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Morphine after tonsillectomy may be life threatening for children

Treating post-operative pain with morphine can cause life-threatening respiratory problems in some children who have had their tonsils and/or adenoids removed, new research has found.

27 Jan 2015

Progenitor cells responsible for generation and maintenance of Merkel cells

Researchers have identified a population of "progenitor" cells in the skin that are solely responsible for the generation and maintenance of touch-sensing Merkel cells. The study appears in The Journal of Cell Biology.

27 Jan 2015

Alcohol drinking pattern influences risk of cirrhosis

Approximately 170,000 people die from alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver in Europe every year. Although alcohol is the most important risk factor, less is known about the significance of different patterns of drinking. Currently scientists believe that cirrhosis is a function of the volume of alcohol consumed irrespective of patterns of drinking. Investigators have now established that alcohol drinking pattern has a significant influence on the risk of cirrhosis and that daily drinking increases that risk compared with drinking less frequently.

27 Jan 2015

Many breast cancer patients lack knowledge about their tumors

A new analysis has found that many women with breast cancer lack knowledge about their illness, with minority patients less likely than white patients to know and report accurate information about their tumors' characteristics.

27 Jan 2015

Flexible work hours may help curb sleep deficiency

Giving employees more control over their work schedules may help curb sleep deficiency, according to health researchers.

27 Jan 2015

NMR in cancer research: an interview with Andy Byrd

My research these days is generally classified as structural biology, although as I trained in chemistry. I specialize in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) applied to biological problems. Our lab is very interested in studying mammalian proteins, particularly systems involved in cancer, in order to try to understand mechanisms to provide that information for our collaborators, and for the general knowledge of the community as well.

From Bruker BioSpin - NMR, EPR and Imaging 26 Jan 2015

Large numbers of boys suffer from cognitive disabilities linked to lead than girls

A study recently published in the Journal of Environmental Health provides evidence the female hormones estrogen and estradiol may help ward off the effects of lead exposure for young girls, explaining why boys, in greater numbers than girls, are shown to suffer from the cognitive disabilities linked to lead.

24 Jan 2015

Research findings may accelerate work to safely control diabetes

For those with diabetes, managing blood sugar is a balancing act -- if blood sugar is too high it raises the risk for nerve damage, blindness, kidney failure, and heart trouble, and if too low it can lead to a seizure or unconsciousness.

24 Jan 2015

International scientists take new path in epilepsy research

An international team of scientists together with the University of Bonn Hospital have taken a new path in the research into causes of epilepsy: The researchers determined the networks of the active genes and, like a dragnet, looked for the "main perpetrators" using a computer model.

24 Jan 2015

Bayer, MD Anderson partner to evaluate how a drug may affect patient's disease-related symptoms

When cancer patients take part in a clinical trial to develop new therapies, they and their physicians want to know how they will feel and function during treatment. A new collaboration between Bayer and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center will go straight to the patients to learn how certain investigational new drugs affect them.

24 Jan 2015

Researchers develop new treatment that extends telomeres

Will extending telomeres lead to longer, healthier lives? Researchers have taken an important step toward answering this question by developing a new treatment used in the laboratory that extends telomeres.

24 Jan 2015

SLU researcher discovers new information about how antibiotics stop staph infections

In research published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Saint Louis University Mee-Ngan F. Yap, Ph.D., discovered new information about how antibiotics like azithromycin stop staph infections, and why staph sometimes becomes resistant to drugs.

23 Jan 2015

Study examines effects of beetroot juice on physical function of COPD patients

A Wake Forest University study to investigate the effects of acute beetroot juice ingestion on the exercise capacity of COPD patients shows some promise, but a larger clinical trial is needed to verify results.

23 Jan 2015

Study shows how gut bacteria can affect normal brain activity

The hundred trillion bacteria living in an adult human--mostly in the intestines, making up the gut microbiome--have a significant impact on behavior and brain health. The many ways gut bacteria can impact normal brain activity and development, affect sleep and stress responses, play a role in a variety of diseases, and be modified through diet for therapeutic use are described in a comprehensive Review article in Journal of Medicinal Food, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers.

23 Jan 2015

New research could help pave way to new cancer therapies

New research from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem shows that the most common form of white blood cells, called neutrophils, contain many different subtypes, of which some fight the development of cancer and others promote its progression. The research could help pave the way to new therapies that fight cancer by increasing anti-tumor neutrophils while limiting pro-tumor neutrophils.

23 Jan 2015

Altered AHNAK gene may open door to improved treatment for keloid scars

Researchers at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit have identified a gene that may offer a better understanding of how keloid scars develop and potentially open the door to improved treatment for the often painful, itchy and tender scars.

23 Jan 2015

Heptares Therapeutics announces recipients of Malcolm Campbell Memorial Prize for 2015

Heptares Therapeutics, the clinical-stage GPCR structure-guided drug discovery and development company, is delighted to announce that the Malcolm Campbell Memorial Prize for 2015 has been awarded to Miles Congreve (Vice President of Chemistry), Fiona Marshall (Chief Scientific Officer and co-founder) and Malcolm Weir (Chief Executive Officer and co-founder) for the seminal contributions to GPCR drug discovery made by Heptares Therapeutics since the company was founded in 2007.

23 Jan 2015

TxCell to highlight success factors in cell therapy research at Cell & Gene Therapy Forum 2015

TxCell SA, a biotechnology company developing innovative, cost-effective, personalized T cell immunotherapies using antigen specific regulatory T-cells (Ag-Tregs) for severe chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, announces today that Dr. Miguel Forte, Sr. VP Clinical Development and Regulatory Affairs, TxCell, will present at the Cell & Gene Therapy Forum 2015, January 26 - 28, 2015 at Grand Hayatt in Washington DC, United States.

23 Jan 2015

Cardiac regeneration strategies need to be based on severity of heart injury

A new study by researchers at Children's Hospital Los Angeles has shown that neonatal mouse hearts have varying regenerative capacities depending upon the severity of injury. Using cryoinjury - damaging the heart through exposure to extreme cold in order to mimic cellular injury caused by myocardial infarction - investigators found that neonatal mouse hearts can fully recover normal function following a mild injury, though fail to regenerate after a severe injury.

23 Jan 2015

Thyroid disease can affect woman's reproductive health

Thyroid disease can have significant effects on a woman's reproductive health and screening for women presenting with fertility problems and recurrent early pregnancy loss should be considered, suggests a new review published today (23 January) in The Obstetrician & Gynaecologist.

23 Jan 2015