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IgG, an immune system antibody significantly higher in spinal fluid of blacks with MS

An antibody frequently used as a diagnostic marker for multiple sclerosis (MS) is present at greater levels in the cerebrospinal fluid of blacks with MS than Caucasians with the disease.

4 Jul 2007

30 percent of Americans report having some form of alcohol use disorder

About 30 percent of Americans report having some form of alcohol use disorder at some point in their lifetimes, including 17.8 percent with alcohol abuse and 12.5 percent with alcohol dependence, according to a report in the July issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

4 Jul 2007

Smokeless tobacco, good or bad?

Should the health community promote smokeless tobacco (snus) as a harm reduction measure?

4 Jul 2007

Live donors have genuine concerns with insurance problems

According to a new review in American Journal of Transplantation, people who donate their kidney or part of their liver to help someone else may themselves encounter difficulty with life and health insurance, despite insurance companies saying otherwise.

4 Jul 2007

Study shows inaccuracies in cardiac PET-CT imaging

Current PET-CT scanners with standard commercial software designed to provide images of the heart are falsely indicating coronary artery disease in as many as 40 percent of patients, according to a study published today on the cover page of the Journal of Nuclear Medicine.

4 Jul 2007

Scientists measure distraction

A scientific indicator of how easily distracted you are has been designed by a UCL (University College London) psychologist. It could be used as another assessment tool during the recruitment process and would have particular benefits in fields where employee distraction could lead to fatal errors.

4 Jul 2007

High cholesterol makes people more prone to tick disease human granulocytic anaplasmosis

People who have high cholesterol levels may be much more susceptible to a particular disease transmitted by the bites of ticks, a new study in mice suggests.

4 Jul 2007

Hearing loss and von Hippel-Lindau disease

Patients with the genetic disorder von Hippel-Lindau disease may suddenly experience hearing loss because of a tumor-associated hemorrhage in the inner ear, according to a study in the July 4 issue of JAMA.

4 Jul 2007

Antidepressants not linked to birth defects

Two research studies published in The New England Journal of Medicine found taking SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors), anti-depression drugs, during pregnancy did not significantly increase the overall risk for most birth defects.

4 Jul 2007

Lung cancer patients taking Tarceva who develop a rash fair better

The appearance of a rash in cancer patients treated with erlotinib (Tarceva) is strongly associated with longer survival, according to researchers from the drug's developer, OSI Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

4 Jul 2007

Stem cell procedure successfully treats amyloidosis patients

Researchers from the Stem Cell Transplant Program and the Amyloid Treatment and Research Program at Boston University Medical Center (BUMC) have found that tandem cycles of high-dose chemotherapy and blood stem cell transplantation can help treat patients with immunoglobulin-light chain (AL) Amyloidosis who did not respond to initial treatment with this method.

4 Jul 2007

Risk-taking in infertility treatment correlates with women's negative moods

A study of women's moods during IVF has found a strong relationship between negative mood and multiple embryo transfer, a scientist told the 23rd annual conference of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (Tuesday 3 July).

4 Jul 2007

Bacteria from mouth found in the amniotic fluid of some pregnant women

A study appearing in the July issue of the Journal of Periodontology found bacteria commonly found in the mouth and associated with periodontal diseases in the amniotic fluid of some pregnant women.

4 Jul 2007

Chronic insomnia can lead to anxiety and depression

Everyone has an occasional night of bad sleep. For most people, insomnia lasts only a few days and goes away without treatment.

4 Jul 2007

Promising new therapy for protecting the fertility of women with cancer

A promising new therapy for protecting the fertility of women with cancer and auto-immune diseases such as lupus was revealed at the 23rd annual conference of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology.

4 Jul 2007

Alli jokes - great marketing!

GlaxoSmithKline's new diet drug, Alli, hit shelves nationwide last month.

4 Jul 2007

New medical implants from biomaterials science

A world leader in medical implants calls for a rethink in our approach to building medical implants.

4 Jul 2007

Central command system for pulmonary hypertension discovered

Researchers at the University of Alberta have identified a "central command system" for pulmonary hypertension, a disease that currently has no cure and kills thousands each year.

4 Jul 2007

People with narcolepsy have a high frequency of REM sleep without muscle atonia

Normal rapid eye movement (REM) sleep is characterized by tonic features, including cortical electroencephalogram (EEG) desynchronization and muscle atonia, as well as phasic events, including bursts of REM, phasic activities of both chin and limb electromyography (EMG), and cardiorespiratory variability.

4 Jul 2007

Men physcologically affected by fertility problems as much as women

Although most psychosocial research into infertility is centred round the unhappiness it causes women, men suffer just as much, a scientist will tell the 23rd annual conference of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology today (Wednesday 4 July).

4 Jul 2007