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Walking may slow cognitive decline in adults with MCI, Alzheimer's disease

Walking may slow cognitive decline in adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease, as well as in healthy adults, according to a study presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

29 Nov 2010

Superantigens can disrupt immune system, can cause more illnesses

Superantigens, the toxins produced by staphylococcus bacteria, are more complex than previously believed, reveals a team of researchers from the University of Gothenburg in an article published today in the scientific journal Nature Communications. Their discovery shows that the body's immune system can cause more illnesses than realised.

29 Nov 2010

New strategy to prevent memory deficits in mouse model with AD

Scientists at the Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease (GIND) in San Francisco have discovered a new strategy to prevent memory deficits in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease (AD).

28 Nov 2010

Stem cell treatment may help treat low back pain

Lower back pain affects many people and may be caused by degeneration of the discs between the vertebrae. Treatment for the condition using stem cells may be an alternative to today's surgical procedures. This is the conclusion of a thesis presented at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

28 Nov 2010

ESF report: Reduced male fertility may contribute to low birth rates

Reduced male fertility may be making it even harder for couples to conceive and be contributing to low birth rates in many countries, reveals a new European Science Foundation (ESF) report launching today at the IPSEN meeting in Paris.

28 Nov 2010

Serono Symposium to review options available for optimizing Assisted Reproductive Technologies

Serono Symposia International Foundation will gather a team of leading international experts meeting on November 26th in Montreal in order to review the different options currently available to optimize ART (Assisted Reproductive Technologies) outcomes during the event "Treating the Ovary to Obtain Better Eggs".

26 Nov 2010

NIH awards $6.7M to establish Membrane Protein Structural Biology Consortium

Dr. Michael G. Malkowski, Hauptman-Woodward senior research scientist, has received a $6.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health in support of his work to establish the Membrane Protein Structural Biology Consortium (mpsbc.org) as one of nine centers in the United States responsible for determining membrane protein structures within a larger NIH biology-based initiative.

26 Nov 2010

EHNA treatment blocks spontaneous differentiation of stem cells

Human embryonic stem cells have enormous potential for use in pharmaceutical development and therapeutics; however, to realize this potential there is a requirement for simple and reproducible cell culture methods that provide adequate numbers of cells of suitable quality.

26 Nov 2010

Temporal gating can form basis for selecting alternative options in brain

In every waking minute, we have to make decisions sometimes within a split second. Neuroscientists at the Bernstein Center Freiburg have now discovered a possible explanation how the brain chooses between alternative options. The key lies in extremely fast changes in the communication between single nerve cells.

26 Nov 2010

New findings provide insight into brain development

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital investigators have identified key components of a signaling pathway that controls the departure of neurons from the brain niche where they form and allows these cells to start migrating to their final destination. Defects in this system affect the architecture of the brain and are associated with epilepsy, mental retardation and perhaps malignant brain tumors.

25 Nov 2010

Use of aspirin and statins can reduce depression: Study

A study that appears in the current issue of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics addresses the association between use of aspirin and statins and the risk of major depression.

25 Nov 2010

Subconscious change of heart could happen in response to failure in a competitive situation

You may think of your love for your mate as the noble emotion of a pure heart, but some primitive parts of your brain are taking a decidedly more pragmatic approach to the subject, according to Stanford biologists.

25 Nov 2010

Immunity-enhancing probiotics may be the best line of defense for good health

Good bacteria, bad bacteria, billions of bacteria—sounds downright germy. But the truth is that research in gut health is germinating more insight into the role bacteria, also known as "probiotics," play in our overall health and wellness.

25 Nov 2010

Researchers explain molecular mechanism that induces HER2+ tumours to ignore cell signals

About 30% of breast cancer patients have tumours that show rapid growth and invasion through the body. A common denominator in all of these cases is the presence of a large number of Her2 proteins in tumour cellular membranes. Consequently, these aggressive tumours are referred to as HER2+. Scientists working in the Metastasis Laboratory (MetLab) at IRB Barcelona headed by ICREA researcher Roger Gomis, have described the molecular mechanism that induces HER2+ tumours to ignore the signals that protect cells from excessive growth.

25 Nov 2010

Collective efforts in transplantation reduces risk of treatment-related complications in blood cancer

A decade of refinements in marrow and stem cell transplantation to treat blood cancers significantly reduced the risk of treatment-related complications and death, according to an institutional self-analysis of transplant-patient outcomes conducted at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

25 Nov 2010

Research finds ways to tackle drug resistance in melanoma

The past year has brought to light both the promise and the frustration of developing new drugs to treat melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer. Early clinical tests of a candidate drug aimed at a crucial cancer-causing gene revealed impressive results in patients whose cancers resisted all currently available treatments.

25 Nov 2010

Dendritic cell vaccine induces immune responses in patients

A new process for creating a personalized vaccine may become a crucial tool in helping patients with colorectal cancer develop an immune response against their own tumors. This dendritic cell (DC) vaccine, developed at Dartmouth and described in a research paper published this week in the journal Clinical Cancer Research, was used after surgical resection of metastatic tumors to try to prevent the growth of additional metastases.

25 Nov 2010

How HIV kills CD4 T cells

Researchers appear to have an explanation for a longstanding question in HIV biology: how it is that the virus kills so many CD4 T cells, despite the fact that most of them appear to be "bystander" cells that are themselves not productively infected. That loss of CD4 T cells marks the progression from HIV infection to full-blown AIDS, explain the researchers who report their findings in studies of human tonsils and spleens in the November 24th issue of Cell, a Cell Press publication.

25 Nov 2010

Chronic jet lag alters brain's intricate role in memory processing

Chronic jet lag alters the brain in ways that cause memory and learning problems long after one's return to a regular 24-hour schedule, according to research by University of California, Berkeley, psychologists.

25 Nov 2010

Mercury from dental fillings exceeds Reference Exposure Level: Report

A new risk assessment report submitted by the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology this month to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warns that mercury from dental fillings is estimated to cause 67.2 million Americans to exceed the Reference Exposure Level (REL) of 0.3 ug/m3 established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) in 1995.

25 Nov 2010