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Waiting for biopsy results may adversely affect health

Women who've had a breast biopsy know the anxiety of waiting for the results, but that stress may cause adverse health effects, according to a new study published in the March issue of Radiology.

24 Feb 2009

Valdoxan granted marketing authorisation for the treatment of major depressive episodes in Europe

The European Commission has granted marketing authorisation for Servier's Valdoxan/Thymanax (agomelatine), the first melatonergic antidepressant for the treatment of adult patients with major depressive episodes.

24 Feb 2009

Researchers identify key molecular mechanism that regulates brain's ability to mentally compensate for sleep deprivation

Sleep experts know that the mental clarity lost because of a few sleepless nights can often be restored with a good night's rest.

24 Feb 2009

Updated formula measures kidney function more accurately

Measuring kidney function in children can be expensive, time-consuming for clinicians, and tedious for children, who may be exposed to radioactivity and subjected to a large number of blood draws.

24 Feb 2009

Scientists identify stem-cell genes that help form plant organs

Plant stem-cells are master cells located at the tip of the stem and are part of a structure called the shoot apical meristem (SAM).

24 Feb 2009

Treating drug-addicted doctors is good medicine

Doctors who become addicted to alcohol and other drugs can be treated successfully and returned to medical practice with the help of special programs that couple referral to treatment and monitoring with rapid responses to noncompliance, University of Florida researchers report.

24 Feb 2009

Triple threat to health for older African American women

Older African American women who have experienced high levels of family violence throughout their lives are more likely to suffer worse physical and mental health than their counterparts, found a Temple researcher in the February issue of the Journal of Women's Health.

24 Feb 2009

Transcendental meditation helps students with college stress

Transcendental meditation may be an effective non-medicinal tool for students to buffer themselves against the intense stresses of college life, according to a new study to be published in the February 24 issue of the peer-reviewed International Journal of Psychophysiology.

24 Feb 2009

Study finds risks and benefits of intensive insulin therapy in neurosurgical patients

A study in the March 2009 issue of Anesthesiology found that, in neurosurgical patients receiving postoperative intensive care, intensive insulin therapy - compared to conventional insulin therapy - leads to conflicting results: It increases the risk of hypoglycemic episodes, but reduces the incidence of postoperative infections and the length of stay in the intensive care unit.

24 Feb 2009

Study finds major interruptions in antiretroviral therapy after release from prison

The vast majority of HIV-infected Texas prison inmates who receive antiretroviral therapy while incarcerated experience significant interruptions in HIV treatment after their release into the community.

24 Feb 2009

Stroke treated significantly faster and just as safely by medical residents

Diagnosing acute stroke is a high-pressure decision. The speed with which treatment is delivered makes all the difference. Early treatment can stop brain damage, but if treatment is given inappropriately, it can dangerously increase the risk of bleeding in the brain.

24 Feb 2009

Smoking behavior partially explains socioeconomic inequities in lung cancer incidence

Europeans with the least education have a higher incidence of lung cancer compared with those with the highest education.

24 Feb 2009

Discovery of 'obesity gene' involved in weight gain response to high-fat diet

Scientists have determined that a specific gene plays a role in the weight-gain response to a high-fat diet.

24 Feb 2009

Researchers generate functional neurons from induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells

In a new study, researchers were able to generate functionally mature motor neurons from induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, which are engineered from adult somatic cells and can differentiate into most other cell types.

24 Feb 2009

PSA levels accurately predict prostate cancer risk in African-American men

PSA levels appear to be more predictive of three year prostate cancer risk in African-American men compared with Caucasian men with a family history of prostate cancer, according to a paper published in Cancer Prevention Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

24 Feb 2009

Plasminogen activator inhibitor type-1 -- a potential link between heart failure and diabetes

Researchers at the University of Vermont Cardiovascular Research Institute, Colchester, Vermont have found that increased expression in the heart of plasminogen activator inhibitor type-1 (PAI-1) is profibrotic.

24 Feb 2009

Physical fitness improves spatial memory, increases size of hippocampi

When it comes to the hippocampus, a brain structure vital to certain types of memory, size matters.

24 Feb 2009

McGill researcher's radical new green chemistry makes the impossible possible

McGill University chemistry professor Chao-Jun (C.J.) Li is known as one of the world leading pioneers in green chemistry, an entirely new approach to the science which eschews the use of toxic, petrochemical-based solvents in favour of basic substances like water and new ways of making molecules.

24 Feb 2009

New report reveals serious flaws in abstinence programs

As Congress and states reconsider funding for abstinence-only programs, the largest study ever of what is taught in sexuality education classes reveals that abstinence programs are plagued with factual errors, use shame and fear to teach about sexuality and actively discourage the use of condoms to protect against pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.

24 Feb 2009

Investigational protein may reverse neurodegenerative diseases

An investigational protein that transformed normal laboratory mice into super-jocks holds great promise in developing new treatments for neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease), say researchers at the University of Virginia Health System.

24 Feb 2009