Giving up smoking after a heart attack has been clearly associated with improvements in long-term patient survival, but how soon after myocardial infarction does smoking cessation begin to have positive effects? A study published in the current issue of The American Journal of Medicine indicates in-hospital cessation counseling following heart attacks is associated with better short-term survival. Counseling smokers to quit reduced their chances of dying in the first 30 days, 60 days and up to
Scientists have found that the bacterium that causes dysentery uses a ’sword and shield’ approach to cause infection.
According to research published today in Science, the team from Imperial College London and Institut Pasteur, Paris, found that shigella, the bacteria which causes dysentery, is able to invade cells, while stopping any response from the immune system.
They found that shigella was able to infect cells by using a secretion system to inject proteins
Operative delivery and postnatal depression: a cohort study BMJ Online First
Elective caesarean section does not protect women from postnatal depression, according to a study published on bmj.com today. Furthermore, neither emergency caesarean section nor assisted vaginal delivery (use of forceps or vacuum extraction) is associated with an increased risk of postnatal depression.
These findings challenge the theory that women at risk of postnatal depression should be m
Mount Sinai School of Medicine researchers demonstrated that a gel applied in the vagina provides protection from both the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and the herpes simplex Virus. The study, presented at the 12th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, is the first to show that a gel can retain anti-viral activity within the human vagina.
The study, which was funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) investigated the efficacy of PRO 2000, a topi
New imaging technologies are enabling doctors to not only diagnose a variety of orthopaedic and musculoskeletal conditions with more accuracy, but also to determine with unprecedented precision whether clinical recovery from bone, joint or tendon damage is actually complete and not simply a “placebo effect.”
Radiologists examining patients with damaged tissue are increasingly using ultrasound and specialized MRI techniques that allow examination with great detail – to provi
New hope for sufferers of glaucoma and spinal cord injuries
For the first time, scientists have regenerated a damaged optic nerve — from the eye to the brain. This achievement, which occurred in laboratory mice and is described in the March 1, 2005 issue of the Journal of Cell Science, holds great promise for victims of diseases that destroy the optic nerve, and for sufferers of central nervous system injuries. “For us, this is a dream becoming reality,” says Dr. Dong Feng Chen,
Two separate new studies presented at a major medical meeting provide objective scientific evidence that the two most commonly performed cartilage repair techniques are effective at restoring patient mobility and reducing pain.
Patients in both studies, those that had a cartilage and bone grafts and those that had a procedure that encouraged new tissue growth, recovered more knee function and experienced less pain after the procedure. Prior to these results, surgeons had no evide
Continued studies may result in newer, more effective breast cancer detection methods
Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University’s Advanced Imaging Research Center (AIRC) are developing a new imaging method that may provide a clearer diagnosis of breast cancer. The research is published in the latest issue of the journal Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. AIRC Director Charles Springer, Ph.D., is senior author, and AIRC Manager, Xin Li, Ph.D., is first author of the new
University of California researchers have created a mathematical model describing the electrical storm that rages during a brain seizure. They say the model, to be published in the March 22 print issue of the Journal of the Royal Society of London Interface, but available now to subscribers online, may eventually help neurologists better understand and treat epilepsy.
“We’re trying to get to the underlying state of the brain that leads to these seizures,” said Mark Kramer,
One in twenty people who are paralysed by Parkinson’s disease could soon be able to walk thanks to the PARREHA project, funded with the help of 1.68 million euros from the Information Society Technologies (IST) area of the EU’s Framework Programme.
With two in every 1000 people suffering with Parkinson’s disease, a disorder of the central nervous system, there are currently 700,000 people affected in the European Union alone – and this number is forecast to increase as the p
The application of a new technique for injuries of the cruciate ligament in the knee, involving the use of bipolar radio-frequency plus heat, has proved to be 90% effective in cases and shortens the recovery time of the patient. This technique, carried out by specialists at the Navarre University Hospital Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, has received the National Prize for Research into Sports Medicine, awarded annually by the University of Oviedo. The awarded work, “Retraction of anterior c
In a society increasingly fixated with body image, we are bombarded with so-called scientific evidence promoting the use of a myriad of diets. An article published today in the Open Access journal BMC Medical Research Methodology suggests that we shouldn’t take everything we read at face value, as most research articles reporting weight loss studies fail to indicate crucial patient characteristics that may bias the results.
Cheryl Gibson, from the University of Kansas School of M
New research shows that a synthetic analogue of the active component of marijuana may reduce the inflammation and prevent the mental decline associated with Alzheimer’s disease.
“This research is not only a major step in our understanding [of] how the brain reacts to Alzheimer’s disease, but may also help open a route to novel anti-Alzheimer’s drugs,” says Raphael Mechoulam, professor emeritus of medicinal chemistry at Hebrew University in Jerusalem and discoverer
A substance similar to a drug used in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease blocks the stimulating effects of cocaine and could potentially be used to develop drug therapy for cocaine abuse, new research shows.
In an article published in the February 23, 2005, issue of The Journal of Neuroscience, Jonathan Katz and his colleagues at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) report the results of experiments showing that mice treated with a substance similar to the drug benztro
Cincinnati Children’s Kowatch led effort
Early diagnosis and treatment is important for children and adolescents with bipolar disorder, according to new treatment guidelines. The guidelines were sponsored by the Child & Adolescent Bipolar Foundation (CABF), a national parent advocacy group, and were drafted by a scientific consortium led by Robert Kowatch, M.D., director of the Pediatric Mood Disorders Center at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.
“Th
Problems with the brain – not just the ears – cause a great deal of the age-related hearing loss in older people. Researchers are finding more and more subtle problems in the way our brain processes information as we age, so much so that an older person whose ears are in fine shape may have trouble hearing because of an aging brain.
In addition to earlier findings of a specific type of “timing” problem that limits our hearing as we age, the group is now finding increasing evid
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