Medical Research News

RSS

New comprehensive textbook on tiny parathyroid glands for endocrine surgeons

How robots enable no-neck-scar thyroid surgery and advanced imaging helps surgeons track down often elusive, tiny parathyroid glands are timely topics for a new comprehensive textbook for endocrine surgeons.

6 Feb 2014

TSRI scientists design artificial proteins as a candidate vaccine against RSV

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have invented a new method for designing artificial proteins, and have used it to make key ingredients for a candidate vaccine against a dangerous virus, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a significant cause of infant mortality.

6 Feb 2014

Study explores link between facial attractiveness and physical performance in professional cyclists

In a range of species, females show clear preferences when it comes to the choice of their partner - they decide on the basis of external features like antler size or plumage coloration whether a male will be a good father to her offspring, or whether he will provide them with good genes.

6 Feb 2014

Study: Rise of tuberculosis in Zimbabwe linked with widespread food shortage

The rise of tuberculosis (TB) in Zimbabwe during the socio-economic crisis of 2008-9 has been linked to widespread food shortage, according to a new study led by Canadian researchers from the University of Toronto Dalla Lana School of Public Health published in PLOS ONE.

6 Feb 2014

Minimizing person's sight may help improve brain's ability to process hearing

Minimizing a person's sight for as little as a week may help improve the brain's ability to process hearing, neuroscientists have found.

6 Feb 2014

Researcher tackles new way to slow down and perhaps prevent preterm labor

A Florida State University researcher is tackling a new and inventive way to slow down and perhaps prevent preterm labor.

6 Feb 2014

Use of insulin to treat type 2 diabetes has trebled in the UK, shows study

The use of insulin to treat type 2 diabetes has trebled in the UK over the last 20 years, a new study has revealed. In a study published in the Journal of Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism, a team of academics from Cardiff University and the University of Bristol reviewed Clinical Practice Research Data (CPRD) to estimate the prevalence of insulin use in the UK population.

6 Feb 2014

AAMC presents Nickens award to Stritch School student

Ray Mendez, third-year medical student at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, was named a 2013 Herbert W. Nickens Medical Student Scholarship recipient.

6 Feb 2014

Poll shows only 35% of respondents likely to seek aggressive treatment to cancer

A national poll from the University of Utah's Huntsman Cancer Institute shows 34 percent of respondents would not seek genetic testing to predict their likelihood of developing a hereditary cancer - even if the cost of the testing was not an issue.

6 Feb 2014

Study offers new avenue to pursue in quest for desperately needed treatments for ALS

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists led a study showing that mutations in a gene responsible for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) disrupt the RNA transport system in nerve cells.

6 Feb 2014

Research examines differences between male and female brain that contributes to violent behavior

Human behaviors such as violence depend on interactions in the brain between genetic and environmental factors. An individual may be more vulnerable to developing violent behaviors if they have predisposing factors and are then exposed to stress, abuse, or other triggers, especially early in life.

6 Feb 2014

Surgeons develop 'monoblock' flaps to reconstruct severe facial defects

Patients with massive burns causing complete loss of the facial skin pose a difficult challenge for reconstructive surgeons. Now a group of surgeons in China have developed an innovative technique for creating a one-piece skin flap large enough to perform full-face resurfacing, reports The Journal of Craniofacial Surgery, published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

6 Feb 2014

Researchers reveal inner workings of nanomotor

Our cells produce thousands of proteins but more than one-third of these proteins can fulfill their function only after migrating to the outside of the cell. While it is known that protein migration occurs with the help of various 'nanomotors' that push proteins out of the cell, little is known about their precise mechanical functioning.

6 Feb 2014

New electronically controlled drugs deliver medicine in much more targeted way

Potential side effects of many of today's therapeutic drugs can be downright frightening - just listen carefully to a drug commercial on TV. These effects often occur when a drug is active throughout the body, not just where and when it is needed.

6 Feb 2014

Women must visit obstetricians, primary care doctors after childbirth

Medical associations widely recommend that women visit their obstetricians and primary care doctors shortly after giving birth, but slightly fewer than half make or keep those postpartum appointments, according to a study by Johns Hopkins researchers.

6 Feb 2014

Chinese scientists confirm world’s first case of human infection with new avian influenza virus

Scientists from China report in The Lancet on the world’s first confirmed case of human infection with a new avian influenza A H10N8 virus in a 73-year-old woman who died from the infection.

6 Feb 2014

New guideline presents recommendations for endoscopy units in prioritizing safety efforts

The American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE) has issued "Guidelines for safety in the gastrointestinal endoscopy unit." The purpose of this new guideline is to present recommendations for endoscopy units in implementing and prioritizing safety efforts and to provide an endoscopy-specific guideline by which to evaluate endoscopy units.

6 Feb 2014

Crowdsourcing novel childhood predictors of adult obesity

Will your child be a slim adult? A novel new study published in PLOS ONE asked 532 international English speaking adults to submit or "crowd-source" predictors of whether a child is going to be an overweight or a slim adult.

5 Feb 2014

Scientists discover new mechanism governing brain stem cell proliferation

Higher mammals, such as humans, have markedly larger brains than other mammals. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Dresden recently discovered a new mechanism governing brain stem cell proliferation.

5 Feb 2014

Study provides evidence for importance of omega-3 fatty acids in healthy brain development

Monkeys that ate a diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids had brains with highly connected and well organized neural networks - in some ways akin to the neural networks in healthy humans - while monkeys that ate a diet deficient in the fatty acids had much more limited brain networking, according to an Oregon Health & Science University study.

5 Feb 2014