Body

Jerusalem, May 16, 2012 – A method developed at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem for training blind persons to "see" through the use of a sensory substitution device (SSD) has enabled those using the system to actually "read" an eye chart with letter sizes smaller than those used in determining the international standard for blindness.

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Apigenin, a natural substance found in grocery store produce aisles, shows promise as a non-toxic treatment for an aggressive form of human breast cancer, following a new study at the University of Missouri. MU researchers found apigenin shrank a type of breast cancer tumor that is stimulated by progestin, a synthetic hormone given to women to ease symptoms related to menopause.

PORTLAND, Ore. — Multiple myeloma patients are better equipped to halt progression of this blood cancer if treated with lenalidomide, or Revlimid®, following a stem cell transplant, according to a study co-authored by a physician with the Oregon Health & Science University Knight Cancer Institute.

The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, found a 63 percent reduction in the risk of progressive myeloma or death for the stem cell transplant patients that were treated with lenalidomide maintenance therapy.

HOUSTON – Breast cancer stem cells wear a cell surface protein that is part nametag and part bull's eye, identifying them as potent tumor-generating cells and flagging their vulnerability to a drug, researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center report online in Journal of Clinical Investigation.

Even though hundreds of thousands more people finished grueling 26.2 mile marathons in the United States in 2009 compared to a decade earlier, a runner's risk of dying during or soon after the race has remained very low — about .75 per 100,000, new Johns Hopkins research suggests. Men, however, were twice as likely to die as women.

Fanconi anemia (FA) is a rare genetic disorder which affects one person in 350,000. People affected by this disease have defects in DNA repair, and are hypersensitive to oxidative damage, resulting in bone marrow failure and an increased predisposition to cancer. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases shows that a combination of the fatty acid α-lipoic acid (α-LA) and N-acetylcysteine (NAC) can stabilize the DNA of blood cells from FA patients, and drastically reduce its instability.

Making simple repairs could save the UK could save millions of pounds by replacing fuses or plugs rather than throwing away perfectly reusable microwaves with brand new ones.

On bmj.com today, two experts debate whether childhood vaccination should be mandatory in the UK.

Paul Offit, Chief of Infectious diseases at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia believes that mandatory vaccination is needed to protect vulnerable people from infection.

New research shows how bacteria evolve to increase ecosystem functioning by recycling each other's waste. The study provides some of the first evidence for how interactions between species shape evolution when there is a diverse community.

Pre-birth exposure to the anti-HIV drug tenofovir does not adversely affect pregnancy outcomes and does not increase birth defects, growth abnormalities, or kidney problems in infants born to African women who are HIV positive, supporting the use of this drug during pregnancy, according to a study by a team of international researchers published in this week's PLoS Medicine.

An international treaty is a promising tool for improving the coherence, fairness, efficiency, and sustainability of the global health research and development system according to international experts writing in this week's PLoS Medicine.

The expert working group advising WHO on research and development has recommended the May 2012 World Health Assembly adopt an international convention on research and development (R&D) that will bind member states to action and catalyze new knowledge for diseases that primarily affect the global poor but for which patents provide insufficient market incentives.

SANTA CRUZ, CA--Researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, who pioneered the use of satellite tags to monitor the migrations of elephant seals have compiled one of the largest datasets available for any marine mammal species, revealing their movements and diving behavior at sea in unprecedented detail.

STANFORD, Calif. — The U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the government's far-reaching health-care foreign aid program, has contributed to a significant decline in adult death rates from all causes in Africa, according to a new study by Stanford University School of Medicine researchers.

Between 2004 and 2008, PEPFAR was associated with a reduction in the odds of death of nearly 20 percent in the countries where it operated. The researchers found that more than 740,000 lives were saved during this period in nine countries targeted by the program.

LOS ANGELES — Using the 2008 Beijing Olympics as their laboratory, University of Southern California (USC) researchers and colleagues have found biological evidence that even a short-term reduction in air pollution exposure improves one's cardiovascular health.

The results of their study appear this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the most widely circulated medical journal in the world.