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Magnetic system could provide surgery without scars

Physicians at UT Southwestern Medical Center and engineers at UT Arlington have collaborated to invent a groundbreaking system that could be key to delivering on the promise of surgery without scars.

2 Apr 2007

Symphysiotomy could dramatically reduce maternal deaths

Teaching doctors in Africa a low-tech operation to cut the cartilage of the symphysis pubis could save the lives of women in obstructed labor and their babies, according to an Essay in the open access journal PLoS Medicine.

2 Apr 2007

Loperamide may play a useful part in the treatment of diarrhoea

The drug loperamide is widely used as a treatment for diarrhoea in adults, but most authorities, including the World Health Organization recommend that it should not be given to young children.

2 Apr 2007

Long-term low to moderate doses of aspirin beneficial for women

Women who take low to moderate doses of aspirin have a reduced risk of death from any cause, and especially heart disease related deaths, according to a report in the March 26 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

2 Apr 2007

Maternal beef consumption associated with lower sperm concentration

New research has shown that women who ate a lot of beef while pregnant had sons who were more likely to suffer from poor sperm quality as adults, and it suggests that the growth promoters used in cattle may play a role in these men's reduced fertility.

2 Apr 2007

Optical biopsy finds cancers in first tests on human tissue

In its first laboratory tests on human tissue, a light-based probe built by researchers at Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering almost instantly detected the earliest signs of cancer in cells that line internal organs.

2 Apr 2007

Synthesis, characterization, DNA binding and in vivo activity of Ru(II)/Pt(II) complexes

Chemists and biologists at Virginia Tech continuing to design light-activated molecular systems to attack cancer cells have introduced a DNA targeting component.

2 Apr 2007

Validation of an LED array for use in DNA photocleavage assays

Biology and chemistry researchers from Virginia Tech are creating molecular complexes to bind to and disrupt the DNA of diseased tissues, such as tumors or viruses.

2 Apr 2007

Major step forward for islet transplantation in diabetes patient

Living Cell Technologies Limited has announced it has published evidence outlining the survival and identification of live porcine islet cells and insulin production in a human patient 10 years after receiving a pig islet cell transplant.

2 Apr 2007

Lack of Olig1 protein in lung tumors may increase risk of death

A study of human lung tumors indicates that lung cancer patients who lack a particular protein may do more poorly than those with normal levels of that same protein.

2 Apr 2007

Drug-eluting stents are disappointing in bypass grafts - sometimes!

While drug-eluting stents are effective in keeping open bypassed heart veins that aren?t too diffuse (filled with cholesterol plaque), a new study by cardiologists at Jefferson Medical College shows that they fare less well in keeping open bypassed veins with longer blockages.

2 Apr 2007

Clearer picture of neuronal coding

The validity of a leading theory that has held a glimmer of hope for unraveling the intricacies of the brain has just been called into question.

2 Apr 2007

Reconstituted HDL may have some benefit in coronary atherosclerosis

Preliminary research suggests that use of reconstituted HDL may have some benefit in coronary atherosclerosis, according to a JAMA study published online March 26.

2 Apr 2007

Infants emotional understanding

Infants use indirect emotional information, emotional reactions that are directed at other people, to guide their own behavior.

2 Apr 2007

Costs due to complications from preterm birth are staggering

In Canada, outlays for specialized care of surviving preterm infants are estimated to be almost $2 billion per year.

2 Apr 2007

Immunity to cancer stem cells may help protect people with a precancerous condition from developing the full-blown disease

Although stem cells hold incredible promise in the fight against certain diseases, in cancer they're anything but helpful. In fact, mounting evidence is showing that a tumor's growth and spread may depend on "cancer stem cells," which comprise only a very small subset of the tumor.

2 Apr 2007

African Americans may be at higher risk of heart failure because of racial variations in heart muscle's pumping ability

Scientists have known for nearly a decade that African Americans have higher rates of hospitalization for heart failure than other major U.S. racial or ethnic groups, but until now they have had limited information other than socio-economic and demographic characteristics to explain why this is so.

2 Apr 2007