Educating children in primary school and adults at the beach about the benefits of wearing sun-protective hats and clothing can effectively motivate them to cover up and reduce their exposure to cancer-causing ultraviolet radiation, according to a systematic review of evidence. The review appears in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer in the United States. The incidence of one type — melanoma — is rising, due in part to inc

Researchers have discovered that an ingredient present in chocolate could help stop persistent coughs.

According to research published online in FASEB Journal the team have discovered that theobromine, a derivative found in cocoa, is nearly a third more effective in stopping persistent coughs when compared with codeine, currently considered the best cough medicine.
Professor Peter Barnes, from Imperial College London and Royal Brompton Hospital, and one of the paper’s autho

Bonn research center caesar is presenting current medical technology projects at the “Medica 2004” in Düsseldorf (Hall 13, Stand C12) from November 24 – 27, 2004. Scientists support surgeons with innovative computer and laser technology in the planning and performance of operations. At the trade fair they are demonstrating a laser system enabling ultra-fine cuts of just 0.2 mm through bone and cartilage. Researchers are also presenting medical applications for the Rapid Prototyping technology est

A team of Danish researchers have discovered that by blocking a specific enzyme, it is possible to check the spread of cancer in the body. This finding may be the first step towards preventing deaths due to cancer spreading to other parts of the body. The discovery may also help reduce the amount of chemotherapy used.

The discovery, which was recently published in the prestigious International Journal of Cancer, was made by a research team from the Finsen Laboratory at Copenhagen

Wie alte Kulturen Schmerzen behandelten

Im antiken Mittelmeerraum war es bei der Behandlung von schmerzenden Gliedern verbreitet, diese in Bottiche zu tauchen, die von elektrischen Fischen wimmelten. Die Torpedorochen versetzten den griechischen oder römischen Patienten Stromschläge und linderten dadurch deren Leiden. In medizinischen Schriften dieser Zeit werden die Tiere auch zur Behandlung chronischer Kopfschmerzen empfohlen. Dieser Therapieansatz hielt sich verblüffenderweis

A recently published dissertation from the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden shows that testosterone has both a physiological and a psychological impact on women’s sexuality.

In her dissertation, gynecologist Angelique Flöter Rådestad has studied the effects of combined testosterone and estrogen on sexuality, well-being, and the consistency of bones and the body in women who have had their uterus and ovaries removed.

Several previous studies have shown that hormones like e

A new ape species from Spain called Pierolapithecus catalaunicus, or its close relative, may have been the last common ancestor to all living great apes, including humans, researchers say. The Spanish paleontology team describes its fossil find in the 19 November issue of the journal Science, published by AAAS, the nonprofit science society.

Like other great apes, Pierolapithecus had a stiff lower spine and other special adaptations for climbing. These features, plus the fossil&#

Implications for chronic use of COX-2 Inhibitors in pre-menopausal women

Heart disease is less pronounced in women than in men as humans age, but this difference narrows after menopause. Some studies have shown that estrogen slows heart disease in mouse models, but the mechanism is largely unknown. Now scientists from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine show for the first time that in female mice protection from hardening of the arteries purported to come from higher l

In a developing embryo, the growth of nerves cannot outpace the establishment of life-giving blood vessels. Now, researchers have found that a protein intimately involved in blood vessel patterning actually belongs to a family of proteins known to guide neural development.

The researchers said the studies provide more evidence of communication between developing nerves and blood vessels. Understanding how those networks talk to each other could help researchers devise methods to

Scientists at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, have created a model that predicts the survival of follicular lymphoma patients based on the molecular characteristics of their tumors at diagnosis. The model is based on two sets of genes–called survival-associated signatures–whose activity was found to be associated with good or poor prognosis for patients with the cancer. The scientists’ results, to be published in the November 19, 2004,

Holds hope for sufferers of macular degeneration

For the first time researchers have shown that transplanted stem cells can preserve and improve vision in eyes damaged by retinal disease. In the cover article in the November 2004 Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science, scientists from Harvard’s Schepens Eye Research Institute describe results of a mouse study in which transplanted stem cells develop into retinal cells, prevent the death of “at risk” retina cells in the rec

Biochemistry department featured in December issue of the prestigious Nature Methods scientific publication

The biochemistry department of the Université de Montréal salutes the brilliant research performed by Julie Perroy, post-doctoral trainee, and Stéphanie Pontier, graduate student, on the protein ubiquitination process. Their article describing this research work appears in the year-end review of the Nature Methods scientific publication. The work was performed under the dire

The identification of a gene expression profile using microarray technology may help clinicians better determine the prognosis of patients with advanced stage ovarian cancer and may eventually help provide targeted therapies for this hard-to-treat disease, according to a study led by investigators at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC).

The findings, described in an advance on-line publication of the December issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology, represent the fi

The sea urchin’s tough, brittle spines are an engineering wonder. Composed of a single crystal from base to needle-sharp tip, they grow back within a few days after being broken off. Now, a team of scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science has shown how they do it.

While many crystals grow from component atoms or molecules that are dissolved in liquid, sugar and salt being the most familiar examples, the team of Profs. Lia Addadi and Steve Weiner, of the Institute’

Using biominerals as an inspiration, Livermore physicist Jim De Yoreo and his LLNL research team have determined a key factor in how to manipulate the shapes of crystals.

In a series of experiments using an atomic force microscope, De Yoreo’s team and that of Patricia Dove, a geoscientist from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, used four different biomolecules to study their effects on the dynamics of atomic steps during crystallization. They set out to test a two-

In experiments with mice, a research team led by Johns Hopkins scientists has discovered an unusual protein pair that stops blood vessels’ growth in the developing back. Results of the studies, published today in the express online edition of Science, are of special interest to researchers trying to prevent blood flow that nourishes tumors or exploit the signals vessels emit during growth to help regrow damaged nerves.

During an animal’s prenatal development, protein “sig