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Tool reliably predicts recovery from coma

A Department of Veterans Affairs and Northwestern University researcher has developed the first reliable measure of neurobehavioral functioning that will help physicians predict the likelihood of a patient recovering consciousness during coma from severe brain injury within the first year of injury--with up to 86 percent certainty.

28 Mar 2005

Variation in the gene ENPP1 may predict risk for diabetes

A particular gene variant that could serve as a predictor for type 2 diabetes has been identified by researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center.

28 Mar 2005

Researchers have identified the proteins that allow specific brain cells to "change channels"

Johns Hopkins researchers have identified the proteins that allow specific brain cells to "change channels," a rare ability that tweaks what can come into the cell. The findings, described in the March 24 issue of Neuron, might let researchers harness the process, perhaps one day using it to protect cells that die in Lou Gehrig's disease.

28 Mar 2005

Vital molecular step in cell migration

A vital molecular step in cell migration, the movement of cells within the body during growth, tissue repair and the body's immune response to invading pathogens, has been demonstrated by researchers in the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine.

28 Mar 2005

Gene/yeast finding links processes in heart disease and cancer

By studying a little-known yeast too primitive to get diseases, Johns Hopkins researchers have uncovered a surprising link between two processes at play in heart disease and cancer in people.

28 Mar 2005

Molecule that causes secondary stroke

Scientists at the University of Cincinnati (UC) College of Medicine have discovered the cause of a deadly type of secondary stroke known as cerebral vasospasm.

28 Mar 2005

Research tool for turning off genes may eventually have therapeutic application

A research team based at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) has identified 80 new genes essential to the process of RNA interference (RNAi), a powerful new research tool for inactivating genes in plants or animals.

28 Mar 2005

Three different leukemias are all caused by mutations that alter a specific enzyme controlling blood cell proliferation

Identifying the genetic malfunction that causes these disorders raises the hope that researchers may be able to devise a targeted therapy, just as they have done for chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), which is presently treated with Gleevec. The three leukemias that share a common genetic cause are polycythemia vera (PV), essential thrombocythemia (ET) and myeloid metaplasia with myelofibrosis (MMM).

28 Mar 2005

Test that will prevent the needless loss of the thyroid gland in people with the noncancerous condition

New research suggests that physicians can distinguish between a type of thyroid cancer and an identical-looking, non-cancerous thyroid condition by simply determining the activity of three genes.

28 Mar 2005

Genome in gut bacterium key to intestinal health

A bacterium that lives in the human gut adaptively shifts more than a quarter of its genes into high gear when its host's diet changes from sugar to complex carbohydrates.

28 Mar 2005

New therapy for treating cat allergies looks promising

Andrew Saxon, M.D., and a team of researchers at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) have found that a molecule designed to block cat allergies can prevent allergic reactions in laboratory mice and was also successful when tested on human cells in a test tube.

28 Mar 2005

Hope of new treatments for liver damage

There is currently no cure for liver cirrhosis and a patient's only hope of survival is to receive a liver transplant.

28 Mar 2005

Primary care office strategies may increase colon cancer screening

Patients are more likely to receive colorectal cancer screening when primary care practices use an office systems approach, according to an article in the March 28 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

28 Mar 2005

Fish is brain food

Researchers with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) found that a diet high in docosahexenoic acid, or DHA--an omega-3 fatty acid found in relatively high concentrations in cold-water fish--dramatically slowed the progression of Alzheimer's disease in mice.

28 Mar 2005

Why it's important for older people to exercise

Researchers now have the physical evidence to show why it's important for older people to exercise. And it comes with the discovery that, in aging racehorses, regular aerobic workouts decreased the prevalence of muscle damage that can be caused by exertion.

28 Mar 2005

Acupuncture treatments using low levels of electrical stimulation can lower blood pressure

Acupuncture treatments using low levels of electrical stimulation can lower elevations in blood pressure by as much as 50 percent, researchers at the Susan Samueli Center for Integrative Medicine at UC Irvine have found.

28 Mar 2005

New directions toward the treatment of bipolar disorder

While lithium treatment has proven to be a godsend for many of the two million Americans with bipolar disorder, it is not without its downside. People on the drug may develop hypothyroidism, tremors, cognitive impairment, and excessive thirst and urination and gain weight.

23 Mar 2005

Bacteria found in the mouth may predict pregnancy outcomes

Researchers from New York University found that certain bacteria from the mouth may be related to preterm delivery and low birthweight according to a study in the Journal of Periodontology (JOP).

23 Mar 2005

Evidence of cross-activation in brain regions of people who see letters and numbers in colors

Synesthesia, a condition characterized by one sensory experience generating another – so that shapes have tastes, for instance – is estimated to affect between 1 in 200 to 1 in 2,000 people. The most common form involves seeing specific letters or numbers (graphemes) in specific colors.

23 Mar 2005

First patient to test new treatment for peripheral arterial disease

For several years, crippling leg pain has prevented Joan Erickson from walking more than a block. If she paused to rest, she could walk a little more, but not enough to continue playing golf, her favorite pastime.

23 Mar 2005