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Researchers examine link between prenatal vitamin D levels and schizophrenia

Researchers from UQ's Queensland Brain Institute are set to conduct a world-first trial into the link between prenatal vitamin D levels and schizophrenia prevalence.

3 Aug 2008

New resource helps women with diabetes through healthy pregnancies

Pregnancy is a time of great excitement and anticipation. It also can be a time of anxiety, especially for women with type 1 or type 2 diabetes. Pregnancy in women who have diabetes is automatically considered high-risk. But a new, easy-to-read booklet has information to help women with diabetes experience safe, healthy pregnancies.

3 Aug 2008

Scientists develop ultra-sensitive optical protein sensor, a first for a salivary diagnostic test

For people who dislike needles, medical tests that require a drop of saliva instead of a vial of blood will one day make a trip to a doctor or dentist much easier. But as scientists now construct the first of these saliva tests for early signs of cancer and other diseases, they continue to push the technological envelope in interesting ways.

3 Aug 2008

Experimental drug turns lab mice into long-distance runners

Trying to reap the health benefits of exercise? Forget treadmills and spin classes, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies may have found a way around the sweat and pain. They identified two signaling pathways that are activated in response to exercise and converge to dramatically increase endurance.

31 Jul 2008

Some bacteria steal iron from their human hosts - discovery could lead to new ways to fight tuberculosis

Like their human hosts, bacteria need iron to survive and they must obtain that iron from the environment. While humans obtain iron primarily through the food they eat, bacteria have evolved complex and diverse mechanisms to allow them access to iron.

31 Jul 2008

Commonly used diabetes monitoring test could identify millions of people with undiagnosed diabetes

A blood test currently used as the gold standard for monitoring people already under care for diabetes may have far wider use in identifying millions with undetected diabetes, a team led by a Johns Hopkins physician suggests.

31 Jul 2008

Binge drinking in pregnancy increases risk of oral clefts in offspring

A new study by researchers at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), part of the National Institutes of Health, shows that pregnant women who binge drink early in their pregnancy increase the likelihood that their babies will be born with oral clefts.

31 Jul 2008

Warfarin may prevent liver failure in hepatitis C

The drug warfarin may help prevent liver failure in thousands of people with Hepatitis C, according to new research.

31 Jul 2008

Newly identified risk factor for cardiovascular disease may lead to new treatments

Low levels of naturally occurring antibodies may represent an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease, particularly stroke in men. This discovery, published in the academic journal Atherosclerosis, has now led to attempts to develop an immunization against cardiovascular disease.

31 Jul 2008

New oral vaccine combats various versions of the plague

A University of Central Florida researcher may have found a defense against the Black Plague, a disease that wiped out a third of Europe's population in the Middle Ages and which government agencies perceive as a terrorist threat today.

31 Jul 2008

Metabolic syndrome and alcohol comsumption

Those who drink in excess of the U.S. Dietary Guidelines (i.e., men who usually drink more than two drinks per day or women who usually drink more than one drink per day) or those who binge drink are at increased risk for the metabolic syndrome, according to a new study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM).

31 Jul 2008

Survey reveals most drinkers exceed current safe alcohol guidelines

According to a new study people who drink more than the guidelines for safe alcohol consumption place themselves at risk of developing metabolic syndrome.

30 Jul 2008

Eroded telomeres are behind dyskeratosis congentia aging syndrome

Each time a cell divides, the protective caps at the ends of chromosomes shorten - and when these caps are gone, so are we. Now, by using an unconventional strategy to shorten telomeres in mice, researchers at Rockefeller University have not only created the first faithful mouse model for studying a rare yet fatal premature aging syndrome, but they have revealed the molecular defect behind the disease.

30 Jul 2008

Robotic surgery now benefits bladder cancer patients

Robotic surgery, largely pioneered for prostate cancer surgery, is rapidly being adapted for use in other areas, including for bladder cancer patients. Urologic surgeons at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center now have significant experience -- and have demonstrated considerable success -- with robotics for removal of the bladder, also known as cystectomy.

30 Jul 2008

World's first double arm transplant

A German farm worker who lost both arms in a farm accident has become the world's first double arm transplant recipient.

30 Jul 2008

Corn protein, zein being researched for drug delivery

The key to a better drug delivery method for cancer patients may be growing all across the Midwest, South Dakota State University research suggests.

29 Jul 2008

ISU researchers find possible alternative adjuvant for alum to boost the effectiveness of vaccines

On the rocky road of cancer research, Indiana State University scientists have made important discoveries.

29 Jul 2008

Doctors don't change their routine during longer consultations

Some patients might feel like they spend more time in the waiting room than actually talking with their doctor, but a new review of studies suggests that these consultations would not be much different if patients had more face time with their physicians.

29 Jul 2008

Rheumatoid arthritis doubles a person's risk of heart attack

People coping with rheumatoid arthritis or lupus already have a lot to deal with. Even so, paying attention to heart health may be especially important for this group.

29 Jul 2008

Ultra-miniature bialy-shaped drug delivery particles

Ultra-miniature bialy-shaped particles - called nanobialys because they resemble tiny versions of the flat, onion-topped rolls popular in New York City - could soon be carrying medicinal compounds through patients' bloodstreams to tumors or atherosclerotic plaques.

29 Jul 2008