Research by fertility experts in Finland has demonstrated for the first time that in many cases transferring a single embryo to the womb in women undergoing IVF is just as likely to result in pregnancy and a live birth in those aged 36 to 39 as it is in younger women.

Their study indicates that it is the quality of the embryo that is more important in determining the success of IVF rather than the age of the woman. This is a finding that could encourage wider acceptance of single embry

Individuals with diabetes run a greater risk than others of being afflicted with severe loosening of the teeth. This is shown by research at the Faculty of Odontology, Malmö University, Sweden.

Henrik Jansson’s dissertation Studies on periodontitis and analyses of individuals at risk for periodontal diseases covered nearly 200 patients with type 2 diabetes, so-called adult onset diabetes. As many as every fifth patient suffered from severe loosening of the teeth, periodontitis. What

The European Society of Cardiology released today new Guidelines for the Management of Stable Angina Pectoris. The updated Guidelines include information on new developments in cardiovascular care, advances that have been made in improving the prognosis of coronary artery disease including the use of statins and ACE inhibitors, as well as strategies to alleviate symptoms.

The Guidelines also provide updated information in the area of risk stratification and define which patients should

One of the world’s leading flu experts, Alan Hampson, a member of the World Health Organization (WHO) Pandemic Influenza Taskforce and advisor to the Australian Government, is to edit the first international journal dedicated to the subject.

He has been appointed Editor of Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses, which is being launched by Blackwell Publishing amid growing international concerns about the possibility of an influenza pandemic.

“Alan Hampson is an ideal choic

A potentially ground-breaking treatment for nerve damage caused by diabetes has shown promising results in preclinical and early patient trials.

The University of Manchester team has discovered that injection of a novel therapeutic that works by stimulating a person’s genes may prevent nerve damage – primarily to the hands and feet – caused by the disease.

The positive preclinical results – reported in the journal Diabetes – are further evidence that the research cou

Aided by a powerful imaging technique, scientists have discovered they can detect smoking-related lung damage in healthy smokers who otherwise display none of the telltale signs of tobacco use.

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison were able to probe deeper into smokers’ lungs by tracking the movement in the respiratory organs of a harmless gas known as helium. Helium can be inhaled and visually detected via the widely used diagnostic technique known as magnet

Little-known disorder may affect as much as 2 percent of the population, studies suggest

Researchers at Harvard University and University College London have developed diagnostic tests for prosopagnosia, a socially disabling inability to recognize or distinguish faces. They’ve already used the new test and a related web site (www.faceblind.org) to identify hundreds of “face-blind” individuals, far more than scientists had identified previously.

The researchers, led

Using small molecules containing platinum, Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center researchers have created a process to inhibit a class of proteins important in HIV and cancer.

The findings may help researchers develop new drugs to fight HIV or cancer by selectively targeting proteins known as zinc fingers.

In the May 30 issue of the journal Chemistry & Biology, researchers reported that a zinc finger protein, known as HIV NCp7, can be inhibited when i

Patients with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) who took part in hypnotherapy sessions reported reduced symptoms and improved quality of life, according to research published in the June issue of Journal of Clinical Nursing.

Dr Graeme D Smith from University of Edinburgh studied 75 patients with IBS – which affects up to one in seven adults – before and after they took part in four to five treatment sessions over three months.

He discovered that before the sessions, women wer

In most developed countries safe blood transfusion is taken for granted. But blood grouping is a complex business, and not all blood groups are compatible. In order to check for compatibility, two cross-matching tests are carried out prior to transfusion – but these tests are based on technology that has not changed since the early days of blood transfusions.

Now a consortium called Bloodgen, led by the University of the West of England (UWE), Bristol, is nearing the end of a three-ye

Methylphenidate (Ritalin) elevates norepinephrine levels in the brains of rats to help focus attention while suppressing nerve signal transmissions in the sensory pathways to make it easier to block out extraneous stimuli, a Philadelphia research team has found.

Their report in the Journal of Neurophysiology helps explain how a stimulant aids people with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorders to improve their focus without increasing their motor activity. Methylphenidate, prescr

The severe neurodegeneration associated with HuntingtonÕs disease may result from molecular mutations that block the transport of nutrients within cells. Findings from the Emory University School of Medicine indicate that the mutant huntingtin protein limits the efforts of the huntingtin-associated protein-1 (HAP1) to provide nutrients to growing neurons, or neurites. Without those nutrients, neurites fail to develop and mature neurons degenerate.

Huntington’s disease was first

A new imaging method has revealed early signs of emphysema in smokers with no external symptoms of the disease, according to a study published in the June issue of Radiology. The study, supported by the National Institutes of Health, details a new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique that appears to be much more sensitive to lung changes than even the current modality of choice, computed tomography (CT).

“With this technology, we have shown that it is possible to measure the se

When single-celled organisms such as sperm crack their whip-like appendages called flagella, the beating sets them in motion. But in certain colonies of green algae, flagella also boost nutrient uptake, according to surprising new research.

In the early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers from the University of Arizona and Brown University explain how flagella allow these algae to get the energy they need to multiply and create colon

Dartmouth researchers, working with scientists at the University of Arizona and at the Department of Natural Resources in Sonora, Mexico, have published a study on the impact of arsenic exposure on DNA damage. They have determined that arsenic in drinking water is associated with a decrease in the body’s ability to repair its DNA.

“This work supports the idea that arsenic in drinking water can promote the carcinogenic effects of other chemicals,” says Angeline Andrew, the lead auth

Despite lack of a key component of the immune system, a line of genetically engineered mice can control chronic herpes virus infections, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found.

Scientists can’t prove it yet, but they suspect the missing immune system component, a group of molecules known as the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) Class Ia, has a previously unrecognized backup that is similar enough to step in and fill the void left b