Controlled study should reassure patients
The use of a cardiopulmonary heart pump during coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery does not significantly damage such high-level mental tasks as thinking, reasoning and remembering, according to a study by Johns Hopkins researchers recently published in Neurology.
CABG surgery is effective for the relief of angina and reducing the risk of a heart attack but has been widely feared to cause “pump-related” damage to the cer
The role of mitochondrial dysfunction in the pathogenesis of insulin resistance is a widely debated topic. It has been shown that young, lean, insulin-resistant offspring of parents with type 2 diabetes have reduced mitochondrial function. But the precise role of this decreased function in relation to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes was not clear.
In a paper appearing online on November 10 in advance of print publication of the December issue of the Journal of Clinical Investiga
Key factor: Children benefit from consistent bedtimes
When children stay up late, they have more academic and attention problems at school, according to a new study from Brown Medical School to be published in the December issue of the journal SLEEP. The findings indicate that ensuring students get enough sleep is a significant step in helping them maximize learning ability in class as well as minimizing behaviors characteristic of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
An international panel of neurologists has updated the current guidelines for diagnosing multiple sclerosis (MS), strengthening the role of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The guidelines, published online November 10, 2005 in the Annals of Neurology, update the “McDonald criteria,” created five years ago and named after the chair of the previous panel, Prof W. Ian McDonald of the Institute of Neurology in London.
“We hope, and trust, that these revisions will allow an even earlier
People with a specific combination of variants of two genes, encoding two different receptors for the antibody Fc gamma, are three times more likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis than individuals with different variant combinations. A study published today in the journal Arthritis Research & Therapy confirms previous findings of an association between the Fc gamma Receptor (FCGR) gene family and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The study shows that a specific variant combination of two FCGR genes on
A team of researchers has demonstrated the clinical efficacy and benefits of a vaccine for a type of blood cancer, follicular lymphoma, amongst first time relapse patients. Specialists from two University of Navarre centres – the University Hospital and the Research Centre for Applied Medicine (CIMA) – have worked jointly since 2001 on the research.
According to Dr. Maurizio Bendandi, the team leader, it is the first time that a vaccine against a type of cancer has been able to
Blood vessels appear healthier after people consume olive oil high in phenolic compounds
Phenolic compounds in olive oil, which have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-clotting properties, may explain cardiovascular health benefits associated with the so-called Mediterranean Diet, according to a new study in the Nov. 15, 2005, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
“It could be that the beneficial effect of the Mediterranean diet on cardiov
Like their younger counterparts, some elderly patients who have early stage non-small cell lung cancer can benefit from a minimally invasive surgical procedure to remove part or all of a lung, according to a study conducted by thoracic surgeons at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and described in the current issue of The American Surgeon, the journal of the Southeastern Surgical Congress and the Southern California Chapter of the American College of Surgeons.
When non-small cell lung canc
Researchers can identify patients likely to respond to drug therapy, saving some from undergoing harsh procedures with little chance of success
Researchers at UCLA’s Jonsson Cancer have identified key characteristics in certain deadly brain tumors that make them 51 times more likely to respond to a specific class of drugs than tumors in which the molecular signature is absent.
The discovery of the telltale molecular signature – the expression of a mutant protein and
For most people, just a whiff of food that has made them sick in the past is enough to trigger a wave of nausea – and to prevent them from eating that food again. It’s a response that’s instantaneous, involuntary, and so fundamental to basic biology that it occurs in a broad range of species. Even worms, researchers have now shown, quickly learn to avoid smells associated with foods that have made them ill.
The new study, led by Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigat
An unexpected twist to a discovery reported just two months ago may significantly improve our understanding about the molecular origins of diabetes.
Scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies then reported their discovery of a key cellular switch that instructs the liver to produce more glucose when blood sugar levels run low. Their paper was published in Nature.
Now, in the November issue of Cell Metabolism, they report that the very same switch limits
People in early stages of Alzheimer’s disease have greater difficulty shifting attention back and forth between competing sources of information, a finding that offers new support for theories that contend breakdowns in attention play an important role in the onset of the disease.
“Our results provide evidence that breakdowns in attention produce a clear change in the early stages of Alzheimer’s-related dementia,” said study co-author David A. Balota, a professor of psych
Columbia-led study of more than 38,000 women enables faster, first trimester prenatal testing for leading cause of mental retardation and birth defects
A new study from Columbia University Medical Center researchers at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia of more than 38,000 pregnant women at 15 U.S. centers demonstrates the high accuracy of non-invasive screening for Down syndrome (also known as trisomy 21) in the first trimester of pregnancy, at 11 weeks. The findings are a
LGC, Europe’s leading independent analytical laboratory providing advanced chemical, biochemical and forensic analysis, has announced an exclusive agreement with King’s College London to offer the first pharmacogenetic screening service which will predict whether a patient with schizophrenia will respond positively to the antipsychotic drug clozapine. Developed following 13 years of research by Professor Robert Kerwin and Dr Maria Arranz from the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s, the test wi
With sidebar on ways to prevent heartburn, a risk factor for Barrett’s esophagus
Aspirin and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, such as ibuprofen, may significantly reduce the risk of esophageal cancer among people with Barrett’s esophagus, a precancerous condition associated with chronic heartburn that affects an estimated 1 million to 2 million Americans.
These findings, by Thomas L. Vaughan, M.D., M.P.H., and colleagues at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research
Biological Psychiatry publishes novel approach to winter blues
For patients with seasonal affective disorder (SAD), starting treatment with an antidepressant medication during the fall can reduce the risk of developing depression throughout the fall and winter months, reports a study in the Oct. 15 issue of Biological Psychiatry, official journal of the Society of Biological Psychiatry, published by Elsevier, a world-leading scientific and medical publisher.
“These are
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