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Six gene variants predict heart muscle damage after cardiac surgery

Duke University Medical Center researchers have found that patients with six specific variants of genes involved in the body's immune response are significantly more likely to suffer damage of heart tissue after cardiac surgery.

16 Nov 2005

Visibility, visual awareness, and visual masking of simple unattended targets are confined to areas in the occipital cortex beyond human V1/V2

Dartmouth professor of psychological and brain sciences Peter Tse has published new results in his on-going investigation of the brain and how it transforms visual stimuli into conscious experience.

16 Nov 2005

Good neighbor relations helps prevent teen sex

Having the right kind of neighbors can help prevent teens from having sex at an early age, according to new research.

16 Nov 2005

Animal-assisted therapy beneficial

When it comes to health care, "going to the dogs" is a good thing, according to new research reported at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2005.

16 Nov 2005

Trichostatin A may fight lupus and atherosclerosis simultaneously

People with lupus are prone to premature accelerated atherosclerosis. Now scientists at Wake Forest University School of Medicine think they have a way to prevent or decrease this atherosclerosis and prevent heart attacks.

16 Nov 2005

Biologically engineered blood vessels now an option in cardiac bypass

The first-ever human use of completely biologically engineered blood vessels grown from a person's own cells could be an option for people who have vessels too damaged for heart bypass, researchers reported at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2005.

16 Nov 2005

Carvedilol may improve heart failure and help prevent sudden death

Research shows that Carvedilol, a cardiovascular drug, could be useful in reducing cardiac death in high risk patients with prior myocardial infarction and/or heart failure and also in reducing the incidence and/or preventing the occurrence of atrial fibrillation in a number of clinical situations.

16 Nov 2005

Feeling stressed? reach for the sugar!

Researchers are now saying that reaching for a sugary snack in times of stress may not be such a bad idea after all.

16 Nov 2005

Genes affect patriotism

Research showing how genes affect group loyalty and patriotism was published in the October 2005 issue of Nations and Nationalism, an academic journal of the London School of Economics.

15 Nov 2005

Gene therapy potential of the protein vasostatin for treatment of pancreatic cancer

A gene responsible for the production of a protein called vasostatin may prove a promising new way of treating pancreatic cancer, suggests research published ahead of print in Gut.

15 Nov 2005

Link between eating and pain relief - brain stem blocks pain to protect key behaviors

Certain behaviors, such as eating, drinking and urinating, are so crucial to survival that the brains of all vertebrates contain clusters of nerve cells that can suppress pain long enough to allow the animal to eat, drink - or pee - in peace.

15 Nov 2005

Better understanding of cancer cachexia

New research shows that a wasting condition responsible for nearly a third of all cancer deaths involves the loss of an essential muscle protein that is also lost in people with muscular dystrophy.

15 Nov 2005

FLT-1 blockers, cutting the legs of leukaemia

Leukaemia is characterised by an uncontrolled growth of abnormal blood cells in the bone marrow (BM).

14 Nov 2005

Grandma was right all along, getting chilly can give you a cold

Welsh researchers have confirmed what your grandma always said was true that getting cold and chilly can give you a cold.

14 Nov 2005

For older people, the risks outweigh the benefits of taking sleeping pills and other sedatives

Insomnia can often affect the quality of life for older people and between 5% and 33% of older people in the UK are prescribed sleeping pills such as benzodiazepine.

14 Nov 2005

Nerve-cell dendrites splice messenger RNA

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have discovered that nerve-cell dendrites have the capacity to splice messenger RNA (pre-mRNA), a process once believed to only take place in the nucleus of cells.

14 Nov 2005

Olfactory epithelium plays a critical role in pheromone detection

Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers have discovered that pheromones essential for mating behavior in mice are recognized by the nose and not by the vomeronasal system, as researchers had long suspected.

14 Nov 2005

Protein discovery may have implications for treating E. coli 0157:H7 infection

A discovery by Queen's researchers of a previously unknown protein may open the door to more effective treatment of a deadly strain of the E. coli bacteria.

14 Nov 2005

Bright light therapy may aid patients with depressive and bipolar disorders

A report in the November Cell Metabolism reveals powerful effects of light on the adrenal glands, a finding that might explain the broad benefits of bright light therapy for a variety of conditions, including sleep and depressive disorders, according to researchers.

14 Nov 2005

Australian society's obsession with looking younger is set to collide with the reality of an ageing population

According to researcher Mair Underwood, who will present her work at the Emerging Researchers in Ageing (ERA) 2005 conference in Brisbane this week, the current fixation with trying to postpone ageing is increasing and the current older generation may be the last to age gracefully.

14 Nov 2005