C section News and Research

RSS

Researchers have discovered that many people with Bardet-Biedl syndrome can't detect odors

Johns Hopkins researchers have discovered that many people with Bardet-Biedl syndrome (BBS), a rare, complex condition marked by an array of seemingly unconnected symptoms, including obesity, learning difficulties, eye problems and asthma, also have another, previously unreported problem

23 Aug 2004

Research reveals positive long-term impact of youth development program

Young people who grow up in low-income communities and leave high school without a diploma are often unemployed and may feel depressed about their future.

21 Aug 2004

Evidence of pelvic floor nerve injury after routine vaginal birth

Women with pelvic floor disorders suffer from urinary and fecal incontinence as well as prolapse of the bowel, bladder and reproductive organs. (Bowel prolapse occurs when the bowel slips out of place, and pushes up against the walls of the vagina, which may cause a great deal of discomfort.)

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

Stem cell research may one day help cerebral palsy

Natural chemicals that assist healing may one day help transplanted adult stem cells integrate into an injured brain, helping children with cerebral palsy recover lost function, according to researchers at the Medical College of Georgia.

18 Aug 2004

Computed tomography may improve screening of latent atherosclerosis

Atherosclerosis is the progressive narrowing and hardening of the arteries over time, known to occur to some degree with aging; but other risk factors (such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, smoking, diabetes and family history for atherosclerotic disease) that accelerate this process have been identified.

18 Aug 2004

Not all good cholesterol helps to protect arteries from becoming clogged with fatty deposits

HDL becomes dysfunctional, Dr. Hazen said, when myeloperoxidase (MPO), an enzyme present in white blood cells, inhibits the HDL's ability to keep LDL, or "bad" cholesterol, from building up in artery walls.

17 Aug 2004

New colon cancer guidelines

The American Society of Clinical Oncology has developed a set of recommendations to address whether patients who have had successful surgery for Stage II colon cancer should be offered adjuvant chemotherapy in routine clinical practice.

17 Aug 2004

Scientists have uncovered the identity of the last of eight genes known to contribute to Bardet-Biedl syndrome

The identification of the BBS3 gene ends the search for primary BBS-causing genes in families studied for years by a team of scientists from the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. However, the scientists are still hunting for other, less obvious genetic influences in these families.

16 Aug 2004

Relationship between brain chemical messenger glutamate and schizophrenia traits

Researchers at the NIH's National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) have identified a relationship between a small section of one gene, the brain chemical messenger glutamate, and a collection of traits known to be associated with schizophrenia.

15 Aug 2004

Trick illustrates life’s determination to survive hostile environments

Dipping your hands into 160-degree water is guaranteed to give you an immediate and severe scalding - unless you’re one of the few species of bacteria that manage to thrive in temperatures that would maim or kill the rest of the Earth’s inhabitants.

13 Aug 2004

Pineal gland which regulates the cycles of sleep and waking evolved to improve vision

The pineal gland - which regulates the cycles of sleep and waking - appears to have evolved as an indirect way to improve vision, by keeping toxic compounds away from the eye

13 Aug 2004

Gene responsible for management of glutamate is a promising candidate in determining risk for schizophrenia

Researchers at the National Institute of Mental Health have identified a relationship between a small section of one gene, the brain chemical messenger glutamate, and a collection of traits known to be associated with schizophrenia.

11 Aug 2004

Survey reveals surprising insights into parental attitudes toward teenage sexual behavior

As an estimated four million American children make the transition from junior high/middle school to high school this fall, a new national survey conducted by the Society for Adolescent Medicine reveals parents' primary concerns as they ready their teenagers for the new school year.

11 Aug 2004

Free licences of European patents on the hereditary breast cancer gene BRCA2

The Institute of Cancer Research and Cancer Research Technology Limited, the technology transfer company of the charity Cancer Research UK, today announced the availability of free licences of European patents on the hereditary breast cancer gene BRCA2 to publicly funded research laboratories and not-for-profit research laboratories.

11 Aug 2004

New treatment strategy for brain cancer

Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center researchers have found that combining ionizing radiation with a secreted protein that selectively inhibits tumor cell growth and survival can target cancer cells and leave healthy cells alone, perhaps presenting a new approach for treating the deadliest type of brain tumor.

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

New medical imaging technique

Researchers at Rensselaer are working to develop a new medical imaging technique designed to determine the relative stiffness of soft tissue for the diagnosis of injury and disease.

9 Aug 2004

Correlation between HCV viral load and severity of liver disease

The significance of hepatitis C virus (HCV) serum titers (HCV viral load) has been examined in several clinical situations. There is much evidence that patients with a lower viral load have better response rates to anti-viral therapy compared to those with higher levels.

9 Aug 2004

Novel treatment of patients with high cholesterol focus of national meeting

Implications of recent lipid-lowering clinical trials and the specific changes to the NCEP guidelines will be the focus of discussion by Neil J. Stone, M.D., professor of clinical medicine of the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University.

6 Aug 2004