Hypoxia News and Research

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Hypoxia is a condition in which there is a decrease in the oxygen supply to a tissue. In cancer treatment, the level of hypoxia in a tumor may help predict the response of the tumor to the treatment.

Danish scientists have identified which head and neck cancer patients will benefit from additional drug treatment during radiotherapy

Tumours that have low concentrations of oxygen (hypoxia) are resistant to radiotherapy. A drug called nimorazole (a hypoxia radiosensitiser) can improve the outcome of radiotherapy for patients with these types of tumours. However, at the moment there is no way to identify people with tumours that lack oxygen, who need this additional drug treatment, from those that only need radiotherapy.

30 Aug 2005

Good news for the hundreds of thousands of cancer patients who undergo radiation therapy

Scientists report that they have a better understanding of the complex effects of radiation on tumor biology and that specific radiation treatment regimens may enhance the effectiveness of radiotherapy, even in tumor populations that have been notoriously difficult to treat.

16 Aug 2005

DNA chip technology helps with discovery of new type 2 diabetes gene

In a new study appearing in the August 12 issue of the journal Cell, the investigators first identified genes that were altered in their level of expression in islets isolated from people with type 2 diabetes.

13 Aug 2005

Mammalian brain is far more plastic than previously thought and thus may be able to recover from serious brain injuries

Infants born prematurely and with hypoxia - inadequate oxygen to the blood - are able to recover some cells, volume and weight in the brain after oxygen supply is restored, Yale School of Medicine researchers report in Experimental Neurology.

28 Jun 2005

Pomegranate juice may help babies resist brain injuries from low oxygen

Expectant mothers at risk of premature birth may want to consider drinking pomegranate juice to help their babies resist brain injuries from low oxygen and reduced blood flow, a new mouse study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggests.

28 Jun 2005

Link between the protective effect of ischemic preconditioning in skeletal muscles and the substance that triggers hibernation

A phenomenon known as ischemic preconditioning (IP), in which blood flow to muscle is reduced and then restored, has previously been shown to increase muscle function, especially in the heart.

6 Jun 2005

Novel findings in Balo's concentric sclerosis may shed light on pathology of MS

Researchers partly funded through the National MS Society’s “MS Lesion Project” report that a novel mechanism known as “tissue preconditioning” may explain the pattern of tissue damage that occurs in Baló’s concentric sclerosis, a rare, severe disease similar to MS, and may offer clues to a similar phenomenon in MS. Hans Lassmann, MD (Medical University of Vienna, Wien) and colleagues, including Society grantee Claudia Lucchinetti, MD (Mayo Clinic and Foundation, Rochester, MN), report their findings in Brain.

12 Apr 2005

Mountaineering doctors hike medicine to new heights with Xtreme Everest

Doctors working at the edge of extreme are set to climb the world’s tallest mountain to look death in the face – and take its pulse. The medical research team will make the first ever measurements of blood oxygen in the ‘death zone’, at altitudes above 8,000 metres where the human body has struggled - and frequently failed - to survive.

16 Mar 2005

Genzyme begins gene transfer trial for peripheral arterial disease

Genzyme Corporation announced today that the first patient has been treated in a new phase 2 clinical trial examining the safety and effectiveness of locally delivered gene transfer for patients with peripheral arterial disease.

24 Feb 2005

Researchers have identified a protein called HIF-2a, which is important in retina formation

Hoping to prevent blindness in premature babies, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have identified a protein that responds to oxygen levels in cells and tissues and also affects the developing eye.

22 Feb 2005

Newly discovered virus, New Haven coronavirus

A newly discovered virus may be responsible for many respiratory tract illnesses in infants and children, and may be associated with an important multi-organ disease whose cause has remained a mystery for decades, according to articles in the Feb. 15 issue of The Journal of Infectious Diseases, now available online.

19 Jan 2005

Discovery of gene related to p53 called Bnip3L that can also cause cell death

Researchers have known for a decade that the p53 tumor suppressor gene is important for killing cells as they proliferate under low-oxygen conditions inside tumors.

5 Jan 2005

Timing of radiation and antiangiogenic therapy impacts treatment effectiveness

Agents designed to attack blood vessels that feed a growing tumor are effective against tumor growth in laboratory experiments. However, results of early clinical trials with these inhibitors have not yet exhibited the same success observed in animal models.

20 Dec 2004

Controversial theory about how diabetes causes extensive tissue damage

A controversial theory about how diabetes causes extensive tissue damage will appear in the November issue of Diabetes. At stake in the heated debate over the theory are researchers' efforts to find new ways to reduce loss of vision, kidney failure, heart damage and other side effects of diabetes.

29 Oct 2004

Infection plays a larger role than lack of oxygen in premature infants with brain injury

Johns Hopkins researchers have dispelled the widespread belief among obstetricians that, in premature infants, brain injury results from a lack of oxygen, also called hypoxia, when, in fact, infection plays a larger role.

24 Oct 2004

No change in UK perinatal death rate from infections and prematurity in 20 years

Despite overall falls in UK rates of stillbirth and neonatal deaths over the past 20 years, deaths caused by infections and prematurity in multiple births have remained unchanged, reveals research in the Fetal and Neonatal Edition of the Archives of Disease in Childhood.

21 Oct 2004

Boosting the blood count in conjunction with radiation therapy doesn't improve survival for head and neck cancer patients

Boosting the blood count – in effect, curing anemia – in conjunction with radiation therapy won't help patients with head and neck cancer fare any better than with radiation alone, says a national study led by Jefferson Medical College researchers.

5 Oct 2004

Findings have implications for understanding psychiatric and neurological disease that affect the hippocampus

Spatial memory is more vulnerable than object recognition memory when damage occurs in the brain’s memory processing center, the hippocampus, according to memory specialists at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine

27 Sep 2004

Significant relationships between laryngopharyngeal reflux and upper airway sensory impairment

Medical researchers have long suspected a relationship between gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD) and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), two medical conditions which can have a deleterious effect on a patient¡¯s quality of life.

17 Sep 2004

Drug combo may have a greater impact on cancer development

Cancer researchers have long suggested that new targeted drugs may work best when paired with other therapies. In a new study published today in Cancer Research, scientists have taken some of the first steps to demonstrate this synergy in mouse and cell line models.

16 Sep 2004