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Amyloid plaques in normal older individuals may be early signs of Alzheimer's

Researchers using two brain-imaging technologies have found that apparently normal older individuals with brain deposits of amyloid beta - the primary constituent of the plaques found in the brains of Alzheimer's disease patients - also had changes in brain structure similar to those seen in Alzheimer's patients.

31 Mar 2011

Tips on neurobiology of learning

Everyone would like MDs to have the best education - and to absorb what they are taught. The lead article in the April 4 issue of the journal Academic Medicine connects research on how the brain learns to how to incorporate this understanding into real world education, particularly the education of doctors.

31 Mar 2011

Singing reduces blood pressure prior to total knee replacement surgery

Doctors report that singing reduced the blood pressure of a 76-year-old woman who had experienced severe preoperative hypertension prior to total knee replacement surgery for osteoarthritis (OA). While the patient was unresponsive to aggressive pharmacologic interventions, the woman's blood pressure dropped dramatically when she sang several religious songs.

30 Mar 2011

GI Dynamics announces positive results from EndoBarrier studies against type 2 diabetes

GI Dynamics, a leader in non-surgical, endoscopic treatments for type 2 diabetes and obesity, announced today new results from three studies that demonstrate the positive effects of the EndoBarrier Gastrointestinal Liner on type 2 diabetes, weight loss and other metabolic factors.

30 Mar 2011

New system can improve patient adherence to colonoscopy recommendations, reduce disparities

The simple practice of letters and a telephone call to patients who are due for a colonoscopy significantly improves adherence to endoscopic follow-up recommendations, according to a new study in Gastroenterology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association Institute.

30 Mar 2011

CancerForward announces new national outreach and partnering program

CancerForward: The Foundation for Cancer Survivors today announced the creation of ConnectToForward, a fundamental initiative of the Foundation's three-prong mission to connect, educate and share information among cancer survivors through its website, cancerforward.org.

30 Mar 2011

Engineers create new microfluidic device that can detect cancer cells, HIV

A Harvard bioengineer and an MIT aeronautical engineer have created a new device that can detect single cancer cells in a blood sample, potentially allowing doctors to quickly determine whether cancer has spread from its original site.

30 Mar 2011

Bariatric surgery highly cost-effective treatment for obese type 2 diabetics

Bariatric surgery is an especially cost-effective therapy for managing Type 2 diabetes in moderately and severely obese patients. These findings and others were presented today at the 2nd World Congress on Interventional Therapies for Type 2 Diabetes, hosted by NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and Weill Cornell Medical College.

29 Mar 2011

Penn neurologist develops new approach for brain activity study

By combining sophisticated mathematical techniques more commonly used by spies instead of scientists with the power and versatility of functional magnetic resonance imaging, a Penn neurologist has developed a new approach for studying the inner workings of the brain.

29 Mar 2011

CINJ scientist receives University of Texas award for cancer therapeutic research

In recognition of efforts made in cancer therapeutic research, Joseph R. Bertino, MD, chief scientific officer at The Cancer Institute of New Jersey, has been honored with The Jeffrey A. Gottlieb Memorial Award sponsored by The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. CINJ is a Center of Excellence of UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

29 Mar 2011

ActiveSite's ASP-440 plasma kallikrein inhibitor effective in reducing diabetes-induced blood-retinal barrier breakdown

ActiveSite Pharmaceuticals, Inc., announced today the online publication of a study in the journal Diabetes that describes the effectiveness of its novel plasma kallikrein inhibitor ASP-440 in reducing blood-retinal barrier breakdown in a rodent model of diabetes.

28 Mar 2011

Molecular pharmacologist receives AACR Award for cancer research

Susan Band Horwitz, Ph.D., will receive the Eighth Annual AACR Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cancer Research. Horwitz conducted pioneering research by discovering the mechanism of action of the chemotherapeutic drug paclitaxel, which prompted the development of this drug as an important therapy for many common solid tumors, including ovarian, breast, and lung carcinomas.

28 Mar 2011

Findings conflict with traditional view of how epileptic seizures begin

The first study to examine the activity of hundreds of individual human brain cells during seizures has found that seizures begin with extremely diverse neuronal activity, contrary to the classic view that they are characterized by massively synchronized activity.

28 Mar 2011

Researchers identify enzyme biomarker that can diagnose early colon cancer

A research team at the University of Colorado Cancer Center has identified an enzyme that could be used to diagnose colon cancer earlier. It is possible that this enzyme also could be a key to stopping the cancer.

28 Mar 2011

Ontario's doctors call for continued strategic investments in health care

With the provincial budget set to be delivered on March 29, 2011, Ontario's doctors are reminding the government that strategic investments must continue to be made in health care.

25 Mar 2011

FDA approves humanitarian device exemption for Elana Surgical Kit in cerebral bypass

Dutch medical device manufacturer, Elana bv, announced today that it has received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for a humanitarian device exemption (HDE), enabling a lifesaving cerebral bypass. Elana bv is a corporate spin-off from the University Medical Centre Utrecht, the Netherlands.

25 Mar 2011

Medical experts: Nation needs to offer more confidential care for sexually active teens

After reviewing existing research regarding the common practices of health care providers who see adolescent patients across the country, Rebecca Allen, MD, MPH, a clinician and researcher at Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island, and her colleague, Michelle Forcier, MD, MPH, an adolescent medicine specialist at Hasbro Children's Hospital, asserted that the nation needs to offer more confidential care for teenagers who are sexually active.

25 Mar 2011

Study finds significant increase in MRSA infections during summer, autumn months

A new study from Rhode Island Hospital has found a significant increase in the occurrence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections in the summer and autumn months.

25 Mar 2011

Mercury in fish may not increase heart disease risk: Study

According to a new study Americans' level of exposure to mercury from sources such as fish is not associated with a higher risk of heart disease, stroke or other cardiovascular disease. This is in spite of the repeated proofs of neurological deficits in children and unborn babies due to mercury exposure.

24 Mar 2011

Little evidence supporting effectiveness of acupuncture in reducing pain

Although acupuncture is commonly used for pain control, doubts about its effectiveness and safety remain. Investigators from the Universities of Exeter & Plymouth (Exeter, UK) and the Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine (Daejeon, South Korea) critically evaluated systematic reviews of acupuncture as a treatment of pain in order to explore this question.

24 Mar 2011