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Gene therapy improves vision but does not halt progression of cell loss

Independent clinical trials, including one conducted at the Scheie Eye Institute at the Perelman School of Medicine, have reported safety and efficacy for Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA), a congenital form of blindness caused by mutations in a gene (RPE65) required for recycling vitamin A in the retina.

22 Jan 2013

Perfectionism is a risk factor for eating disorders

Two aspects of perfectionism are involved in body dissatisfaction and the development of eating disorders, according to a study of over a thousand women published this week in BioMed Central's open access journal, Journal of Eating Disorders.

22 Jan 2013

Federal gov't. awards health exchange grants to some states

The federal health department announced $1.5 billion in new grants Thursday for states to continue building their insurance exchanges under the Affordable Care Act. California, Delaware, Iowa, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Oregon and Vermont received funding - either one-or multi-year awards based on their progress in creating the marketplaces.

20 Jan 2013

DRC reducing mother-to-child HIV transmission, PlusNews reports

"The HIV infection rate has declined among pregnant women in the Republic of Congo from 3.4 percent in 2009 to 2.8 percent in 2012, according to a study by the Ministry of Health, which said it had taken specific action to help this section of the population," PlusNews reports.

19 Jan 2013

Research provides unique insight into the often misunderstood world of addiction

People who take cocaine over many years without becoming addicted have a brain structure which is significantly different from those individuals who developed cocaine-dependence, researchers have discovered.

18 Jan 2013

Macular pigment screening: an interview with Jaquie Finn, Product Line Manager at Elektron Technology

AMD is the leading cause of vision loss in anyone over 50 and globally in 2010 it was estimated to cost $340 billion to treat AMD. The costs are set to spiral over the next 20 years and really over burden the healthcare system unless people start to take preventative action.

18 Jan 2013

UC Riverside research: Exercise-loving mice have larger midbrains

Is athleticism linked to brain size? To find out, researchers at the University of California, Riverside performed laboratory experiments on house mice and found that mice that have been bred for dozens of generations to be more exercise-loving have larger midbrains than those that have not been selectively bred this way.

18 Jan 2013

Report: Cancer death rates decline 20% from its peak in 1991

As of 2009, the overall death rate for cancer in the United States had declined 20 percent from its peak in 1991, translating to the avoidance of approximately 1.2 million deaths from cancer, 152,900 of these in 2009 alone. These figures come from the American Cancer Society's annual Cancer Statistics report, one of the most widely-cited medical publications in the world.

17 Jan 2013

Caesarean section increases risk of persistent pelvic girdle pain compared with vaginal delivery

Caesarean section increases the risk of persistent pelvic girdle pain after delivery compared with vaginal delivery, according to a new study from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.

17 Jan 2013

Partisan strife, interest group concerns emerge in spending debate

The New York Times explores how intra-GOP allegiances to the business community are changing. Meanwhile, AARP acknowleges that adjustments must be made, but argues against cutting back entitlements. Also in the news, the director of the National Institutes of Health expresses his wariness about the impact sequestration could have on biomedical research.

17 Jan 2013

Clinician demographics key to primary care career choice

The demographics of physician assistants who choose a career in primary care are similar to those of medical students who also choose primary care, US study findings show.

16 Jan 2013

Jan. issue of Behavioural Neurology features papers on aphasia and hemispatial neglect

Approximately half a million individuals suffer strokes in the US each year, and about one in five develops some form of post-stroke aphasia, the partial or total loss of the ability to communicate. By comparing different types of aphasia, investigators have been able to gain new insights into the normal cognitive processes underlying language, as well as the potential response to interventions.

16 Jan 2013

Cornwall Council improves training for social care workforce

With reports of abuse in care settings rising, it has never been more vital that staff are trained to provide the highest standards of care to vulnerable people. In Cornwall there were instances where vulnerable adults had suffered abuse and neglect. For this reason Cornwall Council enlisted the help of ESRC-funded researchers from Plymouth University to improve training for their social care workforce.

16 Jan 2013

Pediatric CKD rates increase substantially in south of England

Research shows that the number of children with moderate-to-severe chronic kidney disease in the south of England rose significantly between 2005 and 2009.

15 Jan 2013

Researchers uncover genetic causes of von Willebrand disease

In 2006, the lab of Dr. David Ginsburg at the Life Sciences Institute put a call out for siblings attending the University of Michigan to donate blood for a study of blood-clotting disorders.

10 Jan 2013

New publication focuses on microbiome research in environmental, agricultural and biomedical areas

Two prominent microbiologists have launched a new peer-reviewed publication focusing on microbiome research in environmental, agricultural, and biomedical areas. Eric Wommack, from the University of Delaware's College of Earth, Ocean and Environment and Jacques Ravel, from the University of Maryland School of Medicine's Institute for Genome Sciences are the Editors-in-Chief of Microbiome, a BioMed Central (BMC) publication, which launched its first issue this week.

9 Jan 2013

Viewpoints: 'Accepted wisdom' about cutting entitlements disputed; Profit motive doesn't lead to good health care

It has become accepted economic wisdom that the only way to get control over America's looming budget deficits is to "reform entitlements." The accepted wisdom is wrong. ... Medicare and Medicaid costs are projected to soar. But here again, look closely and you'll see neither is really the problem. The underlying problem is the soaring cost of health care overall, combined with the aging of the boomer generation.

9 Jan 2013

Overall cancer death rates continue to decline in the U.S.: Report

The Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, 1975-2009, shows that overall cancer death rates continued to decline in the United States among both men and women, among all major racial and ethnic groups, and for all of the most common cancer sites, including lung, colon and rectum, female breast, and prostate.

9 Jan 2013

Researchers identify four new genetic regions associated with Behcet's disease

Researchers have identified four new regions on the human genome associated with Behcet's disease, a painful and potentially dangerous condition found predominantly in people with ancestors along the Silk Road.

7 Jan 2013

TRIP-Br2 plays a major role in energy metabolism and fat storage

As part of their ongoing research on the physiologic factors that contribute to the development of obesity, Joslin Diabetes Center scientists have identified a cell cycle transcriptional co-regulator - TRIP-Br2 - that plays a major role in energy metabolism and fat storage.

6 Jan 2013