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Abnormal heart scans predict higher risks for African-Americans and Hispanics

SPECT imaging scans show that abnormalities in blood flow to the muscle of the heart indicate higher cardiovascular disease risk in African-Americans and Hispanics than similar abnormalities in white patients, according to a new study (PDF) in the May 3, 2005, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

4 May 2005

Research suggests potential new strategies for fighting age-related vascular disease

Declining function of cells that help repair the inner lining of blood vessels, known as endothelial progenitor cells, rather than a dwindling supply of the cells, may underlie the increased risk of atherosclerosis and other vascular diseases as people grow older, according to a new study (PDF) in the May 3, 2005, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

4 May 2005

Diabetes appears to rob women of usual advantage in heart disease risk

For men, a heart attack increases the risk of dying from coronary heart disease more than diabetes does, but for women, diabetes is sometimes the greater threat, according to a new study (PDF) in the May 3, 2005, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

4 May 2005

Diabetes researchers look at pizza to find slow and steady insulin delivery wins the race

With its doughy, carbohydrate-dense crust and high fat content, pizza can wreak havoc in people with diabetes. A Penn State Diabetes Center study suggests a slow and steady insulin-dosing pattern may best combat the glucose-raising effects of that common favorite food.

3 May 2005

Researchers have successfully induced adult heart-muscle cells to divide and multiply

In the best documented effort to date, researchers from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at Children's Hospital Boston and Harvard Medical School have successfully induced adult heart-muscle cells to divide and multiply.

3 May 2005

Burden of cardiovascular disease will shift to the developing world

In a paper published this week in the premier open-access global health journal PLoS Medicine, Majid Ezzati and colleagues from Harvard School of Public Health conclude that a large proportion of the world's population who live in low-income and middle-income countries should be the focus for intervention against risk factors for cardiovascular disease because major cardiovascular risk factors will increasingly be concentrated in these populations.

3 May 2005

If you eat too much fat, it can go straight to your liver and damage it

In obese people with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), fat from the diet ends up "stuck" in the liver, where it doesn't belong. It was known that the livers of NAFLD patients accumulated fat, but its origin was unknown.

3 May 2005

Critical lock and key mechanism found for the assembly of tumor blood vessels

A critical lock and key mechanism that allows the final step in the completion of new blood vessel formation has been identified by a University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine team in research that promises to lead to a new way to halt tumor growth by cutting off the tumor blood supply.

3 May 2005

Scientists dramatically slow organ transplant rejection

That's the promising implication of an animal study carried out by researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and the University of Florida (UF) published in today's (May 2) issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

3 May 2005

College freshies show weaker immune responses

Being a college freshie may have more ramifications than being lonely and missing Mum's cooking, according to a new study at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh which shows that first-year students had a weaker immune response to the flu shot than did other students, and confirms suspicions that going to college challenges both mind and body.

2 May 2005

When it comes to low fat diets - all are not equal!

New research from the Stanford University School of Medicine re-enforces what Mum always told you, eat those veggies and those other nutrient-dense foods because they're good for you!

2 May 2005

Intriguing new data on the spread of the Lyme disease bacteria through the blood stream

The ability to find the Lyme spirochete--the tick-borne agent responsible--in the blood is itself an achievement because existing methods of culturing blood were not sensitive enough to detect its presence until College researchers developed a new technique, which they used in the study.

2 May 2005

Why stem cells divide and develop less vigorously as we age

A comprehensive study from Canada’s Robarts Research Institute has pinpointed two genes that shed significant light on why stem cells divide and develop less vigorously as we age.

2 May 2005

New drug may help treat certain forms of leukemia

A new experimental drug may be effective against a certain form of leukemia resistant to current treatments, research at UT Southwestern Medical Center shows.

2 May 2005

Transcendental meditation promotes a healthier, longer life

Transcendental Meditation has been found to have far more impact on the body than was previously suspected and goes beyond just creating a laid back and relaxed attitude.

2 May 2005

Giving children access to drug clinical trials is crucial, clofarabine approval shows

The accelerated approval of the drug clofarabine to treat relapsed or refractory pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) demonstrates the importance of offering children rapid access to new treatments through clinical trials, according to investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Refractory or relapsed ALL is a disease that resists treatment.

2 May 2005

E. coli poses significant public health threat to seniors in the U.S.

A new study finds that E. coli bacteremia - a potentially life-threatening bloodstream infection caused by a common bacteria also associated with less dangerous urinary tract infections - poses a significant public health threat in the United States, especially among seniors.

2 May 2005

Specific genes play key role in the of regulation of human-blood stem cells

This work is the first to validate gene expression analysis in human stem cells with functional experiments. The findings also suggest that changes in the expression of genes associated with universal cell signaling pathways can have a substantial impact on human stem cell behavior.

2 May 2005

Small number of genes can predict response to chronic hepatitis C therapy

For the first time, physicians at University Health Network and University of Toronto have identified a small subset of genes that can predict whether a patient with chronic Hepatitis C will be able to respond to current treatments.

2 May 2005

3 questions identify children at risk of passive smoking

Pediatricians can reliably identify children at risk for environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure (secondhand smoke) by asking parents just three questions, according to an article in the May issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

2 May 2005