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Scientists answer brain mystery

The taste of champagne, the sound of a train, the flash of a pop fly into left field - indeed all of human perception ' begins in the brain's center. That's where sensory information passes from the thalamus to the neocortex for processing.

5 Mar 2007

Copper good for your heart

Including more copper in your everyday diet could be good for your heart, according to scientists at the University of Louisville Medical Center and the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center.

5 Mar 2007

Life-saving cancer genetic testing vastly underutilized

A study released today at the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists 38th Annual Meeting on Women's Cancer found few patients were aware of genetic cancer syndromes and the high risk of developing cancer if genetic mutations were found. Fewer still were motivated to follow up on this information with their own healthcare provider or genetic counseling/testing services.

5 Mar 2007

Lilly to acquire neuroscience drug discovery co. Hypnion

Eli Lilly and Company and Hypnion, Inc. today announced that they have signed a definitive merger agreement whereby Lilly will acquire Hypnion, a privately held neuroscience drug discovery company focused on sleep disorders.

5 Mar 2007

QLT settles Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary patent lawsuit

QLT Inc. announced that the parties have settled the litigation brought in 2001 by Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary ("MEEI") against QLT and Novartis Ophthalmics, Inc., case # 01-10747, in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts (the "District Court").

5 Mar 2007

Translaminar technique reduces neck pain without significant risk of paralysis

In the largest series of patients to date, recent research shows that the translaminar approach to cervical spinal steroid injections can reduce neck pain in eighty-three percent of those treated.

5 Mar 2007

Inaugral conference of Society for Acute Medicine to be held in UK

The Society of Acute Medicine has announced that the 1st International Conference for Acute Medicine is to be held at the Scottish Exhibition & Conference Centre, Glasgow, on the 1st and 2nd October 2007, and will be officially opened by Dr Harry Burns, Chief Medical Officer for Scotland.

5 Mar 2007

Senate hearing to debate junk food in schools

Tomorrow the Senate Agriculture Committee will hold a hearing on school nutrition issues, a move that the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) says signals new hope for strong, national action to get junk food out of schools.

5 Mar 2007

Improvement of cancer-targeting therapy, using nanocarriers for intractable solid tumors by inhibition of TGF-beta signaling

Administering a small amount of a potent but potentially toxic anticancer agent along with nanoparticles loaded with a second anticancer agent produced a dramatic inhibition of tumor growth in normally intractable cancers. These findings suggest a new approach to treating malignancies such as pancreatic cancer and diffuse gastric cancer.

5 Mar 2007

Magnetic nanocrystals used to carry tumor-killing drugs

Imagine using a focused magnetic field to concentrate anticancer drugs in and around tumors, and then turning off the magnetic field so that the drugs then leave the body.

5 Mar 2007

Targeted nanoparticles image early tumors

A well-established fact in cancer therapy is that early tumor detection improves the odds that a patient will survive the disease. Now, using nanoparticles targeted to the tiny blood vessels that surround even the smallest tumors, researchers at the Siteman Center for Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence (CCNE) have developed a radioactive imaging agent that was able to identify human tumors in rabbits.

5 Mar 2007

Ultrafine hydrogel nanoparticles: synthetic approach and therapeutic application in living cells

Ultrafine nanoparticles made of a lacy web of polymer and tiny pockets of water may prove to be an ideal vehicle for delivering light-activated drugs to tumors.

5 Mar 2007

Women who smoke during pregnancy can cause permanent vascular damage in their children

The Netherlands Atherosclerosis Risk in Young Adults (ARYA) study showed that participants who were exposed to smoke when their mothers were pregnant resulted in permanent cardiovascular damage that could be detected in young adulthood.

5 Mar 2007

Erectile dysfunction drugs may be better than nitroglycerin in protecting the heart after a severe heart attack

During a heart attack, the heart is deprived of oxygen, which can result in significant damage to heart muscle and tissue. After the attack, most patients require treatment to reduce and repair the damage and improve their chances of survival.

5 Mar 2007

Shyness, genetics and parents

New research from the Child Development Laboratory at the University of Maryland shows that shyness in kids could relate to the manner in which a stress-related gene in children interacts with being raised by stressed-out parents.

5 Mar 2007

Call for decent, sanitary housing for recuperating soldiers at Walter Reed Medical Center

The Disabled American Veterans (DAV) has called upon Defense Secretary Robert Gates to take immediate action to provide decent, sanitary housing for recuperating soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and to consider moving them to Department of Veterans Affairs facilities closer to their homes.

5 Mar 2007

Study compares Lipitor with Simvastatin

A retrospective analysis of a large U.S. managed care database showed that patients who took Pfizer's cholesterol-lowering medicine Lipitor (atorvastatin calcium) Tablets had a significant 14 percent reduction in the risk of cardiovascular events, including heart attacks and strokes, compared with patients who took simvastatin.

5 Mar 2007

Vaccines for measles-mumps-rubella and varicella are effective in extremely preterm infants

The study, which included 16 term and 16 extremely preterm (born before about 6 months of pregnancy) infants born between May 2002 and May 2005, is the first of its kind to examine the antibody levels of measles, mumps, rubella and varicella in this population before and after vaccination. It was published in this month's Pediatrics.

5 Mar 2007

Preemie lung treatments turn out to be safe

Preemies between 28 and 32 weeks are not harmed by a treatment no longer used to help their lungs mature before birth, according to findings of a study in this month's Pediatrics.

5 Mar 2007

Obesity epidemic fuelling premature puberty in girls

Researchers in the United States say girls who are overweight at the age of three run the risk of reaching puberty as early as nine years old and warn that the obesity crisis is now affecting children's development.

5 Mar 2007