Researchers find drugs boost survival in those with congestive heart failure and mitral regurgitation with normal ejection fraction

Beta-blockers, medications that block the action of certain hormones on the heart, can benefit patients with certain serious heart problems such as diastolic heart failure, according to cardiologists at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California and Loma Linda University Medical Center.

Researchers presented two rep

Pioneering research with combined positron emission tomography (PET) and computed tomography (CT) scans provides accurate detection and localization of foot infection in diabetic patients, according to an article in the March issue of the Journal of Nuclear Medicine. PET/CT scans could potentially offer a single-step, noninvasive technique for the diagnosis of infection, said Society of Nuclear Medicine member Zohar Keidar, M.D., Ph.D., the article’s lead author.

Keidar expl

The use of herbal supplements in women is increasing. Many mothers may also be giving herbal supplements to their children to treat or prevent various illnesses, including asthma, hyperactivity, colds, and respiratory infections. A study in the March issue of The Journal of Pediatrics reviews the medical literature to provide information about the effectiveness of some of the most common herbal supplements in children, including Andrographis paniculata, evening primrose oil, ivy leaf, and va

Study of U.S. Travelers to Mexico and Guatemala Found 65 Percent Prevalence Rate

A majority of traveler’s diarrhea cases among U.S. travelers to Mexico and Guatemala were attributed to Norovirus, a common cause of nonbacterial gastroenteritis outbreaks usually associated with developed countries, according to a new study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and other institutions. The researchers also found that the longer travelers stayed at

Using Positron Emission Tomography in addition to Computed Tomography can reduce the amount of radiation exposure to normal tissue in some lung cancer patients, according to a new study published in the March 1, 2005, issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics, the official journal of ASTRO, the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology.

The study, conducted on 21 patients with non-small cell lung cancer, created two three-dimensional

Researchers have discovered a fascinating symbiotic relationship between a wasp species and a newly discovered bacterial species – a relationship that potentially sheds light on how bacteria can be successfully utilized by higher organisms in defensive mechanisms against other microbes. In the new work, researchers show that a solitary ground-nesting wasp, the European beewolf, harbors Streptomyces bacteria in unique structures within its antennae and that females utilize these bacterial symbio

By analyzing the relationship between the geographic location of current human populations in relation to East Africa and the genetic variability within these populations, researchers have found new evidence for an African origin of modern humans.
The origin of modern humans is a topic that is hotly debated. A leading theory, known as “Recent African Origin” (RAO), postulates that the ancestors of all modern humans originated in East Africa, and that around 100,000 years ago some modern

Studying phage, a primitive class of virus that infects bacteria by injecting its genomic DNA into host cells, researchers have gained insight into the driving force behind this poorly understood injection process, which has been proposed in the past to occur through the release of pressure accumulated within the viral particle itself.

Almost all phages (also known as bacteriophages) are formed of a capsid structure, or head, in which the viral genome is packaged during morpho

Scientists at Rice University report their findings in PNAS

The question of whether amino acids in sandwich-like proteins are there to stabilize the structure or to speed up the protein-folding process is best answered by “all of the above,” according to researchers at Rice University in Houston. This discovery, reported in today’s issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could benefit future research on treatments for diseases related to misfolded protei

Microscopic titanium particles weaken the bonding of hip, knee, and other joint replacements, according to research published online in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine and the Jacobs School of Engineering. The team demonstrated that titanium implants are safe in large blocks, but at the microscopic level, wear and tear can generate micrometer-sized particles.

“As replacement joints are bec

A single dose of gene-virus combination cured rats of a inherited liver disease in which lack of a gene causes the accumulation of bilirubin –which, untreated, results in jaundice and brain damage, said researchers at Baylor College of Medicine in a report in the Proceedings of the Natural Academy of Sciences.

“This is the first time this disease (Crigler-Najjar syndrome) has been completely cured long term with a single injection in an adult animal,” said Dr. Brendan Lee, assoc

A gene that, in different variants, increases or decreases the level of atherosclerosis has been identified in mice. The corresponding human gene has been shown to play a role in the development of myocardial infarction. The results of the study is published this week on Nature Genetics Online.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet, in collaboration with the Jackson Laboratory in the USA, AstraZeneca and a Japanese research group, have scrutinised an area on chromosome 1 that is

Findings reported in Nature Neuroscience give new understanding to how cells in auditory system organize before hearing develops

Generations of neuroscientists have been indoctrinated into believing that our senses, thoughts, feelings and movements are orchestrated by a communication network of brain cells, or neurons, each responsible for relaying one specific chemical message called a neurotransmitter. Either neurons release a neurotransmitter that excites a neighboring cell,

Women diagnosed with early stage, non–invasive breast cancer who carry the same mutations in two inherited breast/ovarian cancer genes as women diagnosed with invasive breast cancer, may benefit from high risk treatment, Yale researchers report in the February 23 issue of Journal of the American Medical Association.

The inherited breast/ovarian cancer genes are BRCA1 and BRCA2, which are associated with an increased risk of breast and/or ovarian cancer. The results are part

Curious female rats, more willing to step out and explore their environment, survive breast and pituitary tumors longer than their more cautious sisters, says a Penn State researcher.

Dr. Sonia Cavigelli, assistant professor of biobehavioral health, says that her study of 80 female rats from birth to death shows that the curious ones with tumors lived, on average, an additional six months, or 25 percent longer lives, than the cautious ones.

“It’s difficult to extrapola

Duke University Medical Center researchers have found a strong association between depression and a higher long-term risk of death for patients with chronic heart failure.

Additionally, and just as importantly, the researchers said even a psychological status previously considered to be sub-depressive puts these patients at higher risk of death. While it has been known that depression is associated with higher short-term mortality rates, this is the first study to measure the lon