Medical School News and Research

RSS

Peginterferon and Ribavirin combination promising for those with HIV and HCV

Since the introduction of highly active combination drug therapy for HIV, liver failure attributable to infection with the hepatitis C virus (HCV) has become a leading cause of death among those infected with the virus that causes AIDS.

22 Aug 2004

Research sheds shed light on a common cause of miscarriage in humans

Top poker players know that the face mirrors the brain. Specialists in embryonic development wouldn’t disagree. In fact, because the same clumps of primordial cells mold the final features of both, a close look at a child’s face can often yield clues about less visible problems within the skull

20 Aug 2004

Scientists have developed the first mouse model Werner’s syndrome

Scientists have developed the first mouse model of a rare disease in which people age rapidly and start developing cancers and other diseases associated with the elderly when they are only about 30 years old.

20 Aug 2004

Budding doctors can get the low-down on life at medical school

The Insider's Guide to Medical School 2004-5, compiled by members of the BMA's Medical Students Committee, gives a unique insight into what studying medicine is really like. It provides students considering medicine with crucial information, such as each U.K. medical school's entry requirements.

20 Aug 2004

Researchers find important gene for lupus

Researchers at the University of Minnesota have identified, for the first time, a gene variation associated with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), a potentially fatal disease which causes the body's defence system to attack itself.

18 Aug 2004

Zinc plays a crucial role in blindness

Dartmouth Medical School researchers in their quest to find cures for inherited diseases have found that zinc plays a crucial role in blindness in over one million people worldwide.

18 Aug 2004

More tumour cells in the blood leads to quicker deterioration in women with breast cancer

A new study of women with advanced breast cancer who have more tumor cells circulating in their blood deterioate and die quicker than women with fewer of these cells, according to the researchers from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center and other cancer centers throughout the country.

18 Aug 2004

Canada would need 4700 new doctors if overtime stopped

A new report from the Canadian Medical Association on Canada's doctor shortage suggests that Canada would need 4700 new doctors if the doctors who currently work over 60 hours a week stopped doing so.

18 Aug 2004

Research will lead to better treatments for mastocytosis

Tens of millions of people know what it's like to suffer the seasonal torment of allergies, when just a whiff of pollen, mold or dust can set off a chain reaction in the body that causes sniffling, sneezing and coughing.

18 Aug 2004

Steps families take to minimize asthma triggers in the home are either wrong or ignored

Parents of children who suffer with asthma are making many efforts to clear their homes of substances that could trigger their child's symptoms, but the steps they take aren't always the ones that could do the most good, a new University of Michigan study finds. And many don't take other steps that are known to help.

17 Aug 2004

Heart pump improves quality of life in congestive heart failure patients

The most seriously ill congestive heart failure patients live longer and have a better quality of life if implanted with a heart pump, researchers report in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

17 Aug 2004

New drive to recruit more NHS staff from underprivileged backgrounds

Research shows that 74% of the medical school population come from the highest three social classes, although just 38% of the working age population is from this background. Asian ethnic groups are under-represented in applicants to nursing courses, and there is evidence that black and ethnic minority applicants have difficulty in securing course places.

10 Aug 2004

Mexican-Americans have a far higher chance of suffering a stroke than non-Hispanic whites

And, according to a second study published today by the same team, the difference doesn't appear to be related to Mexican-Americans' higher incidence of diabetes, which had been thought to raise their risk of a certain type of stroke.

9 Aug 2004

New pill-size camera travels beyond other scope procedures to reveal gastrointestinal disorders in small intestines that often go unseen

If it doesn't sound like your typical disposable camera, that's because it's not. And while this new camera is not designed to snap shots during vacations or at other special occasions, patients are finding that the latest in high-tech, digital photography is very easy to swallow.

9 Aug 2004

Possible role for BK virus in development of prostate cancer

Now, new research by scientists at the University of Michigan Medical School suggests the intriguing possibility that this common virus also may play a role in prostate cancer – the second-leading cause of deaths from cancer in American men.

9 Aug 2004

New screening tool prevents wrong patients from receiving Parkinson's surgery

The allure of a new brain surgery technique to relieve the stiffness and shaking caused by Parkinson’s disease may lead to unnecessary operations, University of Florida researchers say, but a new screening tool they developed could prevent potentially dangerous procedures.

9 Aug 2004