About nineteen percent of people have a genetic variation that may increase susceptibility to osteoporosis, a new study reveals. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis demonstrated that in women the variant gene speeds up the breakdown of estrogen and is associated with low density in the bones of the hip.

The study will be reported in the February issue of the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research and is available online.

The gene, named CYP

If successful, discovery could play an important role in putting a man on Mars

Robert Levis, Ph.D. (center), Director of the Center for Advanced Photonics Research, demonstrates the ultrafast laser beams used to detect the cyclic ozone reaction product. Assisting Levis are (L-R) Alexei Filin, Ph.D.; Ryan Compton; and Matthew Coughlan.

With nearly twice the energy of normal, bent-shaped ozone (O3), cyclic ozone could hold the key component for a future manned-mission

A key mechanism in the passing of genetic material from a parent cell to daughter cells appears to have been identified by a team of Berkeley researchers. Their study may explain how a complex of proteins, called kinetochores, can recognize and stay attached to microtubules, hollow fibers in the walls of biological cells that are responsible for the faithful segregation of chromosomes during cell division.

“In test tube experiments, we’ve found that the kinetochore proteins form

University Of Manchester Seeks Volunteers for Pioneering Trials

The University of Manchester has just launched trials to investigate whether increasing the testosterone levels of frail elderly men could improve their strength, energy and mobility.

The study is the first in the world to examine the impact of testosterone treatment on this age-group, and is being led by Professor Fred Wu of the Department of Endocrinology at Manchester Royal Infirmary.

Professor Wu

To commemorate 100 years since the term ’hormone’ was first coined, the Society for Endocrinology’s flagship journal will be publishing a series of special, free, reviews that recognise the past 100 years of hormones, and look to the future of the expanding science of endocrinology.

In February’s issue Professor Steve Bloom co-authors a fantastic review of the last ten years’ of research and current knowledge of the neural networks and hormonal regulation that cont

For the first time, UCLA researchers have developed a new evaluation tool that can predict mortality risk in patients hospitalized with heart failure. The new tool — used right at the bedside — will help clinicians quickly decide upon hospital admission which patients are at a greater mortality risk that may require higher monitoring and earlier, more intensive intervention.

Published in the February 2, 2005 edition of JAMA, the new tool utilizes the combination of three simpl

Many of the drugs commonly prescribed to treat agitation, delusions and other symptoms that can accompany dementia are not effective, researchers from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center and colleagues report this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

“Our review of 29 research studies found that drug therapies are not particularly effective for managing symptoms such as agitation, wandering and delusions that are observed in most patients with deme

From the February 2005 Journal of Allergy & Clinical Immunology

Researchers have identified specific asthma characteristics in children that could help determine the type of asthma treatment they will best respond to. These findings were published in the February 2005 Journal of Allergy & Clinical Immunology (JACI). The JACI is the peer-reviewed, scientific journal of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI). “Parents of children with asthma often ask: Is

Lawyers are often suspicious of so-called “eye-witness accounts” and rightly so. Hundreds of scientific studies in the past few decades have shown that the memories of people who observe complex events are notoriously susceptible to alteration if they receive misleading information about the event after it has taken place. In this month’s issue of the journal Learning & Memory, scientists from Johns Hopkins University report new insights into how such “false memories” are formed. This is t

According to a study published today in the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, the addition of popular bone building drugs to calcium and vitamin D therapy to treat bone loss associated with Crohn’s disease is not beneficial. Moreover, the study shows that calcium and vitamin D treatment alone can improve bone mineral density (BMD) in Crohn’s patients by 3 to 4 percent per year.

“Patients with Crohn’s often suffer loss

International heart and sports medicine experts have called for a Europe-wide cardiovascular screening programme for all young athletes before they are allowed to take part in competitive athletics.

The aim is to pick up potentially life-threatening problems that put young athletes at risk and to cut the numbers collapsing and dying while participating in competitive sport.

A European Society of Cardiology consensus report[1] published (Wednesday 2 February) in Europe&#

Their research could lead to a device that would restore bladder control for the more than 200,000 Americans living with spinal cord injury or disease-related spinal cord problems

Biomedical engineers at Duke University’s Pratt School of Engineering have demonstrated for the first time that stimulating a specific nerve in the pelvis triggers the process that causes urine to begin flowing out from the bladder, refuting conventional thinking that “bladder emptying” requires signal

Football fans faced with a frosty pitcher of beer and a heaping platter of wings on Super Bowl Sunday often respond as if it were fourth-and-goal — they go for it.

But weight-conscious people should heed the humble rat, which stays trim by instinctively cutting calories when indulging in alcoholic drinks, say researchers at the University of Florida’s psychology department and the Evelyn F. and William L. McKnight Brain Institute.
Rats also know how to say no to the brew, stopp

Diffusion-weighted MRI is “extremely useful” in detecting Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), a close cousin of “mad cow” disease, very early in its progression–even before the onset of characteristic clinical findings, according to a new study by researchers from Showa University Northern Yokohama Hospital in Japan.

For the study, researchers analyzed nine cases of CJD in which MRI of the brain was performed during early, intermediate and late stages of the disease. At the early stage, re

After years of trial and error, scientists have coaxed human embryonic stem cells to become spinal motor neurons, critical nervous system pathways that relay messages from the brain to the rest of the body.

The new findings, reported online today (Jan. 30, 2005) in the journal Nature Biotechnology by scientists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, are important because they provide critical guideposts for scientists trying to repair damaged or diseased nervous systems.

Physical traits, genetic test help with early diagnosis

A research team led by Johns Hopkins doctors has defined the physical traits and genetic basis of a new aortic aneurysm syndrome that is extremely aggressive and can cause death in early childhood. Early diagnosis of the syndrome and rapid surgical repair of the swollen aorta can save lives, the researchers report in the Jan. 30 advance online section of Nature Genetics.

Based on a review of medical records and exp