Body

The results of a new analysis have provided good evidence to suggest that Tai Chi is beneficial for arthritis. Specifically, it was shown to decrease pain with trends towards improving overall physical health, level of tension and satisfaction with health status.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – A new method to induce protein folding by taking the pressure off of proteins is up to 100 times faster than previous methods, and could help guide more accurate computer simulations for how complex proteins fold, according to research by a team of University of Illinois scientists accepted for publication in the journal Nature Methods and posted on the journal's Web site May 31.

Recent genetic studies have revealed several new sites of genes that are risk factors for developing rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The strongest association with anti-citrullinated protein antibody (ACPA)-positive RA (ACPAs are autoantibodies detected in RA that are used as a major diagnostic tool) has been found for the HLA-DRB1 gene, and this site seems to play a central role in susceptibility to the disease in Caucasian populations. Previous studies have shown a high increase in the risk of ACPA-positive RA associated with smoking in those who have certain variations of the HLA-DRB1 gene.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA), the most common form of inflammatory arthritis, affects almost three percent of people over age 65. RA patients experience pain, functional limitations and two forms of disabling bone disease: focal erosions and osteoporosis. After five years of disease, up to 50 percent of RA patients show evidence of focal erosions and RA doubles the risk of osteoporosis and fractures. A new study examined the relationship between these two RA-related processes, in the hopes of providing insight into the underlying pathophysiology of RA-related bone disease.

ST. PAUL, Minn. – About half of all people who have a major stroke following a warning stroke (a transient ischemic attack or mild stroke) have it within 24 hours of the first event, according to research published in the June 2, 2009, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

Government warnings about suicidality among children taking antidepressants appear to be associated with unintended and persistent changes in the diagnosis and treatment of depression in children and adults, according to a report in the June issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

RICHMOND, Va. (June 1, 2009) – Virginia Commonwealth University researchers have identified a gene that may play a key role in regulating tumor progression in neuroblastoma, a form of cancer usually found in young children. Scientists hope the finding could lead to an effective therapy to inhibit the expression of this gene.

Hands wring and teeth gnash over the loss of endangered species like the panda or the polar bear. But what happens to the parasites hosted by endangered species? And although most people would side with the panda over the parasite, which group should we worry about more?

COLD SPRING HARBOR, N.Y. (Monday, June 1, 2009) – High-throughput whole-genome analysis is becoming a standard laboratory approach for investigating cellular processes. Next-generation sequencing is replacing microarrays as the technique of choice for genome-scale analysis, because it offers advantages in both sensitivity and scale.

CHICAGO, IL (June 1, 2009) – Researchers are making great strides in understanding the development and treatment of inflammatory bowel disease, a chronic inflammatory condition of the digestive tract that affects more than a half million Americans, according to several studies being presented at Digestive Disease Week® 2009 (DDW®). DDW is the largest international gathering of physicians and researchers in the fields of gastroenterology, hepatology, endoscopy and gastrointestinal surgery.

A protein abundant in embryonic stem cells is now shown to be important in cancer, and offers a possible new target for drug development, report researchers from the Stem Cell Program at Children's Hospital Boston.

A new study uncovers a gene expression signature that reliably identifies cancer cells whose survival is dependent on a common signaling pathway, even when the cells contain multiple other genetic abnormalities. The research, published by Cell Press in the June 2nd issue of the journal Cancer Cell, identifies critical molecular vulnerabilities, thereby revealing promising therapeutic targets for a common and notoriously treatment resistant cancer.

STANFORD, Calif. — You know the guy — he's your Facebook friend. The one who knows everyone. Secure at the center of a dense web of relationships, he suggests causes and reconnects old friends like a skilled matchmaker. Scientists have known for some time that biological molecules interact with one another in a similarly complex pattern. Now researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have determined that hamstringing these molecular powerbrokers is a good way to derail processes such as cancer development.

STANFORD, Calif. — Tumors need a healthy supply of blood to grow and spread. Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have identified a molecule that regulates blood vessel growth that is often found at less-than-normal levels in human tumors. Blocking the expression of the molecule, called PHD2, allows human cancer cells to grow more quickly when implanted into mice and increases the number of blood vessels feeding the tumor.

MELBOURNE, Australia, and MENLO PARK, California U.S.A. (June 1st, 2009) – ChemGenex Pharmaceuticals Limited announced that the latest data from its study of omacetaxine in patients with T315I-positive chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) was the subject of an oral presentation and discussion today at the 2009 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting in Orlando, Florida.