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Stem cells provide new way to sneak drugs into brain

One of the great challenges for treating Parkinson's diseases and other neurodegenerative disorders is getting medicine to the right place in the brain.

15 Dec 2005

Milk thistle extract treatment for liver disease found to be ineffective

Results of high-quality randomized clinical trials have determined that milk thistle extract, a widely used alternative medication, may not have any significant influence on the course of patients with alcoholic liver disease or hepatitis B or C liver disease.

15 Dec 2005

Rockeby Biomed ships first batch of Avian Flu Test kits

Rockeby Biomed has announced that the first batch of its Avian Flu Test kits was sold early this month and shipped to Singapore, North Korea, South Korea, Japan, Romania, Austria, South Africa, Netherlands and UK. The second shipment will be distributed before Christmas.

15 Dec 2005

Recommendations for artificial nutrition and hydration

For two decades, doctors have followed an ethically-established agreement about the appropriate use of artificial nutrition and hydration (ANH) for patients who are seriously ill or in a persistent vegetative state.

15 Dec 2005

Hospital-level care can be provided at home for less money

Being hospitalized can be a traumatic experience, especially for older persons. Hospitals are noisy, disorienting, full of strangers and infections often spread among patients.

15 Dec 2005

DNA strands for biologically based electronics and medical devices

Ohio State University researchers have invented a process for uncoiling long strands of DNA and forming them into precise patterns.

15 Dec 2005

Researchers discover potential mechanism for tumor growth

Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center have identified an inherent feature of stem and progenitor cells that may promote initiation and progression of cancerous tumors.

15 Dec 2005

Important skin color gene identified

With help from a common aquarium pet and a recently released online database of human genetic variation, a collaborative team of Penn State researchers has found what could be the most important skin color gene identified to date.

15 Dec 2005

Remarkable developmental pathway in frog embryos discovered

Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers have discovered an important regulatory pathway that enables frog embryos to develop normally even after being split in half -- as happens in the development of identical twins.

15 Dec 2005

New understanding of Mediterranean spotted fever

New research by a team of scientists in France and the United States has identified both the bacterial and host receptor proteins that enable Rickettsia conorii, the Mediterranean spotted fever pathogen, to enter cells.

15 Dec 2005

Some children like sweets not just because they taste good, but also because sweets make them feel good

Now researchers at the Monell Chemical Senses Center report in the current issue of the journal Pain that the analgesic efficacy of sweet taste is influenced both by how much a child likes sweet taste and by the child's weight status.

15 Dec 2005

Increase in pregnancy obesity

A growing number of women are overweight or obese when they become pregnant, a condition that is risky to both mother and baby, a new study conducted by researchers at the University at Buffalo has shown.

15 Dec 2005

Fish oil supplements prevent declines in heart rate variability

A two-gram fish oil supplement given daily to elderly persons prevented a decline in heart rate variability caused by tiny, dangerous airborne pollutant particles. Heart rate variability, a measure of the autonomic nervous system's regulation of the heart, is an independent risk factor for cardiac arrhythmias, heart attack or sudden death.

15 Dec 2005

Aromatase inhibitors may slow growth of lung cancer

A few years ago researchers discovered that, much like breast tumors, some lung tumors also thrive on estrogen. Now a medical student conducting research on a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) fellowship and colleagues have managed to stop the growth of human lung cancer cells in mice with a class of breast cancer drugs called aromatase inhibitors.

15 Dec 2005

New cell findings have implications for cancer, immune disorders

It all started 5 years ago when a University of Calgary neuroscientist sent blood from a patient with a neurological disorder to the laboratory of Dr. Marvin Fritzler, professor of medicine / biochemistry & molecular biology at the University of Calgary Faculty of Medicine.

15 Dec 2005

Minister launches consultation on dental services

Health Minister Shaun Woodward has announced a consultation on proposals for dental services over the next 10 years.

15 Dec 2005

Long-term stress can impair short-term memory

Researchers believe that this occurs because constant stress affects an area of the brain necessary for learning and memory, and the underlying mechanisms for this may also be to blame in more serious ailments, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and severe depression.

15 Dec 2005

Community Based Assessment Centres - roles and functions in a flu pandemic

The expected roles and functions of Community Based Assessment Centres (CBACs) in the event of an influenza pandemic have been outlined by the New Zealand Ministry of Health, in a draft document sent to District Health Boards for comment and to assist with local planning.

15 Dec 2005

Urgent call to save lives of 30 million under fives over next decade

Unprecedented opportunity to reduce child mortality in poorest countries must not be missed

15 Dec 2005

Protein induces dental pulp stem cells into dentin-forming odontoblasts

When dentists examine patients with a damaged tooth that has become infected and abscessed, or filled with tissue-eroding fluid, they typically have two options: Root canal or extraction.

15 Dec 2005