A review of previously published studies suggests that among patients with chronic health conditions, Tai Chi appears to have beneficial effects on balance, flexibility, and cardiovascular health, according to a review article in the March 8 issue of The Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
According to the article, Tai Chi is a traditional Chinese martial art that has been practiced in China for centuries. Tai Chi combines deep breathing with relaxation and po
After successfully turning cells taken from human fat into different cell types, Duke University Medical Center researchers have now demonstrated that these specific cells are truly adult stem cells with multiple potential, instead of being a mixture of different types of cells, each with a more limited destiny.
During the past three years, the Duke researchers exposed cells taken from human liposuction procedures to different cocktails of nutrients and vitamins, and “reprogrammed” them to
The use of an implantable cardiac defibrillator (ICD) can provide a significant reduction in mortality in heart failure patients, according to a study coordinated by researchers from the Duke Clinical Research Institute.
“Treatment using conventional therapy plus an implantable cardiac defibrillator showed a statistically significant reduction in total mortality when compared to standard treatment with a placebo and standard treatment with amiodarone, an anti-arrhythmia drug,” said Kerry L.
Viruses could become the next generation of environmentally friendly decontaminants, replacing harmful chemicals like chlorine dioxide in cleaning up areas exposed to anthrax spores, according to findings released today at the American Society for Microbiology’s Biodefense Research Meeting. Researchers from the Biological Defense Research Directorate in Rockville, Maryland, the Defense Science Technology Laboratory in the United Kingdom, and the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute pre
Depression is a recognized risk factor for coronary heart disease (CHD) and, by studying pairs of twins, researchers from Emory and Yale believe they have found a mechanism that explains this link. In research announced today at the American College of Cardiology’s 53rd Scientific Sessions in New Orleans, the scientists say they found a decrease in heart rate variability (HRV) in those twins who were depressed as compared to their non-depressed siblings.
The scientists studied 50 pairs
A common virus may play a major role in causing a painful disease of immune cells that attacks children’s bones, according to a new study. The research may eventually lead to an easier diagnosis and to more effective treatments of the disease, Langerhans cell histiocytosis.
Researchers found evidence of the virus, human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) in the tissues of 25 of 35 children with Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH), compared to virus detected in only five of 19 children without LCH.
Ears do more than hear; they also control balance and our perception of gravity and motion. An international team of scientists including David E. Bergstrom and John C. Schimenti, at The Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor; and Rainer Paffenholz and Gabriele Stumm at Ingenium Pharmaceuticals AG in Martinsried, Germany, identified for the first time a protein whose enzymatic function is indispensable for development of this balance system.
The scientists had known that mice with the head tilt m
The results of a study presented today at the American College of Cardiology’s 53rd Scientific Sessions in New Orleans concludes that coronary aneurysms — regardless of size — are associated with a increased risk of death over a five year period and should be aggressively monitored.
The University of Chicago Hospitals and Emory Heart Center researchers studied the records of 32,372 patients undergoing coronary angiography at Emory University Hospitals in Atlanta between 1995 and 2003
OHSU researchers show brain anatomy, hormone production may be cause
Researchers in the Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine have confirmed that a male sheep’s preference for same-sex partners has biological underpinnings.
A study published in the February issue of the journal Endocrinology demonstrates that not only are certain groups of cells different between genders in a part of the sheep brain controlling sexual behavior, but brain anatomy and horm
Infusing a naturally occurring anti-scarring agent called decorin into the damaged spinal cords of rats suppresses key molecules that block nerve regeneration after spinal cord injury, said Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) researchers in a study published today in the European Journal of Neuroscience.
The researchers are the first to use decorin to suppress inflammation and scar formation in spinal cord injuries. “Scar tissue that develops at sites of injury stops the regeneration of connect
Common scientific wisdom is that inherited disease results when a mutated protein communicates a defective message in the cell. That does not explain how similar mutations in proteins result in different severities of diseases.
The answer may be found in the messenger RNA (ribonucleic acid), said Dr. James Lupski, professor of molecular and human genetics and pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine and colleagues in a report that appears online in Nature Genetics on March 8, 2004.
The new technique provide support for cartilage cells as they regenerate new cartilage tissue
Duke biomedical engineers have developed a technique to use a natural polymer to fill in and protect cartilage wounds within joints, and to provide supportive scaffolding for new cartilage growth. Their advance offers a potential solution for a central problem in generating new cartilage: providing a support for cartilage cells as they regenerate cartilage tissue.
In tests on rabbit
It appears the brain builds a repertoire of rote responses to frequently encountered problems to save time and effort
New studies suggest that humans might prefer to switch their brains to automatic pilot whenever possible to conserve their cogitating resources.
For example, when learning skills such as arithmetic, the brain doesn’t necessarily reach back into its basic calculating skills for each problem, suggested the researchers who made the finding. Rather, the brain bui
More than 250,000 loggerhead and 60,000 leatherback turtles are estimated to be inadvertently snared each year by commercial longline fishing, with up to tens of thousands dying, according to the first global assessment of the problem. The researchers who conducted the assessment said that, although their numbers are estimates, they are firm enough to warrant the development of rules for fishing equipment and practices to reduce or avoid such losses.
The study, by researchers from Duke Unive
Ninety per cent of the lakes surveyed in a new study of Ontario’s “cottage country” north of Toronto have seen a significant rise in taste and odour-causing algae – most dramatically in the past 20 years, the researchers report.
One of the most frequent complaints voiced by cottagers to local officials is that water in their lakes periodically tastes or smells bad.
A common cause of such problems is blooms of small algae (microscopic plants) that thrive in some of these lakes. Altho
Staying physically or mentally active can slow down chemical changes in the brain that lead to the neurodegeneration of Huntington’s disease, researchers show in a mouse model of the disorder.
Levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) stop declining when Huntington’s disease transgenic mice are housed in an enriched environment, the scientists say. BDNF promotes neuron growth and survival and can also regulate communication between neurons.
“The finding that environmental
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