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WUSTL scientists to decode DNA of 99 patients with rare diseases

Rare genetic diseases, long overlooked because they affect relatively few people, are getting new attention. Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis are reaching out to patient advocacy groups and offering to decode the DNA of 99 patients with rare diseases to help find the genetic alterations responsible for their illnesses.

3 Mar 2012

Early surgical intervention stops seizures and improves quality of life

While the thought of any type of surgery can be disconcerting, the thought of brain surgery can be downright frightening. But for people with a particular form of epilepsy, surgical intervention can literally be life-restoring.

3 Mar 2012

Union County Commission honors KF scientist with Women of Excellence Award

Helen Genova, PhD, research scientist at Kessler Foundation, received a Women of Excellence Award in Health Sciences from the Union County Commission on the Status of Women. In the Foundation's Neuropsychology and Neuroscience Laboratory, she investigates the effects of multiple sclerosis (MS) and traumatic brain injury on cognitive function with grant funding.

3 Mar 2012

Negative effects of environmental toxicants can pass across generations

A Washington State University researcher has demonstrated that a variety of environmental toxicants can have negative effects on not just an exposed animal but the next three generations of its offspring.

3 Mar 2012

Polymer-based medical implants can produce harmful free radicals

A polymer is a mesh of chains, which slowly break over time due to the pressure from ordinary wear and tear. When a polymer is squeezed, the pressure breaks chemical bonds and produces free radicals: ions with unpaired electrons, full of untapped energy. These molecules are responsible for aging, DNA damage and cancer in the human body.

3 Mar 2012

REST molecule acts as an adapter in stem cells, times neuronal development

Upon fertilisation, a single cell is formed when egg and sperm fuse. Our entire body, with more than 200 specialised cell types and billions of cells are formed from this single cell. It is a scientific mystery how the early stem cells know what cell type to become, but a precise timing of the process is crucial for correct development and function of our body.

3 Mar 2012

Abstinence therapy safer, preferable for opioid-addicted HCPs

Many health care professionals (HCPs) have easy access to controlled medications and the diversion and abuse of drugs among this group may be as high as 10%. Controversy surrounds the safety of allowing addicted HCPs to return to clinical practice while undergoing medical treatment with opioid substitution therapy such as buprenorphine.

3 Mar 2012

Emotional inhibition and alexithymia are distinct phenomena: Study

In the early 80s Robert Kellner developed the Emotional Inhibition Scale (EIS), a self-rating scale for emotional inhibition based on clinimetric principles. This study explores whether the EIS differentiated a sample of cardiac recipients from normal controls, as well as the associations between the EIS and 2 measures of alexithymia, i.e. the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 (TAS-20) and the Diagnostic Criteria for Psychosomatic Research.

3 Mar 2012

Older women face increased risk of late stage breast cancer diagnosis

Older women with breast cancer face a higher risk of being diagnosed with the disease at a late stage, while the risk of an advanced stage diagnosis of lung cancer decreases with age, a new study shows today.

3 Mar 2012

Scientists to develop new carbon-based biointerfaces

In the future, neural implants could replace destroyed sensory cells in the eye or ear - a dream come true for humanity. One of the greatest challenges yet to be addressed is designing the interface between medical technology and human tissue. In order to overcome the limitations of existing models, scientists from Forschungszentrum Juelich and eleven other institutions involved in the NeuroCare project, which kicked off on 1 March 2012, will develop novel biointerfaces made of carbon.

3 Mar 2012

Maintaining healthy lifestyle from young adulthood linked with low CVD risk in middle age

Maintaining a healthy lifestyle from young adulthood into your 40s is strongly associated with low cardiovascular disease risk in middle age, according to a new Northwestern Medicine study.

3 Mar 2012

Long-term data from Baxter's HyQ clinical study on PI

Baxter International Inc. today announced the presentation of additional long-term data supporting the clinical profile of HyQ, its investigational combination product for use in patients with primary immunodeficiencies.

From Baxter International Inc. 3 Mar 2012

CLR01 blocks toxic aggregations of proteins in mouse model of Parkinson's

Millions of people suffer from Parkinson's disease, a disorder of the nervous system that affects movement and worsens over time. As the world's population ages, it's estimated that the number of people with the disease will rise sharply. Yet despite several effective therapies that treat Parkinson's symptoms, nothing slows its progression.

2 Mar 2012

New ACR classification criteria for polymyalgia rheumatica

The American College of Rheumatology has released the first classification criteria for polymyalgia rheumatica - aimed at helping physicians identify patients with this condition, which occurs in persons aged 50 years or older who have recent onset of pain in the shoulders, neck and hips along with other inflammatory symptoms not explained by an alternate diagnosis.

2 Mar 2012

Sedentary women more prone to developing type 2 diabetes

A new study has found that women who stay seated for long periods of time every day are more prone to developing type 2 diabetes, but that a similar link wasn't found in men.

2 Mar 2012

Congress urged to pass 'Removing Barriers to Colorectal Cancer Screening Act of 2012'

Colonoscopy for colorectal cancer screening saves lives, but a loophole in current Medicare law may cause patients to think twice before undergoing this vital test. Legislation introduced today seeks to ensure that colorectal cancer screening for all Medicare beneficiaries is free, as intended.

2 Mar 2012

Volunteers wanted for chronic pain research

A professor studying the subject of chronic pain is inviting people from all walks of life to help with her research.

2 Mar 2012

External cues affect cell's ability to migrate

In a paper published today in the journal, Cell, a team from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has explained for the first time how a long-studied protein complex affects cell migration and how external cues affect cell's ability to migrate.

2 Mar 2012

Preliminary results from Genentech's ACTEMRA monotherapy study on RA

Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, today announced that preliminary results from the ADACTA (ADalimumab ACTemrA) study showed that patients who received ACTEMRA (tocilizumab) as monotherapy achieved a significantly greater reduction in disease activity after 24 weeks than those given adalimumab monotherapy.

2 Mar 2012

Combination of implanted DCs and EBRT effective in creating sarcoma tumor immune response

A team of 18 researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla., have found that treating high-risk, soft tissue sarcoma patients with a combination of implanted dendritic cells (immune system cells) and fractionated external beam radiation (EBRT) provided more than 50 percent of their trial patients with tumor-specific immune responses lasting from 11 to 42 weeks.

2 Mar 2012