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Call for public health intervention to treat young injection drug users infected with the hepatitis C virus

In a recent study published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, scientists from New York City, Baltimore, Seattle, and San Diego called for an immediate public health intervention to treat young injection drug users infected with the hepatitis C virus (HCV).

7 Feb 2006

Eosinophilic esophagitis gene discovery

Researchers at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center have discovered the first gene associated with eosinophilic esophagitis, one of a number of eosinophil-related diseases in which the body produces abnormally large amounts of white blood cells that can lead to allergy related illnesses.

7 Feb 2006

Two-drug treatment could help asthma and chronic bronchitis sufferers

Current treatments for asthma and chronic bronchitis aren't able to address the ultimate source of the problem--they can only alleviate symptoms.

7 Feb 2006

PET imaging has the potential to improve cancer care management

A limitation of current cancer care is the difficulty of quickly assessing how well a therapy is working. However, expanding the use of existing positron emission tomography (PET) technology can provide early and accurate assessment of a tumor's response to a particular therapy allowing physicians to better tailor a patient's treatment

7 Feb 2006

Link between dementia and cancer

By expressing a protein associated with Alzheimer's disease in the brain of the fruit fly, researchers have demonstrated an intriguing link between neuronal death and proteins previously associated with cancer.

7 Feb 2006

Abraham Lincoln may have suffered from movement disorder

Researchers at Johns Hopkins and the University of Minnesota have discovered a gene mutation in the descendants of Abraham Lincoln's grandparents that suggests the Civil War president himself might have also suffered from a disease that destroys nerve cells in the cerebellum-- the part of the brain that controls movement.

7 Feb 2006

DNA end caps may lead to cancer treatments

The two ends of human DNA have different structures that are treated differently as a cell divides, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have found in a study that could help lead to cancer therapies.

7 Feb 2006

38 million Americans with health conditions that put them at increased risk for cardiovascular disease

An estimated 63 million adults have low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels higher than what would be ideal as recommended by the National Institutes of Health.

7 Feb 2006

$3.7 million to improve high blood pressure control

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of the National Institutes of Health, has launched a $3.7 million, three-year educational effort to improve high blood pressure control nationwide.

5 Feb 2006

Diabetic heart muscle makes heart disease the most common killer of diabetics

The high-fat "diet" that diabetic heart muscle consumes helps make cardiovascular disease the most common killer of diabetic patients, according to a study done at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

5 Feb 2006

Key genes identified that enable tuberculosis infection to spread

Scientists in India, led by a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) international research scholar, have identified five key genes that enable Mycobacterium tuberculosis to acquire the iron it needs to sustain growth and promote infection

5 Feb 2006

Scientists have determined the detailed structure of an essential piece of the telomerase enzyme

Scientists have determined the detailed structure of an essential piece of the telomerase enzyme, an important contributor to the vast majority of human cancers. Understanding the physical shape of the protein has led to a better understanding of how it acts to immortalize cells - and should help scientists design broadly effective cancer drugs.

5 Feb 2006

Study looks at placebo effect

The debate about the existence of a placebo effect has heated up over the past year as more and more lab experiments are detecting immediate physiological responses to placebos.

2 Feb 2006

Can rimonabant slow atherosclerosis?

Researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center has announced that they have launched a study to determine whether an experimental drug, rimonabant, can slow atherosclerosis, the fatty build-up in arteries that creates heart attack risk.

2 Feb 2006

Why anti-obesity cortisol reducing supplements do not work

Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University have revealed that the cortisol/obesity connection, touted by many weight-loss supplement marketers, may be even more tenuous than first thought.

2 Feb 2006

Share of pharmaceutical spending in total healthcare expenditure remains high across most EU countries

Most EU member states have publicly funded healthcare systems and the proportion of pharmaceutical expenditure, as a portion of GDP remains high, particularly in countries such as Italy, Portugal, France, Spain and Greece.

2 Feb 2006

Pregnancy does not provide protection against depression

Pregnancy has historically been described as a time of emotional well-being, providing "protection" against psychiatric disorder, but a new study says the hormonal changes which occur during pregnancy do not protect women from depression, and those taking antidepressants may need to continue despite concerns about fetal damage.

2 Feb 2006

Controlling neglected diseases will boost fight against HIV, TB and Malaria

Achieving success in the global fight against the "big three" diseases - HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, which together account for 5.6 million deaths a year - may well require a concurrent attack on the world’s most neglected tropical diseases, says a team of researchers in the international open access journal PLoS Medicine.

2 Feb 2006

Regular use of COX-2 inhibitors reduces breast cancer risk

A case-control study published today in the open access journal BMC Cancer observed that daily use of selective COX-2 inhibitors, including celecoxib (Celebrex) and rofecoxib (Vioxx), was associated with a 71% reduction in the risk of breast cancer.

2 Feb 2006

Another use for statins - treating rheumatoid arthritis

According to Japanese researchers statins, drugs widely used to treat high cholesterol, have a potential role in inflammation and other cell processes, including immune response and rheumatoid arthritis.

31 Jan 2006