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GenoMed discovers African gene

GenoMed has announced that it has found the "African gene," responsible for the much higher incidence of diabetes, high blood pressure, and kidney failure among people of African ancestry than whites.

12 Feb 2007

Cancer breakthrough - first treatment to directly target tumor supply

For the first time, physician-scientists at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City have demonstrated in patients the ability of an antibody to directly target the blood supply of a wide variety of tumors, leaving healthy tissues unharmed.

12 Feb 2007

Siestas good for your heart!

Siestas could be the latest way of avoiding stress and protecting the heart from disease.

12 Feb 2007

Combination drug treatment helps beat mesothelioma

People with mesothelioma - a form of cancer associated with asbestos exposure - have a higher survival rate when treated with a combination of two cancer drugs, a large multicenter study finds.

12 Feb 2007

Determinants of disease presentation and outcome during cryptococcosis

CRNS and the Institut Pasteur conducted research in France on patients diagnosed with cryptococcosis which ranks second among fatal opportunistic infections in patients infected by HIV and who are profoundly immunosuppressed.

12 Feb 2007

Rate of stem cell transplants among African-Americans lower

Lower transplant rates in ethnic communities may be explained somewhat by a lack of suitable anonymous donors, a problem the medical community has long known and been working to address. Surprisingly, the study found the discrepancy in treatment held true even when the transplant was autologous (e.g. self-donated stem cells were used) or when the cells were donated by a relative, typically a sibling.

11 Feb 2007

What's the best way to treat twin-twin transfusion syndrome?

It's one of the biggest controversies in fetal surgery and the cause of heated debate among surgeons and maternal-fetal medicine physicians around the world: What's the best way to treat twin-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS), one of the most common conditions requiring fetal surgery and the leading cause of mortality in twins?

11 Feb 2007

Children with parents in the military have higher blood pressure

Researchers looked at 121 adolescents - including 48 with civilian parents, 20 with a parent deployed to Iraq and 53 with a parent in the military but not deployed - days after Operation Iraqi Freedom was launched in March 2003 and nearly three months later when President Bush announced major hostilities had ceased.

11 Feb 2007

Folate and vitamin B12 preserve cognitive function among seniors

Folate and vitamin B12, two important nutrients for the development of healthy nerves and blood cells, may work together to protect cognitive function among seniors, reports a new epidemiological study from the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University (USDA HNRCA).

11 Feb 2007

New diagnostic technology for routine prenatal genetic testing

Research studies demonstrating the viability of an approach to routinely detect the presence of fetal DNA in a mother's blood to accurately diagnose or rule out genetic defects -- as early as the first trimester -- was presented today at the 27th Annual Meeting of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine being held in San Francisco.

11 Feb 2007

Scientists find connection between nerve cells and immune system

A direct connection exists between the brain and the immune system – at least in mice. Scientists at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research in Braunschweig conducted a comprehensive study of mice intestine and the surrounding blood and lymph vessels using special microscopy and marking techniques.

11 Feb 2007

FDA approves temporary limb salvage shunt

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared for U.S. marketing a vascular shunt, a medical device that can help save the arms and legs of soldiers critically injured in combat as well as individuals in other trauma settings and emergency situations.

11 Feb 2007

Scientists discover master switches for adult blood stem cells

Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center scientists have found a set of "master switches" that keep adult blood-forming stem cells in their primitive state.

8 Feb 2007

Sniff of male sweat kick starts female hormones

According to a new study all a healthy heterosexual woman needs to give their hormone levels a kick start is the smell of a man's sweat.

8 Feb 2007

Fighting influenza with 40,000 blood samples

Four million people die every year from respiratory diseases such as viral influenza. For elderly people in particular, an infection can be dangerous. What is more, the flu vaccine is not as effective with this risk group as it is with younger people.

7 Feb 2007

Approval of orlistat capsules over-the-counter

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today approved orlistat capsules as an over-the-counter (OTC) weight loss aid for overweight adults.

7 Feb 2007

High-dose Lipitor therapy cuts risk of hospitalizations for heart failure

Patients with coronary heart disease who took Lipitor (atorvastatin calcium) 80 mg tablets reduced their risk of hospitalizations due to heart failure compared to patients taking the 10 mg dose of Lipitor, according to a new analysis of a subset of patients from the five-year TNT (Treating to New Targets) study, published in today's issue of Circulation.

7 Feb 2007

International consortium to get to heart of coronary artery disease

An international consortium has been launched to tackle coronary artery disease using the latest scientific tools. Funded by the European Commission, the initiative will build on recent advances in genomic science and the understanding of our genes to develop effective strategies for preventing and treating the disease.

7 Feb 2007

FDA warns of deadly results of skin-numbing creams

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a warning about topical anesthetics that have skin-numbing effects.

7 Feb 2007

Horse genome sequence assembled

The first draft of the horse genome sequence has been deposited in public databases and is freely available for use by biomedical and veterinary researchers around the globe, leaders of the international Horse Genome Sequencing Project announced today.

7 Feb 2007