Researchers at Johns Hopkins’ Institute for Cell Engineering (ICE) have discovered a protein that could be the best new target in the fight against Parkinson’s disease since the brain-damaging condition was first tied to loss of the brain chemical dopamine.
Over the past year, the gene for this protein, called LRRK2 (pronounced “lark-2”), had emerged as perhaps the most common genetic cause of both familial and unpredictable cases of Parkinson’s disease. Until n
Technique shows that injection accuracy is critical, but not perfect
By using MRI to detect magnetic probes of tiny iron oxide particles, an international research team for the first time has successfully tracked immune-stimulating cells implanted into cancer patients for treatment purposes.
“In four of the eight patients, MRI revealed that the implanted cells weren’t where they needed to be to be effective for treatment,” says Jeff Bulte, Ph.D., an associate p
Viagra® (sildenafil citrate), known for improving erectile dysfunction (ED), also effectively treats the prostate and lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) associated with prostate enlargement that often occur with ED, a Northwestern University study has found.
Kevin V. McVary, M.D., professor of urology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, led the study, which he presented at a meeting of the Sexual Medicine Society of North America on Nov. 21 in New York.
A world-first test that assesses the damage people have done to their skin through sun exposure is being launched to the public at clinics throughout the UK.
The scientific test, whose launch comes as holidaymakers make plans to top up their tans during warm winter breaks, is able to reveal extent of the damage that sunbathers have inflicted on their skin’s genetic material, DNA, over many years.
The new test, called ‘skinphysical’, draws on pioneering work by skin c
By coating the surfaces of tiny carbon nanotubes with monoclonal antibodies, biochemists and engineers at Jefferson Medical College and the University of Delaware have teamed up to detect cancer cells in a tiny drop of water. The work is aimed at developing nanotube-based biosensors that can spot cancer cells circulating in the blood from a treated tumor that has returned or from a new cancer. The researchers, led by Eric Wickstrom, Ph.D., professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Jefferson
A common anti-seizure drug may be effective against certain conditions associated with lupus, according to animal research at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.
The drug, valproic acid (Depakote), prevents skin disease and reduces the severity of kidney disease in a mouse model of lupus, said Nilamadhab Mishra, M.D., a rheumatologist at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.
“Valproic acid may be a potential cost-effective disease-modifying agent in lupu
University of Sydney researchers at Westmead Millennium Institute develop an accurate and rapid method of diagnosing bacterial meningitis.
Several hundred serious cases of bacterial meningitis are diagnosed in Australians every year. Bacterial meningitis is a medical emergency that requires immediate diagnosis and treatment, however doctors have always faced difficulty in diagnosis, both in children and adults.
Professor Tania Sorrell and her team at Westmead Millen
Study suggests even small amount of regular activity may help
Both black women and white women who regularly exercise have a decreased risk of breast cancer compared to women who do not exercise, according to researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California.
Numerous studies have linked physical activity to lower breast cancer risk in white women, but the Keck School study-published in the Nov. 16 issue of the Journal of the National
Clinical laboratories are becoming an important tool in understanding some of the effects of drugs, chemicals, and diseases on the creativity exhibited by a variety of artists
Illnesses, drugs and chemicals have influenced the artistic achievements of many of the world’s best-known composers, classical painters, authors and sculptors. The associations between these elements and art may be close and many, and the tools of modern technology, including the use of clinical labo
Voice control supports the physician during interventions with the Siemens Angiography System Minimally-invasive procedures require technical skill and concentration on the part of the physician who has to focus on both the patient and the Angiography system. Since he continually operates the unit during the procedure, the new voice control option, which Siemens Medical Solutions (Med) introduced at Medica 2005 in Düsseldorf, will help eliminate some of the manual work. Applying de
Innovative solutions in “Proven Excellence” quality
At a modern production center, pre-owned medical systems – from x-ray, to computed tomography, to ultrasound – are refurbished, given the “Proven Excellence” quality seal, and then resold worldwide. Siemens Medical Solutions showcased this concept at the Medica 2005.
For more than five years, medical systems have been accepted for trade-in, refurbished, and resold. Most of these systems come from Siemens customers pa
They’re but a tiny speck, existing in a variety of forms: particles, tubes, shells, even a soccerball-like shape. They also share a common prefix: “nano,” connoting their size, a billionth of a meter or roughly 25-millionth of an inch.
Today, cancer researchers are exploring the potential of such nanostructures to exquisitely target cancer cells without harming surrounding tissue, and to image the formation of tumors long before they have a chance to become life-threaten
Eating a low carbohydrate diet improves metabolic syndrome and may therefore decrease the risk of developing diabetes and cardiovascular disease associated with it. In an article published today in the open access journal Nutrition & Metabolism, Jeff Volek and Richard Feinman review the literature and show that the features of metabolic syndrome are precisely those that are improved by reducing carbohydrates in the diet. Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of health signs that may occur together and
The types of food eaten in an effort to cut down on saturated fat may make a difference in reducing heart disease risk, according to a study of people with either high blood pressure or prehypertension. The study was supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), a part of the National Institutes of Health.
Investigators evaluated three diets that follow the principles of NHLBI’s DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) eating plan with some mod
A combination of brain scanning with a new imaging agent and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis has left neuroscientists encouraged that they may finally be moving toward techniques for diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease before its clinical symptoms become apparent. “When clinical symptoms start, the disease process has already been at work in the patient for many years and possibly even decades,” explains Anne Fagan Niven, Ph.D., research associate professor of neurology at Washington Univer
Using transparent zebrafish embryos, researchers at Jefferson Medical College have shown that a microscopic nanoparticle can help fend off damage to normal tissue from radiation. The nanoparticle, a soccer ball-shaped, hollow, carbon-based structure known as a fullerene, acts like an “oxygen sink,” binding to dangerous oxygen radicals produced by radiation.
The scientists, led by Adam Dicker, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of radiation oncology at Jefferson Medical College of T
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