Medical Research News

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Brain trick offers treatment hope for Alzheimer's

Scientists in the UK and Canada have made a significant step forward in the search for new drugs to treat Alzheimer's disease.

2 Jul 2008

Artichoke leaf extract shown to lower cholesterol

Researchers at the University of Reading have found that an over-the-counter Artichoke Leaf Extract (ALE) from the globe artichoke plant can lower cholesterol in otherwise healthy individuals with moderately raised levels.

2 Jul 2008

Effects of magic mushrooms long-lasting

Researchers in the United States say the "spiritual" effects of sacred mushrooms can last for more than a year.

2 Jul 2008

GILZ protein may have big role in making more bone and less fat

A small protein may have a big role in helping you make more bone and less fat, researchers say. "The pathways are parallel, and the idea is if you can somehow disrupt the fat production pathway, you will get more bone," says Dr. Xingming Shi, bone biologist at the Medical College of Georgia Institute of Molecular Medicine and Genetics.

1 Jul 2008

Discovery of gene mechanism could lead to new therapeutic strategies to fight metastatic disease

Virginia Commonwealth University and VCU Massey Cancer Center researchers have uncovered how a gene, melanoma differentiation associated gene-7/interleukin-24 (mda-7/IL-24), induces a bystander effect that kills cancer cells not directly receiving mda-7/IL-24 without harming healthy ones, a discovery that could lead to new therapeutic strategies to fight metastatic disease.

1 Jul 2008

UVB does more damage to DNA than UVA

As bombs burst in air this July 4, chances are that sunburn will be the red glare that most folks see - and feel. But unfortunately, even when there is no burn, the effects of the sun's ultraviolet (UV) rays can have deadly consequences.

1 Jul 2008

New discovery a step towards better diabetes treatment

In the July 2nd issue of the prestigious journal Cell Metabolism Uppsala scientists are presenting new findings that shed light on the processes that determine the release of the blood sugar-lowering hormone insulin.

1 Jul 2008

Yeast-based vaccine induces immune responses and reduces tumor size in mice

Scientists have found that vaccination with a heat-killed, non-toxic yeast that is genetically engineered to manufacture a common tumor protein can induce specific and repeated anti-tumor immune responses in mice.

1 Jul 2008

New technique produces genetically identical stem cells

Adult cells of mice created from genetically reprogrammed cells-so-called induced pluripotent stem (IPS) stem cells-can be triggered via drug to enter an embryonic-stem-cell-like state, without the need for further genetic alteration.

1 Jul 2008

Spiritual effects of 'sacred mushrooms' appear to last more than a year

In a follow-up to research showing that psilocybin, a substance contained in "sacred mushrooms," produces substantial spiritual effects, a Johns Hopkins team reports that those beneficial effects appear to last more than a year.

1 Jul 2008

Cancer cells revert to normal at specific signal threshold

Cancer starts when key cellular signals run amok, driving uncontrolled cell growth. But scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine report that lowering levels of one cancer signal under a specific threshold reverses this process in mice, returning tumor cells to their normal, healthy state. The finding could help target cancer chemotherapy to tumors while minimizing side effects for the body's healthy cells.

1 Jul 2008

Stem cell research from an ethical point of view

New Springer book debates the moral status of the human embryo with special regard to stem cell research and therapy.

1 Jul 2008

You are not what you eat.....you are what your mother ate!

According to new research, you are not what you eat - but rather what your mother ate when she was having you!

1 Jul 2008

Australian scientists discover reason for extreme allergic reactions

Australian scientists believe they have discovered why some people experience extreme allergic reactions and their find could lead to new treatments for what seems to be an increasingly common problem.

1 Jul 2008

New comprehensive map of brain connections

An international team of researchers has created the first complete high-resolution map of how millions of neural fibers in the human cerebral cortex -- the outer layer of the brain responsible for higher level thinking -- connect and communicate. Their groundbreaking work identified a single network core, or hub, that may be key to the workings of both hemispheres of the brain.

30 Jun 2008

Neural stem cell development may be linked to Autism

In a breakthrough scientific study published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists at the Burnham Institute for Medical Research have shown that neural stem cell development may be linked to Autism.

30 Jun 2008

Hypertension, insulin resistance and immune suppression links

Many of the 75 million Americans with essential hypertension also develop diabetes and other complications in addition to their high blood pressure, and researchers have discovered a common molecular mechanism in a strain of rat that explains why such metabolic disorders arise together in mammals.

30 Jun 2008