Drinking green tea may do more than just thwart a head cold, according to research presented today at the American Association for Cancer Research Second Annual International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research. Green tea already is believed to help lower cholesterol and prevent heart disease, fight bacteria and dental cavities, and possibly aid weight loss. New studies are now suggesting the various potential anti-cancer benefits of the age-old beverage.

“Laboratory studi

’Extended’ criteria increase organ donations without compromising patient health

Using more liberal criteria to evaluate potential lung donors combined with aggressive donor management significantly increases the availability of potential lung donors, and ultimately decreases mortality of recipients on the waiting list, says a new study presented at CHEST 2003, the 69th annual international scientific assembly of the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP). The new study

Onset of coronary events occur within one week of aspirin withdrawal

Patients with coronary artery disease who stop taking aspirin may be at risk for developing withdrawal-related coronary events, says a new study presented at CHEST 2003, the 69th annual international scientific assembly of the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP). The study found that previously stable coronary patients experienced coronary events, including unstable angina and myocardial infarction (heart att

A UCLA study demonstrates for the first time that specific cells found in the adult artery wall have stem cell-like potential. Researchers found artery cells that change into cartilage, bone, muscle and marrow stromal cells.

The new study will be published online on Oct. 27 and will appear in an upcoming print issue of the journal Circulation. The study may lead to a new source of adult stem cells, which may increase potential treatment options and avoid the controversial use of fetal stem

In 1984, HARBOR BRANCH scientists exploring deep waters off the Bahamas in one of the institution’s Johnson-Sea-Link submersibles discovered a small piece of sponge that harbored a chemical with a remarkable ability to kill cancer cells in laboratory tests. Despite almost two decades of searching, though, the group was never able to find enough of the sponge to fully explore its potential. But now that process can finally begin because, thanks to some creative detective work, the team has found

Cassowaries’ low-frequency sounds may give insight into dinosaur communications

A family of huge forest birds living in the dense jungles of Papua New Guinea emit low-frequency calls deeper than virtually all other bird species, possibly to communicate through thick forest foliage, according to a study published by the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society.

Published in the recent issue of the scientific journal The Auk, the study says that three species of cassowaries

Sometimes familiarity does not breed contempt: A Cornell University behavioral scientist has found that female wolf spiders prefer mates that are comfortably familiar.

However, the researcher has discovered, a male wolf spider unlucky enough to attempt to mate with an unfamiliar female probably is doomed to be killed and eaten by the female.

“Finding this behavior is really surprising. Social experience influences mate choice,” says Eileen Hebets, a Cornell postdoctoral researcher

Smokers are nearly twice as likely to develop multiple sclerosis (MS) as people who have never smoked, according to a study published in the October 28 issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The risk was increased for people whether they were smokers at the time they developed MS or were past smokers. “This is one more reason for young people to avoid smoking,” said study author Trond Riise, PhD, of the University of Bergen in Norway. “Hopef

Lowering blood pressure in the first 24 hours following a stroke can be harmful to recovery, according to a study published in the October 28 issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

A team in Brazil studied blood pressure in 115 stroke patients. The average blood pressure upon hospital admission was 160/94 mm Hg (mercury). Blood pressure dropped in all patients – either spontaneously or with medication – during the first 24 hours after stroke (the

A component of red wine, resveratrol, seems to damp down the inflammatory process in the progressive lung disease COPD, finds a small study in Thorax.

So effective was resveratrol in laboratory tests that the authors suggest that the compound could be developed to treat the disease.

COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) is irreversible and progressive. The lungs deteriorate, making it difficult, and eventually impossible, to breathe. Treatment is at best palliative. Smoking

Researchers in Germany are using a new combination treatment to first shrink and then kill liver tumors, according to a study appearing in the November issue of the journal Radiology.

The first part of the treatment, transarterial chemoembolization (TACE), is “a mixture of occlusion (closing off passages), reduction of the blood supply and chemotherapy to help decrease the size of the tumor,” said study author Thomas J. Vogl, M.D., chairman of the Department of Diagnostic and Interventional

Discovery opens doors to treating symptom that can cause the body to attack itself

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have identified a variant of the human gene for tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) as the cause for photosensitivity in lupus patients. This discovery, which was presented today at the annual scientific meeting of the American College of Rheumatology, will not only help in treating photosensitivity, but will also advance research on

In the first national study to examine survival among liver transplant patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), researchers found excellent five-year survival results, with a steady improvement over the last decade. Hepatocellular carcinoma, also known as hepatoma, or cancer of the liver, is a common cancer worldwide, with more than one million new cases diagnosed each year and a median life expectancy of six to nine months. Most hepatoma patients have cirrhosis, a risk factor of hepato

Cellular immunity amongst the elderly with non-hospital acquired pneumonia diminishes both quantitatively and qualitatively. Nevertheless, the cellular immunosupression detected in these patients is reversible and improves with time.

30% mortality

In the past few decades there has been a significant and progressive increase in the number of elderly people and so there is a greater number of illnesses such as pneumonia. The problem arises because pneumonia amongst the elderl

Scientists have developed a potential treatment for severe incontinence that means the millions of sufferers worldwide could one day throw away their incontinence pads.

University of Melbourne scientists, who developed the technique, have now licensed the intellectual property to Continence Control Systems International P/L (CCS), an Australian company created to commercialise the technology that will address a worldwide potential market of more than A$1 billion per year.

Ur

New findings hold potential for new AIDS prevention

Researchers at Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Clinic have discovered a way that the mouth may prevent the contraction of HIV. The findings are reported in the October 28 issue of the international journal AIDS. The researchers also added that the findings hold potential for finding new ways of preventing AIDS and other infections in the body.

With the lining of the mouth constantly under attack by a barra