Medical Research News

RSS

Miracle diets are useless to get a stable negative energy balance

After summer holidays, miracle-diet adherents stick to these diets to lose the weight gained in the last months in record time.

11 Sep 2007

Occupational vocal cord dysfunction

Researchers from the UAB and the Vall d'Hebron Hospital have diagnosed two patients affected with vocal cord dysfunction, which causes coughing and difficulty in breathing due to irritating agents that are breathed in at the workplace.

10 Sep 2007

Novel enzyme may offer huge range of potential therapeutic agents

By guiding an enzyme down a new evolutionary pathway, a team of University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers has created a new form of an enzyme capable of producing a range of potential new therapeutic agents with anticancer and antibiotic properties.

10 Sep 2007

Genetic causes of rheumatoid arthritis

The human genome has now been thoroughly screened in the hunt for the genetic causes of rheumatoid arthritis. The results, which both confirms previous hypotheses and turn the spotlight on entirely new genes, are presented in two articles in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine.

10 Sep 2007

Women more at risk from sleep deprivation than men

New research led by researchers at Warwick Medical School at the University of Warwick reveals that women's health is much more at risk from sleep deprivation than men's.

10 Sep 2007

New genetic risk factor for rheumatoid arthritis and lupus

A genetic variation has been identified that increases the risk of two chronic, autoimmune inflammatory diseases: rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and systemic lupus erythematosus (lupus).

10 Sep 2007

Researchers make new discovery on pigment melanin and skin - hair color

The pigment melanin, which is responsible for skin and hair color in mammals, is produced in specialized cells called melanocytes and then distributed to other cells. But not every cell in the complex layers of skin becomes pigmented.

10 Sep 2007

Researchers develop mouse model of autism spectrum disorders

Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers have genetically engineered mice that harbor the same genetic mutation found in some people with autism and Asperger syndrome.

10 Sep 2007

Discovery of tendon cells that self-renew

Athletes know that damage to a tendon can signal an end to their professional careers. But a consortium of scientists, led in part by USC School of Dentistry researcher Songtao Shi, has identified unique cells within the adult tendon that have stem-cell characteristics - including the ability to proliferate and self-renew.

10 Sep 2007

New techniques to diagnose hearing loss

A Purdue University researcher is working on a new technique to diagnose hearing loss in a way that more accurately reflects real-world situations.

10 Sep 2007

Mutated mice provide new insights into autism

Mice containing a mutated human gene implicated in autism exhibit the poor social skills but increased intelligence akin to the title character's traits in the movie “Rain Man,” researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found.

10 Sep 2007

Research looks at prions and retroviruses

National Research Center for Environment and Health in Neuherberg/Munich (Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres) the group is continuing to search for cellular components whose make-up is changed as a result of a prion infection.

10 Sep 2007

Opioid-based pain medications may cause sleep apnea

Opioid-based pain medications may cause sleep apnea, according to an article in the September issue of Pain Medicine, the journal of the American Academy of Pain Medicine.

10 Sep 2007

Bad news for disease-causing bacteria!

Scientists have what could be some very bad news for disease-causing bacteria. All three major classes of antibiotics that kill infectious bacteria do so in part by ramping up the production of harmful free radicals, researchers report in the September 7, 2007, issue of Cell, a publication of Cell Press.

10 Sep 2007

Safer gene therapy - biodegradable polymers to deliver genes

In work that could lead to safe and effective techniques for gene therapy, MIT researchers have found a way to fine-tune the ability of biodegradable polymers to deliver genes.

10 Sep 2007

Research highlights importance of starch in human beginnings

To think that world domination could have begun in the cheeks. That's one interpretation of a discovery, published online September 9 in Nature Genetics, which indicates that humans carry extra copies of the salivary amylase gene.

10 Sep 2007

New technique for growing cartilage from human embryonic stem cells

Rice University biomedical engineers have developed a new technique for growing cartilage from human embryonic stem cells, a method that could be used to grow replacement cartilage for the surgical repair of knee, jaw, hip, and other joints.

10 Sep 2007

A chink in bacteria's armor

Biomedical researchers at Boston University's College of Engineering may have discovered the path toward developing better drugs capable of defeating so-called “superbugs,” bacteria that have developed resistance to common antibiotics. The researchers have discovered a previously unknown chain of events occurring in bacteria that opens to door to new avenues of research.

10 Sep 2007

Experts say screening families of heart attack victims could save many lives

Scottish researchers say by screening the relatives of middle-aged heart attack sufferers many lives would be saved.

9 Sep 2007

Scientists speed healing of bone damage

Blocking a naturally occurring inhibitor of bone formation accelerates healing of skull defects in mice, say researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital. The finding advances the understanding of how the skeleton develops and opens new therapeutic avenues for many of the disorders that are expected to afflict aging baby boomers.

5 Sep 2007