Body

If skin is the body's fortress against germ invaders, shouldn't minimally invasive surgeries – operations guided by camera probes, conducted entirely within the abdomen – carry less risk for serious infection than procedures that slice the same cavity wide open?

Nitric oxide is a toxic pollutant, but the human body also creates it and uses it to attack invading microbes and parasites. A new study by researchers at UC Davis, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute (JASRI) shows how nitric oxide, attacks an important group of proteins critical to cell survival.

A paper describing the work was published Dec. 6 in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

PULLMAN, Wash.—Beverages supplemented by whey-based protein can significantly reduce elevated blood pressure, reducing the risk of stroke and heart disease, a Washington State University study has found.

Chevy Chase, MD—A recent study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM) found that lower and higher vitamin D levels were associated with an increased likelihood of frailty in older women. Women with vitamin D levels between 20.0 and 29.9 ng/ml were at the lowest risk of frailty.

Ground-breaking research from Professor Douglas Kell, published in the journal Archives of Toxicology, has found that the majority of debilitating illnesses are in part caused by poorly-bound iron which causes the production of dangerous toxins that can react with the components of living systems.

These toxins, called hydroxyl radicals, cause degenerative diseases of many kinds in different parts of the body.

Immunotherapy given as pills or drops under the tongue is a safe and effective way to treat hayfever-like allergies caused by pollen and dust mites, according to a new Cochrane Systematic Review. The researchers say the approach is an attractive alternative to immunotherapy injections in children.

Sophia Antipolis, 8 December 2010: The prevalence of smoking and exposure to tobacco smoke among men in France has fallen by more than 15 per cent since the mid 1980s, but over the same 20-year period has increased among women.

When two individuals face off in conflict, the classic problem in evolutionary biology known as the prisoner's dilemma says that the individuals are not likely to cooperate even if it is in their best interests to do so. But a new study suggests that with incentives to cooperate, natural selection can minimize conflict, changing the game from one of pure conflict to one of partial cooperation.

The use of tobacco cessation medication in a population may lead to reduced hospital admissions for heart attacks and for coronary atherosclerosis within the two years after use according to a study by Thomas Land and colleagues from the Massachusetts Tobacco Cessation and Prevention Program, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School Boston, USA, and published in this week's PLoS Medicine. The study found no reduction in hospitalizations for other diseases, in the same two year period.

A new formulation of Amphotericin B (AmB) developed by University of British Columbia researchers has been shown to be stable in tropical climates and effective in treating Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL) in mouse models.

VL is a blood-born parasitic disease that afflicts 12 million people worldwide, mainly in developing countries and tropical regions. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 1.5 million new cases of the disease are reported every year, and 60,000 people die from it.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The flurry of smart-phone patent suits at the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) is being driven by technology companies eager to capitalize on the speed and expertise of the specialized venue, says a University of Illinois patent strategy expert.

With the use of a highly sensitive test, detection of the blood biomarker cardiac troponin T, a cardiac-specific protein, is associated with structural heart disease and an increased risk of all-cause death, according to a study in the December 8 issue of JAMA.

Use of low-dose aspirin prior to a newer type of fecal occult blood test is associated with a higher sensitivity for detecting advanced colorectal tumors, compared to no aspirin use, according to a study in the December 8 issue of JAMA.