Medical Research News

RSS

One in 50 teenagers still wet the bed

One in 50 teenagers still wet the bed and almost half of 19 year-olds who have a problem are wetting the bed every night, according to research published in the May issue of the UK-based urology journal BJUI International.

17 May 2006

Gene family of potential tumor inhibitors identified

Proteins from a newly discovered family of genes, LRIG, function as a retardant for a protein that is important to tumor cells. It is probably this mechanism that lends the gene family its inhibiting effect on cancer tumors.

17 May 2006

Search for gene search for sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Though it's the more common form of the disease, sporadic Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), which affects roughly 90 percent of those living with the fatal neurodegenerative illness, has been the one less studied, simply because, unlike familial ALS, no genes have turned up.

17 May 2006

Oxygen free radicals associated with Parkinson's Disease

Research by neuroscientists at the University of Virginia Health System shows that oxygen free radicals are damaging proteins in mitochondria, the tiny cellular 'batteries' of brain cells.

17 May 2006

Taking astrocytes seriously

By blowing gentle puffs of air onto a mouse's whiskers and watching how its brain reacts, scientists are discovering that a long-overlooked signaling system in the brain is crucial to our everyday activity.

17 May 2006

DVT and long haul flights - air pressure and oxygen levels not the culprits

According to new research from the UK the reduced air pressure and oxygen levels experienced by travellers on long flights are not responsible for the formation of deadly blood clots often referred to as "economy class syndrome".

17 May 2006

Most disabled people in L. America don't get appropriate help

Only 2 percent of some 85 million disabled people in Latin America have received medical help appropriate to their needs, said a report published on Friday.

16 May 2006

New compound shows unique potency against cancer cell proliferation

By determining how a class of compounds blocks signaling in cells, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) scientists have identified what is perhaps the most potent drug candidate yet against a highly lethal kind of brain tumor.

16 May 2006

German scientists synthesize new compound that reduces stroke damage

A group of German scientists has synthesized a new compound that dramatically decreases the damage to neurons in rats demonstrating stroke symptoms.

16 May 2006

Researchers discover naturally occurring growth factor that stimulates regeneration of injured nerve fibers in the central nervous system

Researchers at Children's Hospital Boston have discovered a naturally occurring growth factor that stimulates regeneration of injured nerve fibers (axons) in the central nervous system.

16 May 2006

SOX2 neural stem cell gene important in eye development

Scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have demonstrated that normal development of the eye requires the right amount of a neural stem cell gene be expressed at the right time and place.

16 May 2006

Common genetic variation makes some people more susceptible to coronary heart disease

Caucasians who carry this polymorphism, named K55R, were at significantly higher risk of coronary heart disease, independent of other risk factors, like cigarette smoking, diabetes, and hypertension.

16 May 2006

First animal model that mimics human head and neck cancer

An Oregon Health & Science University Cancer Institute research laboratory has developed a novel mouse model designed specifically to study the often devastating head and neck squamous cell cancers.

16 May 2006

Cardiovascular disease costs the UK economy £29 billion a year

Cardiovascular disease costs the UK economy £29 billion a year in healthcare expenditure and lost productivity, reveals research published ahead of print in Heart.

16 May 2006

Nine million Americans with double whammy of obesity and smoking

According to new research from the American Legacy Foundation as many as nine million adults in the United States are affected by both obesity and smoking, two of the nation's top public health epidemics.

15 May 2006

What is it about grapefruit juice that affects some drugs?

Researchers in the United States say they have identified the compound in grapefruit juice that affects how some drugs are absorbed in the body and produces unwanted side effects.

14 May 2006

Discovery of two gene variants associated with increased risk for early heart attack

Scientists at University of California - San Francisco (UCSF), Celera Genomics and The Cleveland Clinic have discovered two gene variants associated with a significantly increased risk for early heart attack, or myocardial infarction (MI).

12 May 2006

K55R polymorphism gene variation linked to coronary heart disease

New research at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, part of the National Institutes of Health, found that a common genetic variation makes some people more susceptible to coronary heart disease (CHD).

12 May 2006

Signaling pathway mTOR plays a role in the brain's ability to sense how much energy the body has available

A cell-signaling pathway in the brain that is linked to the development of cancer and diabetes is also a key part of networks that regulate food intake, say University of Cincinnati (UC) researchers.

12 May 2006