Medical Research News

RSS

The risk of osteoarthritis and index to ring finger length ratio

Index to ring finger length ratio (2D:4D) is a trait known for its sexual differences.

3 Jan 2008

Researchers seek to make cavity-causing bacteria self-destruct

Bacteria that eat sugar and release cavity-causing acid onto teeth may soon be made dramatically more vulnerable to their own acid.

3 Jan 2008

Effects of sleep deprivation reversed

Researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine have shown that the effects of sleep deprivation on cognitive performance can be reversed when the naturally occurring brain peptide, orexin-A, is administered in monkeys.

3 Jan 2008

New hope for Batten disease sufferers

Investigators at the University of Rochester Medical Center have uncovered a promising drug therapy that offers a ray of hope for children with Batten disease – a rare neurodegenerative disease that strikes seemingly healthy kids, progressively robs them of their abilities to see, reason and move, and ultimately kills them in their young twenties.

3 Jan 2008

New understanding of hydrogen peroxide's role in cell health

Hydrogen peroxide, the same mild acid that many people use to disinfectant their kitchens or treat cuts and abrasions, is also produced by the body to keep cells healthy.

3 Jan 2008

Protein's new role discovered in autoimmune disease

Investigators at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) have identified the previously unknown role of a chemical 'messenger' leading to autoimmune disorders like rheumatoid arthritis and lupus.

3 Jan 2008

Protein clue could stop cancer 'creep'

Cancer Research UK scientists have unlocked the secrets of proteins involved in tumour cells creeping away from the original tumour and spreading around the body. Their findings are published in Molecular Cell.

3 Jan 2008

Protein a possible key to allergy and asthma control

Activating a protein found on some immune cells seems to halt the cells' typical job of spewing out substances that launch allergic reactions, a study by Johns Hopkins researchers suggests.

3 Jan 2008

New polyphenol study could reduce the health risk of high-fat foods

Just as additives help gasoline burn cleaner, a research report published in the January 2008 print issue of The FASEB Journal shows that the food industry could take a similar approach toward reducing health risks associated with fatty foods.

3 Jan 2008

MRI techniques evolving towards better assessment of liver fibrosis

MRI imagery is emerging as a non-invasive way to determine the existence and extent of hepatic fibrosis.

3 Jan 2008

Il-22 gene delivers the goods and decreases intestinal inflammation

There are two major types of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), Crohn disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC).

3 Jan 2008

If you're going to experience a period of helplessness, it's best to be alone

New research at the University of Haifa found that laboratory rats that were on their own when exposed to uncontrollable conditions, which create a feeling of helplessness, learned to avoid situations which create such feelings better than rats that were exposed to uncontrollable conditions in pairs.

3 Jan 2008

Epilepsy and brain pathology linked together by the protein ADK

The brain of individuals who suffer from epilepsy is characterized by astrogliosis, a brain pathology evidenced by a complex series of changes in the morphology and function of brain cells known as astrocytes.

3 Jan 2008

New clue found to the cause of Parkinson's disease

A glitch in the mechanism by which cells recycle damaged components may trigger Parkinson's disease, according to a study by scientists at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University.

3 Jan 2008

Hereditary form of colon cancer traced to common ancester in U.S.

A married couple who sailed from England to America around 1630 may be the ancestors of hundreds of people alive today who are at risk for a hereditary form of colon cancer.

3 Jan 2008

Boost for Fragile X research

The 2008 Omnibus Budget, signed by President George Bush on Monday, includes $1,860,000 for the CDC Fragile X Public Health Initiative, more than double the current program funding level.

3 Jan 2008

Artificial viral shells for pinpoint drug delivery

Researchers at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology and The Scripps Research Institute in California are designing an artificial viral shell as a valuable nano-container for pinpoint drug delivery, molecular computing components, and a host of other applications.

3 Jan 2008

Highlights of pulmonary and critical care symposium

New perspectives on lung cancer screening, complications of sleep apnea, cystic fibrosis, and other key topics in pulmonary and critical care medicine are presented in the special January issue of The American Journal of Medical Sciences, published by the Southern Society for Clinical Investigation and Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health, provider of leading healthcare content, context and consulting.

3 Jan 2008

Silence may lead to phantom noises misinterpreted as tinnitus

Phantom noises, that mimic ringing in the ears associated with tinnitus, can be experienced by people with normal hearing in quiet situations, according to new research published in the January 2008 edition of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery.

2 Jan 2008

New drug target for treatment-resistant prostate cancer

Scientists at Jefferson's Kimmel Cancer Center in Philadelphia have found that a signaling protein that is key to prostate cancer cell growth is turned on in nearly all recurrent prostate cancers that are resistant to hormone therapy.

2 Jan 2008