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Studies examine effectiveness of CPAP in reducing risk of cardiovascular outcomes linked with OSA

Two studies that included adults with obstructive sleep apnea examined the effectiveness of reducing the risk of cardiovascular outcomes, including high blood pressure, by treatment with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), according to the articles in the May 23/30 issue of JAMA.

23 May 2012

Astrocytes appear to retaliate against AD

When brain cells start oozing too much of the amyloid protein that is the hallmark of Alzheimer's disease, the astrocytes that normally nourish and protect them deliver a suicide package instead, researchers report.

23 May 2012

Study provides new clues about health-damaging molecular changes by eating high-fat foods

A University of Michigan Health System study provides new clues about the health-damaging molecular changes set in motion by eating high-fat foods.

23 May 2012

New clinical trial to evaluate HSP90 inhibitor plus hormonal therapy for breast cancer

Pushed to the brink of survival, the hyper-driven cells of a cancerous tumor tap into an ancient system that has helped organisms cope with internal stresses and environmental challenges since life began. As an integral part of this system, heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) has been shown to help malignant cells accommodate the genetic changes and profound disturbances in normal biology that occur in cancers.

23 May 2012

Proper care of diabetic foot infections can save limbs, lives

Diabetic foot infections are an increasingly common problem, but proper care can save limbs and, ultimately, lives, suggest new guidelines released by the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

23 May 2012

Scientists identify key mechanism in development of Alzheimer's

New research by scientists at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-School of Osteopathic Medicine (UMDNJ-SOM) demonstrates how dying or damaged brain cells release debris into the bloodstream and give rise to specific autoantibodies that appear to be reliable biomarkers for early diagnosis of Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases.

23 May 2012

Federal task force recommends dropping routine prostate cancer test

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force finds scant evidence that the PSA blood test saves lives and instead says unneeded treatment leads to serious problems, including impotence and incontinence.

23 May 2012

Article examines reasons why people are so reluctant to give up PSA test

The uproar that began last year when the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force stated that doctors should no longer offer regular prostate-cancer tests to healthy men continued this week when the task force released their final report. Overall, they stuck to their guns, stating that a blood test commonly used to screen for prostate cancer, the PSA test, causes more harm than good - it leads men to receive unnecessary, and sometimes even dangerous, treatments.

23 May 2012

Mimotopes can help develop new diagnostic tests for sleeping sickness

Each year many thousands of Africans contract sleeping sickness. The cause is a unicellular parasite, a trypanosome, which is transmitted by the bite of tsetse flies. First the parasite multiplies in blood and lymph, while evading the human immune system. It then lodges in organs like heart and kidneys and finally in the brain. Patients become disoriented, their sleeping pattern disintegrates and they get motor and mental problems.

23 May 2012

Science journal’s NEWSFOCUS section describes recent advances in sequencing technology

Rapid DNA sequencing may soon become a routine part of each individual's medical record, providing enormous information previously sequestered in the human genome's 3 billion nucleotide bases. This week's NEWSFOCUS section of the journal Science describes recent advances in sequencing technology.

From Oxford Nanopore Technologies 23 May 2012

BMP8B plays a key role in regulating thermogenesis in brown adipose tissue

Bone morphogenetic protein 8B (BMP8B) plays a key role in regulating thermogenesis in brown adipose tissue, according to the findings of a research work published in Cell, the journal with the most impact on the field of biomedicine and molecular biology.

23 May 2012

Benefits of ICS treatment vary among children with differing demographic, clinical characteristics

A further analysis of a previously published National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) funded study of children with mild persistent asthma reports the relative benefits of inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) treatment varies among children with differing demographic and clinical characteristics.

23 May 2012

Special feature of Science journal highlights protein array technology

A special feature in this week's issue of the journal Science highlights protein array technology, touching on research conducted by Joshua LaBaer, director of the Biodesign Institute's Virginia G. Piper Center for Personalized Diagnostics.

23 May 2012

Exercise can add years to a person's life

A recent study has shown that exercise can add years to a person's life. Still, as we age it can become more tedious and sometimes more difficult to exercise.

23 May 2012

Sarcoidosis accounts for 25% of all deaths in African-American women

A new study conducted by researchers from Boston University has found that sarcoidosis accounts for 25 percent of all deaths among women in the Black Women's Health Study who have the disease. The study is the largest epidemiologic study to date to specifically address mortality in black females with sarcoidosis.

23 May 2012

MRI provides early indication of breast tumor's response to pre-surgical chemotherapy

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) provides an indication of a breast tumor's response to pre-surgical chemotherapy significantly earlier than possible through clinical examination, according to a new study published online in the journal Radiology.

23 May 2012

Flexible sigmoidoscopy reduces deaths due to colorectal cancer

Research conducted at the University of Alabama at Birmingham as part of a national study reveals that flexible sigmoidoscopy — a screening test for colorectal cancer that is less invasive and has fewer side-effects than colonoscopy — reduces deaths due to colorectal cancer.

23 May 2012

Women and their loved ones are affected by gout: Survey

An online survey conducted by Red Hot Mamas North America, Inc. found that women and their loved ones are significantly affected by very painful bouts of gout, which they consider to be chronic and severe. Respondents indicated that although the debilitating pain associated with the condition affects quality of life, many individuals are prescribed medications meant to control the condition which they are not taking.

23 May 2012

Microfluidic chip can diagnose latent TB

Biomedical engineers at UC Davis have developed a microfluidic chip to test for latent tuberculosis. They hope the test will be cheaper, faster and more reliable than current testing for the disease.

23 May 2012

Botch protein appears to play an important regulatory role in forming neurons, other cell types

Johns Hopkins scientists have discovered a protein that appears to play an important regulatory role in deciding whether stem cells differentiate into the cells that make up the brain, as well as countless other tissues.

23 May 2012