) -- Obese people who don't have high cholesterol or diabetes might think they're healthy -- despite the extra pounds. But new research suggests that obesity raises levels of the hormone leptin, which can be as big a threat to the cardiovascular system as cholesterol. ... > full story
Interaction Between Gene Variants May Alter Brain Function In Schizophrenia (November 11, 2008) -- Scientists are giving what may be the first look at how interactions between genes underlie a key symptom of schizophrenia, impaired working memory. Functional imaging studies reveal how a combination of common variants in two genes is associated with reduced activity of important brain structures in schizophrenia patients but not in normal controls. ... > full story
Blood Pressure Control Inequality Linked To Deaths Among African Americans (November 11, 2008) -- Racial disparity in the control of hypertension contributes to the deaths of almost 8,000 African American men and women in the United States annually, according to a first-of-its-kind study. ... > full story
Umbilical Cord Blood May Help Build New Heart Valves (November 11, 2008) -- In the future, babies with heart defects may receive new heart valves created from cells in the blood from their umbilical cords, saved at birth. These valves could grow and change shape as a child develops, avoiding the need for repeat surgeries to replace outgrown valves from animal or human donor tissue or artificial valves. ... > full story
New Hope For HIV Treatment: Cells Exhausted From Fighting HIV Infection Can Be Revitalized (November 11, 2008) -- Researchers have revealed new hope for HIV treatment with the discovery of a way to 'rescue' immune cells that are exhausted from fighting off HIV infection. ... > full story
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