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Could brain abnormality predict drug addiction?

Scientists at The University of Nottingham are to use MRI technology to discover whether abnormalities in the decision-making part of the brain could make some people more likely to become addicted to drugs.

22 Oct 2008

Skin creams can actually dry the skin

Many people have noticed that as soon as you start using a skin cream, you have to continue with it; if you stop lubricating, your skin becomes drier than when you started. And now there is research to confirm for the first time that normal skin can become drier from creams. Izabela Buraczewska presents these findings in the dissertation she is publicly defending at Uppsala University in Sweden on October 24.

22 Oct 2008

Sudden cardiac death number one risk for patients on dialysis

In a 10-year study of more than a thousand kidney failure patients, sudden cardiac death emerged as the number one cause of death for patients on dialysis, according to a Johns Hopkins researcher. The study, already published online and appearing in the Nov. 2 issue of Kidney International, identified systemic inflammatory response and malnutrition as key risk factors for the fatal heart attacks.

22 Oct 2008

Gene study sheds new light on lung cancer

A multi-institution team, funded by the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), today reported results of the largest effort to date to chart the genetic changes involved in the most common form of lung cancer, lung adenocarcinoma. The findings should help pave the way for more individualized approaches for detecting and treating the nation's leading cause of cancer deaths.

22 Oct 2008

UK teenage suicide rates on the decline

Suicide rates in those aged 10-19 in the UK declined by 28% in the seven year period from 1997-2003, shows a study published today in The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. The study, carried out by researchers at the University of Manchester, showed that the decline was particularly marked in young males, where rates declined by 35%.

22 Oct 2008

Gene find sheds light on motor neuron diseases like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Scientists have identified a gene in mice that plays a central role in the proper development of one of the nerve cells that goes bad in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease, and some other diseases that affect our motor neurons.

22 Oct 2008

Developing depression after a heart attack increases one’s risk of death or readmission

Science has found many links between depression and other serious medical illnesses, such as cancer, stroke, diabetes, and heart disease. For example, people who develop depression following a heart attack (myocardial infarction) or chest pain (angina) have an elevated risk of cardiac death or hospital readmission over the following year.

22 Oct 2008

Education and work help beat Alzheimer's

New research has revealed that education and a mentally demanding job protects people from Alzheimer's disease.

22 Oct 2008

Direct link found between college students' health and academic achievement

Research from the United States has found that lack of sleep, excessive computer screen time and stress have a negative effect on college students' grades.

22 Oct 2008

Rate of suicide in U.S. increases for first time in a decade

The increase in the overall suicide rate between 1999 and 2005 was due primarily to an increase in suicides among whites aged 40-64, with white middle-aged women experiencing the largest annual increase.

21 Oct 2008

Researchers identify novel type of antibody that potently inhibits HIV infection

A small antibody fragment that is highly effective in neutralizing the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) by preventing the virus from entering cells has been identified by researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

21 Oct 2008

A little exercise prolongs life expectancy for people with heart disease

Exercising once a week can help prolong life expectancy for people with heart disease according to a new study from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim, Norway.

21 Oct 2008

Cell phones and brain cancer - major research initiatives needed

Major research initiatives are needed immediately to assess the possibility that using cellular phones may lead to an increased risk of brain tumors, according to an editorial in the November issue of the journal Surgical Neurology, published by Elsevier.

21 Oct 2008

Discovery of genetic switch critical for cell survival in Hypoxia

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have identified a critical metabolic "switch" in fruit flies that helps oxygen-deprived cells survive. "A transcriptional suppressor, called hairy, is crucial for reducing the mismatch between supply and demand of oxygen," said Dan Zhou, first author on the study, published October 17 in the open-access journal PLoS Genetics.

21 Oct 2008

Laser treatment works well on sun-damaged skin

Researchers in the United States have found that sun-damaged skin responds well to laser treatment - which is good news for people with skin badly damaged by exposure to the sun.

21 Oct 2008

Beta-blockers raise the risk of a heart attack after surgery

A new study has found that for some patients undergoing surgery, beta-blockers before and around the time of the operation increases their risk of heart attack and death.

21 Oct 2008

Junk food responsible for 35% of the world's heart attacks

New research by Canadian scientists says junk food causes a third of all heart attacks and it is diets heavy in fried foods, salty snacks and meat which are the culprits.

21 Oct 2008

Fatty acids may be the culprit in Alzheimer's

According to new research from the U.S. controlling the level of a fatty acid in the brain could help treat Alzheimer's disease (AD).

21 Oct 2008

Gene could 'knock the sox' off cancer!

Australian scientists from the Institute for Molecular Bioscience at The University of Queensland (UQ), have identified a gene which could very well 'knock the sox' off cancer and lymphatic disorders.

21 Oct 2008

Contact lenses are home to pathogenic amoebae

Contact lenses increase the risk of infection with pathogenic protozoa that can cause blindness. New research, published in the November issue of the Journal of Medical Microbiology, shows that a high percentage of contact lens cases in Tenerife are contaminated with Acanthamoeba that cannot be killed by normal contact lens solution.

20 Oct 2008