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Article sheds new light on differences between normal aging and Alzheimer's disease

The ability of different regions of the brain to communicate gradually breaks down with aging and in Alzheimer's disease, but there are key differences between these two processes. Some of these differences are reported in a study that compared neural networks, signaling efficiency, and disruptions in connectivity in the brains of healthy elderly subjects and patients with Alzheimer's disease.

23 Aug 2013

Loyola neurologists describe first known case of musical hallucinations

One night when she was trying to fall asleep, a 60-year-old woman suddenly began hearing music, as if a radio were playing at the back of her head. The songs were popular tunes her husband recognized when she sang or hummed them. But she herself could not identify them. This is the first known case of a patient hallucinating music that was familiar to people around her, but that she herself did not recognize, according to Dr. Danilo Vitorovic and Dr. José Biller of Loyola University Medical Center.

23 Aug 2013

Shire extends existing partnership with Santaris Pharma in rare genetic disease space

Santaris Pharma A/S, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of RNA-targeted therapies, today announced that its long term partner, Shire has extended the existing partnership in the rare genetic disease space.

23 Aug 2013

Hope for hand amputees: Researchers test new method for local immunosuppression

Hope for hand amputees: researchers at Inselspital and the University of Bern have successfully tested a new method for local immunosuppression.

23 Aug 2013

Study suggests that human brains are hardwired to empathize with friends, spouses

Perhaps one of the most defining features of humanity is our capacity for empathy - the ability to put ourselves in others' shoes. A new University of Virginia study strongly suggests that we are hardwired to empathize because we closely associate people who are close to us - friends, spouses, lovers - with our very selves.

23 Aug 2013

Stem cell therapy improves radiation-induced cognitive impairment

Patients receiving cranial irradiation treatment for brain cancer may find the treatment life-saving, but often suffer progressive and debilitating cognitive detriments, including spatial learning and memory deficits. The cognitive deficits are a contributing factor to the often significant adverse impacts on the surviving patients' quality of life after radiation therapy. In an effort to improve post-irradiation cognitive impairment, scientists at the University of California, Irvine, and colleagues at Neuralstem, Inc. (Rockville, MD), have transplanted fetal stem cells into laboratory animals with radiation-induced cognitive impairments and found that this led to a number of cognitive improvements.

23 Aug 2013

No need of restricting women's food and fluid intake during labor, shows study

Despite the longstanding, widespread practice of restricting women's food and fluid intake during labor, a large-scale analysis in The Cochrane Library finds no need for these restrictions and supports women eating and drinking as they please.

23 Aug 2013

Researchers estimate actual number of child fatalities due to neglect and abuse

Approximately 1,700 children die of maltreatment every year in the United States, according to the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System; however, researchers estimate that the actual number of child fatalities due to abuse and neglect is nearly double that number.

23 Aug 2013

Research findings lay foundation for regenerating damaged heart muscle

In the aftermath of a heart attack, cells within the region most affected shut down. They stop beating. And they become entombed in scar tissue. But now, scientists at the Gladstone Institutes have demonstrated that this damage need not be permanent-by finding a way to transform the class of cells that form human scar tissue into those that closely resemble beating heart cells.

23 Aug 2013

Scientists grow cells that line blood vessels from human iPSCs

In a scientific first, Harvard Stem Cell Institute scientists have successfully grown the cells that line the blood vessels-called vascular endothelial cells-from human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), revealing new details about how these cells function.

23 Aug 2013

Ultimate DIY book for laboratory chemists in search of next generation medicines

Pharmaceuticals of the future will be fashioned using the human body's own chemical substances, proteins and peptides. And now, University of Copenhagen chemists have published the ultimate DIY book for laboratory chemists in search of this next generation of medicines.

23 Aug 2013

Compounds found in red wine and green tea can be used as antibacterial coating

A simple kitchen sink experiment helped Northwestern University researchers discover that green tea leaves not only can be used to steep a good cup of tea, but they make an excellent antibacterial coating, too.

23 Aug 2013

Challenges of studying health and mortality risks of obesity

Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine point out that the body mass index, based on the weight and height, is not an accurate measure of body fat content and does not account for critical factors that contribute to health or mortality, such as fat distribution, proportion of muscle to fat, and the sex and racial differences in body composition.

23 Aug 2013

MFDCs have advantages over adult skin cells, including proliferation and differentiation

Multipotent fetal dermal cells (MFDCs) may be an ideal source for cell therapy for repairing damaged tissues and organs. Their performance is superior to that of adult dermal cells, said a research team in Italy that developed a cell isolation technique for MFDCs and subsequently published a study that appears as an early e-publication for the journal Cell Transplantation.

23 Aug 2013

Report shows nonmedical use of pain relievers may increase risk of using heroin later

A new report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) shows that people aged 12 to 49 who had used prescription pain relievers nonmedically were 19 times more likely to have initiated heroin use recently (within the past 12 months of being interviewed) than others in that age group (0.39 percent versus 0.02 percent).

23 Aug 2013

Researchers develop inexpensive test kit that detects phenolic compounds in water

Clean drinking water is a diminishing natural resource in developing nations and in many industrialised countries. VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland has developed a simple and inexpensive test kit that detects phenolic compounds in water. Sources of phenolic compounds found in drinking water include industrial wastewaters, drug residues and pipes.

23 Aug 2013

Researchers find preliminary link between workaholics and mental well-being

Working overtime may cost you your health, according to a Kansas State University doctoral researcher.

23 Aug 2013

Age, sex and race may predict risk factor reduction in patients with coronary heart disease

Risk factor modification efforts could help reduce the chance of another heart attack and death among the more than 15 million Americans with coronary heart disease. Yet some patients-especially women and minorities-leave the hospital with poorly managed risk factors.

23 Aug 2013

Understanding genetic factors that affect Crohn's disease risk

A statistical model accounting for dozens of different genes in combination—and the interactions between them—is an important step forward in understanding the genetic factors affecting the risk of Crohn's disease, reports a study in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, official journal of the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America.

23 Aug 2013

Grandmothers who care for their grandkids need help for depression

Grandmothers who care for their grandkids fulltime need help for depression and family strains, report researchers from the Case Western Reserve University's Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing.

23 Aug 2013

Medical Research News

Article sheds new light on differences between normal aging and Alzheimer's disease

Loyola neurologists describe first known case of musical hallucinations

Shire extends existing partnership with Santaris Pharma in rare genetic disease space

Hope for hand amputees: Researchers test new method for local immunosuppression

Study suggests that human brains are hardwired to empathize with friends, spouses

Stem cell therapy improves radiation-induced cognitive impairment

No need of restricting women's food and fluid intake during labor, shows study

Researchers estimate actual number of child fatalities due to neglect and abuse

Research findings lay foundation for regenerating damaged heart muscle

Scientists grow cells that line blood vessels from human iPSCs

Ultimate DIY book for laboratory chemists in search of next generation medicines

Compounds found in red wine and green tea can be used as antibacterial coating

Challenges of studying health and mortality risks of obesity

MFDCs have advantages over adult skin cells, including proliferation and differentiation

Report shows nonmedical use of pain relievers may increase risk of using heroin later

Researchers develop inexpensive test kit that detects phenolic compounds in water

Researchers find preliminary link between workaholics and mental well-being

Age, sex and race may predict risk factor reduction in patients with coronary heart disease

Understanding genetic factors that affect Crohn's disease risk

Grandmothers who care for their grandkids need help for depression

Leveraging the power of automation to boost research

Automating research - solutions and best practices

How can microdialysis benefit drug development

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