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Mild brain stimulation may enhance motor skills in traumatic brain injury, stroke

People who received a mild electrical current to a motor control area of the brain were significantly better able to learn and perform a complex motor task than those in control groups.

19 Jan 2009

Large DNA stretches, not single genes, shut off as cells mature

Experiments at Johns Hopkins have found that the gradual maturing of embryonic cells into cells as varied as brain, liver and immune system cells is apparently due to the shut off of several genes at once rather than in individual smatterings as previous studies have implied.

19 Jan 2009

Breakthrough in treatment of cancers and infectious diseases

Dr. André Veillette, a researcher at the Institut de recherches cliniques de Montréal (IRCM), and his team led by postdoctoral fellow Dr. Mario-Ernesto Cruz-Munoz, will publish in the upcoming issue of the prestigious journal Nature Immunology of Nature Publishing Group.

19 Jan 2009

Study looks at hospital at-home programs

For select patients, hospital at home treatment produces similar outcomes to inpatient care at similar or lower costs, found a study by researchers from the United Kingdom and Italy to be published in CMAJ.

19 Jan 2009

Gene switch sites found mainly on 'shores,' not just 'islands' of the human genome

Scientists who study how human chemistry can permanently turn off genes have typically focused on small islands of DNA believed to contain most of the chemical alterations involved in those switches.

19 Jan 2009

Three new genetic variations that increase the risk of obesity

The gene variant most strongly associated with childhood obesity and adult morbid obesity in the study is located near the PTER gene, the function of which is not known. This variant is estimated to account for up to a third of all childhood obesity, and a fifth of all cases of adult obesity.

19 Jan 2009

Transarterial chemoembolization as liver cancer treatment

Using tiny chemotherapy-soaked beads to choke off and kill cancerous liver tumors is becoming more successful, according to research being presented at the 21st annual International Symposium on Endovascular Therapy (ISET).

19 Jan 2009

Survivorship care after breast cancer, call for more action

As the nation's growing population of breast cancer survivors ages, many patients will likely develop common chronic illnesses like diabetes and heart disease, and they'll need specialized care to balance those problems with the late effects of cancer therapies they received.

19 Jan 2009

New scan shows bleeding inside heart after heart attack

Images that for the first time show bleeding inside the heart after people have suffered a heart attack have been captured by scientists, in a new study published today in the journal Radiology.

19 Jan 2009

Altered brain activity in schizophrenia may direct focus on self

Schizophrenia may blur the boundary between internal and external realities by overactivating a brain system that is involved in self-reflection, and thus causing an exaggerated focus on self, a new MIT and Harvard brain imaging study has found.

19 Jan 2009

MRSA's weak point visualised by scientists

An enzyme that lives in Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and helps the dangerous bacterium to grow and spread infection through the human body has been visualised for the first time, according to a study out today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

19 Jan 2009

Ground-breaking test for spem quality

Scientists have developed a ground-breaking method for testing the quality of a sperm before it is used in IVF and increase the chances of conception.

19 Jan 2009

Osteoporosis? Look out for depression

A review article which is published in the current issue of the European Journal Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics analyzes the relationship between depression and bone metabolism.

19 Jan 2009

Opinion piece, editorial examine qualification of potential surgeon general nominee gupta

Two newspapers recently published an opinion piece and an editorial on the qualifications of Sanjay Gupta, a neurosurgeon and chief medical correspondent at CNN, whom President-elect Barack Obama reportedly seeks to nominate as the next U.S. surgeon general. Summaries appear below.

19 Jan 2009