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How do infections and toxins launch a cell's self-destruct and alarm system?

Cells are coded with several programs for self-destruction.

11 Mar 2008

Pesticides and nerve agents explain health problems in Persian Gulf war veterans

A study by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine shows there is increasing evidence that high rates of illness in Persian Gulf War Veterans can be explained, in part, by exposure to certain chemicals, including pesticides and nerve agents.

11 Mar 2008

Portable DNA sensors

A researcher at the National University at San Diego has taken a mathematical approach to a biological problem - how to design a portable DNA detector.

11 Mar 2008

Gene could spell new chapter in fight against gout

Researchers have found why some people are more susceptible to gout than others. The scientists looked at the genetic codes of more than 12,000 people after identifying a gene linked to uric acid levels in the blood.

10 Mar 2008

Women are treated less frequently than men with statins, aspirin and beta-blockers

Women and men experience a similar prevalence of adverse drug reactions in the treatment of coronary artery disease; however, women are significantly less likely than their male counterparts to be treated with statins, aspirin, and beta-blockers according to a new study by researchers at Rush University Medical Center.

6 Mar 2008

New malaria drug also treats toxoplasmosis

A new drug that will soon enter clinical trials for treatment of malaria also appears to be 10 times more effective than the key medicine in the current gold-standard treatment for toxoplasmosis, a disease caused by a related parasite that infects nearly one-third of all humans—more than two billion people worldwide.

6 Mar 2008

Alcohol may increase blood pressure to a much greater extent than previously thought

Previous observational studies have reported that heavy alcohol intake is a risk factor for hypertension but such studies may be confounded by factors such as diet, smoking, exercise levels and socio-economic position.

6 Mar 2008

Alcohol and blood pressure

A new study published in PLoS Medicine shows that individuals who drink on a regular basis have a systolic blood pressure around 7 mmHg higher than that of people who do not drink.

6 Mar 2008

Broccoli and Brussels sprouts protect against bladder cancer

An international team of researchers has found that vegetables from the cabbage family, such as broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts and watercress, can protect against bladder cancer.

5 Mar 2008

Tamoxifen may help treat mania in patients with bipolar disorder

A small, three-week trial of tamoxifen, a drug typically used to treat breast cancer, indicates that it also may decrease symptoms of mania in patients with bipolar disorder, according to a report in the March issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

4 Mar 2008

Elevated liver enzymes associated with higher future mortality

A new population-based epidemiological study has found that elevated liver enzymes discovered during routine medical care are associated with higher future mortality.

4 Mar 2008

Hypertension linked to heavy drinking

According to British researchers the relationship between heavy drinking and high blood pressure is more significant than previously thought.

4 Mar 2008

New way to develop tumor vaccines

Researchers at the University of Southern California (USC) have uncovered a new way to develop more effective tumor vaccines by turning off the suppression function of regulatory T cells.

3 Mar 2008

Novel mechanism found that may boost impaired function of leukemia protein

A new study led by researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) reports on a novel mechanism that can enhance the function of a protein that is frequently impaired in patients with acute forms of leukemia.

3 Mar 2008

New discovery on programmed cell death

Investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have discovered a dance of proteins that protects certain cells from undergoing apoptosis, also known as programmed cell death. Understanding the fine points of apoptosis is important to researchers seeking ways to control this process.

1 Mar 2008

Potential target to treat deadly bloodstream infections

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have discovered a possible target to treat bloodstream bacterial infections.

28 Feb 2008

Using microorganisms to remove trichloroethene from water

In 2002, Bruce Rittmann, PhD, director of the Biodesign Institute's Center for Environmental Biotechnology, received a patent for an innovative way to use nature to lend society a hand.

28 Feb 2008

Discovery of potential drug targets for sepsis

"We have identified a key connection of signaling pathways in the cascade of events leading to sepsis. This defines a crucial point where the immune system spirals out of control to cause severe sepsis and where there is an opportunity for therapeutic intervention," says Scripps Research Professor Wolfram Ruf, who led the research with his postdoctoral fellow Frank Niessen.

28 Feb 2008

Diltiazem reduces cocaine cravings in a rat model

Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine and Harvard Medical School have found that diltiazem, a drug used in the treatment of high blood pressure, reduces cocaine cravings in a rat model.

28 Feb 2008

New drug trial to target hereditary cancers

Cancer Research UK scientists at Newcastle University are starting the first UK trial of a new drug which targets the 'Achilles' heel' in hereditary forms of both breast and ovarian cancer.

28 Feb 2008