Medical Research News

RSS

Statins for all over 55: Study

The latest research findings suggest that when assessing the risk of heart problems, offering statins or drugs that lower cholesterol to all over-55s had the same results as testing for cholesterol or blood pressure problems. The authors have also argued it would be simpler and more cost effective.

5 May 2011

Worrying trends among Australia’s Indigenous population with more chronic diseases: Report

According to an indigenous health expert, communities in the state's Gulf are recording some of the highest rates of chronic disease in the country. In fact a report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare shows 80 per cent of the life expectancy gap can be attributed to conditions like heart disease and diabetes.

5 May 2011

$Bone building drugs bisphosphonates lead to only a marginally higher risk of fractures: Study$

Bone building drugs bisphosphonates lead to only a marginally higher risk of fractures: Study

According to a new study, nearly 78% of all Swedish women aged 55 years and older who sustained a thigh bone or femur fracture in 2008 had taken bisphosphonates for their osteoporosis. However the authors of the study published in the May 5 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) write that the absolute risk for such breaks is small enough to justify prescribing the drugs.

5 May 2011

BUSM research shows how heparan sulfate interacts with growth factor proteins

When the human genome project produced a map of human genes, the number of genes in humans turned out to be relatively small, approximately the same number as in primitive nematode worms.

5 May 2011

UCF to develop safe, inexpensive and effective polio vaccine

An innovative way of making vaccines at the University of Central Florida has attracted the support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for its potential to make vaccines lessexpensive, more effective and needle free.

5 May 2011

Staying up late and sleeping in can increase risk for gaining weight

Staying up late every night and sleeping in is a habit that could put you at risk for gaining weight. People who go to bed late and sleep late eat more calories in the evening, more fast food, fewer fruits and vegetables and weigh more than people who go to sleep earlier and wake up earlier, according to a new Northwestern Medicine study.

5 May 2011

Thomas Jefferson University receives award to develop novel radiation drugs

Shortly before Japan's devastating nuclear incident, researchers at Thomas Jefferson University and Hospitals received an award to find novel drugs to treat people exposed to dangerous amounts of radiation in the wake of a nuclear terrorist attack or a nuclear accident.

5 May 2011

UCSF scientists elected as members of National Academy of Sciences for excellence in biomedical research

Alexander D. Johnson, PhD, and Shinya Yamanaka, MD, PhD, have been elected as members of the National Academy of Sciences for their excellence in original scientific research. It is one of the highest honors bestowed on a scientist or engineer in the United States.

5 May 2011

Researchers identify regulatory protein that can inhibit cancer metastasis

A protein capable of halting the spread of breast cancer cells could lead to a therapy for preventing or limiting the spread of the disease.

5 May 2011

Amygdala predicts spontaneous behavior: Study

A pianist is playing an unknown melody freely without reading from a musical score. How does the listener's brain recognise if this melody is improvised or if it is memorized? Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig investigated jazz musicians to discover which brain areas are especially sensitive to features of improvised behaviour.

4 May 2011

Study finds greater weight management support in pistachio snackers

When it comes to healthy snacking and weight management, a new study bolsters the long-held view that not all calories are created equal. According to nutrition researchers at UCLA, choosing to snack on pistachios rather than pretzels as part of a healthy diet not only supports your body mass index (BMI) goals, but can support heart health too.

4 May 2011

Cocaine and nicotine employ similar mechanisms to induce synaptic plasticity in brain

The effects of nicotine upon brain regions involved in addiction mirror those of cocaine, according to new neuroscience research.

4 May 2011

New genetic discovery in megalencephalic leukoencephalopathy with subcortical cysts

White matter disease covers a large group of disorders that affect the white matter, or myelin. In children these disorders are commonly genetic and often go undiagnosed. In new research, a team led by Raúl Estévez, a lecturer from the Department of Physiological Sciences II, based at the UB's Bellvitge Health Sciences Campus, working with the researcher Marjo van der Knaap, from the University Medical Centre at VU University Amsterdam, have identified mutant GLIALCAM as responsible for 25% of cases of megalencephalic leukoencephalopathy with subcortical cysts, a rare genetic disease affecting cerebral myelin.

4 May 2011

Breakthrough research offers hope for new obesity treatment

By knocking down the expression of a protein in rat brains known to stimulate eating, Johns Hopkins researchers say they not only reduced the animals' calorie intake and weight, but also transformed their fat into a type that burns off more energy. The finding could lead to better obesity treatments for humans, the scientists report.

4 May 2011

Scientists discover new mitochondria regulation mechanism

Scientists have discovered a new component of mitochondria that plays a key part in their function. The discovery, which is presented in the journal Cell Metabolism, is of potential significance to our understanding of both inherited and age-related diseases.

4 May 2011

Global climate change could increase future heat wave mortality

Global climate change is anticipated to bring more extreme weather phenomena such as heat waves that could impact human health in the coming decades.

4 May 2011

New research sheds light on origins of cryptococcal fungal infection

New research has shed light on the origins of a fungal infection which is one of the major causes of death from AIDS-related illnesses. The study, published today in the journal PLoS Pathogens, funded by the Wellcome Trust and the BBSRC, shows how the more virulent forms of Cryptococcus neoformans evolved and spread out of Africa and into Asia.

4 May 2011

Low salt intake may increase risk of cardiovascular events

In a study conducted to examine the health outcomes related to salt intake, as gauged by the amount of sodium excreted in the urine, lower sodium excretion was associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular death, while higher sodium excretion did not correspond with increased risk of hypertension or cardiovascular disease complications, according to a study in the May 4 issue of JAMA.

4 May 2011

Confusing research on salt and heart: Study

According to the latest European study, people who ate lots of salt were not more likely to get high blood pressure, and were less likely to die of heart disease than those with a low salt intake. This is contrary to what has been known till date. The U.S. guidelines recommend that Americans consume less than 2,300 milligrams of salt daily - 1,500 mg in certain people who are more at risk for high blood pressure or heart disease.

4 May 2011

WWP2 protein appears to play a key role in tumor survival

A protein known as WWP2 appears to play a key role in tumor survival, a research team headed by a scientist at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center reports in an advance online publication of Nature Cell Biology.

4 May 2011