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Women more sensitive to chronic stress than men

"It's generally understood that females respond more strongly to acute (immediate, short-term) stress than males," said Helmer Figueiredo, PhD, of UC's department of psychiatry. "Our research shows that this may also be the case in more clinically relevant chronic-stress conditions."

20 Nov 2005

Lack of selenium increases risk of knee osteoarthritis

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Thurston Arthritis Center medical scientists and colleagues conducted the research. It focused on the knees of 940 participants enrolled in the Johnston County (N.C.) Osteoarthritis Project, a continuing, federally supported investigation of osteoarthritis that began 15 years ago and is headquartered at UNC.

20 Nov 2005

Sweets may decrease the production of the stress-related hormone glucocorticoid

Researchers from the University of Cincinnati (UC) have found that eating or drinking sweets may decrease the production of the stress-related hormone glucocorticoid--which has been linked to obesity and decreased immune response.

20 Nov 2005

Stem cell microenvironment reverses malignant melanoma

Northwestern University researchers have demonstrated how the microenvironments of two human embryonic stem cell (hESC) lines (federally approved) induced metastatic melanoma cells to revert to a normal, skin cell-like type with the ability to form colonies similar to hESCs.

20 Nov 2005

Scientists direct embryonic stem cells to become cartilage cells

Scientists from Imperial College London have successfully converted human embryonic stem cells into cartilage cells, offering encouragement that replacement cartilage could one day be grown for transplantation.

20 Nov 2005

Naturally occurring compounds and diabetes

Following a doctor's advice on how to keep diabetes in check is always the best course of action and researchers are constantly on the lookout for compounds that someday could help physicians better treat the disease.

20 Nov 2005

Study of how bacteria change their metabolic networks

Bacteria feel pressures to evolve antibiotic resistance and other new abilities in response to a changing environment, and they react by 'stealing' genetic information from other better-adapted types of bacteria, according to research published in Nature Genetics.

20 Nov 2005

Study reveals how T cells analyze and react to the signals of infection at the immunological synapse

The immune system is highly complex. The cast of characters alone required to marshal an immune response to a foreign invader can number in the millions as the body's soldiers, T cells, are called into action.

20 Nov 2005

New genes that regulate longevity

In an effort to understand the molecular mechanisms that control aging, Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers and their colleagues have now uncovered 10 new genes that regulate longevity in yeast. The studies also suggest a new model for how aging is slowed when caloric intake is restricted.

20 Nov 2005

Stem cells to repair heart tissue soon after a heart attack

Stem cells derived from human heart tissue develop into multicellular, spherical structures called cardiospheres that express the normal properties of primitive heart tissue, smooth muscle and blood vessel cells, according to a study by Johns Hopkins researchers.

20 Nov 2005

Two tests in a lifetime will halve cervical cancer numbers in poor countries

Most women in developed countries are regularly screened for cervical cancer, but this is often not the case in poorer countries.

20 Nov 2005

Scientists use stem cells to grow cartilage

16 Nov 2005

World first trial grows blood vessels from patient's own skin

A team of American scientists have successfully implanted blood vessels grown entirely from a patient's own cells.

16 Nov 2005

Link between eating and pain relief - brain stem blocks pain to protect key behaviors

Certain behaviors, such as eating, drinking and urinating, are so crucial to survival that the brains of all vertebrates contain clusters of nerve cells that can suppress pain long enough to allow the animal to eat, drink - or pee - in peace.

15 Nov 2005

Better understanding of cancer cachexia

New research shows that a wasting condition responsible for nearly a third of all cancer deaths involves the loss of an essential muscle protein that is also lost in people with muscular dystrophy.

15 Nov 2005

Early changes in the oxygenation of the skin may help predict foot disease in diabetes patients

Foot ulcerations are one of the most serious complications of diabetes, resulting in more than 80,000 lower-leg amputations each year in the U.S. alone.

14 Nov 2005

Speed of PSA increase matters more than PSA level

In the largest study of its kind to date, Mayo Clinic researchers report that prostate specific antigen (PSA) kinetics, both velocity and doubling time, can be used to predict disease progression and likelihood of death after radical prostatectomy surgery, suggesting that this could be used to guide treatment decisions.

14 Nov 2005

Biomedical device allows stem cells derived from adult bone marrow to be grown in sufficient quantities to permit far more research

Human stem cells offer tremendous hope for the development of revolutionary medical treatments for these and a variety of other human health problems.

14 Nov 2005

Discovery of novel form of regulation of the GLI1 gene

The Quaking gene, first described as a mutation in mice that causes rapid tremor, is thought to suppress tumor formation and protect humans from cancer.

14 Nov 2005

Researchers can now identify patients likely to respond to cancer drug therapy

Researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Cancer have identified key characteristics in certain deadly brain tumors that make them 51 times more likely to respond to a specific class of drugs than tumors in which the molecular signature is absent.

13 Nov 2005