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Protein on the surface of platelets plays a key role in cancer-induced platelet aggregation

Scientists have provided new details about how cancer cells spread by surrounding themselves with platelets – the blood cells needed for blood clotting.

30 Aug 2007

Discovery may lead to new class of diabetes drugs

A multidisciplinary team led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego has determined the structure of a protein found in cells that shows potential as a target for the development of new drugs to treat diabetes.

30 Aug 2007

Brain's impaired ability to sense glucose might play role in type 2 diabetes

New findings from studies in mice suggest that defects in the brain's ability to respond to glucose play a role in the development of non-insulin dependent (type 2) diabetes, and that a high-fat diet may contribute to impairing brain cells' ability to regulate glucose throughout the body.

30 Aug 2007

Binghamton University researchers investigate evolving malaria resistance

Funded by a $1.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, scientists at Binghamton University, State University of New York, hope to understand how the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum evolved resistance to the once-effective medication chloroquine.

30 Aug 2007

New guidelines for childhood asthma recommend inhaled corticosteroids

New guidelines aimed at dealing with asthma have been released by government health experts in the United States.

30 Aug 2007

The geography of obesity

Neighborhood property values predict local obesity rates better than education or incomes, according to a study from the University of Washington being published online this week by the journal Social Science and Medicine.

30 Aug 2007

Researchers unlock mystery of a third olfactory system

Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine have found a "nose within the nose," a unique olfactory system within the noses of mice that is able to "smell" hormones involved in regulating water and salt balance in the body.

30 Aug 2007

Researchers dispute immortal strand hypothesis

How do adult stem cells protect themselves from accumulating genetic mutations that can lead to cancer?

30 Aug 2007

Third factor identified in obesity-induced Type 2 diabetes

In cases of Type 2 diabetes, the body's cells fail to appropriately regulate blood glucose levels.

30 Aug 2007

Report on access to cancer drugs across Europe flawed

A leading epidemiologist has attacked Swedish research that looked at inequalities in patients' access to cancer drugs across Europe and the world.

30 Aug 2007

Report describes 2004 Norwalk virus outbreak

A review of measures taken to address a 2004 outbreak of the highly infectious Norwalk virus at The Johns Hopkins Hospital has provided the first solid documentation of expenses and efforts in the United States to stop the infection from spreading among patients, staff and visitors.

30 Aug 2007

Ivermectin is causing genetic selection in river blindness parasite

Ivermectin, the standard drug for treating river blindness (onchocerciasis), is causing genetic changes in the parasite that causes the disease, according to a new study by Roger Prichard (McGill University, Canada) and colleagues, published on August 30, 2007 in the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases.

30 Aug 2007

New generation of implanted heart-assisting pumps help patients survive, regain function til transplant

A new generation of implanted heart-assisting pump does very well at helping severely ill heart-failure patients survive, and thrive, until they receive a heart transplant, a new study shows.

30 Aug 2007

1,000 strains of mice that feature the genetic diversity of the world population

Mice that are part of the Collaborative Cross project at Oak Ridge National Laboratory are helping scientists around the world learn more about possible causes of drug abuse, diabetes, sleep disorders, stress and pain, kidney disease and a number of other conditions that affect millions of people.

30 Aug 2007

Case report on a shining significance in living donor transplantation

Touching stories of living donor transplantation are continuously happening in hospitals.

30 Aug 2007

Autophagy-induced signals are essential for normal development

A cannibalistic process called autophagy spurs dying embryonic stem cells to send "eat me" and "come get me" signals to have their corpses purged, a last gasp that paves the way for normal mammalian development, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have found.

30 Aug 2007

Researchers discover what makes lymphomas tick

University of Pennsylvania researchers and their colleagues at the Wistar Institute and University of Oxford have discovered the molecular process by which the PAX5 protein, necessary for lymphocyte development, promotes the growth of common lymphomas, thereby unveiling a potential new target in the fight against cancer.

30 Aug 2007