Medical Research News

RSS

Discovery of new syndrome associated with severe congenital neutropenia

A team of scientists has discovered a new syndrome associated with severe congenital neutropenia (SCN), a rare disorder in which children lack sufficient infection-fighting white cells, and identified the genetic cause of the syndrome: mutations in the gene Glucose-6-phosphatase, catalytic subunit 3 (G6PC3).

5 Jan 2009

Discovery of new genetic markers for ulcerative colitis

An international team led by University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine researchers has identified genetic markers associated with risk for ulcerative colitis.

5 Jan 2009

Molecular imaging enables earlier, individualized treatment of thyroid cancer

In a study to determine the diagnostic value of molecular imaging in nodal staging of patients with thyroid cancer, researchers were able for the first time to accurately distinguish between cancerous cells in regional lymph nodes and normal residual thyroid tissue directly after surgery.

5 Jan 2009

Neuropeptide Y gene variation may lead to early coronary artery disease

Researchers from Duke University Medical Center have identified a variation in a particular gene that increases susceptibility to early coronary artery disease.

5 Jan 2009

Expectant brains help predict anxiety treatment success

A network of emotion-regulating brain regions implicated in the pathological worry that can grip patients with anxiety disorders may also be useful for predicting the benefits of treatment.

5 Jan 2009

Dormant cancer cells rely on cellular autophagy to survive

A single tumor-suppressing gene is a key to understanding, and perhaps killing, dormant ovarian cancer cells that persist after initial treatment only to reawaken years later, researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center report in the December Journal of Clinical Investigation.

5 Jan 2009

Culprit found in rare type of baldness

Scientists in Beijing say they have discovered a genetic cause for a certain type of premature baldness and they suggest their discovery offers hope in future that those who inherit this rare type of baldness will eventually be able to keep their hair.

5 Jan 2009

New blood fights cancer

"New blood" can revitalize a company or a sports team. Recent research by Tel Aviv University finds that young blood does a body good as well, especially when it comes to fighting cancer.

1 Jan 2009

Vitamins C and E and beta carotene again fail to reduce cancer risk in randomized controlled trial

Women who took beta carotene or vitamin C or E or a combination of the supplements had a similar risk of cancer as women who did not take the supplements, according to data from a randomized controlled trial in the December 30 online issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

1 Jan 2009

Discovery of potential important pathway for controlling cell loss and survival in Parkinson's disease

Neurologists have observed for decades that Lewy bodies, clumps of aggregated proteins inside cells, appear in the brains of patients with Parkinson's disease and other neurodegenerative diseases.

1 Jan 2009

The prevalence of gluten-sensitive enteropathy in iron-deficient anemia patients

Gluten sensitive enteropathy (GSE) is an autoimmune enteropathy due to food gluten intolerance in genetically predisposed people.

1 Jan 2009

Study links MiR-29 molecule to muscle maturation, muscle cancer

Researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center have discovered that a molecule implicated in leukemia and lung cancer is also important in muscle repair and in a muscle cancer that strikes mainly children.

1 Jan 2009

Study examines impact of managed care on stroke prevention surgery

Policymakers and economists often promote managed-care plans based on the assumption that they prevent the overuse of unnecessary surgical procedures or help steer patients to high-quality providers, compared to traditional fee-for-service insurance plans.

1 Jan 2009

Smokers with stroke in the family six times more likely to have stroke too

A new study shows that people who are smokers and have a family history of brain aneurysm appear to be significantly more likely to suffer a stroke from a brain aneurysm themselves.

1 Jan 2009

Scientists genetically grab PTEN by the tail to curtail cancer

When researchers look inside human cancer cells for the whereabouts of an important tumor-suppressor, they often catch the protein playing hooky, lolling around in cellular broth instead of muscling its way out to the cells' membranes and foiling cancer growth.

1 Jan 2009

New understanding of genetic signature associated with Alzheimer's disease

Scientists have new information about the complex genetic signature associated with Alzheimer's disease, the leading cause of cognitive decline and dementia in the elderly.

1 Jan 2009

Researchers link blood sugar to normal cognitive aging

Maintaining blood sugar levels, even in the absence of disease, may be an important strategy for preserving cognitive health, suggests a study published by researchers at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC).

1 Jan 2009

Researchers engineer pancreatic cell transplants to evade immune response

In a finding that could significantly influence the way type 1 diabetes is treated, researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have developed a technique for transplanting insulin-producing pancreatic cells that causes only a minimal immune response in recipients.

1 Jan 2009

Laminin-111 shows potential for congenital muscular dystrophy

Current research suggests laminin, a protein that helps cells stick together, may lead to enhanced muscle repair in muscular dystrophy.

1 Jan 2009

MRSA pre-screening effective in reducing otolaryngic surgical infection rates

Pre-operative screening of patients for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) may be an effective way to reduce infection rates following otolaryngic surgeries, according to new research published in the January 2009 issue of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery.

1 Jan 2009