Proconcept of France has developed Canaletto, a new surgical implant for treating carpal tunnel syndrome. The unique Canaletto implant promotes better recovery of grip in patients fitted with the device. Nearly 5,000 of these implants have been fitted across France and the rest of Europe over the past four years. The company is looking for international distributors or sales representatives.

Canaletto, which was developed in association with two surgeons at the Fontvert clinic in Avign

Drop by any beach or swimming pool on a summer day, and you’ll probably see people doing something they know is bad for them: getting a tan.

Studies show that many of those who regularly tan know that exposure to the ultraviolet rays of the sun or a tanning booth increases their risk of developing skin cancer. But — much to the dismay of dermatologists, who have spent years trying to educate the public on the skin-cancer dangers of ultraviolet radiation — this knowledge doe

Surgeons at the Stanford University School of Medicine have developed a safe and efficient way to use a surgical robot to perform gastric bypass operations. Their report, published in the August issue of the Archives of Surgery, documents the first totally robotic technique to complete this technically challenging procedure.

The method, developed by associate professor of surgery Myriam Curet, MD, is an improvement on a more conventional technique called laparoscopic surgery.

Yale School of Medicine has launched a state-of-the-art database funded in part by the National Library of Medicine, called the Canary Database, containing scientific evidence about how animal disease events can be an early warning system for emerging human diseases.

There have long been reports of animals succumbing to environmental hazards before humans show signs of illness, according to the project’s leader, Peter Rabinowitz, M.D., associate professor of medicine in The Ya

Women who receive an educational or nutritional intervention following the completion of their treatment for breast cancer are less likely to be depressed and have a better quality of life than other breast cancer survivors, according to a study by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and Emory University. The study was funded by the National Cancer Institute and was published in the July issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Previo

A detectable decline in energy production by mitochondria — the organelles that are the cell’s furnace for energy production — seems to be a key problem leading to insulin resistance, and thus to type 2 diabetes, according to studies by Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers.

The research team said that insulin resistance — an impaired response to the presence of insulin — is detectable as early as 20 years before the symptoms of diabetes become evident. In fact, insuli

Study may one day lead to test that could show which patients may be helped by immediate steroid treatment

Our immune system protects us from disease, destroying invading microbes with a swarm of attacking cells. But it can also go haywire for no apparent reason, ganging up on normal tissues in our body and wreaking havoc.

In thousands of people each year, the immune system attacks the inner ear, home to the tiny, delicate structures that allow us to hear. Without war

Lymph circulates in our bodies through a complex network of lymphatic vessels, of which little is known. This network is, however, of major importance for the support of the immune system and the fluid in our body. Researchers from the Flanders Interuniversity Institute for Biotechnology (VIB) connected with the Catholic University of Leuven, are the first to indicate that this network can be studied with the help of tadpoles. This accelerates research of the lymphatic vessel network. With tadpoles

Pre-messenger RNA (pre-mRNA) splicing is an integral step in gene expression, removing introns that would otherwise disrupt the coding potential of gene transcripts. As published in the August 15th issue of G&D, Drs. Tommaso Villa and Christine Guthrie at UCSF have identified a novel splicing fidelity factor, as well as provide additional evidence for a two-step model of pre-mRNA splicing.

The researchers found that deletion of the yeast gene ISY1 reduces the efficiency of the first step o

The same family of chemical signals that attracts developing sensory nerves up the spinal cord toward the brain serves to repel motor nerves, sending them in the opposite direction, down the cord and away from the brain, report researchers at the University of Chicago in the September 2005 issue of Nature Neuroscience (available online August 14). The finding may help physicians restore function to people with paralyzing spinal cord injuries.

Growing nerve cells send out axons, long

Scientists at the University of Rochester Medical Center have discovered a link between a prominent developmental gene and neurovascular dysfunction in Alzheimer’s disease.

The gene plays a major role in the growth and remodeling of vascular systems. But, in brain cells of people with Alzheimer’s disease, expression of the gene is low, the scientists found, revealing a new piece of the Alzheimer’s puzzle.

In laboratory studies, the scientists also showed that restorat

Star-shaped brain cells that are often overlooked by doctors and scientists as mere support cells appear to play a key role in the development of epilepsy, researchers say in a study published on-line August 14 in Nature Medicine. It’s one of the first times scientists have produced firm evidence implicating the cells, known as astrocytes, in a common human disease.

Scientists found that astrocytes can serve as ground zero in the brain, setting off a harmful cascade of ele

Georgetown University research may help target treatment

Researchers from Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University found that testing for an activated Stat5 protein in prostate tumor tissue effectively predicts which men have a form of prostate cancer that may become more aggressive and life threatening.

In the August 15 issue of Clinical Cancer Research, the researchers report that “Stat5” protein in the nucleus of prostate cancer cells was a signifi

Despite aggressive treatment, glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) – the most common and deadly of brain cancers – usually claims the lives of its victims within six to 12 months of diagnosis. Because GBM is so aggressive, the disease has been the target of a number of laboratory and clinical studies investigating the effectiveness of gene therapy to deliver novel therapies to the brain. In laboratory studies, this type of gene therapy has proved almost completely effective. But in clinical trials, it ha

Scientists mining vast, largely unexplored regions of the human genome have identified a small handful of mini-molecules that play a major role in the development of cancer and perhaps many other diseases.

This newly identified set of molecules is called microRNA (miRNA), a collection of hundreds of snippets of non-coding RNA – typically no more than 22 nucleotides in length – that may comprise a master network controlling genes and protein production throughout the body, accord

X-ray angiography falls short in critical finding

Electron-beam computed tomography (EBCT) is more accurate than conventional catheter angiography for identifying which adult patients face the greatest risk of sudden death from congenital abnormalities in the arteries supplying blood to the heart, according to a study in the September 2005 issue of Catheterization and Cardiovascular Interventions: Journal of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions.