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Fasting for two days protects healthy cells against chemotherapy

The chemotherapy worked as intended on cancer, extending the lifespan of mice injected with aggressive human tumors, reported a group led by Valter Longo of the University of Southern California.

1 Apr 2008

Two drug combo blood pressure therapy lowers cardiovascular risk

An international blood pressure study comparing two single-pill drug combinations has yielded results so significant that the study has been stopped early and the researchers say their findings might alter the way high blood pressure is treated worldwide.

1 Apr 2008

New genetic clues to diabetes

An international team that included scientists from the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), today reported it has identified six more genetic variants involved in type 2 diabetes, boosting to 16 the total number of genetic risk factors associated with increased risk of the disease.

31 Mar 2008

Gene mutations tied to immune comeback during therapy for HIV-1

A new study by U.S. scientists provides compelling evidence that two genes are linchpins in defining the course of immune restoration in HIV-positive individuals undergoing virus-suppressing therapy.

31 Mar 2008

Epilepsy advocates propose strategies to heighten treatment expectations

On the heels of the nation's largest event dedicated to the epilepsy community, the National Walk for Epilepsy, advocates today announced their recommendations in response to a new national survey uncovering key challenges facing the epilepsy community.

31 Mar 2008

Americans living longer, enjoying greater health and prosperity, but important disparities remain

Average life expectancy continues to increase, and today's older Americans enjoy better health and financial security than any previous generation.

31 Mar 2008

Saving cancer patients' skin

Becky Sasaki has the quick laugh and easy smile of a woman who continues to thrive despite her four-year wrestling match with lung cancer.

31 Mar 2008

Relaxation response training may improve control of hard-to-treat systolic hypertension

Adding the relaxation response, a stress-management approach, to other lifestyle interventions may significantly improve treatment of the type of hypertension most common in the elderly.

31 Mar 2008

Hairdressers at an increased risk for cancers

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), hair dyes and other chemicals place hairdressers at an increased risk for cancer.

31 Mar 2008

University of Kentucky physician revolutionizes gene research

A dramatic new study published in the most recent issue of Nature questions some of the mechanisms underlying a new class of drugs based on Nobel Prize-winning work designed to fight diseases ranging from macular degeneration to diabetes.

28 Mar 2008

Experts call for a global fund to combat neglected tropical diseases

An international team of tropical disease control experts has urged the global health and development community, and particularly the G8 leaders, to establish a new financing mechanism to combat the neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) of poverty.

28 Mar 2008

New insights into anti-cancer effects of NSAIDs

Researchers at the National Sun Yat-Sen University and Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan have revealed a new mechanism by which nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) attenuate tumor invasion and metastasis.

28 Mar 2008

Increasing access to antiretroviral drugs would drastically cut AIDS deaths in South Africa

More that 1.2 million deaths could be prevented in South Africa over the next five years by accelerating efforts to provide access to antiretroviral therapy (ART), according to a study released online today by the Journal of Infectious Diseases.

28 Mar 2008

FDA deadlines may compromise drug safety by rushing approval

Many medications are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on the brink of congressionally mandated deadlines, and those drugs are more likely to face later regulatory intervention than those approved with greater deliberation, researchers at Harvard University have found.

28 Mar 2008

Brain scientist shedding light on learning, memory

Neurons spoke to Dr. Joe Z. Tsien when he was a sophomore college student searching for some meaningful extracurricular activity.

28 Mar 2008

Beetle genome opens the door to developmental research

The whole DNA sequence of the red flour beetle, familiar to many as an unwelcome visitor to the kitchen flour jar, has been published in Nature .

28 Mar 2008

New nanoparticles for targeting tumors

As a wide variety of nanoparticles continue to demonstrate their ability to improve the delivery of imaging agents and drugs to tumors, nanoparticle researchers have turned their attention to the challenge of systematically determining how a given nanoparticle’s physical and chemical characteristics affect its ability to target tumors. Such data could provide drug developers with guidelines to help them select the most effective type of nanoparticle for a given therapeutic or imaging application.

28 Mar 2008

Anticancer siRNA therapy advances, thanks to nanoparticles

Small pieces of nucleic acid, known as siRNAs (short interfering RNAs), can turn off the production of specific proteins, a property that makes them one of the more promising new classes of anticancer drugs in development. Indeed, at least two siRNA-based anticancer therapies, both delivered to tumors in nanoparticles, have begun human clinical trials. Now, three new reports highlight the progress that researchers are making in developing broadly applicable, nanoparticle-enabled siRNA anticancer therapeutics.

28 Mar 2008

Next-generation nanomedicine

In an article featured on the cover of the March issue of Nature Nanotechnology, Mauro Ferrari, Ph.D., of The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, presented a proof-of-concept study on a new multistage delivery system (MDS) for imaging and therapeutic applications. This discovery could go a long way toward making injectable drugs more effective.

27 Mar 2008

Wistar Institute shares cell lines

Cell lines developed by scientists at The Wistar Institute in Philadelphia have recently been made available to researchers around the globe through the catalog collection at the Coriell Institute for Medical Research of Camden, N.J.

26 Mar 2008