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Check and balance for neuron activity provides insight into schizophrenia, seizures

Two genes important for human development and implicated in cancer and schizophrenia also help keep a healthy balance between excitation and inhibition of brain cells, researchers say.

24 May 2007

Tool will revolutionise functional genomic studies in clostridia

The genome of the organism that produces the world's most lethal toxin has been revealed.

24 May 2007

Botox for enlarged prostate

Injecting botulinum toxin A, or Botox, into the prostate gland of men with enlarged prostate, eased symptoms and improved quality of life up to a year after the procedure, according to a study by researchers at the Chang Gung University Medical College, Taiwan, and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

24 May 2007

Pure oxygen harms the brain

A paramedic or doctor plops a mask over the face of a person struggling to breathe and begins dispensing pure oxygen.

24 May 2007

University of Alabama at Birmingham opens adult Down Syndrome clinic

UAB (University of Alabama at Birmingham) has opened one of the few clinics in the nation dedicated to providing services to adult patients with Down Syndrome.

24 May 2007

Transplanting human gut bugs into mice helps understanding of metabolic system

Bugs found in the guts of humans, which play an important part in people's metabolic makeup, have been transplanted into mice to further understanding of the human and animal metabolic system, reveals a new study in the journal Molecular Systems Biology.

24 May 2007

System to identify air travel passengers responsible for the unintentional release of germs

Researchers developing a system that uses mathematical models and sensors to locate passengers releasing hazardous materials or pathogens inside airline cabins have shown that the technique can track a substance to an area the size of a single seat.

24 May 2007

Effects of estrogen therapy with perimenopausal women

When is the best time in a woman's reproductive history to start hormone therapy? How does estrogen therapy affect a woman's cognition and mood? What is the most beneficial form of estrogen?

24 May 2007

More evidence found indicating potassium channels play a critical role in sleep

A gene that controls the flow of potassium into cells is required to maintain normal sleep in fruit flies, according to researchers at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health (SMPH).

24 May 2007

Veterans with extreme mixed handedness and high combat exposure five times more likely to have PTSD

A recent study conducted by investigators with the Geisinger Center for Health Research shows a clear link between combat veterans' use of both hands for common tasks and the likelihood that they will experience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

24 May 2007

Magnetic resonance elastography enables noninvasive liver diagnoses

Two recent Mayo Clinic studies have found that magnetic resonance elastography (MRE), a new imaging technique invented at Mayo Clinic, is an accurate tool for non-invasive diagnosis of liver diseases.

24 May 2007

New patented method for transporting medicine across the blood-brain barrier

Researchers at the Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute have patented a new way of safely transporting medicine across the blood-brain barrier.

24 May 2007

Obese people more likely to have persistent or severe persistent asthma

A new study presented at the American Thoracic Society 2007 International Conference finds that obese people are significantly more likely to have persistent or severe persistent asthma than their thinner counterparts.

24 May 2007

Minimally invasive device for treating recurrent stress urinary incontinence in women, safe and effective

A minimally invasive device for treating recurrent stress urinary incontinence in women has been shown to be safe and effective in early clinical trials and is now under review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), says Emory University School of Medicine urologist and trial co-principal investigator Niall Galloway, MD.

24 May 2007

U.S. parents not in favor of HPV vaccine mandates

While debate in several state governments continues to grow over school mandates for Gardasil – a vaccine recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for girls ages 11 to 12 that is designed to provide protection against human papillomavirus, or HPV, the virus linked to cervical cancer and genital warts – the majority of U.S. parents have already reached a decision on the issue: They do not want the vaccine to be mandated.

24 May 2007

Some children are genetically less responsive to inhaled steroids for asthma

Some children may not be able to keep their asthma under control even if they consistently report using inhaled corticosteroids, a mainstay of asthma treatment, suggests a new study presented at the American Thoracic Society 2007 International Conference, on Wednesday, May 23.

24 May 2007

New understanding of how immune-based therapies can treat Alzheimer's disease

Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College have gotten much closer to understanding how immune-based therapies can treat Alzheimer's disease -- by studying how antibodies go inside brain cells to reduce levels of Alzheimer's-linked amyloid peptides that form plaques between neurons.

24 May 2007