Stress-related disorders have increased over the last few years, and a great many of these problems are ascribed to factors in the workplace. Bosses have a great influence on the working conditions of employees, and their own stress and ailments probably have an impact on their employees.
This are results presented in a new dissertation by Peggy Bernin at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. The dissertation presents a study carried out on three groups, one of them comprising managers in 24 coun
Research at Georgetown University Medical Center has led to a deeper understanding of the role that elevated cholesterol plays in the development of Alzheimer’s disease.
APP, a protein found in several major organs including the brain and heart, is present in all people. Its normal function in the body is unknown, but in people with Alzheimer’s, APP is abnormally processed and converted to beta amyloid protein. When fragments of this protein break off, they become entangled, leadi
Aio! is a new Finnish diagnostic method for rapidly diagnosing an acute myocardial infarct when a patient with chest pains arrives at the hospital or consults a doctor.
The diagnostic system Aio! has been developed by Innotrac Diagnostics Oy with the goal of rapidly and accurately identifying in a patient-friendly way the markers secreted into the blood in connection with a myocardial infract. On the basis of the test result, the patient suffering from a myocardial infract can immediately b
Few of the women who undergo tubal sterilization or whose husbands undergo vasectomy later go on to regret either procedure, according to a study funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The study appears in the June issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology.
The study found the proportion of women who experience regret was essentially the same -about 6 to 7 percent-five years after their hus
A new study of migraine headaches suggests behavioral therapy “not medication — may be the most effective weapon against migraine pain for teen-agers.
Researchers with the Ohio University Headache Treatment & Research Project enrolled 30 teens ages 12 to 17 in the pilot project. Half were treated with triptans — a fairly new class of drugs widely used for migraine in adults — and half were assigned to a phone-administered behavioral therapy program that included instruction in biofeedbac
The long-sought ability to control the movement of prosthetic limbs with brain waves has edged a little closer to reality.
In experiments published in the June 7 issue of the journal Science, monkeys were able to move balls around in 3D space on a computer screen just by thinking about it. With a little practice, they got even better at it.
“They achieved nearly the same accuracy and speed as normal arm movements,” said senior author Andrew Schwartz, Ph.D., of the Departme
Study has implications for lowering heart-disease risk in Type 2 diabetes patients
A drug used widely as an insulin sensitizer appears also to have a significant anti-inflammatory effect in diabetics, a property that could make it useful in helping to prevent heart disease in these patients, a study by endocrinologists at the University at Buffalo has found.
Results of the research, involving the drug rosiglitazone, were presented here today (June 15, 2002) at the annual mee
Researchers at The Hospital for Sick Children (HSC), the University Health Network (UHN), and the University of Toronto (U of T) have identified a novel gene that when mutated results in medulloblastoma, the most common malignant brain tumour found in children. This research is reported in the July issue of the scientific journal Nature Genetics.
Brain tumours are the second most common cancer in children after leukemia, with the incidence increasing at a rate of five to 10 per cent per yea
Investigators reporting at the 49th Annual Meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine (SNM) have determined that a noninvasive nuclear medicine technique can accurately and safely detect the extent of persistent heart muscle damage after a heart attack. In two studies, researchers reported on the safety and efficacy 201Tl/99mTc Annexin (ApomateTM) SPECT in detecting and localizing myocardial tissue damage and revealing areas of persistent cellular injury. SPECT (single-photon emission computed tomogr
Violence, bereavement, debt and other stressful experiences do not increase the chances of breast cancer returning in a woman who has been treated for the disease.
The good news was announced today in a new study by Europe`s largest cancer charity, Cancer Research UK, and published in the British Medical Journal.
The study, headed by Professor Amanda Ramirez at Cancer Research UK`s London Psychosocial Group, looked at more than 200 women with operable breast cancer and followed thei
Pregnancy prevention programmes for adolescents do not delay sexual intercourse, improve use of birth control among young men and women, or reduce the number of pregnancies in young women, finds a study in this week’s BMJ.
Researchers in Canada reviewed 26 trials of adolescents (aged 11 to 18 years) that evaluated pregnancy prevention programmes including sex education classes, abstinence programmes, family planning clinics, and community based programmes.
The prevention strategies
A simple clinical test could make it easier to track and treat Alzheimer’s
A urine sample taken at the doctor’s office can be the step in determining your chances of developing Alzheimer’s disease (AD), according to researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. They have determined that a urine test can reliably detect free radical damage associated with people with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) – a recognized precursor to AD. The test detects isop
A Saint Louis University neurosurgeon has become the first U.S. doctor to implant a potentially revolutionary electronic eye device that allows a blind patient to see. He is the only United States doctor ever to perform the procedure.
Kenneth R. Smith Jr., M.D., professor of neurosurgery at Saint Louis University School of Medicine, performed the two- to three-hour surgical procedure in Lisbon, Portugal, in April. He was one of four specialists who operated on eight blind patients who paid
The body is an extremely complex puzzle in which every piece plays a critical role. Should pieces disappear harmony is compromised. Such is the case with certain neurodegenerative diseases; when neurons suddenly die, the body’s ability to function properly is jeopardized.
CNRS (1) and INSERM biologists from the Curie Institute are working to understand how neurons die in one specific neurodegenerative disease: Huntington’s disease.
They have just announced the discovery of two new fact
Research at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia may advance treatment of the blood disease thalassemia
Hematology researchers at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia have discovered a gene and its associated protein that may have major implications for red blood cell formation, specifically for hemoglobin, which carries oxygen in red blood cells. Understanding how this protein functions may eventually lead to novel treatments for the hemoglobin-related blood disease, thala
Australian scientists are investigating new ways to mass-produce the active ingredients found in the herbal medicines – Echinacea, Ginseng and Gynostemma.
Extracts from these plants are commonly used to stimulate the immune system, alleviate cold and flu symptoms and boost energy levels.
“During winter many people will take herbal medicines to fight off colds and flu. There is an increasing demand for traditional sources of some popular medicinal herbs. Some of these plants grow very s
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