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Stem cell injections may help those with severe peripheral artery disease

Indiana University School of Medicine scientists have begun a unique clinical trial using stem cell injections as a treatment that could offer hope to tens of thousands of people who face sores, ulcers and even amputations due to severe peripheral artery disease.

14 Feb 2006

2.6m for radical new treatment for kidney dialysis patients

An innovative new medical approach which could substantially improve the quality of life for over a million kidney dialysis patients, and bring huge savings to health services around the globe has received an investment...

14 Feb 2006

Treatment method improves survival for advanced laryngeal cancer

Chemotherapy and radiation can be effective at treating cancer of the larynx, or voice box, without removing the organ that controls speech and swallowing. But it doesn't work for everyone.

13 Feb 2006

Simple diagnostic imaging procedure changes treatment for lower back pain

A simple diagnostic imaging procedure can help identify patients with lower back pain who would benefit from spinal injections and spare those who would not, according to a study appearing in the February issue of Radiology.

13 Feb 2006

Chink in cancer's armor

Much as the famed starship Enterprise would deploy a deflector shield to evade enemy attack, tumor cells are capable of switching on a molecular force field of their own to fend off treatments aimed at killing them. Now University of Florida researchers have found a chink in their armor.

13 Feb 2006

Flow technique - a quick and simple technique to characterize breast cancer cells

A quick and simple technique to characterize breast cancer cells may expedite and improve treatment decisions, researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago report in the journal of Experimental and Molecular Pathology.

12 Feb 2006

Minimally invasive surgery okay for problems of the upper part of the aorta

Tens of thousands of Americans live with a ticking time bomb in their chests. Now, a new University of Michigan study demonstrates that many of them may not need surgery in order to defuse it.

12 Feb 2006

Women more sensitive to pain during periods of low estrogen

Now researchers are going one step further by studying whether the difference in pain sensitivity is reflected in brain activity as measured by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

7 Feb 2006

Minimally invasive lung surgery has low risk with same results as open surgery

In the largest published study of its kind, with 1,100 patient cases reviewed, a minimally invasive surgical procedure for lung cancer has been shown to be as effective as open surgery with a low risk of complications and high survival rates when performed by experienced thoracic surgeons.

7 Feb 2006

DNA end caps may lead to cancer treatments

The two ends of human DNA have different structures that are treated differently as a cell divides, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have found in a study that could help lead to cancer therapies.

7 Feb 2006

Mechanism of torpor - hibernation-like state

If doctors could put people in hibernation and pull them out at will, scientists think they could minimize damage from strokes, help recipients' bodies accept transplanted organs, perhaps even enable astronauts to travel in suspended animation until reaching distant destinations.

7 Feb 2006

Ice-templated fabrication shows promise for artificial bone

The next generation of artificial bone may rely on a few secrets from the sea. Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have harnessed the way seawater freezes to develop a porous, scaffolding-like material that is four times stronger than material currently used in synthetic bone.

7 Feb 2006

Alternative method to produce heparin

Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have discovered an alternative way to produce heparin, a drug commonly used to stop or prevent blood from clotting.

7 Feb 2006

Patients checking into a top rated hospital have a 27 percent lower chance of mortality

Patients checking into a hospital rated in the top five percent in the country have, on average, a 27 percent lower chance of mortality and a 14 percent lower risk of complications, according to a study released today by HealthGrades, the leading independent healthcare ratings company.

7 Feb 2006