For most people, the need to wear eyeglasses to read is an inevitable part of aging. The eye’s natural lens hardens and loses its ability to change shape, making it more difficult to focus, especially when reading up close.
With age also comes the development of cataracts or clouding of the eye’s natural lens. Intraocular lenses (IOLs) traditionally have been used to replace the eye’s natural lens after its removal during cataract surgery. However, with the tradition
A rapid test that can be performed during surgery to determine if melanoma has spread to lymph nodes has been developed at the Medical College of Wisconsin. The reagent making this possible has been standardized at the Medical College and is called the “MCW Melanoma Cocktail”. The test is capable of detecting even very few melanoma cells, a significant factor in managing the disease. The test for cancer spread may spare a patient an additional operation.
Melanoma is the most deadly
A type of ‘friendly bacteria’ has been the key for researchers at the University of Dundee who have just developed a treatment that offers the opportunity of new therapies for the management of one of the UK’s most common forms of inflammatory bowel disease – ulcerative colitis. Results from a four-week patient trial led by Professor George Macfarlane showed that many of the patients’ symptoms were dramatically reduced to near normal levels.
Affecting an estimated fifty thous
An important study investigating whether certain training techniques help Parkinson’s Disease (PD) sufferers overcome concentration difficulties is taking place in the School of Psychology at the University of Reading. The researchers believe that, if successful, their work could eventually help improve the lives of the tens of thousands of PD sufferers in the UK alone.
Dr John Harris and his research team, who have been funded by the Parkinson’s Disease Society, are now looking for
One of every three to four people with deep vein thrombosis (a blood clot) in the leg develops complications. These complications range from swelling, skin discoloration and numbness, to chronic pain, hardening of the skin, and leg sores.
A new study finds that wearing below-the-knee elastic compression stockings every day reduces chances of developing DVT complications for up to two years. The study is published in the August 17, 2004, issue of Annals of Internal Medicine.
Ela
Certain rare gene mutations can contribute significantly to low levels of a beneficial form of cholesterol in the blood, researchers have found. Low levels of this cholesterol, known as high-density lipoprotein (HDL), are a major risk factor for heart disease.
Gene mutations previously known to affect HDL levels had small effects individually, and it was thought many such mutations needed to accumulate before HDL levels were significantly reduced. The new finding, however, demonst
As part of its continued efforts to give back to the cancer communities in the cities visited during its annual scientific meetings, the Fairfax, Virginia-based American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO) is partnering with CURE Childhood Cancer to raise awareness of cancer survivorship. Based in Atlanta, CURE Childhood Cancer – Georgia’s oldest and most successful children’s cancer organization – is a non-profit organization dedicated to conquering childhood cancer through
There is a clear co-variation between allergic symptoms in children and the concentration of softening agents in their homes. This is a finding made by a Swedish-Danish research team in a recently published study financed by Formas, the Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences, and Spatial Planning.
“A great number of consumer products and surface materials like PVC mats contain softening agents, such as phthalate esters,” says Professor Carl-Gustaf Bornehag at
When the choice is red wine or gin, choose red wine – at least when considering your heart’s health.
That’s according to a recent study by Jefferson Medical College researchers, who compared the effects of drinking either red wine or gin on several biochemical markers in the blood. Red wine contains many complex compounds including polyphenols, which are absent from gin. They found that drinking red wine had a much greater effect in lowering levels in the bloodstream of so
When equipped with enough information, some adolescents (ages 13 to 16) can make health care decisions as well as adults.
According to an article published recently in The Journal of Clinical Ethics, “Correlates of Children’s Competence to Make Healthcare Decisions,” it’s important to include children in health care decision making as it fosters their developing ability to care for their own health. The article was written by a team of researchers that included Susan B. Dickey, Ph.
Alcohol consumption and alcohol dependence are closely related, but the causes of susceptibility to the two may be different. New research has found that variation in long-term average alcohol intake is almost entirely due to genetic differences. Some genes affect both alcohol intake and dependence, while others affect only dependence.
Even though alcohol consumption and alcohol dependence are closely related, the causes of susceptibility to the two are not necessarily the same. A s
Researchers at Cedars-Sinai’s Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Institute have found that the combination of immunotherapy and chemotherapy significantly slowed tumor progression and extended survival of patients with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), extremely aggressive and incurable brain tumors.
Although the exact mechanism is yet to be identified, the research team theorizes that like a one-two punch, the anti-tumor vaccine delivers an initial blow to the tumor cells which increas
Cannabinoids, the active ingredients in marijuana, restrict the sprouting of blood vessels to brain tumors by inhibiting the expression of genes needed for the production of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF).
According to a new study published in the August 15, 2004 issue of the journal Cancer Research, administration of cannabinoids significantly lowered VEGF activity in laboratory mice and two patients with late-stage glioblastoma.
“Blockade of the VEGF pathw
Researchers from the University of Chicago have discovered the first of a new class of “protective factors” that appear to be required for the development of memory T cells, the cells that form the core of a vaccine response. The finding could help scientists create more effective vaccines and may lead to potent immune system-based therapies against diseases that have previously eluded vaccines, such as cancer or AIDS.
When the immune system detects an invader, such as a virus, T c
A ground-breaking medical approach which could substantially improve the quality of life for over a million kidney dialysis patients, and bring huge savings to health services around the globe, is one step closer to becoming a reality, thanks to NESTA (the National Endowment of Science, Technology and the Arts) – the organisation that backs UK innovation.
NESTA has invested £95,000 in a university spin-out, Veryan Medical Limited, based at London’s Imperial College, to further dev
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill scientists have discovered that increased pressure within the eye alters a set of genes normally involved in preventing hardening of tissue.
Increased eye pressure often occurs in glaucoma, a blinding eye disease that affects about 70 million people worldwide, and the new findings may have implications for treating this disease. The study currently appears in the online October issue of the Journal of Cellular Physiology.
“Pres
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