Scientists at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, studying the effects of a drug used in the treatment of a distressing skin condition, have found that it is actually killing off the cells which are the cause of the problem.

The team believe the discovery represents a major step towards enabling the design of better treatments for psoriasis, which affects up to a million people in the UK alone (figures from the Psoriasis Association).

The results of the Wellcome

An expert at the University of Sheffield will be talking about the causes for the increased incidence of eczema in children in a Channel Four documentary, Allergic to Everything on Thursday 30 June at 9pm. Dr Cork will argue that better education and lifestyle changes could prevent many children from needing powerful steroid treatments for the skin condition, and that more specialists are needed to effectively treat those with more severe eczema.

The documentary follows patients in Dr Mi

As mothers get older and assisted conception becomes more common, the incidence of multiple births–primarily of nonidentical siblings, but also of identical ones–has dramatically increased. Multiple pregnancies are high-risk pregnancies, with preterm delivery and monochorionicity (shared placenta) the major problems. Consequently, efforts are underway to optimize the management of these pregnancies. Nicholas Fisk and colleagues from the Institute of Reproductive and Developmental Biology at Imper

Diuretics (water pills) work better than newer and more costly medicines in the treatment of high blood pressure and prevention of some forms of heart disease in people with type 2 diabetes, according to results from the Antihypertensive and Lipid-Lowering Treatment to Prevent Heart Attack Trial (ALLHAT). ALLHAT, the largest hypertension clinical trial ever conducted, was led in part by Tulane University physician and epidemiologist Paul K. Whelton, senior vice president for health sciences and

While most women suffer from pelvic floor disorders (PFD), the majority don’t seek help until they are incontinent.

In a survey of 1111 working women, Temple University researchers were surprised to learn that while the majority, 72 percent, reported suffering from one or more pelvic floor disorders, 70 percent had not sought medical help. And further, that by the time they did see the doctor, usually triggered by the onset of incontinence, they were suffering from multiple

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of the brain reduces the need for invasive testing of seizure disorder patients being considered for surgical treatment, according to a study published in the July issue of the journal Radiology.

“fMRI gives the surgical team an important roadmap of the brain function without contrast injections or invasive tests,” said the study’s lead author, L. Santiago Medina, M.D., M.P.H., co-director of neuroradiology and director of the H

Although it seems obvious that when overweight people lose weight their health should improve, the relationship between weight loss and health may not be as simple as that, suggests previous studies from Finland and Denmark. For example, it is difficult to control for all other possible things that might cause weight loss, such as other medical conditions that could then increase mortality.

The researchers at the University of Helsinki, Helsinki and Copenhagen University Hospitals, Danish

Parents whose children are born with a low birth weight run greater risk of dying of cardiovascular diseases. Even the fathers are at greater risk. These findings are published in a new report by Karolinska Institutet. The report shows that genetic factors affect both birth weight and the risk of cardiovascular diseases.

It is already known that poor foetal growth is associated with high blood pressure, type II diabetes (adult onset diabetes), and cardiovascular diseases in later life. Th

An international team of scientists will in the coming five years set up a research project on developing diversions to mislead malaria mosquitoes with odours. With these the number of cases of malaria in tropical Africa may be reduced strongly. Scientists at Wageningen University will be working with colleagues in the USA, Tanzania and Gambia on a project led by Vanderbilt researchers that has received $8.5 million dollars (approximately 7 million Euro) from the U.S. Foundation for the National I

Determining if there exist genetic alterations that can be associated with the diagnosis and prognosis of neuroblastic tumours, responsible for 15% of child deaths due to cancer, was the aim of the Paula Lázcoz Ripoll’s PhD thesis which she recently defended at the Public University of Navarra. The work was entitled: Molecular diagnosis of neuroblastic tumours: genetic profile and analysis of tumour suppressor genes.

Genetic alterations

Neuroblastic tumours are malignant extracr

Our understanding of how messenger RNAs are translated into proteins is challenged by new research published today in the Open Access journal Journal of Biology. The study suggests that EF-G, the GTPase that facilitates tRNA translocation in bacteria, enters the ribosome bound to a different guanine nucleotide than previously thought – GDP, not GTP. The ribosome itself then seems to act as the guanine-nucleotide exchange factor, not some as-yet-unidentified factor as previously assumed. This findi

UCI study shows how new neurons created from adult stem cells are directed to specific brain regions

UC Irvine School of Medicine researchers have discovered how new neurons born from endogenous neural stem cells are sent to regions of the brain where they can replace old and dying cells, a finding that suggests how stem cell therapies can be specifically targeted to brain regions affected by neurodegenerative diseases or by stroke.

Associate Professor Qun-Yong Zhou an

A Better Understanding of Clot Physiology Can Lead to More Effective Therapies

For the first time ever, using “laser tweezers,” the mechanical properties of an individual fiber in a blood clot have been determined by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Their work, led by John W. Weisel, PhD, Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology at Penn, and published in this week’s early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, pr

Experimenting with Arabidopsis, a fast-growing cousin of the humble mustard plant, scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill got a big surprise while investigating how plants respond to attacks from disease organisms such as bacteria and viruses.

“Contrary to what we thought we’d find, our experiments showed that at least three different proteins work in concert with one another in tug-of war or teeter totter-fashion to keep plant defenses in a state of

Proteins are the puzzle-pieces of life, involved in how organisms grow and flourish, but studying their complex biological processes in living systems has been extremely difficult. Now, a team of chemists and neurobiologists led by Timothy Dore at the University of Georgia and Erin M. Schuman at the California Institute of Technology has found a way to use light to regulate protein synthesis in specific locations.

The new method, which uses so-called “caged compounds” that can be

Scientists have found a new role for a previously identified enzyme that may make it a target for anti-inflammatory treatments.

The finding by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis shows that an enzyme known as cathepsin G regulates the ability of immune cells known as neutrophils to secrete chemicals that attract other immune cells and start the local inflammatory process. Over time, the excessive accumulation of immune cells can lead to tissue a