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Distant prayer does not improve clinical outcome for patients undergoing coronary procedures

Praying for patients undergoing heart procedures off-site or giving them bedside therapy involving music, imagery, and touch (MIT) does not measurably improve their clinical outcome, suggests a study published in this week’s issue of The Lancet. However, the authors note that patients receiving MIT therapy did have a lower mortality rate at 6 months.

14 Jul 2005

Video games can be useful in health care and research

One innovative application of video games in health care is their use in pain management as the degree of attention needed to play such a game can distract the player from the sensation of pain, writes Mark Griffiths, Professor of gambling studies at Nottingham Trent University.

14 Jul 2005

Experts discuss use of human stem cells in ape and monkey brains

An expert panel of stem cell scientists, primatologists, philosophers and lawyers has concluded that experiments implanting, or grafting, human stem cells into non-human primate brains could unintentionally shift the moral ground between humans and other primates.

14 Jul 2005

A systematic search through human genes

...has begun at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany. Working within the MitoCheck consortium that includes 10 other institutes throughout Europe, the EMBL scientists will silence all human genes, one-by-one, to find those involved in cell division (mitosis) and to answer fundamental questions of how cell division is regulated.

14 Jul 2005

Complicated plasminogen system yields potential therapeutic target; Implications for aging and degenerative diseases

Skeletal muscles naturally repair themselves very efficiently after injury. But when they don’t, otherwise successful recovery following damage from overuse during exercise, surgery or trauma can be stymied. Furthermore, as we age, muscle repair slows noticeably, and in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and other degenerative muscle diseases, normal repair functions can’t cope with disease progression.

14 Jul 2005

Shared-environmental influences on gender-role behaviour may be more important in early childhood than in adolescence and adulthood

Whether little boys prefer to play with trucks or dolls depends more on the family environment than genetics, while genetics seems to play a larger role in little girls' preferences for dolls over trucks, according to a study published in the July/August 2005 issue of the journal Child Development.

14 Jul 2005

Efforts to help parents of young children move out of poverty likely to have long-term benefits for children's school performance and social-emotional well being

It is well known that children who live in poverty have more trouble in school and more problems socially than other children. Now investigators funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Development (NICHD) find that while children who live in chronic poverty from birth through age 9 score lowest on tests of school readiness and social competence, poverty at any time during early childhood is detrimental.

14 Jul 2005

For over 70's dual pacemakers no better

British researchers say that for people over 70, pacemakers that stimulate only one part of the heart are just as effective as newer and more expensive devices that apply electricity to two of the heart's four chambers.

14 Jul 2005

Asbestos in rocks cause lung cancer

According to a study by a team at UC Davis Department of Public Health Sciences, everyday exposure to naturally occurring asbestos, increases the risk of developing malignant mesothelioma.

14 Jul 2005

Shocking revelation - thousands get infected in hospitals in Pennsylvania

A report by the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council has revealed that more than 11,000 people contacted some form of infection in Pennsylvania hospitals last year, and nearly 1,800 died from them.

14 Jul 2005

Erlotinib increases survival in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer

An international clinical study led by Canadian researchers has demonstrated that a drug called erlotinib increases survival in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer who typically have no other treatment options.

13 Jul 2005

Emergency physicians' fear of malpractice in evaluating patients with possible acute cardiac ischemia

A new survey of emergency physicians finds those most concerned about lawsuits are more likely to admit patients with cardiac symptoms and to order more tests. The results will be published by Annals of Emergency Medicine as an early online release July 13 (Emergency Physicians' Fear of Malpractice In Evaluating Patients With Possible Acute Cardiac Ischemia).

13 Jul 2005

Single mutation in a human sodium channel gene can trigger pain in people with primary erythromelalgia

Yale School of Medicine researchers report the first demonstration that a single mutation in a human sodium channel gene can trigger pain in people with an inherited pain syndrome known as primary erythromelalgia, according to a study published this month in the journal Brain.

13 Jul 2005

Transplanted neural stem cells may serve not only as replacement cells for tissue repair, but in some circumstances may also protect the brain from inflammation

Researchers at the San Raffaele Hospital (Milan, Italy) published unexpected results of studies in which immature nerve cells (adult mouse neural stem cells) injected into the blood of mice with MS-like disease were able to suppress the immune attacks that damage the brain and spinal cord tissues.

13 Jul 2005

Researchers gain better understanding of how nerves need to be reconnected after spinal cord injury

Nerve cells relay messages at blink-of-the-eye speeds by squirting chemicals called neurotransmitters across tiny gaps called synapses to awaiting message receptors. But lots of different receptors and neurotransmitters work simultaneously. Which goes where to send the proper message?

13 Jul 2005

Scientists have identified the first reported case in Asia of primate-to-human transmission of simian foamy virus

...a retrovirus found in macaques and other primates that so far has not been shown to cause disease in humans.

13 Jul 2005

"Ipod-like" device to help correct balance disorders

Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University's Neurological Sciences Institute and the University of Bologna have developed a portable "Ipod-like" device that can be used to help correct balance disorders. Scientists believe this new device, based on auditory feedback of balance, can be worn on the belt like a pager to provide regular therapy for patients with balance disorders, improving their day-to-day activities.

13 Jul 2005

White blood cell called a neutrophil appears to be crucial to abdominal aortic aneurysm formation

Each year, 200,000 Americans find out that the largest blood vessel in their body, the aorta, may burst open at any time. About 20,000 die suddenly from such a rupture. And another 36,000 have surgery to repair or replace the swelling section of aorta before time runs out.

13 Jul 2005

New method may accelerate the way cancer-causing genes are found

Researchers at the University of Minnesota Cancer Center and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) have discovered a new method that could accelerate the way cancer-causing genes are found and could lead to a more accurate identification of the genes, according to two studies in the July 14, 2005, issue of Nature.

13 Jul 2005

Biologists determine structure of a common-cold virus

Biologists at Purdue University have determined the combined structure of a common-cold virus attached to a molecule that enables the virus to infect its host, information that ultimately may help researchers develop methods for treating certain viral infections.

13 Jul 2005

Research News and Research

Distant prayer does not improve clinical outcome for patients undergoing coronary procedures

Video games can be useful in health care and research

Experts discuss use of human stem cells in ape and monkey brains

A systematic search through human genes

Complicated plasminogen system yields potential therapeutic target; Implications for aging and degenerative diseases

Shared-environmental influences on gender-role behaviour may be more important in early childhood than in adolescence and adulthood

Efforts to help parents of young children move out of poverty likely to have long-term benefits for children's school performance and social-emotional well being

For over 70's dual pacemakers no better

Asbestos in rocks cause lung cancer

Shocking revelation - thousands get infected in hospitals in Pennsylvania

Erlotinib increases survival in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer

Emergency physicians' fear of malpractice in evaluating patients with possible acute cardiac ischemia

Single mutation in a human sodium channel gene can trigger pain in people with primary erythromelalgia

Transplanted neural stem cells may serve not only as replacement cells for tissue repair, but in some circumstances may also protect the brain from inflammation

Researchers gain better understanding of how nerves need to be reconnected after spinal cord injury

Scientists have identified the first reported case in Asia of primate-to-human transmission of simian foamy virus

"Ipod-like" device to help correct balance disorders

White blood cell called a neutrophil appears to be crucial to abdominal aortic aneurysm formation

New method may accelerate the way cancer-causing genes are found

Biologists determine structure of a common-cold virus

Spectroscopy Applications in the Environment eBook eBook

How can microdialysis benefit drug development

Global and Local Efforts to Take Action Against Hepatitis

Addressing Important Cardiac Biology Questions with Shotgun Top-Down Proteomics

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