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Long-term smoking linked to diminished mental proficiency

The association between long-term smoking and diminished mental proficiency in 172 alcoholic and non-alcoholic men was a surprising finding from a study that set out to examine alcoholism's long-term effect on the brain and thinking skills.

11 Oct 2005

New hormone discovery has implications for liver diseases

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have discovered that the small intestine communicates with the liver to control the production of bile acids - a finding that has great medical implications in treating people at risk for certain types of liver disease.

11 Oct 2005

Obesity associated with a threefold increase in SCD1 expression in obese muscle

The gene encoding an enzyme that hinders muscle from burning fat manufactures three times more enzyme in the muscle of obese people than lean people, researchers from Duke University Medical Center and Louisiana State University have found. This causes the obese muscle tissue to both store more fat and burn less fat, the researchers said.

11 Oct 2005

New monoclonal antibody that targets immune system B cells shows promise for treating leukemias

In studies with mice, treatment with a new monoclonal antibody that targets immune system B cells has shown considerable promise for treating leukemias, autoimmune diseases and transplant rejection, according to immunologists at Duke University Medical Center.

11 Oct 2005

Families who regularly share meals together have children with higher self-esteem

Research by two Emory University psychology professors shows that families who regularly share meals together have children who know more about their family history and tend to have higher self-esteem, interact better with their peers and show higher resilience in the face of adversity.

11 Oct 2005

New discoveries help explore the function of regulatory T cells in autoimmune disease and in cancer

More than 150 years after the discovery of Hassall's corpuscles in 1849, the function of these round blobs of cells in the human thymus gland has now been explained. The answer, in turn, ends an intense hunt for the origin of regulatory T cells that has been under way for years.

11 Oct 2005

Natural cancer killing cells from the human embryonic stem cells

For the first time, stem cell researchers at the University of Minnesota have coaxed human embryonic stem cells to create cancer-killing cells in the laboratory, paving the way for future treatments for various types of cancers (or tumors).

11 Oct 2005

Rates for new cases of kidney failure have stabilized

After 20 years of annual increases from 5 to 10 percent, rates for new cases of kidney failure have stabilized, according to new research from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). At the same time, dramatic racial disparities persist.

11 Oct 2005

Vanadium may help prepare the body to recover speedily from infections

Dietary supplements containing vanadium are used by body builders to help beef up muscles and by some diabetic people to control blood sugar. New research now suggests the naturally occurring but easily toxic element may help prepare the body to recover speedily from infections from gram-negative organisms such as E. coli.

11 Oct 2005

Violent video games lead to brain activity pattern that may be characteristic for aggressive thoughts

A Michigan State University researcher and his colleagues have shown that playing violent video games leads to brain activity pattern that may be characteristic for aggressive thoughts.

11 Oct 2005

People only need to walk up to 12 miles per week or for about 125 to 200 minutes per week to improve their heart health

The amount of exercise may be more important than intensity to improve cardiovascular health, according to a new analysis of the first randomized clinical trial evaluating the effects of exercise amount and intensity in sedentary overweight men and women.

10 Oct 2005

Obesity linked to dementia and Alzheimer's disease

Individuals who were obese at midlife had an increased risk for dementia later in life compared to individuals of normal weight, according to an article in the October issue of Archives of Neurology.

10 Oct 2005

Astrocytes modulate adenosine - thought to be important in controlling wake-to-sleep transitions and epileptic seizures

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have demonstrated that star-shaped glial cells in the brain called astrocytes are directly involved in regulating communication between neurons.

10 Oct 2005

Electron-beam computed tomography - a more accurate replacement for coronary catheterizations

Electron-beam computed tomography (EBCT) is more accurate than conventional catheter angiography for detecting a dangerous congenital heart abnormality that could cause sudden death, according to research by a Saint Louis University radiologist published last month in Catheterization and Cardiovascular Interventions: Journal of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions.

10 Oct 2005

Depression both increases the risk for developing epilepsy and is also common among people with epilepsy who experience many seizures

Researchers have found provocative evidence that the brain dysfunction that underlies epilepsy may also determine whether people are at risk for suicide. The study, published online October 10, 2005 in the Annals of Neurology, also suggests that depression and suicide may have different brain mechanisms.

10 Oct 2005

Significant new research centre - the Deafness, Cognition and Language Research Centre

The centre, based at the UCL (University College London) Department of Human Communication Science, will see ESRC inject £4.5 million over an initial 5 year period into a study of deafness, linguistic systems and communication that will run over a 10 year programme.

10 Oct 2005

Dreams can help in coming to terms with major events and in taking difficult decisions in life

This is what Dutch-sponsored researcher Elizabeth Mohkamsing-den Boer concluded after her research into the function of dreams in indigenous Surinamese and Australian tribes.

10 Oct 2005

Important milestone towards more individually targeted and effective treatments for cancer patients

The research team has now identified crucial genes in a range of common cancers that have been reported to predict a patient's response to treatment. This follows the team's earlier success in studying a tumor suppressor gene associated with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) in children.

9 Oct 2005

Tonsils reveal information that helps understand lupus

By snipping out and analyzing tiny samples of patients' tonsils, scientists have identified a key cellular checkpoint that is somehow bypassed in lupus patients, where harmful immune cells that normally are squelched by the body are mistakenly granted access.

9 Oct 2005

Prozac helps learning and memory in people with Huntington's disease

People with Huntington's disease have progressive motor problems, cognitive deficits (dementia) and psychiatric symptoms (the most common is depression) that usually start to appear in mid-life. There is no cure and death usually results within 10 to 20 years of symptom onset, or faster in the childhood-onset form of the disease.

9 Oct 2005

Medical Research News

Long-term smoking linked to diminished mental proficiency

New hormone discovery has implications for liver diseases

Obesity associated with a threefold increase in SCD1 expression in obese muscle

New monoclonal antibody that targets immune system B cells shows promise for treating leukemias

Families who regularly share meals together have children with higher self-esteem

New discoveries help explore the function of regulatory T cells in autoimmune disease and in cancer

Natural cancer killing cells from the human embryonic stem cells

Rates for new cases of kidney failure have stabilized

Vanadium may help prepare the body to recover speedily from infections

Violent video games lead to brain activity pattern that may be characteristic for aggressive thoughts

People only need to walk up to 12 miles per week or for about 125 to 200 minutes per week to improve their heart health

Obesity linked to dementia and Alzheimer's disease

Astrocytes modulate adenosine - thought to be important in controlling wake-to-sleep transitions and epileptic seizures

Electron-beam computed tomography - a more accurate replacement for coronary catheterizations

Depression both increases the risk for developing epilepsy and is also common among people with epilepsy who experience many seizures

Significant new research centre - the Deafness, Cognition and Language Research Centre

Dreams can help in coming to terms with major events and in taking difficult decisions in life

Important milestone towards more individually targeted and effective treatments for cancer patients

Tonsils reveal information that helps understand lupus

Prozac helps learning and memory in people with Huntington's disease

Unveiling Hidden Potential: Organoids for Disease Modeling in Neuroscience Research

How GLP‑1 Agonists Are Shaping the Future of Obesity Treatment With Dr Bryony Henderson

Flow chemistry, AI, and NMR: A next-gen approach to scalable API production

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