Scientists at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) have discovered a common component to the burning sensation produced by chili peppers and the pain associated with arthritis. The finding, published in the September 26 issue of Neuron, could help scientists devise new strategies to block the pain hypersensitivity associated with inflammation.
“The receptor activated by chili peppers in the mouth and other tissues also increases in the terminals of sensory neurons in the skin after inflamma
University of Melbourne scientists have found clues to why patients with insulin-dependent diabetes are often unable to sense their need to take life-saving glucose.
The evidence came from a known and potent appetite stimulant released by the brain called Neuropeptide Y (NPY). Studies using diabetic rats have shown the NPY levels in the brains of diabetic rats differ significantly to those of normal rats under conditions of low glucose.
It was known that specific nerves in the bra
While biomedical devices such as prosthetic heart valves, heart-assist devices, oxygenators, vascular grafts and hemodialysis systems can help to save or significantly extend lives, these same devices also can damage the blood cells which travel through them. Severe consequences can result when blood cells are damaged or broken down, said Marina Kameneva, Ph.D., research associate professor of surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
Dr. Kameneva will discuss the issue in
A new medical study offers good news for expectant mothers facing the difficult choice of treating the nausea and vomiting of early pregnancy with things like soda, crackers or crushed ice, which are only marginally helpful, or trying prescription or over-the-counter medications, which may have potential side effects.
The September/October issue of Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine features results from a new double-blind, placebo-controlled, and hospital-based study conducted by
More than one-third of patients undergoing chemotherapy at risk for heart failure
Researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center have found that cancer patients who develop heart failure as a result of chemotherapy treatment can be effectively treated, with the condition potentially reversed, when standard medicated therapy for heart failure is utilized.
The findings were presented today at the Sixth Annual Scientific Meeting of the Heart Failure Society
People who cope with a life-threatening situation by ignoring their anxiety or diverting their attention away from it may be doing themselves a favor. Such practices may act as a buffer against stress disorders, according to the results of an Israeli study of heart attack patients.
“The findings of this study suggest that a repressive coping style may promote adjustment to traumatic stress, both in the short and longer term,” says lead study author Karni Ginzburg, Ph.D., of the Bob Shapell
Losartan tops beta blocker in patients with ’high top number’ blood pressure
A drug that reduces high blood pressure in people with a form of the disease that’s common later in life also cuts their risk of stroke and death, and does it better than another hypertension drug, a new study finds.
In the Sept. 25 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, an international team of researchers report that patients over age 55 who took a drug called los
An entirely new method for purifying blood has been developed at the Lund Institute of Technology, LTH, in Sweden. The blood is led out in hair-thin channels and is processed with ultrasound. A company in the neighboring research village IDEON is now perfecting the first medical application: a treatment to separate out clotted fat so-called fat embolin blood. But the method is a general one and can be applied to other medical treatments.
Heart surgery can be troubled by certain intellectual
Internet-based therapy can help sufferers cope with tinnitus, the medical term for the ringing sound in the ears that is experienced by 10 to 14 percent of adults, suggest the results of a Swedish study.
No cure for tinnitus exists, although some experts recommend the use of hearing aids and white-noise generators to help minimize the ringing, and sometimes hissing, chirping or clicking sounds associated with tinnitus. Symptoms are mild for most tinnitus patients, but the one-third of patien
Although stressful life events may affect the health of both men and women, men are more vulnerable, according to a recent study of nearly 3,000 people in Finland.
The study, published in the September/October issue of Psychosomatic Medicine, looked at whether psychological problems (such as anxiety and mental distress) and health-risk behaviors (such as smoking and alcohol use) underpin the health effects of life events.
Four major life events were studied: the death or serious illnes
Osteoporosis, which means porous bones, is a disease that thins and weakens bones, making them fragile and more likely to break. The vast majority of individuals affected by osteoporosis are women. Although the disease can strike at any age, the greatest risk for fractures from osteoporosis occurs after menopause. This is because women’s bodies produce less oestrogen after menopause, and oestrogen plays an important role in helping to prevent bone loss. As the EU population continues to age, the occ
Reducing bad cholesterol to below “optimal” levels reversed the accumulation of artery-clogging plaque, according to a study in today’s rapid access issue of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. When atherosclerotic plaque builds up in the arteries it can cause a heart attack or stroke.
People with known heart disease or a major risk factor, such as diabetes, are counseled to reduce their low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (“bad” cholesterol) below 100 milligr
Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas and their colleagues have uncovered new information that will help brain researchers better understand a person’s tolerance to drugs of abuse and open new avenues of investigation into the relationship of addictive-drug usage and the biological causes of mood disorders.
Dr. Michel Barrot, assistant professor of psychiatry at UT Southwestern and lead author of the paper, said researchers used genetically altered mice to show that p
Results of a preliminary study in this week’s issue of THE LANCET suggest that Viagra may have a future role in the treatment of pulmonary hypertension (increased blood pressure in the pulmonary artery), a severe and potentially fatal condition causing respiratory impairment.
Lung fibrosis (scarring of the lungs due to inflammation of the alveoli) can be complicated by pulmonary hypertension. Hossein Ardeschir Ghofrani and colleagues from University Hospital, Giessen, Germany, did a prelimi
A longitudinal study in this week’s issue of THE LANCET provides compelling evidence that breastfeeding does not protect against asthma and atopy in childhood and early adulthood—authors of the study suggest that breastfeeding may actually increase the risk of these diseases.
Breastfeeding is widely advocated to reduce the risk of atopy and asthma, but the evidence for this effect is conflicting. Malcolm Sears and colleagues from McMaster University, Canada, and the University of Otago, New
A new group of arthritis drugs recommended by NICE for patients at risk of gastrointestinal complications may be safer than traditional drugs, research in this week’s BMJ suggests.
Claims that the drugs, known as selective COX2 inhibitors, caused fewer gastrointestinal problems than traditional arthritis drugs led to an increase in their use, but the research on which they were based was criticised.
Two studies in this week’s BMJ, however, show that the risk of gastrointestinal comp
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