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Researchers discover how strokes trigger biochemical events that increase amyloid-beta production in the brain

Researchers from the MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Disorders (MGH-MIND) have discovered how the death of brain cells caused by a stroke or head injury may cause generation of amyloid-beta protein ? the key component of senile plaques seen in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease.

8 Jun 2007

Strokes role in Alzheimer's disease

Researchers have discovered key details of how stroke or traumatic brain injury can trigger Alzheimer's disease (AD) by enhancing formation of brain-clogging amyloid plaques.

8 Jun 2007

New practical weight loss solution for the obese

Millions of people the world over suffer today from obesity, yet there is no magic bullet that has yet provided a universally accepted solution.

8 Jun 2007

Vorinostat shows anti-cancer activity in recurrent gliomas

North Central Cancer Treatment Group (NCCTG) researchers, based at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., report that a novel application of the drug vorinostat shows activity in patients with recurrent glioblastoma multiforme.

5 Jun 2007

Research explains why those with obstructive sleep apnea are at higher risk for cardiovascular disease

Researchers have found that patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) have higher levels of a type of dead cells (apoptotic cells) from the lining (endothelium) of their blood vessels circulating in their bloodstream than people who do not have OSA.

3 Jun 2007

New strategy for treating rare muscle disease, kidney disorders

Based on clues provided by a study with transgenic mice, a research group at the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has developed a strategy that will be tested as the first treatment for people with hereditary inclusion body myopathy (HIBM), a rare, degenerative muscle disease.

3 Jun 2007

FDA approves Norditropin for short stature in children with Noonan syndrome

Novo Nordisk has announced that Norditropin (somatropin[rDNA origin] injection) received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for the treatment of short stature in children with Noonan syndrome.

3 Jun 2007

Insights into a key strategy cancer cells use to survive and thrive

The discovery of how some abnormal cells can avoid a biochemical program of self-destruction by increasing their energy level and repairing the damage, is giving investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital insights into a key strategy cancer cells use to survive and thrive.

3 Jun 2007

How cells breathe

Inhaling oxygen is only the first step in a long journey through the nooks and crannies of the body.

1 Jun 2007

Molecular motors may speed nutrient processing

Matthew Tyska, Ph.D., recalls being intrigued, from the first day of his postdoctoral fellowship in 1999, with a nearly 30-year-old photograph.

1 Jun 2007

FDA approves Torisel (temsirolimus) for advanced kidney cancer

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) hasapproved Torisel (temsirolimus) for the treatment of a certain type of advanced kidney cancer known as renal cell carcinoma.

1 Jun 2007

Treatment for urea cycle disorders proves its worth 25 years later

The simple notion of copying the body's own natural "waste disposal" chemistry to mop up potentially toxic nitrogen has saved an estimated 80 percent of patients with urea cycle disorders --- most of them children, according to a report in the New England Journal of Medicine summarizing a quarter century of experience with the treatment.

1 Jun 2007

Mercury's link to heart disease

Heavy metals and other toxins have been linked to many human diseases, but determining exactly how they damage the body remains a mystery in many cases.

1 Jun 2007

Designer lipid-like peptides to play a key role in improving drug delivery systems

Scientists from Institute of Biophysics and Nanosystems Research (IBN), Austrian Academy of Sciences and of Centre for Biomedical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA report the study of Tuning Curvature and Stability of Monoolein Bilayers by Designer Lipid-Like Peptide Surfactants in the May 30th issue of the online, open-access journal PLoS ONE.

30 May 2007

Smart mice miss out on Alzheimer's

Scientists in the U.S. have managed to breed mice which lack the enzyme thought to be the culprit in Alzheimer's disease.

28 May 2007

Research reveals a new mechanism of learning in the brain

Mice genetically engineered to lack a single enzyme in their brains are more adept at learning than their normal cousins, and are quicker to figure out that their environment has changed, a team led by researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center has found.

28 May 2007