Physicians have long been puzzled by a condition called intracranial arterial dolichoectasia, in which the larger arteries of the brain become elongated and misshapen. Typically, it has been considered a complication of atherosclerosis (“hardening of the arteries”), and not directly life-threatening. However, there is recent evidence that people with dolichoectasia are more likely to have aortic aneurysms, a potentially fatal weakening of the main artery that carries blood out from the heart

Teens with HIV are having more risky sex with more partners than their counterparts did in the years before powerful new medications for HIV were introduced in 1996, according to a new report in the American Journal of Health Behavior.

A group of HIV-positive youth studied between 1999 and 2000 reported having more sexual partners, more unprotected sex and more drug use than HIV-positive youth studied between 1994 and 1996, say Marguerita Lightfoot, Ph.D. and colleagues at the UCL

The frequency of withholding or withdrawing life-prolonging treatment at the end of a patient’s life varied greatly among six European countries, according to an article in the February 28 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

“Modern medicine provides unprecedented opportunities in diagnostics and treatment to save and sustain life,” according to background information in the article. However, in certain situations at the end of a patient’s

Patients with Type II diabetes who also suffer from obstructive sleep apnea can lower their glucose levels by receiving the most common sleep apnea therapy, a new study has found. The study appears in the Feb. 28 Archives of Internal Medicine.

Dr. James Herdegen, associate professor of medicine at the University of Illinois at Chicago and medical director of the UIC Center for Sleep and Ventilatory Disorders, and his co-authors measured glucose levels of participants before an

Middle-aged women who take an active role in their health care may be less likely to develop cardiovascular disease as they transition through menopause, according to research done at the University of Pittsburgh.

The results, presented today at the American Psychosomatic Society Annual Meeting, suggest women who believe they should take charge of their health, rather than rely solely on treatment by doctors, have fewer signs of pre-clinical atherosclerosis. “Our findings provide

Only half of kidney failure patients currently receive the treatment, more research needed

The administration of intravenous vitamin D appears to significantly improve the survival of patients on dialysis, according to a study that will be published in the April Journal of the American Society of Nephrology and has been released ahead of print on the journal’s website. Vitamin D injections are currently recommended only for dialysis patients with elevated levels of parathyroid h

Rates of celiac disease are significantly higher in patients with osteoporosis, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. They recommend using blood tests to screen osteoporosis patients for celiac disease because their study has shown that treating celiac disease with diet can restore bone health in these patients.

Celiac disease is an intestinal disorder caused by intolerance to wheat flour (gluten). The investigators evaluated 840 people

Neuroscientists at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla., leading a team of researchers in the United States and Europe, have discovered that a novel mutation in the recently identified LRRK2 gene causes parkinsonism in several North American and European families. Their findings will be reported in the April edition of the American Journal of Human Genetics. The disease-causing G2019S mutation in the LRRK2 gene is the first time a genetic cause has been associated with typical, late-onset Parkinson’s

When scientists finished sequencing the genomes of seven species of fruit fly last year, little did they know that they had also sequenced the genes of several bacteria that dwell undetected inside fruit fly embryos.

The genes of these bacteria, from a genus Wolbachia that infects many insects, have been sitting in the fruit fly gene database since then, unnoticed, according to Michael B. Eisen, a UC Berkeley assistant professor of molecular and cell biology and a faculty scient

The DNA tumor virus simian virus 40 produces the Large T antigen which inactivates two of the cell’s most important cancer-preventing proteins, p53 and pRb. In a study published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center report the discovery of an additional target for T antigen–a protein called Fbw7.

The Fbw7 gene is located in a chromosomal region that is deleted in up to 30% of human tumors. “Fbw7 is itself an importa

Plus, simple training brings young females up to speed

Given the heated debate about whether men and women have brain differences that affect cognition, psychologists are searching for definitive answers. However, research in humans is confounded by factors such as diet, medication, lifestyles, rearing and culture. As a result, psychologists are studying non-human primates in controlled setting to get a clearer, less distorted picture.

New cross-sectional studies of Rhe

Gunnel Hänsel Petersson at Malmö University in Sweden has received an award for her studies of Cariogram, a computer program created in Malmö to assess patients’ risk of developing tooth decay, dental caries.

The program was constructed in 1997 by Professor Douglas Bratthall at the Faculty of Odontology at Malmö University College in Sweden. Today it has been translated into twelve languages and is attracting ever greater interest in other countries. Gunnel Hänsel Petersson’s stu

Research scientists at Karolinska Institutet are planning an international initiative to map out the relationships between health, genes and lifestyle. Discussion partners include world-leading researchers from the USA, Britain, Singapore and Norway.

The project has the working title “LifeGene”. If realised, it could be classed as one of the largest and most comprehensive medical projects since HUGO, the mapping of the human genome. The goal of “LifeGene” is to combine advances in

Multiple hazards present; study cites threat of terrorism, transmission of infectious diseases, and new data on noise levels

Although information on subway safety is generally very limited, a new paper by safety experts at the Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health provides the first comprehensive look at health and safety hazards that might affect both riders and subway workers. The report, published in the Journal of Urban Health in a special issue on mas

Patient-reported symptoms can be used as an effective alternative to endoscopy to monitor progression of ulcerative colitis
People living with fatigue, abdominal discomfort and bloody diarrhea caused by the chronic inflammation of ulcerative colitis may no longer need to undergo frequent and uncomfortable endoscopies, a new study shows. Researchers at the University of Michigan Health System found that disease severity in patients with ulcerative colitis can be evaluated accurately

Johns Hopkins researchers will present results showing that tighter, dual testing standards work better for accurately distinguishing between new and old cases of HIV. Current testing standards are based on a single test called the serological testing algorithm for recent HIV seroconversion, or STARHS for short. STARHS relies on differentiating newly infected from chronically infected individuals based on the quantity, or levels, of antibodies to HIV present in patients’ blood. Normally, t