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BSCs may offer new approach for reducing post-stroke cognitive dysfunction

Cognitive deficits following ischemic stroke are common and debilitating, even in the relatively few patients who are treated expeditiously so that clots are removed or dissolved rapidly and cerebral blood flow restored. A new study in Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience demonstrates that intracerebral injection of bone-marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells reduces cognitive deficits produced by temporary occlusion of cerebral blood vessels in a rat model of stroke, suggesting that BSCs may offer a new approach for reducing post-stroke cognitive dysfunction.

26 Aug 2013

CA-125: Screening tool to detect ovarian cancer in early stages

Evaluating its change over time, CA-125, the protein long-recognized for predicting ovarian cancer recurrence, now shows promise as a screening tool for early-stage disease, according to researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

26 Aug 2013

Mayo Clinic opens its own stem cell laboratory in summer 2014

Mayo Clinic in Arizona, with one of the most active bone marrow transplant programs in United States, will open its own stem cell laboratory in summer 2014. The laboratory will be initially dedicated to storing and processing stem cells used for bone marrow transplants at Mayo Clinic Hospital and Phoenix Children's Hospital.

26 Aug 2013

Scientists receive NIH grant to study commercially-available drug for treatment of PMS

Scientists at the Seaver Autism Center at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have received a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study Insulin-Like Growth Factor-1 (IGF-1), a promising treatment for a subtype of autism called Phelan McDermid Syndrome (PMS).

26 Aug 2013

Scientists discover mechanisms of GATA3 gene that govern blood stem cell self-renewal process

Stem cell scientists at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre have discovered the gene GATA3 has a role in how blood stem cells renew themselves, a finding that advances the quest to expand these cells in the lab for clinical use in bone marrow transplantation, a procedure that saves thousands of lives every year.

26 Aug 2013

Research roundup: Moving kids onto Medicaid; competitive markets

Each week, KHN compiles a selection of recently released health policy studies and briefs.

26 Aug 2013

Screening strategy for ovarian cancer appears to be highly specific for detecting disease at early stages

A new screening strategy for ovarian cancer appears to be highly specific for detecting the disease before it becomes lethal. The strategy is described in a study published early online in Cancer, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society. If verified in an ongoing clinical trial, it could potentially help save the lives of thousands of women each year in the United States alone.

26 Aug 2013

Study reports racial, ethnic differences in incidence of soft tissue sarcomas in young adults, adolescents

Mei-Chin Hsieh, MSPH, CTR, of LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans School of Public Health's Louisiana Tumor Registry, is the lead author of a study that reports racial and ethnic differences in the incidence of soft tissue sarcomas in adolescents and young adults.

26 Aug 2013

Scanning technique reveals how brain tumor responds to drug administered

A new scanning technique developed by Danish and US researchers reveals how susceptible patients with aggressive brain cancer are to the drugs they receive. The research behind the ground-breaking technique has just been published in Nature Medicine.

26 Aug 2013

Smartphone-based portable device to conduct kidney tests invented at UCLA

A lightweight and field-portable device invented at UCLA that conducts kidney tests and transmits data through a smartphone attachment may significantly reduce the need for frequent office visits by people with diabetes and others with chronic kidney ailments.

26 Aug 2013

Researchers identify compound that eases symptoms of Parkinson's disease

Researchers at Johns Hopkins and elsewhere have brought new clarity to the picture of what goes awry in the brain during Parkinson's disease and identified a compound that eases the disease's symptoms in mice.

26 Aug 2013

Board of Directors approve interim report for second quarter 2013

DiaGenic: The interim report for the second quarter 2013 was approved by the Board of Directors on 22 August 2013. Please find the interim report and presentation attached.

23 Aug 2013

No need of restricting women's food and fluid intake during labor, shows study

Despite the longstanding, widespread practice of restricting women's food and fluid intake during labor, a large-scale analysis in The Cochrane Library finds no need for these restrictions and supports women eating and drinking as they please.

23 Aug 2013

Scientists grow cells that line blood vessels from human iPSCs

In a scientific first, Harvard Stem Cell Institute scientists have successfully grown the cells that line the blood vessels-called vascular endothelial cells-from human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), revealing new details about how these cells function.

23 Aug 2013

Challenges of studying health and mortality risks of obesity

Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine point out that the body mass index, based on the weight and height, is not an accurate measure of body fat content and does not account for critical factors that contribute to health or mortality, such as fat distribution, proportion of muscle to fat, and the sex and racial differences in body composition.

23 Aug 2013

Moffitt Cancer Center study could offer hope to melanoma sufferers

A new study at Moffitt Cancer Center could offer hope to people with melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer. Researchers are investigating whether an injectable known as PV-10 can shrink tumors and reduce the spread of cancer.

23 Aug 2013

New radiation treatment can reduce bone pain, extend lives of prostate cancer patients

Prostate cancer that has spread to the bones can cause pain and fractures. Loyola University Medical Center is among the first hospitals in Chicago to offer a new targeted radiation treatment that can reduce bone pain and the incidence of fractures - and also extend patients' lives.

23 Aug 2013

Structured exercise can improve heart function in patients with kidney disease

A structured exercise and lifestyle program can improve fitness, body composition, and heart function in patients with kidney disease, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (CJASN).

23 Aug 2013

Drug to treat blood cancers may also stop spread of invasive breast cancer

A drug used to treat blood cancers may also stop the spread of invasive breast cancer, researchers at Mayo Clinic in Florida have discovered. Their study, published online in Breast Cancer Research, found that in the lab and in animals, the drug decitabine turns on a gene coding for protein kinase D1 (PRKD1) that halts the ability of cancer cells to separate from a tumor and spread to distant organs.

23 Aug 2013

Scientists develop new way to detect threatening nanoparticles in food

Over the last few years, the use of nanomaterials for water treatment, food packaging, pesticides, cosmetics and other industries has increased. For example, farmers have used silver nanoparticles as a pesticide because of their capability to suppress the growth of harmful organisms. However, a growing concern is that these particles could pose a potential health risk to humans and the environment.

23 Aug 2013