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New technique boosts success rates with artificial insemination

In future a new method could help some couples who are childless against their will. The microscopic procedure significantly improves the success rate of 'ICSI' (intracytoplasmic sperm injection).

6 Feb 2008

University of Minnesota researchers have created a beating heart in the laboratory

By using a process called whole organ decellularization, scientists from the University of Minnesota Center for Cardiovascular Repair grew functioning heart tissue by taking dead rat and pig hearts and reseeding them with a mixture of live cells. The research will be published online in the January 13 issue of Nature Medicine.

15 Jan 2008

How to mend a broken heart - Scientists make dead hearts beat again

Scientists in America have been able to revive the hearts of dead rats and start them beating again.

14 Jan 2008

Women wait longer to pursue knee-replacement surgery than men do

Is getting new knees on your list of New Year's resolutions? Research at the University of Delaware indicates that women wait longer to pursue knee-replacement surgery than men do.

10 Jan 2008

Research focuses on basic cellular mechanics that instigate the muscle contractions of labor

In the 21st century, human tissue can be generated from stem cells and severed limbs are successfully reattached, while the physiological processes governing life's most fundamental event, childbirth labor, remain a medical mystery.

4 Jan 2008

Protein a possible key to allergy and asthma control

Activating a protein found on some immune cells seems to halt the cells' typical job of spewing out substances that launch allergic reactions, a study by Johns Hopkins researchers suggests.

3 Jan 2008

Heartburn during pregnancy

Heartburn symptoms are one of the most commonly reported complaints among pregnant women.

10 Dec 2007

Botox shows potential for bladder spasms and leakages

Eight years ago, Lynette Kunz suffered a severe spinal cord injury that left her a quadriplegic and sufferer of involuntary bladder contractions.

5 Dec 2007

Implanting embryonic cardiac cells prevents arrhythmias

When researchers at Cornell, the University of Bonn and the University of Pittsburgh transplanted living embryonic heart cells into cardiac tissue of mice that had suffered heart attacks, the mice became resistant to cardiac arrhythmias, thereby avoiding one of the most dangerous and fatal consequences of heart attacks.

5 Dec 2007

Life-threatening gene defect related to thoracic aortic disease discovered

A research team led by scientists at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston has identified a defective gene that affects vascular smooth-muscle cells in people who suffer from hereditary thoracic aortic disease, which can kill victims with little warning in the prime of their lives.

13 Nov 2007

Role of psychological well-being in premature delivery

A group of researchers of the University of Modena has investigated the role of psychological well-being in premature delivery. The study is reported in the current issue of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics.

13 Nov 2007

AKAP18 protein helps heart beat faster

A protein, known as AKAP18, could help the heart to beat faster in response to adrenaline or noradrenaline, according to a study published online this week in EMBO reports.

27 Sep 2007

Coping with urinary incontinence

For older adults, increased urinary frequency is fairly common.

26 Sep 2007

Are all heart palpitations dangerous?

Palpitations - the sensation that the heart has started to race or pound, or feels like it has skipped a beat - are usually caused by a harmless hiccup in the heart's rhythm.

29 Aug 2007

Sildenafil increases release of key reproductive hormone oxytocin

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison report this month that sildenafil increases the amount of oxytocin released by stimulation of the posterior pituitary gland, a small structure directly underneath the brain that regulates hormone levels in response to neural signals.

24 Aug 2007

Genomics study provides insight into the evolution of unique human traits

Researchers from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, along with colleagues from Stanford University, report the results of a large-scale, genome-wide study to investigate gene copy number differences among ten primate species, including humans.

1 Aug 2007

Four hours in ecomony class doubles the risk for deep vein thrombosis

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) the chances of developing deep vein thrombosis ( DVT) double after traveling for four hours or more; this says WHO equates to one in 6,000 long-haul passengers at risk of potentially dangerous blood clots.

2 Jul 2007

More complete understanding of lactic acid production in muscle

In a paper published in The Journal of Physiology, Frank de Paoli and colleagues, working at the University of Aarhus in Denmark, add to the growing literature leading to a more complete understanding of the physiological role of lactic acid production in muscle.

1 Jun 2007

Exercise rejuvenates muscle tissue in healthy senior citizens

Not only does exercise make most people feel better and perform physical tasks better, it now appears that exercise, specifically, resistance training -- actually rejuvenates muscle tissue in healthy senior citizens.

24 May 2007

Botox decreases pain and intensity of spasticity following a stroke

Final results from a multi-center study shows that repeated treatments of botulinum toxin type A (BoNTA or Botox?) over one year is well tolerated and results in a significant decrease in spasticity, pain frequency and average pain intensity in upper limbs following stroke, according to research from a neurologist at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.

4 May 2007