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Evidence strongly supports diuretics as initial metabolic syndrome therapy, especially in black patients

New research shows that in people with high blood pressure as part of metabolic syndrome, a cluster of conditions that increases the risk for heart disease, diuretics offer greater protection against cardiovascular disease, including heart failure, and are at least as effective for lowering blood pressure as newer, more expensive medications.

28 Jan 2008

Malnourishment in young mothers and their babies has consequences well beyond infant health and mortality

Maternal and child under-nutrition have a life-long impact on the health and prospects of the child, potentially affecting future generations.

28 Jan 2008

Medical Research Council and GSK to identify new therapeutic targets from genetic association studies

The Medical Research Council (MRC) and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) have announced the creation of a jointly funded programme seeking to identify and validate genes associated with common human diseases. A key aim of the programme will be to translate these observations into new drug targets and biomarkers of disease.

28 Jan 2008

Unexpected protein-protein interaction suggests new ALS drug target

Discovery of an unexpected protein-protein interaction has led University of Iowa scientists and colleagues to identify a drug that slows the progression of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) in mice and nearly doubles the animals' lifespan.

25 Jan 2008

Telepathic genes recognize similarities in each other

Genes have the ability to recognise similarities in each other from a distance, without any proteins or other biological molecules aiding the process, according to new research published this week in the Journal of Physical Chemistry B.

25 Jan 2008

Weakness found in anthrax bacterium

MIT and New York University researchers have identified a weakness in the defenses of the anthrax bacterium that could be exploited to produce new antibiotics.

25 Jan 2008

Novel method for assigning probabilities to human protein interactions

The Stowers Institute's Proteomics Center has published a novel method of using normalized spectral counts derived from a series of affinity purifications analyzed by mass spectrometry (APMS) to generate a probabilistic measure of the preference of proteins to associate with one another.

25 Jan 2008

Search for the 'on' switches may reveal genetic role in development and disease

A new resource that identifies regions of the human genome that regulate gene expression may help scientists learn about and develop treatments for a number of human diseases, according to researchers at Duke's Institute for Genome Sciences & Policy (IGSP).

25 Jan 2008

Birth control options

With many women still searching for the perfect birth control method, a systematic review analyzes a host of studies comparing the contraceptive skin patch or vaginal ring to the pill.

25 Jan 2008

Researchers unravel mystery of cell division

Experts in mitosis (cell division) at the University of Virginia Health System have made discoveries that explain how one protein the kinase Aurora B could have such a large role in guiding and policing the process of cell division.

25 Jan 2008

Protein that controls hair growth also keeps stem cells slumbering

Like fine china and crystal, which tend to be used sparingly, stem cells divide infrequently.

25 Jan 2008

Celebrex may disrupt heart rhythm

Celebrex, a popular arthritis drug that blocks pain by inhibiting an enzyme known as COX-2, has been shown in laboratory studies to induce arrhythmia, or irregular beating of the heart, via a novel pathway unrelated to its COX-2 inhibition.

25 Jan 2008

New MIT tool probes brain circuits

Researchers at the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory at MIT report in the Jan. 24 online edition of Science that they have created a way to see, for the first time, the effect of blocking and unblocking a single neural circuit in a living animal.

25 Jan 2008

New approach to detect autism earlier

A new way of understanding autistic disorders, incorporating both psychological and biological factors, could lead to the conditions being picked up earlier, research from UNSW has found.

25 Jan 2008

Mental and physical stimulation delays dementia in Huntington's disease

Scientists at Melbourne's Howard Florey Institute have discovered that mental and physical stimulation delays the onset of dementia in the fatal genetic disease, Huntington's disease.

25 Jan 2008

Quitting marijuana as hard as quitting cigarettes

Research by a group of scientists studying the effects of heavy marijuana use suggests that withdrawal from the use of marijuana is similar to what is experienced by people when they quit smoking cigarettes.

25 Jan 2008

M. D. Anderson, AstraZeneca form alliance to advance understanding of cancer-related pain

The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center and AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN) today announced that they will collaborate to help advance understanding of neuropathic pain caused by cancer chemotherapy, a side effect that often limits optimal therapeutic dosing in cancer treatments.

25 Jan 2008

Improved diagnosis of cutaneous leishmaniasis thanks to new techniques

Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a non-lethal disease but can have grave consequences for the patient.

25 Jan 2008

Researchers identify five genes with possible protective capabilities against a Parkinson's disease trait

University of Alabama researchers have identified five genes within animal models displaying protective capabilities against a hallmark trait of Parkinson's disease.

25 Jan 2008

Evolutionary 'battle scars' identify enhanced antiviral activity

Rapid evolution of a protein produced by an immunity gene is associated with increased antiviral activity in humans, a finding that suggests evolutionary biology and virology together can accelerate the discovery of viral-defense mechanisms, according to researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

25 Jan 2008