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Short-term economic boom not always good for children in developing nations

A short-term economic boom is not always a good thing for children in developing nations, according to a new study in the Journal of Political Economy. The study found that when Colombia's coffee trade suddenly booms, illness and mortality rates among children increase in coffee-producing counties.

26 Mar 2010

New gateway may be lifesaver for patients with AML: Study

Canadian researchers have discovered a previously hidden channel to attack leukemia and other cancer cells, according to a new study published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry. The findings from the Universit- de Montr-al, Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital and Universit- Laval may change the way doctors treat cancer patients.

26 Mar 2010

Standard HCV therapy less effective in urban minority patients: Study

A recent study confirms that the standard hepatitis C therapy, pegylated interferon and ribavirin, is significantly less effective in urban minority patients treated in an ordinary clinical practice setting compared with results produced during clinical trials.

26 Mar 2010

EVMS researchers awarded $1,076,250 grant to develop functional cure for Type 1 diabetes

Researchers at the Eastern Virginia Medical School Strelitz Diabetes Center have been awarded a $1,076,250 grant by the Department of Defense Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program to develop new ways of reversing the underlying causes of Type 1 diabetes.

26 Mar 2010

Natural chemicals from blackcurrants may reduce lung inflammation in allergy-induced asthma

A preliminary study by New Zealand company Plant & Food Research shows that natural chemicals from blackcurrants may help breathing in some types of asthma.

26 Mar 2010

Body lice and head lice have same origin

Body lice, which cause highly lethal epidemics (trench fever, typhus and relapsing fever Borrelia), originate from head lice. This has recently been shown by a team from the Emerging Infectious and Tropical Diseases Research Unit (CNRS/IRD/Université de la Méditerranée), in collaboration with researchers from the Universities of Florida and Illinois (US).

26 Mar 2010

New therapies increase survival rates in post-transplant liver cancer patients

A recent study found that sirolimus-based immunosuppression following liver transplantation in patients with non-resectable hepatocellular carcinoma (liver cancer) significantly increases survival rates for this patient population. Results of this study appear in the April issue of Hepatology, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD).

25 Mar 2010

Hepatitis C treatment less effective in urban minority patients

A recent study confirms that the standard hepatitis C (HCV) therapy, pegylated interferon and ribavirin, is significantly less effective in urban minority patients treated in an ordinary clinical practice setting compared with results produced during clinical trials. Results of this study appear in the April issue of Hepatology, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.

25 Mar 2010

Tips offered in April 2010 issue of American Journal Of Pathology

A group led by Dr. Massimo Loda at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA has generated a preclinical model of human prostate cancer that mimics the genetic and growth behavior of primary tumors. Their report can be found in the April 2010 issue of the American Journal of Pathology.

25 Mar 2010

NIH grants $1.4 Million to WPI to continue study of arterial plaque

A Worcester Polytechnic Institute research team has received a four-year, $1.4 million award from the National Institutes of Health to continue a groundbreaking study of arterial plaque. This research could lead to tools that will enable physicians to predict the likelihood of plaque rupture, which is responsible for most heart attacks and strokes.

25 Mar 2010

Genetic variation associated with lower risk of sudden cardiac arrest:Study

Physician-scientists at the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute have found that a genetic variation is associated with lower risk of sudden cardiac arrest, a disorder that gives little warning and is fatal in about 95 percent of cases. Findings will be published tomorrow by the Public Library of Science (PloS One).

25 Mar 2010

Findings suggest adipose inflammation is necessary for fat cell turnover

It has been a common opinion that inflammation in adipose tissue may cause insulin resistance, and thereby type 2 diabetes. However, recent research from the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, question the theory that inflammation in the body fat is only pernicious.

25 Mar 2010

Research could pave way for new generation of painkillers

An international group of scientists led by Dr Nikita Gamper of the University's Faculty of Biological Sciences has discovered how two proteins play a key role in the way we feel pain, offering new targets on which drug development can be focused.

25 Mar 2010

Cardiologist receives grant to study impact of erectile dysfunction drugs on muscular dystrophy patients

A Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute cardiologist has been awarded a three-year, nearly $1 million grant from the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) to study whether drugs used to treat erectile dysfunction could also be used to improve muscle blood flow and reduce fatigue in muscular dystrophy patients.

25 Mar 2010

Anesthesia can increase behavioral changes, risk of developing Alzheimer's disease

The use of repetitive anesthesia with isoflurane (one of the most common anesthetics by inhalation) increases the risk of developing changes similar to those observed in AD brains in mice with mutations of the amyloid precursor protein (APP). This is the main conclusion of Spanish researchers coordinated by Doctors Maria -ngeles Mena and Justo Garc-a de Y-benes, from CIBERNED (Centro de Investigaci-n Biom-dica en Red de Enfermedades Neurodegenerativas).

25 Mar 2010

Gesture may be a tool for diagnosing language delays in children with brain lesions

About 1 in 4,000 infants has a brain injury known as pre- or perinatal brain lesions, mainly as a result of stroke, with risk factors involving both mothers and babies. Children with early brain lesions that affect one side of the brain often take longer to reach early language milestones; these delays normalize for many but persist for some.

25 Mar 2010

Bergen research group adopts nanotechnology for cancer research

Professor James Lorens and his team at the University of Bergen's Department of Biomedicine are using nanotechnology to study how to make cells form new blood vessels, both within the patient's body and in the laboratory. In the next phase the team will use this knowledge to investigate the molecular mechanisms that govern the progression of cancer.

24 Mar 2010

Complete structure of Insulin receptor discovered - may assist in drug development for diabetes

Insulin is one of the most commonly used therapeutic agents used in diabetes. While the structure of this complex protein has been studied in detail there were parts of the receptor for insulin that were not clearly defined till now. This receptor is a protein that exists on the surfaces of cells and binds to the insulin molecule. These receptors are responsible for the action of insulin on the cells.

24 Mar 2010

Raising alcohol price shows many benefits

Raise the price of alcohol and reduce the ill effects it causes. May seem like plain common sense and yes now it has research data to support it. British researchers in the University of Sheffield have used a epidemiological, mathematical model to prove that as general price increases the alcohol consumption decreases. So the alcohol related deaths and health care costs will also decrease.

24 Mar 2010

Age and gender play a major role in how people respond to stress

Age and gender play a major role in how people respond to stress, according to a new study on 20-to-64-year-olds. Published in the journal Psychophysiology, the investigation was led by scientists from the Universit- de Montr-al and the Montreal Heart Institute in collaboration with colleagues from the Universit- du Qu-bec - Montr-al and McGill University.

23 Mar 2010