Blood News and Research

RSS

University of Michigan Medical School to study the science of obesity and metabolism

As millions of Americans prepare their New Year’s resolutions to lose weight, eat better or exercise more, the University of Michigan Medical School is launching a new center that may help explain why so many resolutions fail, while others succeed.

29 Dec 2005

Molecular link between high fat diets and type 2 diabetes established

Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers have discovered a molecular link between a high-fat, Western-style diet, and the onset of type 2 diabetes. In studies in mice, the scientists showed that a high-fat diet disrupts insulin production, resulting in the classic signs of type 2 diabetes.

29 Dec 2005

World's deadliest malaria parasite cloaking gene revealed

The world's deadliest malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, sneaks past the human immune system with the help of a wardrobe of invisibility cloaks. If a person's immune cells learn to recognize one of the parasite's many camouflage proteins, the surviving invaders can swap disguises and slip away again to cause more damage. Malaria kills an estimated 2.7 million people annually worldwide, 75 percent of them children in Africa.

29 Dec 2005

Misdosing anti-clotting drugs leads to heart attack symptoms

Because of inaccuracies in prescribing, 42 percent of patients rushed to emergency rooms with symptoms of a heart attack received doses of powerful drugs intended stop clotting in coronary arteries outside of the recommended range, a new analysis by Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI) cardiologists has found.

28 Dec 2005

Heart disease risk higher if a brother or sister has heart problems

According to a new report having a brother or sister with a cardiovascular disease poses a greater risk than having a parent with a history of the disease.

28 Dec 2005

Electrical microstimulation allows researchers to map the brain for the first time

Over the last two centuries electrical microstimulation has been often used to demonstrate causal links between neural activity and specific behaviors or cognitive functions. However, to understand the mechanisms by which electrical microstimulation can cause alternations in behaviors and cognitive functions it is imperative to characterize the cortical activity patterns that are elicited by stimulation locally around the electrode and in other functionally connected areas.

22 Dec 2005

Study to look for links between the nervous system and fatal heart rhythm

Finding out why seemingly healthy people experience ventricular fibrillation, a fatal irregular heart rhythm, could eventually lead to better methods of early detection, according to a Medical College of Georgia researcher.

22 Dec 2005

Women suffering lupus OK to take oral contraceptives

Major study of women with either inactive or stable systemic lupus erythematosus (lupus) – a disease in which the body's immune system mistakenly attacks and damages healthy tissues of the skin, joints and internal organs – were able to take oral contraceptives without increased risk of flares, or periods of increased disease activity, that characterize the disease.

22 Dec 2005

Chromosome link found between alcohol addiction and smoking

Scientists have found in a study of tobacco users that their drinking behavior is linked to some of the same chromosome regions associated with alcohol addiction.

22 Dec 2005

Passengers face DVT danger in cars, trains and buses too

A report commissioned by the Department for Transport to determine the risk of deep vein thrombosis in relation to air travel, has found that as previously suspected, the longer the period of air travel, the greater the risk.

22 Dec 2005

Even lower blood sugar levels advocated to avoid heart disease

According to a researcher and diabetes expert, doctors with diabetic patients should be aiming for much lower levels of blood glucose than is currently suggested by the guidelines.

22 Dec 2005

Erection problems may signal heart disease

According to a new study, men who complain of erection problems, have a higher risk of heart attack, stroke, and angina.

22 Dec 2005

Micro-gyroscopes could detect, monitor and provide therapy guidance on cancer

A vibrating disc no bigger than a speck of dust could help to diagnose and monitor common types of cancer and provide specialists with information about the most appropriate therapy.

22 Dec 2005

One in three U.S. teens at risk of heart disease

According to researchers in the U.S. as many as one in three American teens are physically unfit and already have many of the risk factors for heart disease.

22 Dec 2005

Early, aggressive treatment of type 1 diabetes reduced risk heart disease and stroke

Intensive and early treatment of type 1 diabetes substantially lowers the risk of cardiovascular ailments such as heart disease and stroke, a new multicenter study shows.

22 Dec 2005

Imatinib mesylate (Gleevec) may not be effective at treating kidney cancer

Mayo Clinic Cancer Center investigators report that imatinib mesylate (GleevecTM), the drug used to treat patients with gastrointestinal stromal cancers (GISTs), is not likely to be effective for patients with high grade renal cell carcinoma -- the most aggressive kidney cancer.

22 Dec 2005

Discovery reveals how malaria infects humans

Researchers at the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) in India and a unit of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in France have made a key discovery about a molecule that helps the malaria parasite infect human cells.

22 Dec 2005