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New evidence that brain circuits involved in drug addiction are also activated by the desire for food

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory have produced new evidence that brain circuits involved in drug addiction are also activated by the desire for food.

19 Apr 2004

Office surgery safety breakthrough

A major study documenting outcomes for more than 400,000 surgical procedures performed in accredited office-based surgery facilities provides solid data confirming an overall safety record comparable to that of surgeries performed in hospital surgery facilities.

19 Apr 2004

Chinese mushrooms can improve physical well-being

Nutritionists have since joined with manufacturers to produce supplements using fermentation from this rare mushroom. One such product is CordyMax®, made with a formula recognized in China as the fermented Cordyceps mushroom mycelial product. CordyMax® has been placed under intellectual property protection, and only one company has the license for it outside of China.

19 Apr 2004

Estrogen–like drugs may help postmenopausal women

Scientists may debate whether weight gain is a side effect of menopause, but the numbers are clear: On average, women may experience a gain of approximately 10-15 pounds in the years surrounding menopause.

19 Apr 2004

Repeated pregnancies may increase cardiovascular disease

The study was designed to measure the blood pressure responses to phenylephrine and to acute stress in conscious age-matched repeatedly breed (RB) and virgin rats.

19 Apr 2004

Menthol in topical creams relieves Osteoarthritis pain

A new study extends previous research and examines the effects of a topical cream consisting of cetylated fatty acids, along with the addition of menthol, on pain and functional performance in patients with knee osteoarthritis over the course of one week.

19 Apr 2004

Curry offers possible protection against Alzheimer’s disease

A new study has found that curry, a common and popular cooking additive, could be an effective enhancer of an enzyme that protects the brain against oxidative conditions.

19 Apr 2004

Wine, beer and tea have contributed to a significant decrease in breast cancer

Numerous studies have been published showing that consuming alcohol increases the risk for breast cancer. That’s what makes a new research finding from Portugal so intriguing. The study has determined that certain compounds found in wine, beer (and tea) have contributed to a significant decrease in breast cancer cell proliferation.

19 Apr 2004

New scanning technology allows researchers to look into a kidney

Kidney disease may affect as many as one in twelve people, and causes millions of deaths each year. Currently, the diagnosis of kidney function relies mainly on blood and urine tests, an indirect means of figuring out how well they’re working.

19 Apr 2004

Do you see what I see?

A rose is a rose is a rose, but do we and the artist and poet all see the same flower in the same way? This age-old philosophical question has now been put to the test by scientists at the Weizmann Institute.

19 Apr 2004

Australian company set to spearhead drug discovery

An Australian company is set to challenge the boundaries of drug discovery in Australia with the unveiling of the nation's top drug discovery facility by Western Australian Minister for State Development, Clive Brown.

19 Apr 2004

Brain folding could be an indication of how smart a person is

A study by Melbourne scientists has provided the first direct evidence that differences in the way the surface of the human brain is folded could be an indication of how smart a person is.

18 Apr 2004

On-board brain chips could help stroke and cerebral palsy victims

Cyberkinetics Inc has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval to begin a clinical trial in which four-square-millimetre chips will be placed beneath the skulls of paralyzed patients.

18 Apr 2004

Back-pain sufferers cost US more than $100 billion annually

Back-pain sufferers in America cost this country more than $100 billion annually in medical bills, disability and lost productivity at work. And 80 percent of Americans will battle back pain at some point in their lives, making it the number two reason for doctor visits, after coughs and other respiratory infections, Newsweek reports.

18 Apr 2004

Using mass spectrometry to diagnose cancers and non-cancerous diseases

Using mass spectrometry, Emory University scientists have identified specific protein fingerprints in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of humans that enable them to differentiate between cancers, both primary and metastatic, and non-cancerous diseases of the central nervous system (CNS).

18 Apr 2004

Researchers find drug that may suppress genetic mutation using a novel screening approach

Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital have developed a way of identifying promising new drugs that may get around a major challenge in drug discovery.

18 Apr 2004

Gene discovery could improve anemia treatment in patients

Patients with inflammatory diseases such as arthritis, chronic infections and some types of cancer, often become anemic – a condition called anemia of chronic disease (ACD). While ACD rarely kills patients, it can make their lives miserable.

18 Apr 2004

New method that will revolutionize the search for genes

Medical researchers know that most common human diseases, such as hypertension and diabetes, have a large genetic component. Many genes, interacting with the environment, contribute to these diseases. For researchers, a major challenge is finding all the genes involved with a particular disease.

18 Apr 2004

Bladder cancer is the fourth most common cancer in men and the eighth most common in women

Bladder cancer is the fourth most common cancer in men and the eighth most common in women, according to the National Cancer Institute (NCI). It is expected to be diagnosed in 38,000 men and 15,000 women in the United States in 2003. Treatment is most successful when the disease is caught early.

18 Apr 2004

Newborn lambs’ central heating system could aid fat busting in humans

The way newborn lambs regulate their temperature in the first few weeks of life using a special deposit of brown fat could give clues for tackling obesity in humans, according to Imperial College London scientists.

18 Apr 2004