Medical Research News

RSS

Shift workers sleep better in a dark room

New research from the U.S. has shed a light on why many night and early morning shift workers have problems sleeping.

16 Oct 2006

Psoriasis increases the risk of a heart attack

American researchers are suggesting that adults who suffer from psoriasis are at an increased risk of a heart attack.

11 Oct 2006

Killing resistant germs - total synthesis successful: Platensimycin, a new antibiotic

Although a number of new antibiotics have been discovered in recent decades, our armory against infection is continually being depleted, as our microscopically small enemies are crafty warriors that develop resistance to current antibiotics. Multiresistant bacteria are a big problem, especially in hospitals.

11 Oct 2006

Cocktail of two drugs heals damaged hearts

A cocktail of drugs has been found in trials with animals to heal damaged heart muscle.

10 Oct 2006

Nanoparticle encapsulation improves bioavailability of leukemia drug

Busulfan, which belongs to a family of drugs known as alkylating agents, is used to treat hematological malignancies, including chronic myelogenous leukemia.

9 Oct 2006

Teenage birth rate in Alabama continues to decline

The number of births among teenage girls in Alabama declined in 2005 from the previous year, continuing a downward trend in the teen pregnancy rate over the last 10 years, according to a new report from the Alabama Department of Public Health's Center for Health Statistics, the Birmingham News reports.

5 Oct 2006

California agency releases 10-year plan for spending $3B on embryonic stem cell research

The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine -- which is in charge of implementing the 10-year, $2.95 billion state human embryonic stem cell research program approved under Proposition 71 -- on Wednesday released a draft spending plan that "sets a strikingly modest tone" for outcomes of the research.

5 Oct 2006

Newly discovered molecule could lead to new treatments for obesity

Japanese scientists have found a molecule which is responsible for making mammals feel full, and they believe the discovery could lead to new ways to treat obesity in humans.

3 Oct 2006

Food like an addictive drug for some people

Researchers in the U.S. have found that the same brain circuits are involved when obese people fill their stomachs as when drug addicts think about drugs and the discovery they say suggests an association between overeating and addiction.

3 Oct 2006

Research implicates brain circuits involved in drug craving and emotional response to food

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have found new clues to how the brain and the stomach interact with emotions to cause overeating and obesity.

2 Oct 2006

One-third of infant deaths occur in prem babies

Almost twice as many infant deaths than previously estimated, are because babies are born prematurely.

2 Oct 2006

Imperial receives $4 million for glycomics research

A team of researchers from Imperial College London's Division of Molecular Biosciences has received a grant of over US $4 million to support a research facility for understanding how sugars are involved in cell to cell communication.

28 Sep 2006

Faulty gene linked to hair pulling disorder

An unusual and uncommon psychiatric disorder that compels people to pull out their hair is now thought to be caused by a mutant gene.

27 Sep 2006

Researchers identify neurocircuit that controls the brain's response to fear

Results suggest that it may be possible to understand psychiatric disorders, such as anxiety or depression, from the underlying neurophysiology - workings of the brain.

21 Sep 2006

Major breakthrough could lead to improved recovery of the heart after heart attack or cardiac surgery

For the first time ever, researchers at the University of Bristol have been able to directly measure energy levels inside living heart cells, in real time, using the chemical that causes fireflies to light up.

21 Sep 2006

SUMO1 gene implicated in cleft lip and palate defects

Researchers supported by the National Institutes of Health report in the current issue of the journal Science that a much-studied gene called SUMO1, when under expressed, can cause cleft lip and palate, one of the world's most common birth defects.

21 Sep 2006

New understanding of how cells defend themselves

Biologists at the EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne) have unveiled a new twist in a metabolic pathway that cells use to defend themselves against toxins made by disease-causing bacteria.

21 Sep 2006

Direct observations of DNA provides new insights into how genetic material is copied and repaired

"We can monitor the process directly, and that gives us a different perspective," said Roberto Galletto, a postdoctoral scholar at UC Davis and first author on a paper published Sept. 20 on the Web site of the journal Nature.

21 Sep 2006

New target for cancer therapy identified by Australian researchers

A new target for cancer therapy has been identified by Monash University scientists investigating the cell signalling pathways that turn on a gene involved in cancer development.

21 Sep 2006

Drugs that enhance the activity of calcineurin or NFAT could become a new treatment for type-2

Certain immune-suppressing drugs, such as those taken by patients who have had organ transplants, greatly increase the risk of developing diabetes. These drugs are known to put a stranglehold on a protein called calcineurin.

21 Sep 2006