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Scientists uncover how immune system responds to invading anthrax bacteria

Scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences have uncovered how the body's immune system launches its survival response to the notorious and deadly bacterium anthrax.

17 Jun 2011

Anxiety hinders detection during search for multiple objects

A person scanning baggage or X-rays stands a better chance of seeing everything they're searching for if they aren't feeling anxious, according to a new laboratory experiment.

17 Jun 2011

AAIDD honors BUSM professor for intellectual and developmental disabilities research

Joanne Wilkinson, MD, MSc, associate director of Medical Student Education at Boston University School of Medicine, has been selected as the first physician to receive the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities' 2011 Early Career Award for her continued efforts to improve the changing face of medicine for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

17 Jun 2011

NPR: Medical errors in outpatient settings may exceed those in hospitals

It's been a dozen years since the Institute of Medicine shocked the public by estimating that as many as 98,000 people were dying annually because of medical mistakes in the nation's hospitals. But results from a study published in this week's JAMA suggest that outpatient care may be just as hazardous to your health.

17 Jun 2011

Study shows deprivation leads to cancer inequality in England

MORE than 2,600 deaths in England from some of the most common types of cancer could be avoided each year if all cancer patients had the same chance of survival as the most affluent section of society, a new piece of research suggests.

17 Jun 2011

Key to remove stem cells responsible for fat expansion

Researchers may have found the key to developing a method to rid the body of stem cells responsible for driving fat expansion. According to a report in the June 16 Cell Stem Cell, a Cell Press publication, they've landed the first protein marker on the surface of those so-called adipose stromal cells (ASCs), which serve as progenitors of the cells that make up fat tissue.

17 Jun 2011

Menafrivac more effective, less expensive than older meningitis vaccines, studies say

The meningococcal vaccine MenAfriVac, which is made by the Indian generic drug company Serum Institute, is "dramatically better" at producing a protective effect among African children in three countries than "older so-called meningococcal polysaccaride vaccines, including Mencevax from GlaxoSmithKline," according to a paper describing two studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine, Reuters reports.

17 Jun 2011

Public Health Grid technology could address specific surveillance needs for pandemic disease control

An evaluation of the Public Health Grid (PHGrid) technology during the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic could enhance the capabilities of epidemiologists and disease-control agencies when the next emergent disease appears, according to a study published in the International Journal of Grid and Utility Computing.

17 Jun 2011

New weapon in the fight against cancer

A cancer diagnosis is not necessarily a death sentence. There are now quite a number of possibilities to treat cancer. In addition to radiotherapy and chemotherapy, so-called radionuclide treatment has also become an important component in the fight against the mutated cells. It involves injecting radioactive elements, so-called nuclides, into the patient's circulatory system.

17 Jun 2011

First Lady to visit Africa

The White House on Wednesday outlined the schedule for First Lady Michelle Obama's upcoming trip to Africa, which will be "focused on youth leadership, education, health and wellness," Agence France-Presse reports.

17 Jun 2011

BGI releases first complete map of Germany E. coli O104:H4 genome

Building upon previous efforts producing a high-quality de novo genome assemblies of deadly 2011 E. coli O104:H4 outbreak strain, the BGI and their collaborators at the University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf have now released the first complete map of the genome and plasmids without any assembly gaps.

17 Jun 2011

Elsevier announces two new biomedical applications from Molecular Connections

Elsevier, a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, today announced two new applications from Molecular Connections, a life science informatics company, on SciVerse Applications beta.

17 Jun 2011

Politics, personalities swirl around health overhaul

Whether it's more skirmishes over the individual mandate, pushes to repeal and replace the sweeping overhaul or state-level pressure to join lawsuits challenging the measure, the health law continues to be a part of high-stakes political discourse.

17 Jun 2011

Varicocele surgery may increase testosterone production

As many as 15 percent of men have varicoceles, masses of enlarged and dilated veins in the testicles. There is new evidence that varicoceles, long known to be a cause of male infertility, interfere with the production of testosterone -- a crucial hormone to maintaining men's health.

17 Jun 2011

Viewpoints: Medicare eligibility age; Medicare 'scares'; questions about Fla. Medicaid managed care

The bottom line is that we probably need to start raising Medicare's eligibility age incrementally, given today's life-expectancy realities. But it is not going to be the silver bullet that saves Medicare.

17 Jun 2011

Cedars-Sinai receives National Eye Institute grant to develop gene therapy for corneal disease

Cedars-Sinai stem cell researchers investigating ways to prevent eye problems in diabetic patients have been awarded a $3 million grant from the National Eye Institute to develop gene therapy in corneal stem cells to alleviate damage to corneas that can cause vision loss.

17 Jun 2011

IITA launches initiative to prevent aflatoxin contamination in African crops

African agricultural research groups led by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and partners have launched a project seeking to provide farmers with a natural, safe, and cost-effective solution to prevent contamination of maize and peanut by a deadly cancer-causing poison, aflatoxin, in a bid to improve the health and income of families in Nigeria and Kenya.

17 Jun 2011

First genetic, biochemical tests for Idiopathic Infantile Hypercalcemia

A breakthrough in genetic research has uncovered the defect behind a rare hereditary children's disease that inhibits the body's ability to break down vitamin D. This discovery has led researchers to develop the first genetic and biochemical tests that positively identify the disease.

17 Jun 2011

Pregnant women with depression unlikely to receive consistent treatment

Pregnant women who screen positive for depression are unlikely to receive consistent treatment, researchers say. That may translate to women spending more time in the hospital before babies are even born.

17 Jun 2011

Transgenomic introduces Nuclear Mitome Test for diagnosis of mitochondrial disorders

Transgenomic, Inc. today announced the launch of the Nuclear Mitome Test, a genetic test to aid physicians in the diagnosis of mitochondrial disorders.

17 Jun 2011