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Natural killer T cells play important role in Lyme disease

A research team led by the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology and Albany Medical College has illuminated the important role of natural killer (NK) T cells in Lyme disease, demonstrating that the once little understood white blood cells are central to clearing the bacterial infection and reducing the intensity and duration of arthritis associated with Lyme disease.

3 Dec 2008

Robotic help for stroke patients

Research scientists using a novel, hand-operated robotic device and functional MRI (fMRI) have found that chronic stroke patients can be rehabilitated, according to a study presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

3 Dec 2008

Discovery of new enzyme in cancer growth

While studying the mechanics of blood clots, researchers at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center discovered a new enzyme that not only affects the blood, but seems to play a primary role in how cancer tumors expand and spread throughout the body.

3 Dec 2008

Radiologists diagnose and treat self-embedding disorder in teens

Minimally invasive, image-guided treatment is a safe and precise method for removal of self-inflicted foreign objects from the body, according to the first report on "self-embedding disorder," or self-injury and self-inflicted foreign body insertion in adolescents.

3 Dec 2008

Degarelix prostate cancer drug makes testosterone levels fall dramatically and quickly

More than 95 per cent of men who took degarelix for prostate cancer saw their testosterone levels fall dramatically as early as three days after they started treatment, according to a paper in the December issue of BJU International.

3 Dec 2008

Pregnant women with asthma can be more confident about some medicines

Women can usually keep using the same asthma drugs they were using before they got pregnant.

3 Dec 2008

Childhood obesity may change thyroid

In addition to its strong associations with hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes, pediatric obesity may induce alterations in thyroid function and structure, according to a new study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

3 Dec 2008

Anti-oestrogen drugs may promote more harmful cancer cell behaviour

The authors found that tamoxifen can promote an invasive phenotype in ER+ breast cancer cells under conditions of poor cell-cell contact, a previously unknown effect of this drug

3 Dec 2008

Tobacco plants grown in novel mist bioreactor system provide new soure of interleukin-12

Interleukin-12 is a naturally occurring protein essential for the proper functioning of the human immune system.

3 Dec 2008

Spinal stapling - new treatment alternative for scoliosis

Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of NewYork-Presbyterian is one of only a few hospitals in the country to offer spinal stapling, a new treatment alternative for young people with scoliosis, an abnormal curvature of the spine that is painful and can restrict breathing.

3 Dec 2008

New set of controls for stem cells discovered

Natural changes in voltage that occur across the membrane of adult human stem cells are a powerful controlling factor in the process by which these stem cells differentiate, according to research published by Tufts University scientists.

3 Dec 2008

4.7 percent of U.S. population suffers from persistent depression or anxiety disorders

Though effective treatments are available for individuals suffering from chronic depression and anxiety, very little is known about how often these treatments are used or how prevalent these conditions are among the nation's general population.

3 Dec 2008

Motor neurons derived from human embryonic stem cells provide insight into ALS

Two new research studies use motor neurons derived from human embryonic stem (hES) cells to demonstrate that multiple toxic pathways contribute to the devastating degeneration associated with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and that protective therapeutics will need to oppose the disease on multiple fronts.

3 Dec 2008

Breast-specific gamma imaging identifies hidden breast cancer

Breast-Specific Gamma Imaging (BSGI) is shown to be an effective method of identifying mammographically and clinically occult (hidden) breast cancer.

3 Dec 2008

Best treatments found for long-term survival in low-grade gliomas

A new Mayo Clinic study found that patients with low-grade gliomas survived longest when they underwent aggressive surgeries to successfully remove the entire tumor.

3 Dec 2008

Kidney disease patients with poor health literacy are less likely to receive kidney transplants

Kidney disease patients' ability to understand basic health information may have a significant impact on whether or not they will receive an organ transplant, according to a study appearing in the January 2009 issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society Nephrology.

3 Dec 2008

Toddlers actively participate in complex interactions with their parents

A new study in the journal Family Process shows that infants appear to be active participants in complex interactional sequences with their parents far earlier than previously thought.

3 Dec 2008

New standard of care for treating advanced ovarian cancer

Results of a phase III, international randomized clinical trial demonstrate a new standard of care for treating advanced ovarian cancer that significantly reduces side-effects and post-operative deaths compared to the previously established treatment course.

3 Dec 2008

New guidelines for neuropathy

New guidelines developed by the American Academy of Neurology find a combination of blood tests and other specialized assessments appear to be the most helpful tests for finding the cause of neuropathy.

3 Dec 2008

Genetic breakdown in Fanconi anemia may have link to HPV-associated cancer

A genetic malfunction that causes DNA instability in people with the blood disorder Fanconi anemia may put them at high risk for squamous cell carcinomas linked to human papillomavirus (HPV), according to a study posted online ahead of print by Oncogene.

3 Dec 2008