Vitamin E supplements can help reduce the risk of coronary heart disease; a low-fat diet can help reduce the risk of coronary heart disease; but research at the University of Surrey has now shown that if a vitamin E supplement is taken with a low-fat meal, the absorption of the vitamin into the blood stream, and therefore its efficacy, is significantly reduced.

Dr John Lodge and his team discovered that the absorption of vitamin E into the blood stream was minimal when taken with only a gl

James A. Harris, M.D., of the Hair Sciences Center of Colorado has invented and patented a new minimally invasive technology which will revolutionize the field of hair transplantation surgery. The new system utilizes an instrument called the Harris SAFE Scribe — a small, self-contained device — to isolate, extract and transplant single follicular units of hair without the trauma associated with other types of hair transplantation surgery.

According to Dr. Harris, a head and ne

Biologists discover gene that helps roots limit leaf growth

University of Utah biologists discovered a gene that allows a plant’s roots to tell the leaves to stop growing, presumably when water is scarce, soil is too compacted or other conditions are bad.

While roots obviously carry food and water to the leaves, the new findings help show how roots also send chemical signals that control whether or not leaves grow. How leaves grow is a crucial matter given that leafy p

Despite the well-characterized cellular basis of Parkinson’s disease — the degeneration of dopamine-production neurons — the molecular mechanisms responsible for the neurodegeneration remain unknown. Part of the challenge is finding a model that can adequately mimic the loss of dopamine cells. In two papers published in PLoS Biology, Asa Abeliovich and colleagues make the case that a model based on mouse embryonic stem cells offers a promising platform for dissecting the disease mechanism

Worldwide amphibian declines have reached crisis proportions. In many areas, habitat loss is the likely culprit but, in 1996, it was suggested that some unknown disease had spread through the populations. In 1998, the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis was identified from sick and dead frogs and, since then, several lines of laboratory based evidence have suggested that B. dendrobatidis is to blame for the dramatic frog declines. But with little information about how the disease impacts frogs i

Lein Applied Diagnostics Ltd, a Berkshire-based company that is developing a revolutionary new product to measure blood glucose levels in diabetics, has successfully completed a significant fundraising round through Thames Valley Investment Network (TVIN). The funding will enable Lein to produce next generation prototypes and perform clinical testing. The finance secured marks the third deal closed by the TVIN Network in 18 months.

Diabetes is a major problem, with 1.8 million suffer

Scientists at the University of Leicester have shown that the textbook explanation of how enzymes work is wrong – at least for some enzymes.

Their discovery may explain why attempts to make artificial enzymes have often been disappointing. Industry must now re-think the rationale for the design of biological catalysts and its approaches to drug design. Enzymes are biological molecules that accelerate chemical reactions and are central to the existence of life. The new breakthrou

Spitting into a cup or licking a diagnostic test strip could someday be an attractive alternative to having your blood drawn at the doctor’s office. Researchers have identified the largest number of proteins to date in human saliva, a preliminary finding that could pave the way for more diagnostic tests based on saliva samples. Such tests show promise as a faster, cheaper and potentially safer diagnostic method than blood sampling, they say.

“There is a growing interest in saliva a

Scientists have made significant progress in developing an animal model of smallpox that closely resembles human disease, which will be necessary for testing of future vaccines and potential treatments.

The study, published in this week’s online early edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is the first to demonstrate that variola virus, the causative agent of smallpox, can produce lethal disease in monkeys.

Smallpox, a devastating disease, was er

Rice study probes basic science related to Alzheimer’s, other diseases

Patients suffering from diseases as varied as Type II diabetes, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and dozens of lesser known maladies have one thing in common: they suffer from a large build up of amyloids, tissue that’s created when millions upon millions of misfolded proteins stick together and form a mass that the body can’t get rid of on its own. Doctors don’t yet understand whether amyloids cause disease or result f

Regular use of aspirin or other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) seems to reduce the risk of developing various cancers, including prostate cancer. Now it appears that such drugs may help men with prostate cancer live longer, according to a Fox Chase Cancer Center study presented today at the 46th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology in Atlanta, Ga.

“NSAIDs have been associated with reductions in the risk of developing various ga

Patients with deficit schizophrenia, a subtype of schizophrenia characterized by “negative” symptoms, such as blunted speech and expression, lack of emotional response, and apathy, are more likely to have been born in the summer months, according to an article in the October issue of The Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

According to the article, winter birth was reported to be a risk factor for schizophrenia in 1929. Clinical aspects of patients with schizo

According to a study presented today by a University of Pittsburgh researcher at the 46th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO) in Atlanta, a new imaging technology may more precisely track tumor movement for patients under treatment for lung cancer than conventional 3D imaging. Results presented indicate that the new technology, 4D CT, or four-dimensional computed tomography, may allow radiation oncologists to determine and predict tumor movement

Pregnant women should reduce exposure

Researchers at The Hospital for Sick Children (Sick Kids) and the University of Toronto (U of T) have linked maternal exposure to organic solvents in the workplace with poorer performance on measures of neurocognitive function, language, and behaviour in offspring. This research is reported in the October 2004 issue of the journal Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.

There are many types of organic solvents, but they all s

Researchers at Johns Hopkins have found that sibling history – whether or not a brother or sister had early heart disease – is a better predictor of a person’s likelihood of developing coronary heart disease than parental history or traditional risk factor scoring. The results strongly suggest that physicians should pay close attention to their patients who have a sibling with an early history of coronary heart disease.

Their findings, to be published in the journal Circulation online

Five studies detailed at Annual Scientific Sessions of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO)

Researchers from the Department of Radiation Oncology and the Milton and Caroll Petrie Department of Urology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine are presenting findings from five studies of prostate and breast cancer treatments at the 46th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO), October 3-7, 2004, in Atlan