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Pancreatic beta-cells play an important role in the existence of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)

Researchers have discovered that pancreatic beta-cells, which are responsible for insulin secretion, play an important role in the existence of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a hormonal disorder that affects up to 10 percent of reproductive aged women.

12 Jan 2005

Scientists uncover new evidence to help explain statins’ effects in Alzheimer’s disease

Scientists at Jefferson Medical College and the Farber Institute for Neurosciences at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia have taken another step in understanding the potential effects of anti-cholesterol drugs on Alzheimer’s disease.

12 Jan 2005

Euro funding for diabetes and exercise research

Researchers at The University of Nottingham are among a network of European scientists who have been awarded €12.7 million (around £8.7 million) for a study into the relationship between lack of exercise and the development of diabetes — and the health benefits of regular exercise in its prevention and cure.

12 Jan 2005

Research into the physical basis of beliefs and subjective experience

A multidisciplinary research centre at the University of Oxford will examine all types of beliefs, from those that make children think their stockings are filled by Santa Claus to the faith that drives fundamentalist terrorism.

12 Jan 2005

More research needed to explore links between physical activity and built environment

Australian scientists to become key players in international health research

The Minister for Health and Ageing, Tony Abbott announced that Australian researchers now have the opportunity to access A$70 million in international research funding each year and to lead international research teams as part of the Human Frontier Science Program.

12 Jan 2005

Researchers to test new leukemia drug

Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is a malignant cancer of the blood that affects people of all ages. While treatment is available for most of these patients, approximately 20 percent of them do not respond to it. Researchers at McGill teaching hospitals will soon study the effects of a new alternative therapy.

12 Jan 2005

New tool to detect Alzheimer's early

Doctors have long known that smell is one of the first senses to fail as Alzheimer's begins its slow and incurable progression. Tracking the process whereby a person loses their ability to smell could play a pivotal role in early detection and treatment of Alzheimer's. And now researchers at Columbia have developed a tool that will aid early detection.

12 Jan 2005

A little anxiety can be a good thing when it comes to cancer symptoms

A little anxiety can be a good thing when it comes to cancer symptoms according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. They report that people with low overall anxiety levels were more apt to ignore symptoms of rectal cancer for long periods of time, thereby delaying treatment.

12 Jan 2005

What makes an allergen an allergen?

An enduring mystery for allergy researchers has been the unpredictable distribution of allergens in plants. For example, being allergic to birch pollen can predispose a person to allergy from distantly related plant foods such as celery, apple or soy.

12 Jan 2005

Why do women live longer than men?

Research by exercise scientists at Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) may have an answer to the age old question of why women live longer than men.

12 Jan 2005

Elevated blood sugar levels and diabetes are risk factors for developing several types of cancer and mortality

The researchers followed over 1.2 million Koreans for 10 years, tracking new cancer cases and deaths from cancer. Study participants with diabetes, as well as those without diabetes and higher fasting blood sugar levels, were more likely to develop cancer or to die from cancer.

11 Jan 2005

Gold is rewriting the script

Pen strokes of the rich and famous and remote-controlled drug delivery systems of the future have been given the golden treatment in a new technology being developed at the University of Melbourne.

11 Jan 2005

Novel vaccine that uses immune cells as factories to produce Her2/neu protein may offer a way to treat some breast cancers

Based on successful animal studies, a novel vaccine that uses immune cells as factories to produce Her2/neu protein may offer a way to treat some human breast cancers, say researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

10 Jan 2005

Medical recommendations can conflict with a patient’s religious beliefs

Physicians may encounter situations in which their medical recommendations conflict with a patient’s religious beliefs, according to an article in the January 10 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

10 Jan 2005

Weight, fitness and lifestyle are important factors contributing to metabolic syndrome

The metabolic syndrome, a group of several abnormalities, including obesity and high blood pressure, in one individual was identified in 10.4 percent of 36-year-old study participants, according to an article in the January 10 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

10 Jan 2005

Fundamental question of cell death answered

Chunying Du, Ph.D., Assistant Investigator at the Stowers Institute, has published findings that reveal a previously unknown pathway of Bruce, the gene encoding a protein that inhibits apoptosis, or programmed cell death.

10 Jan 2005

Lack of sleep could make you fat

Lack of sleep could make you fat. In an editorial published in the Jan. 10 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, two Northwestern University researchers stress the need to better understand the growing epidemic of obesity in the United States by studying how loss of sleep alters the complex metabolic pathways that control appetite, food intake and energy expenditure.

10 Jan 2005

Plant research may help understand cancer

The development of cancer is a complex process with a number of different causes. The root problem is loss of control in the cell division process. A fundamental biological process, cell division can be studied in many organisms.

10 Jan 2005

Morse code for human cells

Morse code is a simple, effective and clear method of communication and now scientists believe that cells in our body may also be using patterns of signals to switch genes on and off. The discovery may have major implications for the pharmaceutical industry as the signalling molecules that are targeted by drugs may have more than one purpose.

10 Jan 2005