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Blacks less likely to get expensive, newer heart treatments

Blacks who suffer the most common type of cardiac ischemia – non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndrome – are less likely than whites to receive expensive or newer evidence-based treatments, according to a report in a special disparities themed issue of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

15 Mar 2005

Novel Australian anti-cancer therapy has begun safety testing in human subjects

An international medical conference here heard that an Australian developed anti-cancer therapy based on the use of a common cold virus to control cancer cell growth has begun safety testing in human subjects.

15 Mar 2005

Researchers identify biochemical target that could lead to a new class of antibiotics to fight TB

A worldwide health problem, tuberculosis kills more people than any other bacterial infection. The World Health Organization estimates that two billion people are infected with TB, and that two million people die each year from the disease.

14 Mar 2005

Discovery may provide a new target to treat sepsis

Part of the immune system's pro-inflammatory response to bacterial invasion is to increase nitric oxide levels with an enzyme called inducible nitric oxide synthase.

14 Mar 2005

DNA weak links may provide clues to cancer biology

The chromosomes of mammals, including humans, contain regions that are particularly prone to breaking under conditions of stress and in cancer. Now, new research by geneticists at Duke University Medical Center finds that yeast cells also contain such weak links in DNA and begins to reveal the molecular characteristics of these links that might help to explain them.

13 Mar 2005

RNA interference as promising therapy for ALS

Scientists at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland have used RNA interference in transgenic mice to silence a mutated gene that causes inherited cases of amytrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), substantially delaying both the onset and the progression rate of the fatal motor neuron disease.

13 Mar 2005

Active brains stave off Alzheimer's signs

Mice who keep busy playing with toys also keep their brains and bodies active; more importantly, they also have lower levels of the peptides and brain plaques associated with Alzheimer's disease, compared to mice raised in environments not "enriched" with chew toys, running wheels,and tunnels, according to a new study in the 11 March issue of the journal Cell.

13 Mar 2005

Telomerase finding has major implications for cancer

UCLA biochemists have determined the three-dimensional structure of a major domain of telomerase, the enzyme that helps maintain telomeres - small pieces of DNA on the ends of chromosomes that act as protective caps - allowing DNA ends to be copied completely when cells are replicated.

9 Mar 2005

Finding may open new horizons for understanding the initiation of chemically induced cancers

A team from the chemistry and biology departments of New York University, in collaboration with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC), has uncovered a conformational switch - a change in shape in a carcinogen-damaged DNA site - in tumor suppressor genes altered by a known cancer-causing chemical found in cigarette smoke.

9 Mar 2005

Lipitor patients who reduced 'bad' cholesterol show decrease in heart attack and stroke

Patients with coronary heart disease who took Pfizer's cholesterol-lowering medicine Lipitor (atorvastatin calcium) and lowered their cholesterol to well below recommended levels experienced significantly fewer heart attacks and strokes than those who only lowered their cholesterol to recommended levels

8 Mar 2005

Study finds potential link to help find blocked heart arteries

A blood test in combination with a stress test can help better determine if someone is likely to have a blocked heart artery, according to a study by doctors at Providence Hospital in Southfield, Mich.

8 Mar 2005

Blood pressure treatment could cut risk of strokes and heart attacks

A new treatment strategy for hypertension can cut the risk of strokes by around 25 percent and coronary events by around 15 percent according to the preliminary results of a major international trial announced at the American College of Cardiology Late Breaking Clinical Trials II Meeting in Orlando today.

8 Mar 2005

Diet high in oily fish improves inflammatory conditions

A new study explains how a diet high in oily fish like salmon and mackerel improves inflammatory conditions, particularly in combination with low doses of aspirin.

7 Mar 2005

Breakthrough noninvasive tool for early cardiovascular disease detection

Physicians and researchers now have access to a noninvasive fingertip test that can identify patients with the earliest stages of cardiovascular disease and replace testing that is done during angiography.

7 Mar 2005

Novel role for cholesterol inside the cell

Cholesterol, often condemned for its role in heart disease, has always been known to be essential for the health of the fatty membranes that surround individual cells.

7 Mar 2005

Good side to cholesterol in controlling cell signals

Cholesterol, often stigmatized for its role in heart disease, has long been known to be essential for the health of the fat-laden membranes that surround individual cells.

6 Mar 2005

St. John's wort increases effectiveness of Plavix

The widely used herbal remedy St. John's wort appears to amplify the action of the popular blood-thinning drug clopidogrel, sold as Plavix, a small new clinical study finds.

6 Mar 2005

Proteins link cellular aging and response to calorie restriction

In the March 3 issue of Nature, Johns Hopkins researchers report that two proteins best known for very different activities actually come together to turn the liver into a sugar-producing factory when food is scarce.

6 Mar 2005

Discovery gives clinicians new targets for making existing therapies more effective and developing drugs to inhibit the growth of cancers

A team of researchers at the University of Alberta in Edmonton and the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute in Toronto have discovered how a key enzyme involved in repairing DNA is put together and how it works--a development that opens up new therapies for making cancer cells more vulnerable to attack.

3 Mar 2005

Inherited traits and tumor mutations affect response to treatment of leukemia

The outcome of chemotherapy treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) depends not only on the acquired genetic make-up of the leukemic cells, but on genes that children inherit from their parents. This study, from investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, is published in the online edition of Blood.

3 Mar 2005