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PET-CT scanners detect secondary head and neck cancers

For patients with head and neck cancer, accurately determining how advanced the cancer is and detecting secondary cancers usually means undergoing numerous tests - until now.

22 Jul 2008

Notch protein helps human embryonic stem cells 'decide' their own fate

Researchers at Johns Hopkins have discovered that the Notch protein helps human embryonic stem cells 'decide' their own fate, a finding which may eventually be useful in programming cells for the development of stem cell therapies. Their results are reported in the May 2008 issue of Cell Stem Cell.

22 Jul 2008

End of life physician-patient communication

Although a growing body of research supports a link between effective communication and patient, family and physician satisfaction, doctors, including oncologists and other specialists who frequently care for terminal patients, do not routinely receive training in end-of-life conversations during medical school, residency training, or after they start to practice medicine.

22 Jul 2008

PBS' 'News Hour' examines efforts of Baylor's Pediatric AIDS Corps to fight HIV/AIDS in Africa

PBS' "News Hour with Jim Lehrer" on Thursday examined efforts from the Baylor College of Medicine's Pediatric AIDS Corps to fight HIV/AIDS among children in Malawi.

22 Jul 2008

New hope for infertile men - venous embolization

A minimally invasive treatment for a common cause of male infertility can significantly improve a couple's chances for pregnancy, according to a new study published in the August issue of Radiology. The study, conducted at the University of Bonn in Germany, also found that the level of sperm motility prior to treatment is a key predictor of success.

22 Jul 2008

IMF programs and tuberculosis outcomes in post-communist countries

International Monetary Fund (IMF) loans were associated with a 16.6% rise in death rates from tuberculosis (TB) in the former Soviet Union and Central and Eastern European countries between 1992 and 2002, finds a study in this week's PLoS Medicine.

22 Jul 2008

International goals to reduce malaria burdens not likely to be achieved

For malaria control goals to be achieved, we must in the future tie funding commitments closer to level of need, says new research by Bob Snow and colleagues from the Kenyan Medical Research Institute-Oxford University-Wellcome Trust Collaborative Programme.

22 Jul 2008

Trial of treatment of inflammatory bowel disease begins at Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center

Anadis Ltd, a biopharmaceutical company focused on research, development and production of immune milk (colostrum)-derived polyclonal antibodies and other proteins to address major diseases, today announces the initiation of a clinical trial with top clinical scientists at Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center in Israel.

22 Jul 2008

Defining healthcare needs for chronic illness

A research paper in the latest issue of Medical Journal of Australia has provided the first insight into the prevalence and patterns of multimorbidity in Australia. About three in 10 people who saw a GP in 2005, and one in four Australians have multimorbidity (two or more types of chronic conditions).

22 Jul 2008

Study shows promising results in deep brain stimulation for treatment-resistant depression

New data from a study of patients with treatment-resistant depression who underwent deep brain stimulation (DBS) in the subcallosal cingulate region (SCG or Cg25) of the brain shows that this intervention is generally safe and provides significant improvement in patients as early as one month after treatment. The patients also experienced continued and sustained improvement over time.

21 Jul 2008

Genetic mechanisms at play in blood cells important in Parkinson’s disease

What does the genetics of blood cells have to do with brain cells related to Parkinson's disease? From an unusual collaboration of neurologists and a pharmacologist comes the surprising answer: Genetic mechanisms at play in blood cells also control a gene and protein that cause Parkinson's disease.

21 Jul 2008

First human tests of an injectable vaccine grown in genetically engineered plants

Plants could act as safe, speedy factories for growing antibodies for personalized treatments against a common form of cancer, according to new findings from the Stanford University School of Medicine. The findings came in the first human tests of an injectable vaccine grown in genetically engineered plants.

21 Jul 2008

Viral recombination another way HIV fools the immune system

When individuals infected with HIV become infected with a second strain of the virus, the two viral strains can exchange genetic information, creating a third, recombinant strain of the virus. It is known that the presence of multiple viral strains, called superinfection, frequently leads to a loss of immune control of viral levels.

21 Jul 2008

Gene expression test could help determine who needs more aggressive treatment

Researchers from four leading cancer centers have confirmed that an analysis involving a panel of genes can be used to predict which lung cancer patients will have the worst survival. The finding could one day lead to a test that would help determine who needs more aggressive treatment.

21 Jul 2008

21 new genes found for Crohn's disease

A consortium of researchers from the United States, Canada, and Europe has identified 21 new genes for Crohn's disease, a chronic disease of the large and small intestines.

21 Jul 2008

Dimebon, old hay fever drug shows promise in treating Alzheimer's

Researchers in the U.S. say a drug which was at one time used to treat hay fever "significantly improves" symptoms in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease.

21 Jul 2008

Too much sleep increases the risk of stroke in older women

Researchers in the United States have found that for older women too much or too little sleep increases their risk of a stroke.

21 Jul 2008

HALO Ablation System shows great promise for precancerous esophagus disease

BARRX Medical, Inc. has announced that 98.4 percent of patients having a precancerous condition of their esophagus called Barrett's esophagus were free of the disease 2.5 years after non-surgical, endoscopic treatment with the HALO ablation system.

21 Jul 2008

Fluoroquinolones can enhance gene-silencing tool

A way to turn off one gene at a time has earned acceptance in biology laboratories over the last decade. Doctors envision the technique, called RNA interference, as a tool to treat a variety of diseases if it can be adapted to humans.

20 Jul 2008

Stem cell chicken and egg debate moves to unlikely arena: the testes

Logic says it has to be the niche. As air and water preceded life, so the niche, that hospitable environment that shelters adult stem cells in many tissues and provides factors necessary to keep them young and vital, must have emerged before its stem cell dependents.

20 Jul 2008