Muscle News and Research

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Anti-ageing gene could improve effects of getting old

According to scientists in the United States they have discovered a gene that can keep mice alive for 30% longer than normal.

29 Aug 2005

Minimally invasive prostate removal aided by a robot has possible benefits, high cost

Although minimally invasive prostate removal aided by a robot can lead to less blood loss, shorter hospital stays and fewer complications, there is no evidence that the procedure improves cure rates, according to a new technology assessment.

29 Aug 2005

Nitric oxide synthase plays a role in peripheral vascular disease

The enzyme nitric oxide synthase plays a role in peripheral vascular disease, a common disease that impairs the mobility of 25 percent of people over the age of 50, according to a Yale study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

26 Aug 2005

Kids texting messages in danger of RSI

Health experts in Britain are warning that children who regularly send text messages to their friends on mobile telephones, are at risk of developing repetitive strain injury.

25 Aug 2005

Stem cells with heart bypass surgery trial to begin

The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) has been granted approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to conduct a clinical trial to determine the safety and feasibility of injecting a patient's own bone marrow-derived stem cells directly into the heart during conventional heart bypass surgery.

25 Aug 2005

Acupuncture relieves symptoms of fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia patients treated with six sessions of acupuncture experienced significant symptomatic improvement compared to a group given simulated acupuncture sessions according to a new Mayo Clinic study.

25 Aug 2005

Using muscle tissue from tarantulas scientists discover how muscles relax

Using muscle tissue from tarantulas, an HHMI international research scholar and his colleagues have figured out the detailed structure and arrangement of the miniature molecular motors that control movement.

24 Aug 2005

Brain can be tricked into thinking the pain has gone

A new U.S. study has found that it is possible that by just thinking that a medicine will relieve pain is enough to prompt the brain to release its own natural painkillers, and soothe painful sensations.

24 Aug 2005

First direct evidence that endorphins play a role in the phenomenon known as the placebo effect

Just thinking that a medicine will relieve pain is enough to prompt the brain to release its own natural painkillers, and soothe painful sensations, a new University of Michigan study finds.

23 Aug 2005

Rotenone study may lead to novel therapies for Parkinson's disease

Neuroscientists from the University at Buffalo have described for the first time how rotenone, an environmental toxin linked specifically to Parkinson's disease, selectively destroys the neurons that produce dopamine, the neurotransmitter critical to body movement and muscle control.

23 Aug 2005

MRI helps map smallest deformations inside hearts

Using magnetic resonance imaging technology, or MRI, to tag the work of millions of individual strands of heart muscle fibers, researchers at Johns Hopkins have successfully mapped the smallest deformations inside the beating hearts of 441 middle-aged and elderly men and women who have either silently developed heart disease or remained healthy.

22 Aug 2005

New technique for creating human embryonic stem cells

Researchers have developed a new technique for creating human embryonic stem cells by fusing adult somatic cells with embryonic stem cells. The fusion causes the adult cells to undergo genetic reprogramming, which results in cells that have the developmental characteristics of human embryonic stem cells.

22 Aug 2005

Japanese encephalitis in Indian province - update

Health officials say nine more people have now died from Japanese encephalitis in India's Uttar Pradesh state, taking the death toll from the mosquito-borne disease to 99.

22 Aug 2005

Protein Sirt1 points to new therapies for type 2 diabetes

Opening the possibility of new therapies for type 2 diabetes, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that a protein called Sirt1 enhances the secretion of insulin in mice and allows them to better control blood glucose levels. Their study appears in the August 17 issue of Cell Metabolism.

18 Aug 2005

Adult stem cells may play a role in the development of some forms of cancer

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have determined that stem cells in a certain region of the brain may be the source of a particular type of incurable brain tumor and may be implicated in other types of brain cancers as well.

16 Aug 2005

Decline in energy production by mitochondria appears to be a key problem leading to insulin resistance

A detectable decline in energy production by mitochondria - the organelles that are the cell's furnace for energy production - seems to be a key problem leading to insulin resistance, and thus to type 2 diabetes, according to studies by Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers.

16 Aug 2005

Gene therapy success for the treatment of congenital muscular dystrophy (CMD) in mice

Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh report the first study to achieve success with gene therapy for the treatment of congenital muscular dystrophy (CMD) in mice, demonstrating that the formidable scientific challenges that have cast doubt on gene therapy ever being feasible for children with muscular dystrophy can be overcome.

15 Aug 2005