Both ibuprofen and acetaminophen are safe and effective for treating migraine headaches in children and adolescents, according to the American Academy of Neurology and the Child Neurology Society, whose new practice guideline is published in the December 28 issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The guideline has been endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Headache Society.
Among adolescents, sumatriptan nasal spray
Report details the first approach in the U.S.
The U.S. government does not approve or control the “599 list” of non-tobacco chemical ingredients used to manufacture cigarettes. These additives, such as acetic acid (vinegar), chocolate, vanilla, and menthol are found in everyday foods. Scientists, supported by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), generally regard these substances as safe in foods, but the risks for smokers are not known after combustion in cigarettes a
A new study says cancer surgery performed at a medical center designated by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) as a “center of excellence” is associated with less risk of death soon after surgery than if performed at a high-volume surgery center, but finds no difference in five-year survival rates. The full study will be published in the February 1, 2005 issue of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society. This study was supported by grants from the NCI and the Agency for
Biologists at the University of California, San Diego have found a fundamental mechanism used by embryonic stem cells to assure that genetically damaged stem cells do not divide and pass along the damage to daughter stem cells.
Their discovery, detailed in an advance online publication of the journal Nature Cell Biology, solves the longstanding mystery of how embryonic stem cells, which have the potential to divide an unlimited number of times and differentiate to make all of the ce
In a study published in the December 24, 2004 issue of the journal Science, Michael Moore and Greg Early at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) have documented bone lesions in the rib and chevron bones of sperm whales, most likely caused by tissue damage from nitrogen bubbles that form when the animals rise to the surface.
The WHOI biologists found that the lesions grow in severity with age, and are found in animals from the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans. The lesions w
For the first time, scientists have found that bacteria can use a Sonar-like system to spot other cells (either normal body cells or other bacteria) and target them for destruction. Reported in the December 24 issue of Science, this finding explains how some bacteria know when to produce a toxin that makes infection more severe. It may lead to the design of new toxin inhibitors. “Blocking or interfering with a bacterium’s “detection” mechanism, should prevent toxin production and limit the s
Scientists link gene ’switches’ to specific brain locations
Researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have compiled the first atlas showing the locations of crucial gene regulators, or switches that determine how different parts of the brain develop – and, in some cases, develop abnormally or malfunction. The scientists say the map will accelerate research on brain tumors and neurological diseases that result from mutations in these switch genes – called “transcrip
Despite critics who say patients’ bills of rights laws are actually designed to protect health care providers, new research published in the current issue of the American Journal of Medicine found just the opposite.
“There is little evidence these laws have much impact on providers’ economic concerns,” said Mark Hall, J.D., professor of law and public health at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.
Hall reviewed managed care patient protection laws in
New research by investigators at Duke University Medical Center has provided insight into a fundamental cellular control mechanism that governs tissue regeneration, stem cell renewal and cancer growth. In humans, malfunctions in the pathway have been implicated in skin and brain cancers, as well as certain developmental defects, according to the researchers.
The team found that the protein beta-arrestin2, earlier linked to a variety of inhibitory functions, also plays a critical
Give a marine snail an easy life, and it will take its time drilling into a clam. Put it under competitive stress, and it will look for a faster route. Those changes, scarred into fossils, show that an unknown catastrophe nearly two million years ago changed the competitive balance in the Western Atlantic and the ecosystem has yet to fully recover, according to research published this week in the journal Science.
In the seagrass meadows of the Gulf of Mexico, Chicoreus and Phyllono
Findings could shed new light on malignant melanoma
Few things about growing older are as inevitable and obvious as “going gray,” yet scientists have been unable to explain the precise cause of this usually unwelcome transformation.
In a report posted today on the Web site of the journal Science, researchers from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Children’s Hospital Boston say they have found the cellular cause of graying hair while investigating the origins of maligna
Birds that migrate early in the season may have a distinct advantage when it comes to attracting the opposite sex, say researchers from Queen’s University and the Smithsonian Institution.
And it’s all about the feathers.
Researchers were surprised to discover that the timing of a male songbird’s reproduction cycle affects the colour of his feathers and may have important implications for his success in attracting mates. When migratory songbirds raise their
As a result of a worldwide cooperative movement, the absolute driving ban for people with epilepsy (PWE) has been lifted in Japan. Since 1960, people who have epilepsy have been banned from driving in Japan. A December article in the journal Epilepsia outlines the efforts and procedures taken to reinstate driving rights to people with epilepsy, a restriction affecting many epilepsy patients throughout the world.
According to experts at Johns Hopkins University, 86 drivers per year died
There is a desert in the heart of the South Pacific. Surrounding Easter Island is the purest and bluest seawater on Earth, almost empty of the microscopic phytoplankton at the base of the marine food web. French vessel L’Atalante recently completed a research cruise through this region, its day-to-day route guided by ocean colour satellites.
Viewed from orbit, the colour of the global ocean is not constant but varies considerably. Specially built satellite sensors perceive su
Stevioside, the main sweet component in the leaves of the Stevia plant, tastes about 300 times sweeter than table sugar, which means only a small amount is needed for sweetening purposes. As the incidence of type-2 diabetes and obesity is sharply increasing, stevioside is an excellent substitute for sugar. The annual cost of treating these diseases is estimated at 5 billion euros in Belgium, 30 billion euros in Germany and 300 billion US dollars in the USA. However, the European Commission in 20
An international project is developing new technology that can be installed into high altitude platforms – such as solar powered aircraft or airships – to make Broadband Internet access available to remote areas and moving trains.
With the help of 3.1 million euros from the EU’s Framework Programme, the CAPANINA project brings together 13 partners from across Europe and Japan and is named after the restaurant in Italy where initial discussions were held. It will develop the equipmen
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