A technique for detecting prions in tissue, developed in recent years by UCSF scientists, is significantly more sensitive than the diagnostic procedures currently used to detect the lethal particles in samples of brain tissue from patients, according to a study performed by a UCSF team.
The finding indicates that the diagnostic technique, known as the conformation-dependent immunoassay (CDI), should be established as the standard approach for brain biopsies of patients suspected
In the first comprehensive examination of strenuous physical activity and the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease, researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) have found that men who exercised regularly and vigorously early in their adult life had a lower risk for developing Parkinson’s disease compared to men who did not. The findings appear in the February 22, 2005 issue of the journal Neurology. Parkinson’s disease is a progressive nervous disease occurring generally afte
Injections with dirty or contaminated needles are not contributing to the spread of HIV in sub-Saharan Africa say researchers from Imperial College London and the Biomedical Research and Training Institute, Zimbabwe.
Recently, some scientists have suggested that medical injections with contaminated needles were an important, but ignored, factor in the spread of HIV across sub-Saharan Africa. However, research published today in Public Library of Science Medicine shows that injecti
The fight against liver cancer, one of the leading causes of cancer death worldwide, is being helped by 2.5 million euros from the EU’s Framework Programme.
PONT (Parallel Optimisation of New Technologies for Post-Genomics Drug Discovery) is a three-year specific targeted research project involving four biotechnology companies and two academic partners from the UK, Austria and Germany. It aims to bridge the gap in the drug development pipeline using a new approach in post-genomics
New marker in urine may improve on PSA testing, reduce unnecessary biopsies
Men middle-aged and older routinely get blood tests for prostate-specific antigen, or PSA, to screen for prostate cancer. However, PSA testing has shortcomings: many men with elevated PSAs don’t have prostate cancer and undergo unnecessary biopsies, which can cause infertility, incontinence, and impotence. Other men do have prostate cancer, but have normal PSAs, allowing the cancer to spread undetected.
Familial amyloid polyneuropathy (FAP), a hereditary disease characterised by abnormal deposits of insoluble protein in the organs, results from a mutation in a single gene (the transthyretin or TTR gene). Nevertheless, disease incidence and age of onset can vary significantly between patients what have always puzzled scientists. Now, in the latest issue of the journal Human Molecular Genetics, a team of researchers propose for the first time that other genes might be involved in the clinical s
Researchers have noted a higher incidence of depression among patients with epilepsy than the general population or others with chronic conditions such as diabetes. For a long time, depression was thought to be a complication of epilepsy.
But there is evidence that the connection between epilepsy and depression may be a two-way street, according to research carried out in Sweden and the United States and reviewed at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancemen
Expert says the government must do more to eliminate lead from the environment
Exposure to lead may be one of the most significant causes of violent crime in young people, according to one of the nation’s leading researchers on the subject. “When environmental lead finds its way into the developing brain, it disturbs neural mechanisms responsible for regulation of impulse. That can lead to antisocial and criminal behavior,” reported Herbert L. Needleman, M.D., professor of psychiat
A simple saliva test can predict for the first time whether children will get cavities, how many cavities they will get and even which teeth are most vulnerable, University of Southern California researchers say.
Developed by a USC School of Dentistry team led by professor Paul Denny, the test quantifies the genetic component of tooth decay (caries). Dentists have long known that even in areas with fluoridation and good oral hygiene education, some people just have bad teeth. T
Duke University Medical Center researchers have found that joints whose cartilage lacks a specific type of collagen will develop osteoarthritis – the so-called “wear-and-tear” form of the disease – at a greatly accelerated rate.
The results of their experiments with mice provide new insights that could lead to potential treatments for a disease that afflicts more than 40 million Americans, said the researchers.
The researchers found that mice lacking the gene that cont
American Heart Association meeting report
Married women who avoid conflict with their spouses have an increased risk of dying from any cause, researchers report today at the Second International Conference on Women, Heart Disease and Stroke. Researchers also found that men whose wives’ come home upset with work outside the home have an increased risk of developing heart disease.
Researchers examined information on participants of the Framingham Offspring Study, a large
Research represents big step toward development of brain-controlled artificial limbs for people
Reaching for something you want seems a simple enough task, but not for someone with a prosthetic arm, in whom the brain has no control over such fluid, purposeful movements. Yet according to research presented at the 2005 American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Annual Meeting, scientists have made significant strides to create a permanent artificial device that can r
Findings might help improve lung growth in premature infants
Organ development in the embryo requires precise coordination and timing of cell growth in three-dimensional space to produce the correct anatomic form and shape. Researchers at Children’s Hospital Boston, led by Dr. Donald Ingber, a senior researcher in the Vascular Biology Program, have demonstrated that the process of budding and branching in the developing lung is driven by mechanical forces generated within indiv
A little-known drug called naltrexone provides a “meaningful benefit” in helping alcoholics moderate their drinking, according to the latest review of evidence from 29 studies on four continents.
The findings, along with the recent FDA approval of a similar drug called acamprosate, open the door to new treatment options for drinkers who aren’t yet ready to face total abstinence. Naltrexone, which is not addictive, “should be accepted as a short-term treatment for alcoholism,” say a
There were nearly 2.9 million new cases of cancer and more than 1.7 million cancer deaths in Europe last year, according to new estimates in a report published today (Thursday 17 February) in Annals of Oncology [1]. The authors warn that the ageing of the European population means that these figures will continue to rise, even if incidence and mortality rates for specific age groups remain constant.
They also say that it is vital to make a major assault on the four biggest kille
Injecting spinal-epidural analgesia in early labor does not increase cesarean delivery rates and provides better pain relief and a shorter duration of labor than systemic opioid analgesia, according to an article by Northwestern University researchers published in the Feb. 17 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.
Epidural injections are administered into the space between the wall of the spinal canal and the sheath covering the spinal cord and anesthetize the abdominal, genital an
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