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Study: MMN might predict risk of developing schizophrenia

There is a significant need for objective tests that could improve clinical prediction of future psychosis. One strategy has been to determine whether physiologic measures that are abnormal in people diagnosed with schizophrenia might also be useful in estimating the risk for developing this illness. This is the strategy taken by German and Swiss researchers in the current issue of Biological Psychiatry.

18 May 2011

NCNPR and Cancer Institute in Jackson partner for anti-cancer drug research

A new partnership to search for cancer-fighting drugs combines compound-identification and screening expertise at the University of Mississippi's National Center for Natural Products Research with the drug development and clinical-trials capabilities at the University of Mississippi Medical Center Cancer Institute.

18 May 2011

Novel gene associated with heart development and aging process

Researchers at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute (UOHI) have identified a novel gene in the nucleus of muscle and brain cells that affects heart development and the aging process. Their investigation brings the promise of new treatments for an old, failing heart.

18 May 2011

Study finds three-month TB treatment regimen just as effective as standard longer course

"Health officials on Monday celebrated a faster treatment for people who have tuberculosis but aren't infectious, after investigators found a new combination of pills knocks out the disease in three months instead of nine," the Associated Press/Seattle Times reports.

18 May 2011

Neurochemical basis for sleep deprivation's effects on memory

From high-school students to surgeons, anyone who has pulled an all-nighter knows there is a price to be paid the next day: trouble focusing, a fuzzy memory and other cognitive impairments. Now, researchers at Penn have found the part of the brain and the neurochemical basis for sleep deprivation's effects on memory.

18 May 2011

Gut bacteria influences brain chemistry and behaviour: Research

For the first time, researchers at McMaster University have conclusive evidence that bacteria residing in the gut influence brain chemistry and behaviour.

18 May 2011

Mothers living in better social, economic status opt for caesarean section

During the last thirty years there has been an increase in the number of babies born by Caesarean section. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Public Health shows that there has also been a change in the social and economic status of the mothers involved and that advantaged mothers are more likely to have their babies by Caesarean section than mothers living in more difficult circumstances.

18 May 2011

Treatment of chronic low back pain can reverse abnormal brain activity and function

It likely comes as no surprise that low back pain is the most common form of chronic pain among adults. Lesser known is the fact that those withchronic pain also experience cognitive impairments and reduced gray matter in parts of the brain associated with pain processing and the emotional components of pain, like depression and anxiety.

18 May 2011

Two GOP judges will be on health law's next review panel

After facing a favorable panel of judges during its first appeals-court defense of the federal health care law, the Obama administration will face two judges appointed by Republican presidents during the next major case on the law's constitutionality.

18 May 2011

Tips to get better sleep

Your life is already tense — teens rebelling, house under renovation, work life in overload, bills piling up, elderly parents declining — yet the demands requiring your attention and time continue to grow, overflowing into sleep-time territory. Oftentimes, mass marketing's solutions to women's challenging lifestyles focus on quick fixes and more consumer goods.

18 May 2011

Impaired ability to handle oxidative stress may contribute to asthma development

An impaired ability to handle oxidative stress that arises from exposure to secondhand smoke and other environmental triggers may contribute to the development of asthma, according to results obtained from the Shanghai Women's Health Asthma and Allergy Study. The results of the study suggest regulating the body's antioxidant defense system may play an important role in asthma prevention.

18 May 2011

The Incubation Factory, UMDNJ and NJIT partner to commercialize personal tonometer for glaucoma

NJIT and UMDNJ have executed a license agreement with The Incubation Factory, St. Louis, MO, covering their personal tonometer technology on which a patent is pending. The tonometer was developed by a research team led by NJIT Professor Gordon Thomas, PhD, and Robert Fechtner, MD, director of the glaucoma division at UMDNJ.

18 May 2011

Thirty years of AIDS

Thirty years ago next month, the CDC released the first report on a mysterious disease among gay men in Los Angeles. The AIDS epidemic had begun. It has since claimed the lives of an estimated 600,000 Americans and is currently ravaging Africa.

18 May 2011

Leucine deprivation triggers apoptosis in melanoma cells

Whitehead Institute researchers have found that depriving human melanoma cells of the essential amino acid leucine can be lethal to the cells, suggesting a possible strategy for therapeutic intervention.

18 May 2011

Study offers new understanding of cell signaling networks tied to diabetes and cancer

Researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston and the University of California-San Diego School of Medicine have published a study that offers a new understanding of a protein critical to physiological processes involved in major diseases such as diabetes and cancer. This work could help scientists design drugs to battle these disorders.

18 May 2011

State roundup: Gov. Brown offers revisions to health budget

A new state department would be formed to manage California's violence-plagued mental hospitals under a proposal in the governor's Monday budget revision. The push to create a Department of State Hospitals — and eventually do away with the Department of Mental Health, which now oversees the facilities — comes as lawmakers and employee unions press for changes to address increasing patient assaults on fellow patients and staff.

18 May 2011

Viewpoints: Gingrich fallout; Sebelius, Matsui on Medicare reform; physicians on their rights

The Republican Presidential campaign is off to a slow start, but judging by the last week not slow enough. First Mitt Romney defends his ObamaCare prototype in Massachusetts, and now Newt Gingrich has decided to run against House Republicans on Medicare. They must be loving this at the White House.

18 May 2011

Opinion: Innovative funding mechanisms needed for global development

"Innovation in development finance doesn't preclude innovation in other areas of development policy. In fact, they must go hand in hand," Jamie Drummond, executive director of ONE, writes in a post on the Guardian's "Poverty Matters Blog," noting findings from his group's annual report.

18 May 2011

Anxiety and depression linked to risky driving behaviour in young adolescents

Young drivers who experience anxiety and depression are more likely to take risks on the road, according to a new study by Queensland University of Technology.

18 May 2011

New research demonstrates how geographic profiling can help combat infectious diseases

Every 30 seconds, infectious diseases such as malaria, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis kill as many people as Jack the Ripper did in his entire career. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal International Journal of Health Geographics demonstrates how the mathematical model of geographic profiling, used in the hunt for serial killers, can help combat infectious diseases.

18 May 2011