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Fatty acids such as those found in corn oil turn on genes that stimulate tumor growth

Omega-6 fatty acids--such as those found in corn oil--caused human prostate tumors in cell culture to grow twice as quickly as tumors to which omega-6 fats had not been added, according to a study conducted at the San Francisco VA Medical Center.

5 Feb 2006

Obesity may accelerate the onset of type 1 diabetes in some

Obesity, long known as a cause of type II diabetes, may accelerate the onset of type 1 diabetes in some - but not all - groups of younger patients, according to research at Wake Forest University School of Medicine and six clinical sites nationally.

5 Feb 2006

New Saint Louis University research finds SIDS strikes premies later

Because premature and small babies are at risk for SIDS later and longer than full-term infants, pediatricians should adjust when they offer counseling to parents about preventing SIDS, according to research published by a Saint Louis University pediatrician who examined more than 8,000 SIDS deaths.

5 Feb 2006

Lower survival rates of blacks with lung cancer may be explained by access to care

New research suggests that the lower survival rates of blacks with lung cancer may be explained by access to care. The study, by Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center researchers and colleagues is reported in the January issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

5 Feb 2006

Diabetic heart muscle makes heart disease the most common killer of diabetics

The high-fat "diet" that diabetic heart muscle consumes helps make cardiovascular disease the most common killer of diabetic patients, according to a study done at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

5 Feb 2006

Key genes identified that enable tuberculosis infection to spread

Scientists in India, led by a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) international research scholar, have identified five key genes that enable Mycobacterium tuberculosis to acquire the iron it needs to sustain growth and promote infection

5 Feb 2006

Memory loss and menopause

Women who feel that they become more forgetful as menopause approaches shouldn't just ignore it, there may be something to their own widespread reports that they're more likely to forget things as menopause approaches

5 Feb 2006

Babies of obese mothers have higher risk of some birth defects

Compared to normal-weight women, overweight and obese women suffer more pregnancy complications and their babies have more medical problems at birth, according to a position paper of the Public Affairs Committee of the Teratology Society.

5 Feb 2006

Simple method to diagnose preeclampsia

Researchers at Yale School of Medicine have found that analyzing proteins in urine is a simple and objective method to diagnose and classify preeclampsia (PE), a complication of pregnancy causing high blood pressure after 20 weeks of gestation.

5 Feb 2006

Scientists have determined the detailed structure of an essential piece of the telomerase enzyme

Scientists have determined the detailed structure of an essential piece of the telomerase enzyme, an important contributor to the vast majority of human cancers. Understanding the physical shape of the protein has led to a better understanding of how it acts to immortalize cells - and should help scientists design broadly effective cancer drugs.

5 Feb 2006

Researchers discover lowered sensitivity to smell when lying down

Before giving flowers or scattering rose petals on Valentine's Day, make sure your significant other has already gotten out of bed. In a study published recently in the journal Chemical Senses, researchers at the Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI) at McGill University discovered that sensitivity to rose odour is greater in subjects that are sitting than in those lying down.

2 Feb 2006

Researchers show how estrogen turns genes on and off during cancer progression

Ohio - A new study suggests that the hormone estrogen works in partnership with other proteins to activate or suppress gene activity in breast cancer cells.

2 Feb 2006

Hepatitis C recurs rapidly after liver transplant

When a diseased liver is removed from a patient with Hepatitis C (HCV), serum viral levels plummet. However, after receiving a healthy liver transplant, virus levels rebound and can surpass pre-transplant levels within a few days, according to a new study published in the February 2006 issue of Liver Transplantation, the official journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) and the International Liver Transplantation Society (ILTS).

2 Feb 2006

Women pregnant with girls experience more severe asthma symptoms

Women with asthma who are carrying a female fetus are more likely to experience worse asthma symptoms than asthmatic women carrying a male fetus, researchers at Yale School of Medicine report in the February issue of American Journal of Epidemiology.

2 Feb 2006

Study looks at placebo effect

The debate about the existence of a placebo effect has heated up over the past year as more and more lab experiments are detecting immediate physiological responses to placebos.

2 Feb 2006

60 new genes controlled by regulatory sequences

Researchers worldwide are seeking to define ancient sections of our genetic code that may soon be as important to medical science as genes.

2 Feb 2006

Can rimonabant slow atherosclerosis?

Researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center has announced that they have launched a study to determine whether an experimental drug, rimonabant, can slow atherosclerosis, the fatty build-up in arteries that creates heart attack risk.

2 Feb 2006

Hormone hydrocortisone (cortisol) supplementation improves ventilator weaning

Intensive care unit physicians can increase the success of mechanical ventilation weaning and shorten the weaning period by identifying critically ill patients who have adrenal insufficiency and treating them with the hormone hydrocortisone (cortisol).

2 Feb 2006

Why anti-obesity cortisol reducing supplements do not work

Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University have revealed that the cortisol/obesity connection, touted by many weight-loss supplement marketers, may be even more tenuous than first thought.

2 Feb 2006

Phase II clinical trial for new gene transfer drug study

As many as 8-10 million Americans have Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD), by age 70, roughly 20 percent of the population has it, and people with PAD face a six-to-seven times higher risk of heart attack or stroke.

2 Feb 2006