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Accumulated exposure to lead may be an important but unrecognized risk for developing cataracts in men

Lead continues to pose a significant public health problem in spite of substantial reductions in lead exposure in the United States in the recent past, according to background information in the article.

8 Dec 2004

Breast MRI moderately useful for detecting breast cancer

In women with breast lesions that are suspicious for cancer, based on clinical examination or mammography, performing a breast MRI has high sensitivity but only moderate specificity for detecting breast cancer, but does not necessarily eliminate the need for tissue sampling, according to a study in the December 8 issue of JAMA.

8 Dec 2004

DNA crystal that computes as it grows

In a demonstration that holds promise for future advances in nanotechnology, California Institute of Technology computer scientists have succeeded in building a DNA crystal that computes as it grows. As the computation proceeds, it creates a triangular fractal pattern in the DNA crystal.

7 Dec 2004

Physically fit men visit their doctors less frequently

Physically fit men had fewer overnight hospital stays and visited their doctors less frequently, according to the results of a long-term study published this month in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, the official scientific journal of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM).

7 Dec 2004

Mexican Americans and non-Hispanic Whites born in the United States have a higher risk for developing psychiatric disorders

According to the results of a National Institutes of Health (NIH) study, reported in the December issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry, Mexican Americans and non-Hispanic Whites born in the United States have a higher risk for developing psychiatric disorders than their foreign-born counterparts who have immigrated to the United States.

7 Dec 2004

Revival of a unique and proven cancer treatment, neutron therapy

Northern Illinois University has announced plans to revive a unique and proven cancer treatment that blends advanced medical science with accelerator physics developed at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, a Department of Energy laboratory in Batavia, Ill.

7 Dec 2004

Non-invasive brain-computer interface offers more control than once thought

A brain-computer interface (BCI) that translates electrical signals detected from the scalp into a user's commands offers comparable precision, speed and accuracy to systems that rely on electrodes surgically implanted in the brain, researchers at the Department of Health's Wadsworth Center laboratories have shown.

7 Dec 2004

Gauging the risk from prolonged low-level radiation

Everyone knows that high doses of radiation are dangerous, but the effects of long-term exposure to low-level radiation is poorly understood. RISC-RAD, a new European Union backed research project, seeks to identify our tolerance threshold so as to optimise protective measures.

7 Dec 2004

Ground breaking research in understanding the characteristics of human skin at very high frequencies

Ground breaking research in understanding the characteristics of human skin at millimetric waveband (MMW) frequencies is being conducted at Cranfield University – academic partner to the Royal Military College of Science at Shrivenham, Oxfordshire.

7 Dec 2004

Magnetism does not cause paranormal experiences

Previous research has shown that paranormal experiences can be achieved via electromagnetic stimulation of the temple lobe. Now scientists from Uppsala and Lund universities in Sweden are calling into question how the experiments were set up and therefore questioning the results.

7 Dec 2004

Advanced wound care products to power expansion of European wound care market

The USD 1,111.1 million European wound care market is projected to gradually transition from traditional to advanced wound dressings. While traditional dressings currently dominate the total market, rising awareness of the clinical benefits provided by advanced wound dressings are set to widen their uptake.

7 Dec 2004

Escalating costs and lengthy clinical trials are major concerns for researchers in the field of drug discovery

Escalating costs and lengthy clinical trials are major concerns for researchers attempting to boost productivity and efficiency in the field of drug discovery. Biomarkers are emerging as the solution to these problems with their ability to reduce drug development costs and time.

7 Dec 2004

Research suggests that lack of sleep may be contributing to the obesity pandemic

The recent rise in obesity may be partly due to the reduced amount of time we spend asleep, according to new research from the University of Bristol, UK.

6 Dec 2004

Human parathyroid gland most likely evolved from the gills of fish

The human parathyroid gland, which regulates the level of calcium in the blood, probably evolved from the gills of fish, according to researchers from King's College London.

6 Dec 2004

Babies who do not sleep on their stomachs fail to learn behaviors that may lessen their risk SIDS

Babies who never sleep on their stomachs don't learn behaviors that may lessen their risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found. Even so, the researchers caution that infants should always be placed on their backs to sleep.

6 Dec 2004

65 percent of children have had an imaginary companion

Imagination is alive and thriving in the minds of America's school-age children. It is so prevalent that 65 percent of children report that, by the age of 7, they have had an imaginary companion at some point in their lives, according to a new study by University of Washington and University of Oregon psychologists.

6 Dec 2004

New clues in understanding why group A streptococci (GAS) has a range of bacterial afflictions in humans

Researchers have unlocked new clues in understanding why group A streptococci (GAS) has a range of bacterial afflictions in humans. One of the keys to this species of bacteria is its production of streptokinase (SK), an enzyme that activates plasminogen, the blood clot-dissolving protein in humans.

6 Dec 2004

New insight into anticoagulation therapies

Anticoagulation therapies, or treatments that reduce the amount of clotting factors in the blood, are quite common and used for a variety of reasons.

6 Dec 2004

Novel mutagenesis screen used to identify genetic suppressors of thrombosis

Researchers using a novel sensitized ENU (N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea, a carcinogen-induced animal tumor model established to grow malignant and benign tumors) mutagenesis (induction of mutation) screen in laboratory mice have developed a promising approach to genetic screening that can increase the likelihood of identifying dominant suppressors of thrombosis.

6 Dec 2004

New advances in sickle cell disease

Excruciating pain episodes, recurrent pneumonias, strokes, severe infections, chronic hemolytic anemia, and secondary pulmonary hypertension are common complications of sickle cell disease, a life-threatening inherited defect in blood that causes normally disc-shaped red blood cells to take on a sickle shape.

6 Dec 2004