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Growth hormone treatment improves symptoms of metabolic disorder in postmenopausal women

Researchers in Sweden have discovered that growth hormone (GH) treatment may result in the reduction of multiple metabolic disorders associated with abdominal obesity in postmenopausal women.

8 Mar 2005

College students not at a greater risk for alcohol dependence problems

Although college students had higher rates of yearly, monthly, and weekly alcohol use than their peers not attending college, they did not appear to be at a greater risk for alcohol dependence problems, according to an article in the March issue of Archives of General Psychiatry.

7 Mar 2005

A weighty issue: can your eating habits make you infertile?

The societal pressures on women to be attractive, successful, and thin are stronger than ever. The desirable woman portrayed in the media is much thinner than the average woman. Popular slogans such as "thin is in" and "you can never be too rich or too thin" have equated thinness with happiness. The result is that for the first time in history, being attractive means being thin.

7 Mar 2005

Underhand methods used to challenge secondhand smoke's link to infant death risk

The link between secondhand smoke and sudden infant death has been discredited in the last few years in scientific articles paid for and influenced by cigarette manufacturers, according to a new study of once-secret industry documents.

7 Mar 2005

Mutations in newly discovered gene, NPHP5 cause Senior-Loken syndrome

Scientists at the University of Michigan Medical School have discovered a gene called NPHP5 and found mutations in this gene that cause a rare genetic disease called Senior-Loken syndrome. Children with this syndrome develop a type of cystic kidney disease called nephronophthisis, as well as a form of blindness called retinitis pigmentosa.

3 Mar 2005

Important advance in our understanding of colorectal cancer

An international team of medical scientists has made an important advance in our understanding of the second most fatal form of cancer in the industrialized world. Professor Jeremy R. Jass, who holds a Canada Research Chair in Gastrointestinal Pathology at McGill University in Montreal

3 Mar 2005

Abnormal brain structure tied to spatial, numerical thinking problems when children lack part of chromosome

Certain genetic diseases affect children's educational abilities in a distinctive pattern: impairing their numerical abilities more than their verbal skills. New research sheds light on this split in abilities by investigating how differences in brain structures may influence how the mind works.

3 Mar 2005

Possible treatment for Fragile X syndrome

The first evidence for a possible treatment for Fragile X syndrome, one of the leading inherited causes of mental retardation, has emerged from experiments with a mutant fruit fly that exhibits characteristics of the disorder.

2 Mar 2005

Scientists gain new insight into DiGeorge syndrome

A collaboration of European scientists has uncovered new insight into the most common chromosomal microdeletion syndrome in humans.

28 Feb 2005

Mystery blood vessel disorder implicated in lacunar or "mini" strokes

Physicians have long been puzzled by a condition called intracranial arterial dolichoectasia, in which the larger arteries of the brain become elongated and misshapen.

28 Feb 2005

Novel mutation in the recently identified LRRK2 gene causes parkinsonism

Neuroscientists at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla., leading a team of researchers in the United States and Europe, have discovered that a novel mutation in the recently identified LRRK2 gene causes parkinsonism in several North American and European families.

27 Feb 2005

Scientists identify immune-system mutation

A team of Fox Chase Cancer Center scientists led by immunologist Dietmar J. Kappes, Ph.D., has identified the genetic mutation that keeps a mouse strain from developing white blood cells, or lymphocytes, called helper T cells. The report by Kappes and his colleagues appears in the Feb. 24 issue of Nature.

27 Feb 2005

Early Alzheimer's disease may be precipitated by a neuron traffic jam

Early Alzheimer's disease may be precipitated by a “traffic jam” within neurons that causes swelling and prevents proper transport of proteins and structures in the cells, according to new studies by Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers.

27 Feb 2005

NICE promotes use of dual-chamber pacemakers for treating bradycardia

In new medical guidance for England and Wales published today, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) promotes the expanded use of dual-chamber pacemakers for treating slow heart rhythms, called bradycardia, which affect an estimated 100,000 people in the UK.

23 Feb 2005

Short-term use of selective COX-2 inhibitors may be safe for patients with cirrhosis of the liver

Short-term use of selective COX-2 inhibitors may be safe for patients with cirrhosis of the liver, according to a recent study that compared the effects of celecoxib, naproxen, and a placebo on cirrhotic patients in a double-blind randomized controlled study.

22 Feb 2005

Antibody that neutralizes most HIV strains

A group of scientists from The Scripps Research Institute and several other institutions has solved the structure of a rare human antibody that broadly neutralizes human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).

22 Feb 2005

U.S. Surgeon General urges women who are pregnant to abstain from alcohol

U.S. Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona today warned pregnant women and women who may become pregnant to abstain from alcohol consumption in order to eliminate the chance of giving birth to a baby with any of the harmful effects of the Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD).

22 Feb 2005

Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome in snorers

An overnight sleep test is required to distinguish ordinary snorers from persons with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS), according to a study in the current issue of Archives of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery.

21 Feb 2005

As little as one drink per week may harm your baby

Expectant mothers should be advised not to drink alcohol, as this may pose health risks to the foetus, argues an editorial in this week's BMJ.

20 Feb 2005

Link between muscle movement and breathing rhythms may shed new light on SIDS and sleep apnea

Between 2,000 and 3,000 infant deaths each year are attributed to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. In addition, approximately 12 million Americans suffer from sleep apnea, a respiratory ailment that can lead to death in some cases.

17 Feb 2005