Medicine News and Research

RSS

Cities with Super Bowl teams see big spike in flu illness, deaths

Boston and Seattle football fans beware! Cities with teams in the Super Bowl see a big spike in flu deaths, according to a new Tulane University study.

31 Jan 2015

NR2F1 gene: A 'master regulator' of tumor cell growth

Two existing cancer drugs turn on a gene that tells tumor cells to remain inactive, according to a study led by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and published today in Nature Communications.

31 Jan 2015

Perelman School of Medicine opens new medical education center

With the opening of the Henry A. Jordan M'62 Medical Education Center, the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania has expanded its urban campus with an innovative new facility that's redefining medical education for 21st century doctors.

31 Jan 2015

Researchers reveal why many African-American women are diagnosed with deadly forms of breast cancer

Researchers have uncovered new information that may begin to explain why many African-American women are more likely to be diagnosed with aggressive, often deadly forms of breast cancer, which strengthens the evidence that increased dietary folate intake may prove to be an effective strategy for reducing risk for the disease in African-American women.

31 Jan 2015

Study examines association between marijuana use and measures of lung health

A research study based on analysis of publicly available data has found that recent marijuana use was associated with symptoms of airway inflammation, but that moderate lifetime use was not associated with clinically significant changes in measures of lung function.

31 Jan 2015

Study reveals how the brain can use fatty acids to control liver lipid production

Ways of keeping the heart healthy has widened, with the discovery that the brain can help fight off hardening of the arteries.

31 Jan 2015

Exploring better treatment for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis

Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) affects 2-3% of children aged between 10 and 16. It is more common in girls than in boys (with a ratio of 10-1). Besides the obvious physical signs derived from the visible spinal deformity, AIS can cause psychological and emotional problems (low self-esteem, poor self-image body, etc.) that significantly reduces patients' quality of life.

31 Jan 2015

No single global optimal solution for deimmunization of a given biotherapeutic agent

By establishing protein design algorithms that simultaneously optimize drug candidates for both decreased immunogenic epitope content and high level stability and activity, Dartmouth's Norris Cotton Cancer Center investigator Karl Griswold, PhD, and his collaborator Chris Bailey-Kellogg, PhD, have established a novel testing platform.

31 Jan 2015

Emory researchers complete detailed maps of 184 duplications found in genomes

Copy number variations (deletions or duplications of large chunks of the genome) are a major cause of birth defects, intellectual disability, autism spectrum disorder and other developmental disorders. Still, geneticists can definitively say how a CNV, once discovered in someone's DNA, leads to one of these conditions in just a fraction of cases.

31 Jan 2015

Altered dopamine signaling may contribute to autism

Newly discovered genetic variations linked to autism spectrum disorder (ASD) disrupt the function of the dopamine transporter, suggesting that altered dopamine signaling contributes to this common developmental condition, according to a Vanderbilt University-led research team.

31 Jan 2015

Pioneering research advances prevention of lung damage when providing mechanical ventilation

The Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry of the Universitat de València participates in a pioneering research to advance the prevention of lung damage when providing mechanical ventilation in operations that require general anaesthesia.

31 Jan 2015

TSRI researchers awarded grant to develop novel method for detecting DNA damage in stem cells

A team at The Scripps Research Institute has won a $1,784,000 grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). The funding will support the development of a new method for detecting DNA damage in stem cells to ensure that only the highest quality cells are used in transplantation or therapy.

31 Jan 2015

Pancreatic Cancer Action Network praises President Obama for new Precision Medicine Initiative

"The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network applauds President Obama for his new Precision Medicine Initiative, and for making an important investment to advance cancer research and arm the scientific and medical community with the cutting edge tools and resources needed to fight cancer. This is especially welcome news for patients fighting pancreatic cancer who face a five-year survival rate of just seven percent.

31 Jan 2015

MHRA reclassifies Pfizer’s Nexium Control as an OTC treatment for heartburn

Pfizer is pleased to announce that the MHRA has approved the reclassification of the well-established proton pump inhibitor (PPI) Nexium Control (esomeprazole), making it available for consumers to purchase it without a prescription.

31 Jan 2015

Two researchers receive Charles Rodolphe Brupbacher Prize for Cancer Research

Researchers Irving L. Weissman and Joan Massagué have won this year's Charles Rodolphe Brupbacher Prize for Cancer Research: Weissman, from Stanford University, for his work on healthy and sick stem cells; Massagué, from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, for his research on metastatic spread.

31 Jan 2015

Study recommends normalizing blood pressure in pregnant women

Throughout her career in Canada and the UK, Dr. Laura Magee has taken a restrained approach to use of blood pressure-lowering medication in her pregnant patients, fearing that lowering pressure could reduce the flow of blood and vital nutrients to their babies.

31 Jan 2015

Survey shows that vast majority of US neurosurgeons participate in defensive medicine

More than three-fourths US neurosurgeons practice some form of defensive medicine--performing additional tests and procedures out of fear of malpractice lawsuits, reports a special article in the February issue of Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons.

31 Jan 2015

Exposure to certain chemicals may lead to early menopause

Women who are exposed to certain chemicals are more likely to experience menopause at a younger age, according to a newly published study by a researcher from the University of Colorado School of Medicine at the Anschutz Medical Campus.

31 Jan 2015

Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation names 15 new Damon Runyon Fellows

The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, a non-profit organization focused on supporting innovative early career researchers, named 15 new Damon Runyon Fellows at its fall Fellowship Award Committee review. The recipients of this prestigious, four-year award are outstanding postdoctoral scientists conducting basic and translational cancer research in the laboratories of leading senior investigators across the country.

31 Jan 2015

Nanoscale DNA tool to detect molecular behavior

A complex interplay of molecular components governs almost all aspects of biological sciences - healthy organism development, disease progression, and drug efficacy are all dependent on the way life's molecules interact in the body. Understanding these bio-molecular interactions is critical for the discovery of new, more effective therapeutics and diagnostics to treat cancer and other diseases, but currently requires scientists to have access to expensive and elaborate laboratory equipment.

31 Jan 2015