This week, doctors at the Catholic University of Leuven, connected with the University Hospital – Gasthuisberg, the Stem Cell Institute Leuven (SCIL), and the Flanders Interuniversity Institute for Biotechnology (VIB), are publishing a major breakthrough in the treatment of patients with acute myocardial infarction. Their research shows that the administration of a patient’s own stem cells has a significant positive effect on the heart’s recovery: in the patients studied, the size of the infarct was
Preliminary data are encouraging, though researchers stress no helmet can prevent concussions and proper injury management is of critical importance
Newer football helmet technology and design may reduce the incidence of concussions in high school football players, according to results from the first phase of a three-year study by the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center’s (UPMC) Sports Medicine Concussion Program. The current study compared concussion rates and recovery times
Hydration in the presence of borane or iodine catalysts smoothes the way for the liquefaction of semianthracite coal
The tightening of worldwide oil reserves is causing the price of oil to escalate — and makes coal, which is much more abundantly available, an interesting starting material for liquid fuels and chemical raw materials. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Coal Research in Mülheim on the Ruhr have developed a new process that makes it possible to liquefy high-gr
Up to one third of women treated for breast cancer report fatigue symptoms up to 10 years after diagnosis, according to a new study. Published in the February 15, 2006 issue of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the study–the first 10 year follow-up study of fatigue in breast cancer to be published–reveals women who have concomitant medical conditions, specifically cardiovascular problems and depressive symptoms, or who were treated with combined radiation and chemot
Scientists from Imperial College London and the University of Surrey have developed a new technique for crystallising proteins, a discovery which could help speed up the development of new medicines and treatments.
Crystallisation is the process which converts materials, such as proteins, into three dimensional crystals, thus enabling their atomic structure to be studied. The three dimensional structure of the crystals indicates the proteins function, and from this, researchers
The digitalising of information has opened up a great number of possibilities for many economic sectors which, using new technologies, have managed to considerably bring down costs of the various processes involved in their economic activity. Likewise, the spread and development of Internet has provided them with the possibility of making use of new schema for the faster and more economic distribution of materials than before, as well as immediate access to a potentially worldwide market. Never
Vitamin A, also known as retinol, is present in milk, liver, egg yolk, butter and other foodstuffs and as carotene in vegetables that have a yellow-orange colour, such as carrots and pumpkins.
This vitamin is accumulated in the liver where it is transformed into retinoid. Given that vitamin A, as such, has no effect on our organism, it is the retinoids that are responsible for the physiological activity of the vitamin.
Retinoids take part in three processes: in cell d
The Science Museum’s Dana Centre has come up with a way to beat the winter blues with the creation of the Dana Centre ‘Light Lounge’.
Many people suffer from seasonal blues, although for some, winter can be a disabling time with the onset of SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) – a term used to describe depression during darker months.
The Light Lounge will contain four specially designed lightboxes, which are used to treat SAD, and a circular sofa where visitors can relax
Nine out of ten men fitted with a penile prosthesis were able to have sexual intercourse and eight out of ten were satisfied with the overall results, according to research published in the latest issue of BJU International.
The researchers, from St Peter’s Hospital and The Institute of Urology in London, studied 447 men who had received 504 implants over a 25-year period.
Subjects ranged from 21 to 78 with an average age of 52 and were monitored for an average of just ov
While dogs keep dying from eating pet food tainted with aflatoxin, Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine is announcing it has developed protein tests that accurately indicate a dog’s liver failure caused by the toxin.
In late December, some dogs from the Eastern and Southeastern United States have become either seriously ill or have died after eating dog food manufactured by Diamond Pet Foods. The dog food was tainted with aflatoxin. About 17 severe case
New findings that long-overlooked brain cells play an important role in regulating blood flow in the brain call into question one of the basic assumptions underlying today’s most sophisticated brain imaging techniques and could open a new frontier when it comes to understanding Alzheimer’s disease.
In a paper to appear in the February issue of Nature Neuroscience and now available on-line, scientists at the University of Rochester Medical Center demonstrate that
Largest Study of Its Kind Proves Just Half a Pack per Day Harms Unborn Child
Women have yet another reason to stop smoking while pregnant. In the largest study of its kind, plastic surgeons found smoking during pregnancy significantly elevates the risk of having a child with excess, webbed or missing fingers and toes, according to the January issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery®, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS). In fact, the
A study examines new pathways linking liver disease to changes in the central nervous system
Liver disease is often associated with “sickness behaviors,” such as malaise, listlessness, anorexia, difficulty concentrating, and fatigue. In cholestatic liver diseases (where bile production is impaired) such as primary biliary cirrhosis, fatigue occurs in up to 86 percent of patients. Previous studies have suggested that these symptoms originate from changes to the central nervous sys
While few Americans remain abstinent until marriage and most initiate sexual intercourse as adolescents, abstinence from sexual intercourse is an important behavioral strategy for preventing human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and unintended pregnancy among adolescents, according to the report, Abstinence and Abstinence-Only Education: A Review of U.S. Policies and Programs. The paper also notes that while there is broad support for abstinence as a n
A new study in Japan examining the effects of combination therapy on older patients with hepatitis C found more adverse effects necessitating discontinuation of treatment, lowering of dosages, and lower long-term benefits in this age group.
The results of this study appear in the January 2006 issue of Hepatology, the official journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD). Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hepatology is available online via Wiley
Chances are good that a medication you take is one of several drugs that can be affected by genetic factors, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the St. Louis College of Pharmacy. They found that 29 percent of patients seen at local primary-care offices had taken at least one of 16 drugs that can cause adverse reactions in genetically susceptible people.
Finding that so many primary-care patients use such medications suggests that ph
Feedback
