Medical News

RSS

Poor survival rates in some cancers related to lack of clinical trial participation

In a new study Archie Bleyer, M.D. of the M. D. Anderson Cancer Centre in Houston and colleagues have discovered that mortality and poor survival rates among young adults and older adolescents with some cancers may be explained in part by the lack of participation in clinical trials.

28 Mar 2005

Players can become part of a video game

Duck, jab, back flip, shoot! If you've ever played an intensely engaging video game, you know that it can seem like your "self" has been transposed onto the game character—you might even find yourself acting out the character's movements while you are playing.

28 Mar 2005

Blind people more accurate at judging size than sighted people

Close your eyes and imagine a loaf of bread. With your eyes still closed, estimate with your hands the size of that loaf of bread. Do you think your mental representation is an accurate one? Specifically, how accurately have you gauged its size?

28 Mar 2005

Adult stem cells could be used to treat deaf patients in the future

Researchers at Indiana University School of Medicine are several steps closer to the day when a profoundly deaf patient's own bone marrow cells could be used to let him or her hear the world.

28 Mar 2005

Discovery of gene STAT6(B) may lead to new treatments for inflammatory diseases

In a paper featured in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS), researchers from Boston University School of Dental Medicine report the discovery of a new gene, STAT6(B), that helps regulate production of the potentially deadly tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) cytokine.

28 Mar 2005

KCP protein protects kidneys from damage caused by chronic renal disease and injury

University of Michigan scientists have identified a new and unusual protein that reduces, in laboratory mice, kidney damage caused by chronic renal disease and acute toxic injuries.

28 Mar 2005

Body fat may promote inflammation

Why does extra fat around the waist increase the risk of heart disease? A new study by Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center researchers and colleagues suggests that inflammation may be the key.

28 Mar 2005

Vegetarians who don't cook their food have abnormally low bone mass

Vegetarians who don't cook their food have abnormally low bone mass, usually a sign of osteoporosis and increased fracture risk. But a research team at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis also found that raw food vegetarians have other biological markers indicating their bones, although light in weight, may be healthy.

28 Mar 2005

Mutated BRCA1 genes cause ovarian cancer indirectly

Mutated BRCA1 genes cause ovarian cancer indirectly, by interfering with the biochemical signals one ovarian cell sends to another, according to a team of researchers led by scientists at the USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California.

28 Mar 2005

Diffusion MRI gives early indication if brain cancer therapy is effective

A special type of MRI scan that measures the flow of water molecules through the brain can help doctors determine early in the course of brain cancer regimen if a patient's tumor will shrink, a new study shows.

28 Mar 2005

Social and cultural factors play a significant role in the treatment decisions of patients with prostate cancer

Marital status, high school education, and race/ethnicity may play a far greater role in patients' treatment decisions than previously believed.

28 Mar 2005

Invisible influences reveal unconscious pathways used in visual perception

Our conscious awareness is underpinned by activity in our brain, but there is far more going on in our brain at any one time than we can possibly be aware of. So what aspects of our brain's activity are we actually aware of?

28 Mar 2005

Gene variations explain drug dose required to control seizures

Determining which variants of particular genes patients with epilepsy carry might enable doctors to better predict the dose of drugs necessary to control their seizures, suggest basic findings by researchers at the Duke University Institute for Genome Sciences & Policy (IGSP) and the University College London.

28 Mar 2005

Tool reliably predicts recovery from coma

A Department of Veterans Affairs and Northwestern University researcher has developed the first reliable measure of neurobehavioral functioning that will help physicians predict the likelihood of a patient recovering consciousness during coma from severe brain injury within the first year of injury--with up to 86 percent certainty.

28 Mar 2005

Patients with Hepatitis C have a significant decrease in their health-related quality-of-life

Patients with Hepatitis C virus (HCV) have a significant decrease in their health-related quality-of-life (HRQOL), although treatment success can mitigate this negative effect.

28 Mar 2005

Statins appear to be safe for people with fatty liver disease

Statins appear to be safe for people with fatty liver disease who could benefit from their cholesterol-lowering capabilities, concludes a review paper published in the April 2005 issue of Hepatology, the official journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD).

28 Mar 2005

Variation in the gene ENPP1 may predict risk for diabetes

A particular gene variant that could serve as a predictor for type 2 diabetes has been identified by researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center.

28 Mar 2005

Researchers have identified the proteins that allow specific brain cells to "change channels"

Johns Hopkins researchers have identified the proteins that allow specific brain cells to "change channels," a rare ability that tweaks what can come into the cell. The findings, described in the March 24 issue of Neuron, might let researchers harness the process, perhaps one day using it to protect cells that die in Lou Gehrig's disease.

28 Mar 2005

Vital molecular step in cell migration

A vital molecular step in cell migration, the movement of cells within the body during growth, tissue repair and the body's immune response to invading pathogens, has been demonstrated by researchers in the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine.

28 Mar 2005

New color-coded test for protein folding

Every protein--from albumin to testosterone--is folded into a unique, three-dimensional shape that allows it to function properly. Now Stanford University scientists have developed a simple test that instantly changes color when a protein molecule attached to a gold nanoparticle folds or unfolds.

28 Mar 2005