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Enhancing the function of the protein SOCS3 could be a more effective way to regulate cell responses

A discovery made at The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute provides new insights into enhancing the function of the protein SOCS3, which regulates the response of cells to external stimuli.

26 Apr 2006

Preconception health care should be part of routine medical visits

Every visit to the doctor for women of childbearing age should be considered an opportunity to discuss reproductive health- especially since more than half of all pregnancies are unintended, according to a report published today in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's journal Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report Recommendations and Reports.

26 Apr 2006

Preconception health care should be part of routine medical visits

26 Apr 2006

Protein made by cancer virus explains how the virus spreads

New research shows that a protein made by a cancer virus causes infected immune cells to cling to other immune cells, enabling the virus to spread.

26 Apr 2006

Does secondhand smoke increase the risk of cardiovascular disease in children?

Whether exposure to secondhand smoke increases the chance that children with a family history of cardiovascular disease will develop the disease themselves is under study at the Medical College of Georgia.

26 Apr 2006

Potential vaccine for visceral leishmaniasis developed

Development of a fundamentally new "candidate," or potential, vaccine for visceral leishmaniasis (LEASH-ma-NIGH-a-sis), a parasitic disease that kills about 60,000 people annually, is reported in the current issue of ACS Chemical Biology. Spread by the bite of infected female sand flies, visceral leishmaniasis infects about 500,000 people annually, with the majority of cases occurring in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sudan and Brazil.

26 Apr 2006

New technique to speed discovery of drug targets in chemical genetics

Researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Center have developed a new technique to speed discovery of drug targets in chemical genetics. Fox Chase researcher Jeffrey R. Peterson, Ph.D., and his colleagues describe a new way to swiftly find the proteins targeted by small molecule inhibitors during high-throughput screening (HTS) experiments. The new work offers a critical solution to a common stumbling block in this booming field of drug discovery.

26 Apr 2006

New Hybrid virus may aid treatment of cancer

Researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center have created a new class of hybrid virus and demonstrated its ability to find, highlight, and deliver genes to tumors in mice.

26 Apr 2006

Evidence explains relationship between television and poor diet in children

Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and Children's Hospital Boston found that kids who spend more time watching television also eat more of the calorie-dense, low-nutrient foods advertised on television. Previous studies had demonstrated that children who watch more television are more likely to be overweight, but this is the first time a research team has found evidence for a mechanism explaining that relationship.

26 Apr 2006

Caspase-12 antagonists could potentially be useful in the treatment of sepsis and other inflammatory and immune disorders

According to the new study, the presence of caspase-12, which appears to modulate inflammation and innate immunity in humans, increases the body's "vulnerability to bacterial infection and septic shock" while a deficiency confers strong resistance to sepsis. This new discovery suggests that caspase-12 antagonists could be a potentially useful in the treatment of sepsis and other inflammatory and immune disorders.

26 Apr 2006

Friends and family can protect against Alzheimer's disease

Having close friends and staying in contact with family members offers a protective effect against the damaging effects of Alzheimer's disease according to research by physicians at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. The study, which is currently posted online in The Lancet Neurology, will be published in the May print edition of the journal.

26 Apr 2006

New drug may revolutionize how chronic iron overload is treated in chronic anemia patients

Those with severe chronic anemias need frequent blood transfusions to remain healthy, but such frequent transfusions can cause a potentially deadly buildup of iron in the body, leading to heart and liver failure. The traditional treatment to remove excess iron is so onerous that many patients choose to forgo it, putting their own lives at risk. The results of an international study on deferasirox, a new drug that may revolutionize the way chronic iron overload is treated, will be published in the May 1, 2006, issue of Blood, the official journal of the American Society of Hematology.

26 Apr 2006

Forsenol reduces tablet burden on end stage renal disease patients with hyperphospatemia

According to data presented at the National Kidney Foundation's (NKF) 2006 clinical meeting in Chicago, IL, a conversion to the non-calcium phosphate binder FOSRENOL (lanthanum carbonate) from other phosphate binder therapies provides continued mean serum phosphorus control for end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients with hyperphosphatemia, while significantly reducing their daily tablet burden and the total daily dose of phosphate binder medication.

26 Apr 2006

Researchers identify characteristics that may lead to alcoholism

Those who are male and have behavioral disinhibition have the highest risk of developing alcoholism. Also, individuals with a family history of alcoholism (FH+) have a greater risk of developing alcoholism themselves than do persons with no family history, while FH+ individuals who are male and have behavioral disinhibition may have the greatest risk of developing alcoholism. Researchers caution that these combined characteristics indicate a greater probability, not certainty, of developing alcoholism.

26 Apr 2006

European flu pandemic plans show gaps and inconsistencies

A report reveals marked discrepancies in pandemic preparedness across Europe. The authors conclude that further planning and implementation is needed so that governments can effectively respond in the event of a pandemic, recommending action by the European Union to ensure governments work together towards a coordinated approach.

26 Apr 2006

Four subtypes of blood cancer identified

Scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and collaborators have identified four distinct genetic subtypes of multiple myeloma, a deadly blood cancer, that have different prognoses and might be treated most effectively with drugs specifically targeted to those subtypes.

26 Apr 2006

Parents need to be helped to know how to talk about cancer with their children

Cancer is relatively common among women of childbearing age. Although the importance of communication with patients and their families has been recognised, relatively little has been published about communication with children when their parent is newly diagnosed as having cancer.

26 Apr 2006

Anthrax killed by protein that explodes cell walls

Not all biological weapons are created equal. They are separated into categories A through C, category A biological agents being the scariest: They are easy to spread, kill effectively and call for special actions by the pubic health system. One of these worrisome organisms is anthrax, which has already received its fair share of media attention. But work in Vince Fischetti's laboratory at Rockefeller University suggests that a newly discovered protein could be used to fight anthrax infections and even decontaminate areas in which anthrax spores have been released.

26 Apr 2006

Medical adhesive may be produced from the strongest glue found in nature

A bacterium that lives in rivers, streams and human aqueducts uses nature's strongest glue to stay in one place. The bacterium could be mass produced and used to coat surfaces for medical and engineering purposes.

26 Apr 2006