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Strokes role in Alzheimer's disease

Researchers have discovered key details of how stroke or traumatic brain injury can trigger Alzheimer's disease (AD) by enhancing formation of brain-clogging amyloid plaques.

8 Jun 2007

New bacterium discovered, Bartonella rochalimae

A close cousin of the bacterium that debilitated thousands of World War I soldiers has been isolated at UCSF from a patient who had been on an international vacation.

8 Jun 2007

Secrets of working memory revealed

A newly discovered interplay of cells in one of the brain's memory centers sheds light on how you recall your grocery list, where you laid your keys, and a host of important but fleeting daily tasks.

8 Jun 2007

Underuse of pancreatectomy in the United States

More than half of eligible patients with operable, early-stage pancreatic cancer don't undergo potentially life-extending surgery, suggests a study published online in the Annals of Surgery, published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

8 Jun 2007

Angiogenesis gene polymorphisms predict tumor recurrence in stage II and III colon cancer

Researchers at the University of Southern California (USC) have identified specific molecular markers that may help to predict tumor recurrence in stage II and III colon cancer patients.

8 Jun 2007

Metabolic syndrome may be associated with compromised heart structure and function

Typified by high blood pressure, weight gain around the waist and problems regulating blood sugar, metabolic syndrome may also be associated with compromised heart structure and function, according to a paper published in the online open access journal BMC Cardiovascular Disorders.

8 Jun 2007

Inflammation again implicated in atherosclerosis

Men whose blood tests positive for the auto-antibody rheumatoid factor have a three times higher risk of heart disease, according to a study published online ahead of print in Heart .

8 Jun 2007

Low potassium levels linked to increased mortality in heart failure patients

New research from University of Alabama at Birmingham indicates that patients with heart failure who have low to low-normal serum potassium levels are at increased risk of death.

8 Jun 2007

Deleting gene important in embryo development leads to premature aging in mice

Researchers at the Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute of the University of Pennsylvania have found that deleting a gene important in embryo development leads to premature aging and loss of stem cell reservoirs in adult mice.

8 Jun 2007

Continuous positive airway pressure beneficial for sleep apnea patients

Adults with obstructive sleep apnea benefit significantly from longer nightly use of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), a device to improve breathing during sleep, according to a new study supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health.

8 Jun 2007

Largest ever genetics study of common diseases

The Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium, the largest ever study of the genetics behind common diseases such as diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and coronary heart disease, publishes its results in the journals Nature and Nature Genetics.

8 Jun 2007

New understanding of anti-malarial drug resistance

Researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center say they are moving closer to understanding why the most lethal form of human malaria has become resistant to drug treatment in the past three decades.

8 Jun 2007

Lack of sun, low vitamin D and the elderly

It's not yet clear why overweight elderly adults have low levels of vitamin D in their blood.

8 Jun 2007

Obese women can lose weight and it won't hurt the baby

Most women who are obese can safely exercise and diet to lose weight during pregnancy, according to a small pilot study conducted by Saint Louis University researchers.

8 Jun 2007

Community-based care for severely malnourished children

An innovative approach is showing progress in addressing severe acute malnutrition, which affects an estimated 20 million children under the age of five worldwide.

8 Jun 2007

Sleep disorder diagnosis and treatment

Jeffrey Kopita, M.D., pulmonologist and sleep medicine specialist on the medical staff at Baylor Medical Center at Garland, talks about sleep disorder diagnosis and treatment.

8 Jun 2007

Congress urged to cover home infusion therapy for Medicare beneficiaries

The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) is urging Congress to support the Medicare Home Infusion Therapy Coverage Act of 2007 (H.R. 2567), bipartisan legislation introduced yesterday by Reps.

8 Jun 2007

In mice, drug protects against diabetes and atherosclerosis

Blocking a single protein with an experimental drug prevented and treated both type 2 diabetes and atherosclerosis in laboratory mice that had been fed unhealthy diets and were genetically predisposed to these common killers, according to an article published online in Nature.

8 Jun 2007

HIV uses pathways to infect cells

Like hobos on a train, HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, uses a pre-existing transport system to leave one infected cell and infect new ones, Hopkins scientists have discovered.

8 Jun 2007