Researchers have discovered two new genes that increase the risk of developing inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in childhood.
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STANFORD, Calif. - The fight against the liver disease hepatitis C has been at something of an impasse for years, with more than 150 million people currently infected, and traditional antiviral treatments causing nasty side effects and often falling short of a cure. Using a novel technique, medical and engineering researchers at Stanford University have discovered a vulnerable step in the virus' reproduction process that in lab testing could be effectively targeted with an obsolete antihistamine.
Bipolar disorder is one of the most important psychiatric diseases, often associated with considerable treatment needs and tremendous social and occupational burden for both the individual and family (Pini et al., 2005). Previously also labelled manic-depressive illness, bipolar disorder is typically referred to as an episodic, yet lifelong and clinically severe mood (or affective) disorder.
HAMILTON – August 31, 2008 -- An international study led by Canadian researchers has found that telmisartan, a medication used to lower blood pressure, reduced the outcome of cardiovascular death, heart attack or stroke in people who are unable to tolerate a widely available and effective standard treatment.
DALLAS – Aug. 31, 2008 – Many nursing mothers who have been hospitalized for breast abscesses are afflicted with the "superbug" methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, but according to new research by UT Southwestern Medical Center physicians, conservative treatment can deal with the problem.
The study focused on hospitalized women with mastitis, and showed that MRSA was much more likely to be found in those who had both mastitis (an inflammation of the milk glands) and abscesses (pockets of infection).
DALLAS – Aug. 29, 2008 – The age-old advice to routinely clean out earwax is discouraged under the first published guidelines from health care professionals about removing wax from the ear.
A Johns Hopkins research team reports it may have an explanation for at least some of the higher organ rejection rates seen among black - as compared to white - kidney transplant recipients.
In a study of 50 healthy adult men, 25 black and 25 white, significantly different amounts of certain immune system cells were found between the races.
Johns Hopkins researchers have discovered the earliest form of humanblood stem cells and deciphered the mechanism by which these embryonicstem cells replicate and grow. They also found a surprising biologicalmarker that pinpoints these stem cells, which serve as the progenitorsfor red blood cells and lymphocytes.
In May 2006, an agreement was reached by the Alliance for a Healthier Generation and the American Beverage Association on voluntary sales restrictions on "competitive foods" such as soft drinks at schools. However, researchers at Pardee Rand Graduate School say limiting the availability of soft drinks at school may not be enough to affect overall consumption among elementary school children.
PHILADELPHIA –- A new study by University of Pennsylvania sociology professor Jason Schnittker shows that, while more Americans believe that mental illness has genetic causes, the nation is no more tolerant of the mentally ill than it was 10 years ago.
The study published online in the journal Social Science and Medicine uses a 2006 replication of the 1996 General Social Survey Mental Health Module to explore trends in public beliefs about mental illness in America, focusing in particular on public support for genetic arguments.
A tiny wasp that lays its eggs under the skin of unwitting caterpillars belongs to one of the most diverse groups of insects on Earth. Now researchers report that its diversity is even higher than previously thought.
(To see an audio slide show on the research, please go to: http://publicaffairs.illinois.edu/slideshows/Microgastrine.)
The response to insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-I) in breast cancer cells predicts an aggressive tumor that is less likely to respond to treatment, said researchers at Baylor College of Medicine in a report that appears in the current issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology. The finding gives impetus to the movement to tailor cancer treatments to attributes of the various tumors.
The findings underline the importance of precautions against vCJD transmission, such as the Government decision in 2004 to ban blood donations from anyone who had received a blood transfusion since 1980.
The study published in Blood, the journal of the American Society of Hematology, looked at BSE transmission between sheep through infected blood with the aim of quantifying how vCJD - the human form of BSE - could be spread through transfusions.
In order to realize the electrical units of voltage, resistance and current with highest accuracy quantum effects in nano-circuits are nowadays used. Important prerequisites are extremely pure semiconductor layers where high-mobile electrons move through the crystal without collision with residual impurities. To be prepared for future developments in quantum metrology PTB has set up a new molecular beam epitaxy system optimized for the fabrication of highest purity semiconductor structures.
Patients are not the only ones at risk during cardiac procedures. Doctors performing heart surgery also face health risks, namely to their eyes.
The IAEA is helping to raise awareness of threats, through training in radiation protection related to medical uses of X-ray imaging systems.