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Adult-onset obesity seen in mice when gene ubiquitin disrupted

Texas and California scientists who disrupted one type of the gene ubiquitin (Ubb) in mice observed neuronal death in the hypothalamus, impaired control of energy balance and adult-onset obesity in the rodents.

27 Feb 2008

Adult stem cells may be beneficial for certain cardiovascular disorders and autoimmune diseases

A review of previously published research suggests that stem cells harvested from an adult's blood or marrow may provide treatment benefit to select patients for some autoimmune diseases and cardiovascular disorders, according to an article in the February 27 issue of JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association.

27 Feb 2008

You are what you eat and drink - and that is recorded in your hair

University of Utah scientists developed a new crime-fighting tool by showing that human hair reveals the general location where a person drank water, helping police track past movements of criminal suspects or unidentified murder victims.

27 Feb 2008

Tenofovir gel safe for daily use over an extended period

A vaginal microbicide that incorporates an antiretroviral (ARV) drug normally used to treat people with HIV is safe for sexually active HIV-negative women to use every day over an extended period, suggest results of a clinical trial of tenofovir topical gel.

27 Feb 2008

Cognitive impairment among older Americans is declining

Rates of cognitive impairment among older Americans are on the decline, according to a new study supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) comparing the cognitive health of older people in 1993 and 2002.

27 Feb 2008

Step-parents influence teenage smoking behaviour

Smoking by a non-biological parent is as influential as smoking by biological parents in determining whether their teenager smokes, reveal the results of a Cancer Research UK study published in the journal Addiction.

27 Feb 2008

Spinal cord injury may not increase risk of heart disease

Americans who live with spinal cord injury do not appear to be at greater risk of developing carbohydrate and lipid disorders such as insulin resistance, diabetes, impaired glucose tolerance, and high or low blood cholesterol levels - risk factors for heart disease - than able-bodied persons, according to a new evidence review by HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

27 Feb 2008

Discovery of new receptor complex in brain - better understanding of how hallucinations occur

Mount Sinai researchers have identified a new receptor complex in the brain that responds to several types of antipsychotic drugs used to treat schizophrenia and also reacts to hallucinogenic drugs such as LSD.

27 Feb 2008

Enzyme Cdk1 may lead to new cancer therapies

With a four-year, $707,000 grant from the American Cancer Society, Yanchang Wang, assistant professor of biomedical sciences in the Florida State University College of Medicine, hopes to learn how a particular enzyme could possibly help put the brakes on the runaway cell division process that occurs in many forms of cancer.

27 Feb 2008

OHSU Cancer Institute research gives hope for chemo holidays for men with advanced prostate cancer

Oregon Health & Science University Cancer Institute researchers, in a first-of-its-kind study, have found that even men with advanced prostate cancer can take a much-needed safe break, or holiday, from chemotherapy.

27 Feb 2008

18-24 year olds have highest approval rating for cosmetic surgery

In a new study commissioned by the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS), men and women ages 18-24 had the highest approval rating for cosmetic surgery.

27 Feb 2008

Leptin which suppresses hunger could be the way to beat obesity

Australian scientists say a hormone that suppresses hunger may be far more powerful when it comes to weight loss than first thought.

26 Feb 2008

"Beautiful Boy" author reaches out to parents as a guest blogger on Drugfree.org

The Partnership for a Drug-Free America is proud to have David Sheff, parent and author of "Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction," as a guest blogger on the Partnership's parent-to-parent blog, Decoder (decoder.drugfree.org), which engages the everyday issues of raising healthy, drug-free teens.

26 Feb 2008

PolyTherics and Celtic Pharma sign agreement to explore technologies for improved drug performance

PolyTherics Limited, a biopharmaceutical spin-out company from Imperial College London and the London School of Pharmacy, and Celtic Pharma Development Services Bermuda Ltd, a subsidiary of Celtic Pharmaceutical Holdings LP, a global private equity investment fund focused on the biopharma industry, today announced that they have entered into a broad research collaboration agreement.

26 Feb 2008

Extract of broccoli sprouts may protect against bladder cancer

A concentrated extract of freeze dried broccoli sprouts cut development of bladder tumors in an animal model by more than half, according to a report in the March 1 issue of Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

26 Feb 2008

Mail order pharmacies growing more popular

Of Americans who buy prescription drugs, the proportion who purchase them from mail order pharmacies rose from just under 9 percent in 2000 to just over 13 percent in 2005, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

26 Feb 2008

Researchers isolate biomarkers in the blood that identify mood disorders

Indiana University School of Medicine researchers have isolated biomarkers in the blood that identify mood disorders, a breakthrough that may change the way bipolar illness is diagnosed and treated.

26 Feb 2008

Mechanism of blood clot elasticity revealed in high definition

Blood clots can save lives, staunching blood loss after injury, but they can also kill. Let loose in the bloodstream, a clot can cause a heart attack, stroke or pulmonary embolism.

26 Feb 2008

Hormone therapy increases frequency of abnormal mammograms, breast biopsies

Combined hormone therapy appears to increase the risk that women will have abnormal mammograms and breast biopsies, and it may decrease the effectiveness of both methods for detecting breast cancer, according to a report in the Feb. 25 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

26 Feb 2008

High zinc status in lung cells slows growth and induces DNA

Researchers at the University of Maryland at College Park have discovered that Normal Human Bronchial Epithelial (NHBE) cells cultured in medium with elevated zinc level, at the high end of plasma zinc attainable by oral supplementation, demonstrated inhibition of cell growth, up-regulation of growth arrest and DNA damage-induced gene (Gadd45) mRNA and protein expression, and blockage of G2/M cell cycle progression.

26 Feb 2008