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Study finds ketamine restores connection in chronic stress affected brain cells

Yale researchers have discovered how a novel anti-depressant can take effect in hours, rather than the weeks or months usually required for most drugs currently on the market.

20 Aug 2010

Bacterial pathogens require vitamin B6 biosynthesis enzymes for virulence: Study

Scientists have determined that Helicobacter pylori, the bacterium that causes peptic ulcers and some forms of stomach cancer, requires the vitamin B6 to establish and maintain chronic infection, according to research published this week in the online journal mBio-. This finding, along with the identification of the enzyme the microbe requires to utilize the vitamin, could lead to the development of an entirely new class of antibiotics.

20 Aug 2010

Scientists discover genetic flaw that causes facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy

Nearly two decades after they identified the specific genetic flaw that causes a common type of muscular dystrophy, scientists believe they have figured out how that flaw brings about the disease. The finding by an international team of researchers settles a longstanding question about the roots of facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy or FSHD.

20 Aug 2010

Study finds black women with SLE develop cardiovascular disease at early age

A recent study by researchers at Penn State College of Medicine found significant racial disparities in the age of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients at the time of hospital admission for cardiovascular disease (CVD) events and CVD-related death. Black women were youngest to both be admitted with CVD and to have an in-hospital death due to CVD.

20 Aug 2010

Study suggests elective surgical repair is safe intervention for abdominal aortic aneurysm

Research from the Society for Vascular Surgery in collaboration with the Mount Sinai School of Medicine Department of Health Evidence and Policy in New York City evaluated the data of 3.1 million patients who were at risk for an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA).

20 Aug 2010

Muscle mass plays key role in cancer survival: Research

In the vast majority of patients with advanced cancer, their muscles will gradually waste away for reasons that have never been well understood. Now, researchers reporting in the August 20 issue of Cell, a Cell Press Publication, have found some new clues and a way to reverse that process in mice. What's more, animals with cancer that received the experimental treatment lived significantly longer, even as their tumors continued to grow.

20 Aug 2010

First pathological evidence of link between repeated head injuries and chronic traumatic Encephalomyopathy

Researchers with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy (CSTE) at Boston University School of Medicine have provided the first pathological evidence of a link between repeated head injuries—such as those experienced by athletes in contact sports such as boxing, football, and hockey—and a disease (chronic traumatic Encephalomyopathy) that resembles amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

20 Aug 2010

Research marks new direction to treat Pneumocystis, inflammatory diseases

A drug to treat inflammation plays a surprising role reducing the level of infection caused by an opportunistic bug that is deadly for AIDS and cancer patients and others with weakened immune systems.

20 Aug 2010

Research may puzzle out HIV transmission by sexual contact

The virus that causes AIDS may undergo changes in the genital tract that make HIV-1 in semen different than what it is in the blood, according to a study led by researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

20 Aug 2010

Intake of green leafy vegetables reduces risk of developing type 2 diabetes

Eating more green leafy vegetables can significantly reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, finds research published today on bmj.com.

20 Aug 2010

Muscular Dystrophy Association awards $14.1M in new grants

The Muscular Dystrophy Association, which has invested almost $39 million in 2010 in worldwide research seeking treatments and cures for muscle diseases, today announced that it has awarded $14.1 million in new grants.

20 Aug 2010

Study reports uneven decline of colorectal cancer mortality rate

Black patients die from colorectal cancer at much higher rates than whites do and new research points to unequal health care as the cause. While deaths from colorectal cancer have declined over the past 40 years, the declines have been uneven, said lead author Samir Soneji, Ph.D., of the Robert Wood Johnson Health and Society Scholars Program at the University of Pennsylvania.

20 Aug 2010

New ways to tackle diabetes

According to a new analysis from UK, a diet rich in green leafy vegetables may reduce the risk of developing diabetes. The inference was drawn from six studies which looked into fruit and vegetable intake and found that only food including spinach and cabbage was found to have a significant positive effect. The findings were published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ).

19 Aug 2010

New avenues for stem cell research

According to researchers at the University of NSW a new way has been found to generate stem cells from human skin - known as induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. A paper outlining the breakthrough was published this week in the US-based international online journal PLoS One.

19 Aug 2010

Stars line-up for Stand Up To Cancer's translational research initiative

An extraordinary line-up of actors, musicians, athletes and journalists have banded together for Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C), the groundbreaking initiative aimed at raising funds to accelerate innovative cancer research bringing new therapies to patients quickly that will saves lives now.

19 Aug 2010

Significant increase in GP consultations for mental health: Research

Individuals on long term incapacity benefit because of mental health problems could be identified by their GPs three years before they stop working.The research, led by Professor Jill Morrison at the University of Glasgow, also says that there is no significant variation across GP practices in the UK in the rate of patients claiming long term sick benefit.

19 Aug 2010

New study finds no link between exposure to sexualized media and early onset of sexual activity

The prevalence of sex in the mainstream media has led many researchers to study its effect on impressionable adolescents. Several published, peer-reviewed studies have indicated that there is a link between exposure to sex in the media and the early onset of sexual activity among teens. However, a study led by Temple psychologist Laurence Steinberg questions these findings.

19 Aug 2010

Dr. Hartung receives Agilent Thought Leader Award for developmental neurotoxicity research

Agilent Technologies Inc. and the Agilent Foundation today announced that Dr. Thomas Hartung has received an Agilent Thought Leader Award in support of his research for the use of toxicity pathways to predict developmental neurotoxicity. This work could help identify possible contributions of chemicals to disorders such as autism and attention hyperactivity disorders.

19 Aug 2010

Treatment with DMARDs reduces rheumatoid arthritis disability: Study

For people living with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), the level of disease activity measured using the standard DAS 28 score is the factor most strongly affecting the level of RA-related disability, according to a study in Journal of Clinical Rheumatology.

19 Aug 2010

Scientists discover synergistic effect to delay fat digestion

Institute of Food Research scientists have discovered an unexpected synergy that helps break down fat. The discovery provides a focus to find ways to slow down fat digestion, and ultimately to create food structures that induce satiety.

19 Aug 2010