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Anxious fathers make caesareans more painful for mothers

Fathers who are anxious during a caesarean operation may increase the pain experienced by the mother after the delivery of their baby, according to new research published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine.

25 Jan 2006

Undamaged nerve fibres cause ongoing pain not damaged

New research shows that it is undamaged nerve fibres that cause ongoing spontaneous pain, not those that are injured.

25 Jan 2006

University of Florida researchers restore vitality to cells in lab experiments

University of Florida researchers say primitive cells that act like molecular maintenance men - traveling throughout the body to repair damaged blood vessels - become too rigid to move in patients with diabetes, fueling the disease's vascular complications.

25 Jan 2006

Cause of ongoing pain discovered

New research shows that it is undamaged nerve fibres that cause ongoing spontaneous pain, not those that are injured.

23 Jan 2006

FDA fast track status for Alfimeprase

Nuvelo Inc. today announced that it has been granted fast track designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its lead product candidate, alfimeprase, for the treatment of acute peripheral arterial occlusion (PAO), or "leg attack."

23 Jan 2006

Safer treatment for depression

Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh, with the help of a team of Pittsburgh high school science teachers, have developed a wireless device that is implanted in the neck to fight depression and epileptic seizures.

23 Jan 2006

SSRI antidepressants may also affect human immune system

Drugs that treat depression by manipulating the neurotransmitter serotonin in the brain may also affect the user's immune system in ways that are not yet understood, say scientists from Georgetown University Medical Center and a Canadian research institute.

23 Jan 2006

Ataxia gene identified

Researchers at the University of Minnesota Medical School have discovered the gene responsible for a type of ataxia, an incurable degenerative brain disease affecting movement and coordination.

23 Jan 2006

Pitt team develop wireless treatment for depression, seizures

19 Jan 2006

How the brain recognizes objects

When a human looks at a number, letter or other shape, neurons in various areas of the brain's visual center respond to different components of that shape, almost instantaneously fitting them together like a puzzle to create an image that the individual then "sees" and understands

18 Jan 2006

Increased attention should be paid to incontinence

It's a topic that is discussed so infrequently - for reasons that are easy to understand - that it may seem it isn't much of a problem. But new research shows that fecal incontinence is prevalent among U.S. women, especially those in older age groups

18 Jan 2006

Researchers identify protein essential for the maintenance of synapses

Nerve cells store and transmit information via special contact sites called synapses. Synapses also play a role in determining what we remember and what we forget.

18 Jan 2006

Alzheimer's may be triggered by neuron division

A new study in mice suggests that Alzheimer's disease (AD) may be triggered when adult neurons try to divide. The finding helps researchers understand what goes wrong in the disease and may lead to new ways of treating it.

18 Jan 2006

Single gene may hold key to schizophrenia

By deleting a single gene in a small portion of the brains of mice, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center found that the animals were affected in a way resembling schizophrenia in humans.

18 Jan 2006

Diabetes gene found in 40% of population

Researchers in Iceland say they have identified a single genetic change which could predispose close to 40 percent of the population to type-2 diabetes.

16 Jan 2006

Sydney researchers explain how stress makes you sick

Garvan Institute scientists have discovered how a hormone, known as neuropeptide Y (NPY), can prevent our immune system functioning properly, paving the way for two new major opportunities for therapeutic intervention.

10 Jan 2006

Treating glaucoma early significantly reduces economic health burden

Treatments that delay the progression of glaucoma may significantly reduce the economic health burden on people with the disease and on the U.S. health system, according to a new study by researchers at Duke University Eye Center and elsewhere. Their findings appear in the January 9, 2006, issue of Archives of Ophthalmology.

9 Jan 2006

Novel way to treat stroke

A joint research effort between researchers at the Burnham Institute for Medical Research in La Jolla, CA, and a team from Japan (Iwate University, Osaka City University, Gifu University, Iwate Medical University) has discovered a novel way to treat stroke and neurodegenerative disorders.

9 Jan 2006

Researchers uncover new toxic mechanism in ALS - Lou Gehrig's disease

Exactly how ALS - Lou Gehrig's disease - damages motor neurons is one of medical science's lingering mysteries. At least six mishaps within cells appear to contribute to the death of the nerves that enable muscle movement, but nothing stands out as the key problem.

6 Jan 2006

New approaches to the treatment of osteoporosis

Medical researchers at the University of Bonn, working in collaboration with scientists from Israel, the USA and Britain, have identified a previously unknown regulatory mechanism in the process of bone loss. Their findings could open up new approaches to the treatment of osteoporosis.

6 Jan 2006