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Living kidney donors show no increase in their risk of heart attacks

Living kidney donors show no increase in their risk of heart attacks or other cardiovascular events in the years after donation, according to the largest-ever study of the issue, being presented at the American Society of Nephrology's 40th Annual Meeting and Scientific Exposition in San Francisco.

5 Nov 2007

Inheriting two genetic mutations that can individually cause epilepsy may cancel each other

Inheriting two genetic mutations that can individually cause epilepsy might actually be "seizure-protective," said Baylor College of Medicine researchers in a report that appears online in the journal Nature Neuroscience.

5 Nov 2007

Students who consume alcohol mixed with energy drinks twice as likely to be hurt or injured

College students who drink alcohol mixed with so-called "energy" drinks are at dramatically higher risk for injury and other alcohol-related consequences, compared to students who drink alcohol without energy drinks, according to new research from Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

5 Nov 2007

Elderly with hypertension less likely to get lifestyle modification advice from doctors

People older than 60 with high blood pressure are less likely than other groups of patients to receive advice from their doctors about lifestyle modifications that can help lower their blood pressure, a study by UNC researchers concludes.

5 Nov 2007

Manipulation of MOF enzyme may make tumors more sensitive to radiation therapy

To make tumors more sensitive to the killing power of radiation is a key aspiration for many radiation oncologists. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have uncovered new information that leads them closer to that goal.

5 Nov 2007

Common blood pressure medications ACEIs and ARBs provide equal control

Two common classes of blood pressure medications – angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) – are equally effective at controlling high blood pressure, according to a report released by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

5 Nov 2007

Heart plays a losing game of catch-up as people age

Researchers at Johns Hopkins have evidence to explain why the supposedly natural act of aging is by itself a very potent risk factor for life-threatening heart failure.

5 Nov 2007

Family history of bipolar affects decision to have children

One in three people with a strong family history of bipolar disorder (manic depression) are reluctant to have children due to the hereditary nature of the illness and its perceived social stigma, new research from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) has found.

4 Nov 2007

MRIs reveal 13% of healthy adults have a brain abnormality

A Dutch study has revealed that as many as 13% of healthy adults may have some type of undiagnosed abnormality in the brain.

4 Nov 2007

Medicare lacks tools, incentives to enforce evidence-based coverage policies

According to new research at the University of Minnesota, Medicare lacks sufficient information in most cases to apply a policy and does not have the resources or incentives to acquire the information.

2 Nov 2007

Tuberculosis breaches borders, but not public health

Immigrants from countries with high rates of tuberculosis who move to countries of low TB incidence do not pose a public health threat to native citizens, according to researchers in Norway, who analyzed the incidence and genetic origins of all known cases of TB in the country between 1993 and 2005.

2 Nov 2007

Computer simulation model of trauma system response to mass casualty incidents

In the face of terrorism and catastrophic natural disasters, modern regional trauma systems that improve survival for critically injured patients are more vital than ever.

2 Nov 2007

Chemical peroxynitrite tolerates pain

The repeated use of opiate drugs such as morphine to relieve chronic pain results in individuals having to take higher and higher doses of the drug to achieve equivalent pain relief (they are said to exhibit antinociceptive tolerance).

2 Nov 2007

New understanding of gestational diabetes

A protein in the pancreas is giving researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine their first chance at cracking the code that determines how diabetes develops during pregnancy, a finding that could lead to new treatments for all forms of diabetes.

2 Nov 2007

Research sheds light on carotid artery stenting risk in elderly

Dr. Hernan Bazan, Assistant Professor of Surgery, Section of Vascular Surgery, at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center New Orleans' School of Medicine, is the lead author of a research paper which may help physicians decide which patients with carotid artery occlusive disease should have carotid surgery or carotid stenting.

2 Nov 2007

California kids not being read to!

A new report reveals that California ranks in the bottom half of the nation - 42nd out of 50 states and the District of Columbia - in the percentage of children who are read to daily by their parents.

2 Nov 2007

PET scan distinguishes Alzheimer's from other dementia

A PET scan (positron emission tomography) that measures uptake of sugar in the brain significantly improves the accuracy of diagnosing a type of dementia often mistaken for Alzheimer's disease, a study led by a University of Utah dementia expert has found.

2 Nov 2007

Discovery of master switch that regulates blood pressure

A team of Oregon Health & Science University researchers studying a rare form of hypertension has identified the mechanism by which they believe a protein complex in the kidney operates as a master switch that regulates blood pressure, a finding that has broad implications for the treatment of more common forms of hypertension.

2 Nov 2007

Discovery of novel mechanism to predict survival in older women with early stage lung cancer

A novel mechanism to predict survival in older women with early stage lung cancer has been uncoverecd by researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, a discovery that may have significant implications for new treatment approaches.

2 Nov 2007

New evidence that psychological factors play a role in disease progression

Even though effective drug cocktails have improved the outlook for many patients with HIV, disease progression, including the time from AIDS onset to death, varies widely from patient to patient.

2 Nov 2007