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Highly educated more at risk of Parkinson's disease

New research has suggested that people with high levels of education and demanding careers also have an increased risk of developing Parkinson's disease.

22 Nov 2005

Changes in our early sensory experiences resulting from disease or environmental factors may shape our sensory perceptions

Our brain's ability to combine sensory information from a single event - such as seeing an ambulance and hearing its siren - has been shown to speed our reactions, help us identify objects and heighten our awareness.

21 Nov 2005

Carbonic anhydrase and CO2 sensing during Cryptococcus neoformans growth, differentiation, and virulence

By using pathogenic fungi as model systems for understanding fungal diseases, two groups of researchers are reporting new work that offers insight into how carbon dioxide (CO2) governs the morphogenic changes that allow pathogenic fungi to survive in different environments and invade the human body

21 Nov 2005

Accurate and rapid method of diagnosing bacterial meningitis

Several hundred serious cases of bacterial meningitis are diagnosed in Australians every year. Bacterial meningitis is a medical emergency that requires immediate diagnosis and treatment, however doctors have always faced difficulty in diagnosis, both in children and adults.

21 Nov 2005

Heart patients, do you tell your doctor you're using alternative medicines?

Doctors, do you ask your patients if they're using alternative medicines?

21 Nov 2005

Critical role of p53 gene

Fruit flies can live significantly longer, and remain healthy, when activity of the fly version of the tumor-suppressing protein p53 is reduced in nerve cells.

21 Nov 2005

Significant association between gingivitis and preterm birth

Pregnant women will want to include a periodontal evaluation as part of their prenatal care. That's because researchers found that periodontal treatment significantly reduced the risk of having a preterm birth or a low birthweight infant, according to a study published in the Journal of Periodontology.

21 Nov 2005

Newly identified protein may help improve treatment for lung cancer

Researchers hope that a newly identified protein can one day help improve treatment for lung cancer. The findings are reported by researchers from Wake Forest University School of Medicine and colleagues in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

21 Nov 2005

Acoustics experts say medical sound pollution is widely recognized, rarely addressed

Announcements blare from overhead speakers. Electronic devices beep. Heating and cooling systems rumble. Employees and visitors speak loudly.

21 Nov 2005

Music training may change the brain

New research shows that the special training of music conductors seems to enhance the way their senses work together - enabling them to quickly tell who played a wrong note, for example. Scientists hope the research will lead to new discoveries about how music training may change the brain.

21 Nov 2005

UK's poor dietary habits are costing its health service an annual £6 billion

...three times as much as the financial toll from smoking - reveals research in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

21 Nov 2005

When Mum's stressed at work kids feel it too

Researchers say that children whose mothers do not enjoy their jobs also suffer increased stress.

21 Nov 2005

Women more sensitive to chronic stress than men

"It's generally understood that females respond more strongly to acute (immediate, short-term) stress than males," said Helmer Figueiredo, PhD, of UC's department of psychiatry. "Our research shows that this may also be the case in more clinically relevant chronic-stress conditions."

20 Nov 2005

Persistent amyloidosis following suppression of Ab production in a transgenic model of Alzheimer disease

Alzheimer Disease (AD) is characterized by hallmark lesions called amyloid plaques in the brain.

20 Nov 2005

Sweets may decrease the production of the stress-related hormone glucocorticoid

Researchers from the University of Cincinnati (UC) have found that eating or drinking sweets may decrease the production of the stress-related hormone glucocorticoid--which has been linked to obesity and decreased immune response.

20 Nov 2005

Sperm stem cells research provides exciting findings

New experiments that prevented rat sperm stem cells from changing permanently into sperm have brought researchers one step closer to coaxing such cells to behave like embryonic stem cells, capable of growing into many other types of cells in the body.

20 Nov 2005

Drug pravastatin may provide a previously unknown cardiovascular benefit

The drug pravastatin, which is used widely to decrease high cholesterol, may provide a previously unknown cardiovascular benefit in addition to lowering lipids.

20 Nov 2005

Stem cell microenvironment reverses malignant melanoma

Northwestern University researchers have demonstrated how the microenvironments of two human embryonic stem cell (hESC) lines (federally approved) induced metastatic melanoma cells to revert to a normal, skin cell-like type with the ability to form colonies similar to hESCs.

20 Nov 2005

New genes that regulate longevity

In an effort to understand the molecular mechanisms that control aging, Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers and their colleagues have now uncovered 10 new genes that regulate longevity in yeast. The studies also suggest a new model for how aging is slowed when caloric intake is restricted.

20 Nov 2005

Plant extract forskolin may lead to leukemia treatment

Scientists here have identified a new pathway in the progression of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). They also discovered that an extract from the root of a common ornamental plant can suppress the process.

20 Nov 2005