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Scientists develop new method to regenerate cartilage

Unlike our bones, the cartilage inside our joints is not vascularized (i.e., it has no blood vessels). This is one reason why cartilage does not heal well after an injury. In athletes in particular, joint injuries often result in cartilage degeneration and arthritis. The process is chronic and irreversible, and to this day, no effective treatment exists.

12 Oct 2013

Researchers identify gene that orchestrates important branching of nerve fibers

Our ability to detect heat, touch, tickling and other sensations depends on our sensory nerves. Now, for the first time, researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have identified a gene that orchestrates the crucially important branching of nerve fibers that occurs during development. The findings were published online today in the journal Cell.

11 Oct 2013

State health exchanges running more smoothly than federal marketplace

The New York Times reports that, while difficulties continue for consumers in the 30 states that are using the federal government's online health insurance marketplace, those who live in states that have chosen to operate their own are faring better.

10 Oct 2013

First Edition: October 8, 2013

Today's headlines include the latest on how the health law's online insurance marketplaces are operating and what caused the initial systemic problems.

8 Oct 2013

Kavli Foundation endows new institute at UC Berkeley

The Kavli Foundation has endowed a new institute at the University of California, Berkeley, and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) to explore the basic science of how to capture and channel energy on the molecular or nanoscale, with the potential for discovering new ways of generating energy for human use.

4 Oct 2013

Opinions on shutdown: Opening marketplaces makes this impasse different; don't repeal medical device tax; Democrats are 'intransigents'

It's different because the new health-care system got up and running on the very day the shutdown began. Conceding to the GOP would take health insurance away from people and ruin a program for which we now know there is a public appetite. It's not going to happen (E.J. Dionne Jr., 10/2).

4 Oct 2013

Diet high in certain type of fat may actually increase metabolism

A diet high in a certain type of fat may actually increase metabolism, according to recent research by Texas Tech University nutrition scientists.

3 Oct 2013

New insights into how obesity, type 2 diabetes can create stress response in the brain

Joslin researchers have gained new insights into how obesity and type 2 diabetes can create a stress response in the brain, especially in the hypothalamus (the brain region that regulates appetite and energy production), that may contribute to altering metabolism throughout the body. The findings are reported in the October issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

2 Oct 2013

Genes in mitochondria shape each person's risk for heart disease and diabetes

Genes in mitochondria, the "powerhouses" that turn sugar into energy in human cells, shape each person's risk for heart disease and diabetes, according to a study published recently by researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham in the Biochemical Journal.

27 Sep 2013

Spanish scientists discover melatonin consumption helps control weight gain

Melatonin is a natural hormone segregated by the body and melatonin levels generally increase in the dark at night. It is also found in fruit and vegetables like mustard, Goji berries, almonds, sunflower seeds, cardamom, fennel, coriander and cherries.

26 Sep 2013

Understanding genetic, physiological basis for metabolic diseases related to circadian function

A new study by a team of University of Notre Dame researchers, which appears in the Sept. 2 edition of the journal PLoS ONE, is a significant step in understanding the molecular genetic and physiological basis for a spectrum of metabolic diseases related to circadian function.

24 Sep 2013

Researchers lead two major trials to test potential treatments for asbestos-related cancer

University of Leicester researchers are leading two major trials into treatments for a type of cancer which affects those exposed to asbestos.

23 Sep 2013

Research provides answers to issues related to human pathogens in mushroom growth substrate

Strict requirements on the use of animal manures in fresh produce production imposed by the new federal food-safety law threatened to adversely impact the mushroom industry, which relies on horse and poultry manure for a specialized growth substrate.

23 Sep 2013

Dog food preservative may prevent nerve damage in patients taking chemotherapy

Working with cells in test tubes and in mice, researchers at Johns Hopkins have discovered that a chemical commonly used as a dog food preservative may prevent the kind of painful nerve damage found in the hands and feet of four out of five cancer patients taking the chemotherapy drug Taxol.

20 Sep 2013

Researchers develop brown fat detection method to combat obesity

When it comes to fat, you want the brown type and not so much of the white variety because brown fat burns energy to keep you warm and metabolically active, while white fat stores excess energy around your waist, causing health problems. Researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston Medical School are studying brown fat with a goal of fighting obesity.

19 Sep 2013

Researchers develop computational model to accurately simulate complex twists of RNA

A computational model developed by researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is the first to accurately simulate the complex twists of a short sequence of RNA as it folds into a critical hairpin structure known as a "tetraloop."

17 Sep 2013

Flights are major risk factors for bouts of inflammation in IBD patients

Patients with a chronic intestinal inflammation often experience bouts of inflammation after a journey. The main cause of this is not the stress of travelling, but the lack of oxygen experienced in an aircraft or during high altitude stays in the mountains.

16 Sep 2013

State highlights: Nation's older population strains budgets in Northeast; Detroit may replace health coverage with stipends; access to care in rural Alaska

Most of the nation's oldest population is now clustered in the Northeast and growing rapidly, according to Census data, straining medical, housing and transportation budgets and forcing lawmakers to look for new approaches. And legislators and governors are reaching the conclusion that the way to pay for the elderly is to cater to the young (Wilson, 9/12).

13 Sep 2013

Proper precautions may help people with allergies enjoy the beautiful fall weather

As summer comes to a close, kids head back to school and preparation for fall begins, don't' forget to consider fall allergies. An estimated 35 million Americans suffer from allergies, which in the fall begin in late August and peak in September. For those with fall allergies, three triggers typically occur - ragweed, indoor allergens and infections.

12 Sep 2013

Mold Count Exceeds 50,000 threshold in the Midwest, reports Gottlieb Allergy Count

If the unseasonable heat that is blanketing the Midwest doesn't affect area residents, the highest mold count for the 2013 allergy reporting season will. Gottlieb Allergy Count, the official allergy count for the Midwest, reports the mold count today is 85,000, a high for 2013, and well over the 50,000 threshold that signals a dangerous air quality warning.