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New drugs help the immune system kill cancer cells

Researchers at the Lankenau Institute for Medical Research (LIMR) announced today that they have discovered an effective way to enlist the immune system to help chemotherapy destroy breast cancer cells. The work, led by LIMR researchers Alexander J. Muller and George C. Prendergast, is reported in the March 2005 edition of the leading international medical journal Nature Medicine.

11 Apr 2005

Tissue engineering to grow bone, ligaments and cartilage

A future in which laboratory-grown organs and stimulated growth of muscle, bones and nerves could play a major role in treating medical conditions was revealed at a recent Tissue Engineering Symposium at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.

11 Apr 2005

A baby's understanding of language may begin with its own name

A baby's understanding of language may begin with its own name, which a baby uses to break sentences into smaller parts so it can learn other words, according to new research by Texas A&M University psychologist Heather Bortfeld, who studies language development in infants and children.

11 Apr 2005

Laughter best medicine for hope

Laughter might be the best medicine for transforming the faintest of glimmers of hope into an eternal spring, reveals research at Texas A&M University that shows humor may significantly increase a person's level of hope.

11 Apr 2005

Dental patients agreeable to tobacco interventions

Dental patients don't mind if their dentists give them a nudge to stop using tobacco products, according to the findings of survey conducted at the Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine.

11 Apr 2005

Faster, more accurate diagnostic test for Sjogren's syndrome

Researchers in Japan are developing a faster, more accurate diagnostic test for Sjögren’s (SHOW-grins) syndrome, an incurable autoimmune disorder characterized by chronically dry eyes and dry mouth.

11 Apr 2005

Researchers discover mechanism by which tumours support their own growth

In a recent issue of the American Journal of Pathology, the Bremen researchers report their findings on a signalling molecule called "High Mobility Group Protein B1" (HMGB1). As a signal sent by tumour cells HMGB1 proteins induce sprouting of blood vessels that supply tumours with oxygen, thus promoting tumour growth.

11 Apr 2005

New blood test improves the ability to diagnose or exclude congestive heart failure

A new blood test that measures a particular marker of cardiac distress can markedly improve the ability to diagnose or exclude congestive heart failure in patients with shortness of breath who come to hospital emergency departments.

11 Apr 2005

Research suggests a central role for NMDA receptors in learning and memory

Learning and memory are processes that link experience with behavior and therefore play central roles in our daily experience. That there exists a physical basis for these processes seems at first hard to imagine--except for the fact that physical disruptions in the brain, such as stroke or disease, can make them go wrong.

11 Apr 2005

Moderate levels of exercise may not be enough to control mild hypertension

Moderate levels of exercise may not be enough to control mild hypertension in men and women over age 55, the age group most at risk of later developing potentially fatal heart failure, a new four-year study reports. The findings by researchers at Johns Hopkins, to be published in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine online April 11, call into question the effectiveness of national guidelines on exercise for lowering blood pressure in older people.

11 Apr 2005

Eat like the Greeks and live longer

Researchers at the University of Athens Medical School, in a major pan-Europe study, have produced convincing evidence that a Mediterranean diet rich in vegetables and fruit and low in saturated fats can help us live longer.

10 Apr 2005

Novel human kidney protein called renalase that regulates both heart contraction and blood pressure

Researchers at Yale School of Medicine and the VA Connecticut Healthcare System in West Haven identified a novel human kidney protein called renalase that regulates both heart contraction and blood pressure; it is a strong candidate for easily administered treatment of advanced kidney and cardiovascular disease.

10 Apr 2005

Findings could lead to improved treatments for schizophrenics, amphetamine abusers

An Oregon Health & Science University researcher is among an international team closing in on why many people with schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders are "supersensitive" to the powerful neurotransmitter dopamine.

10 Apr 2005

The liver may produce most of the body's good cholesterol

Research in mice suggests that the liver may produce most of the body's "good" cholesterol, an unexpected finding that might one day help scientists develop new treatments to raise levels of this heart-protecting molecule in humans.

10 Apr 2005

Anti-poverty program substantially increased marriage rates among single mothers who have never been married

An anti-poverty program in Milwaukee, Wisc., substantially increased marriage rates among single mothers who have never been married, according to research by New York University psychology professor Hiro Yoshikawa and Anna Gassman-Pines, a doctoral candidate in psychology.

10 Apr 2005

First identified gene to link autoimmune diseases with cardiovascular diseases

A common gene variant has been identified as the risk factor behind a number of common diseases by research scientists at Karolinska Institutet and the Centre for Molecular Medicine (CMM), Stockholm, Sweden. Up to a quarter of the population could be affected.

10 Apr 2005

Assessing the function of unknown genes is feasible and can be done with a microarray phenotype

Microarrays provide a method of quantifying the expression and order of genes in a particular genome -- acting as a surrogate measure of cell physiology, said researchers at Baylor College of Medicine in a report that appears online today in the journal Nature Genetics.

10 Apr 2005

Vigorous exercise can slow down arthritis

Almost 60 percent of Americans age 65 and older suffer from some form of arthritis, a progressive joint disease which is the leading cause of disability in the United States. For more than 1 in 10 sufferers, arthritis makes simple, everyday tasks, from walking up a flight of stairs to bathing and dressing, extremely difficult and by 2010, the disease is expected to affect almost 40 million Americans over age 65, increasing the ranks of senior citizens with disabilities that limit independent living.

7 Apr 2005

Men who drink milk at more risk of Parkinsons disease

Korean University researchers say drinking a glass or two of milk a day may increase the risk of Parkinson's disease in middle-aged men, but the apparent link is unlikely to be due to milk's main nutritional ingredient, calcium.

7 Apr 2005

Depression overtakes back pain for incapacity benefit claims

Common mental disorders, such as depression and anxiety, now account for more incapacity benefit claims than musculoskeletal conditions like low back pain, say researchers in this week’s BMJ.

7 Apr 2005