Body

Major improvements made in engineering heart repair patches from stem cells

The study findings, he observed, suggest that researchers consider including blood vessel-generating and vascular-supporting elements when designing human tissues for certain other types of regenerative therapies unrelated to heart disease.

One of the major obstacles still to be overcome is the likelihood that people's immune systems would reject the stem transplant unless they take medications for the rest of their lives to suppress this reaction. Murry hopes someday that scientists would be able to create new tissues from a person's own cells.

Heart disease: B vitamin pills have no effect

B-vitamin supplements should not be recommended for prevention of heart disease, say scientists. A Cochrane Systematic Review has shown these supplements do not reduce the risk of developing or dying from the disease.

Study examines ethical dilemmas of medical tourism

Montreal, October 7, 2009 – Medical tourism in Latin America needs to be regulated to protect consumers, according to Université de Montréal researchers. A new study published in the journal Developing World Bioethics argues that Argentinean fertility clinics are increasingly marketing themselves to international health care consumers: these clinics offer all-inclusive packages with fixed prices that feature airfare, accommodations, transfers, language interpreters and, of course, fertility treatments.

Rare head and neck cancer linked to HPV, study finds

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — An increase in cases of a rare type of head and neck cancer appears to be linked to HPV, or human papillomavirus, according to a new study from researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The study looked at patients with nasopharyngeal cancer, a tumor that grows behind the nose and at the top of the throat, above the tonsils. This rare cancer occurs in less than 1 of every 100,000 Americans.

Bacterium helps formation of gold

Australian scientists have found that the bacterium Cupriavidus metallidurans catalyses the biomineralisation of gold by transforming toxic gold compounds to their metallic form using active cellular mechanism.

Heartburn drugs deemed safe for fetuses according to Ben-Gurion University researchers

BEER-SHEVA, Israel, October 7, 2009 – H2 Blocker drugs, such as Famotidine, Cimetidine and Ranitidine, approved in the U.S. for acid reflux (heartburn), pose no significant risks for the fetus according to a large collaborative cohort study by researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.

The study published in the Journal of Clinical Pharmacology provides significant reassurance for the safety of the fetus when H2 blocker drugs are given to women to relieve acid reflux during pregnancy.

Buying green can be license for bad behavior, study finds

Those lyin', cheatin' green consumers.

Just being around green products can make us behave more altruistically, a new study to be published in a forthcoming issue of Psychological Science has found.

Enzyme may be a key to Alzheimer's-related cell death

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - A Purdue University researcher has discovered that the amount of an enzyme present in neurons can affect the mechanism thought to cause cell death in Alzheimer's disease patients and may have applications for other diseases such as stroke and heart attack.

Surgeons' unanimous consensus: Needle biopsy is gold standard for breast cancer diagnosis

Newport Beach, Calif. – October 5, 2009 – A special report published in the October issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons indicates that an alarming 35% of initial diagnostic breast biopsies in the United States are still being done using unnecessary open surgical techniques. This in spite of the fact that it costs as much as three times more than the much less invasive and equally accurate needle biopsy technique.

Strong link between obesity and depression

Doctors should pay more attention to the link between common mental illness and obesity in patients because the two health problems are closely linked, according to researchers at the University of Adelaide.

In an editorial published today in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), the Adelaide researchers add support to claims of a two-way risk between obesity and common mental disorders.

The editorial makes comments on a new research paper on this topic published in the same issue of the BMJ by Professor Mika Kivimäki from University College London.

Monash research cautions against use of antioxidants

An international team of scientists, led by Monash University researchers, has found that anti-oxidants commonly touted for their health-promoting benefits, could contribute to the early onset of Type 2 diabetes.

The team, led by Professor Tony Tiganis from the Monash Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, has found that molecules known as Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) may play a protective role in the early stages of Type 2 diabetes by enhancing insulin action. Anti-oxidants prevent the beneficial effects of ROS.

Loyal alligators display the mating habits of birds

Louisiana, US - Alligators display the same loyalty to their mating partners as birds reveals a study published today in Molecular Ecology. The ten-year-study by scientists from the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory reveals that up to 70% of females chose to remain with their partner, often for many years.

A tree's response to environmental changes: What can we expect over the next 100 years?

The many environmental issues facing our society are prevalent in the media lately. Global warming, rainforest devastation, and endangered species have taken center stage. Our ecosystem is composed of a very delicate network of interactions among all species and the non-living environment. Predicting how each component of this complex system will respond to the many environmental changes sweeping the globe is a challenging problem today's scientists face.

Albatross camera reveals fascinating feeding interaction with killer whale

Scientists from British Antarctic Survey, National Institute of Polar Research, Tokyo, and Hokkaido University, Japan, have recorded the first observations of how albatrosses feed alongside marine mammals at sea.

A miniature digital camera was attached to the backs of four black-browed albatrosses (Thalassarche melanophrys) breeding at colonies on Bird Island, South Georgia in the Southern Ocean. Results are published online this week in the open-access journal PLoS ONE from the Public Library of Science.

Fewer hikers means less support for conservation, study says

Serious hikers and backpackers tend to become supporters ofenvironmental and conservation groups while casual woodland tourists donot, a new study says -- and a recent fall-off in strenuous outdoorendeavors portends a coming decline in the ranks of conservationbackers.