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Orexin's role in developing addiction

A molecule in the brain essential for wakefulness and appetite has been found to play a central role in strengthening the neuron connections that lead to addiction.

17 Feb 2006

Children and teen-agers with bipolar disorder suffer from the illness differently than adults do

Their symptoms last longer and swing more swiftly from hyperactivity and recklessness to lethargy and depression.

17 Feb 2006

Tetrabenazine cuts down involuntary movements in Huntington's disease

The medication tetrabenazine cut down involuntary movement in patients with Huntington's disease on average by about 25 percent, with many patients experiencing a greater improvement, according to a study in the February 14 issue of the journal Neurology.

17 Feb 2006

Vitamin E is one of the first lines of defense in human lung tissue against the ravages of cigarette smoke

A new study has found that supplements of vitamin C can largely stop the serious depletion of vitamin E that occurs in smokers, demonstrating for the first time in humans a remarkable interaction between these two antioxidants as they work together.

17 Feb 2006

New compound CDDO-Im protects against the development of liver cancer

Researchers have identified a new compound called CDDO-Im that protects against the development of liver cancer in laboratory animals.

17 Feb 2006

Botox finds a use in cancer treatment

The cosmetic treatment Botox may have a new use as an adjuvant to cancer therapy, providing an open door for chemotherapy and radiation treatments, according to a study published in the Feb. 15 issue of Clinical Cancer Research.

17 Feb 2006

Scientists put ehrlichiosis under the genomic spotlight

Ehrlichiosis is no star of science. This emerging disease has an awkward name, vague flu-like symptoms, and a nasty habit of being caused by bacteria that live inside ticks and flatworms.

17 Feb 2006

Inactivating Rad9 protien could make cancer cells easier to kill with ionizing radiation

The researchers found that Rad9, previously considered a "watchman" that checks for DNA damage, is actually a "repairman" that fixes dangerous breaks in the DNA double helix. They found Rad9 is especially active in telomeres, the protective ends of chromosomes.

17 Feb 2006

Dramatic metabolic differences in how people process drugs

A Medical College of Wisconsin study provides the strongest and most complete evidence to date of major changes occurring during human development in the types and levels of enzymes responsible for the disposition of drugs and environmental chemicals.

17 Feb 2006

New method determines in a matter of hours exposure to a bioterrorism agents

Researchers at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research are developing a method to determine in a matter of hours if someone has been exposed to a bioterrorism agent just by looking at the pattern of active genes in that person's white blood cells.

17 Feb 2006

New flu vaccine takes weeks to mass produce

Using cell-based methods researchers have developed a commercially viable method for mass producing effective vaccines against potential pandemic influenza strains in weeks instead of the months required for traditional egg-based vaccines.

17 Feb 2006

Farnesyltransferase inhibitor may improve progeria

UCLA researchers found that an experimental cancer drug improves the signs of progeria in a mouse model. Progeria is a rare genetic disease causing accelerated aging and cardiovascular disease in children. The new UCLA findings help to define a new strategy for treating children with progeria.

17 Feb 2006

Older asthmatics have increased cancer risk

New research shows that older adults with asthma are at an increased risk for developing cancer, and adults with asthma are twice as likely to suffer from heart disease and other chronic health conditions.

17 Feb 2006

Scientists map brain area that may help find human brain stem cells

A study led by a Johns Hopkins neurosurgeon has provided the first comprehensive map of a part of the adult human brain containing astrocytes, cells known to produce growth factors critical to the regeneration of damaged neural tissue and that potentially serve as brain stem cells.

17 Feb 2006

Major Alzheimer's discovery

A team from the Faculty of Medicine at Universiti Laval and the research centre at CHUQ (Centre hospitalier universitaire de Quibec) has discovered a natural defence mechanism that the body deploys to combat nerve cell degeneration observed in persons with Alzheimer's disease (AD).

17 Feb 2006

Genome data may contain small but significant errors

Since the genome sequence of the bacterial pathogen Haemophilus influenzae was published in 1995, the genetic code of many other large, complex, medically, and commercially significant organisms including humans has also been elucidated

17 Feb 2006

Science is bypassing poor people

Applying science and technology to build a Pluto-bound spacecraft that travels more than 10 times faster -- 47,000 miles per hour -- than a speeding bullet is a great achievement. But can we apply technology to feed the 800 million hungry people in the world whose plight isn't improving in a modern world?

17 Feb 2006