Researchers have found a marker on head and neck tumor cells that indicates which cells are capable of fueling the cancer’s growth. The finding is the first evidence of cancer stem cells in head and neck tumors.
Contrary to previous thinking, the inefficient movement of cell’s “power plants” — the mitochondria — within a cell, rather than their low energy production, may be a contributing factor in the development of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT), new research shows.
Nearly 10 percent of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) victims have mutations or variations in genes associated with potentially lethal heart rhythms (arrhythmias), according to two newly published studies involving Vanderbilt researchers.
Surveyors of anti-aging elixirs tout human growth hormone as a remedy for all things sagging-from skin to libidos — and claim it can even prevent or reverse aging. But researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine say there’s no evidence to suggest that this purported fountain of youth has any more effect than a trickle of tap water when it comes to fending off Father Time.
Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) found consistent evidence that smoking is associated with an increased risk of TB. They also found that passive smoking (secondhand smoke) and the burning of biomass fuels was associated with an increased TB risk.
In a small series of patients who underwent closed reduction, the standard procedure to repair a broken nose, nearly one-third reported dissatisfaction with the outcome and about one-third said they would consider further surgery to correct their nasal deformities, according to a report in the January/February issue of Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
A review of published data on use of human growth hormone by healthy elderly people found that the synthetic hormone was associated with small changes in body composition but not in body weight or other clinically important outcomes. Further, people who took GH had increased rates of unhealthy side effects such as soft tissue swelling, joint pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, and, in men, abnormal breast development and were also somewhat more likely to develop diabetes.
Results of a recent study linking low LDL cholesterol to Parkinson’s provide the strongest evidence to date that it could be real, because statins work by reducing LDL cholesterol. The study by researchers at University of North Carolina showed that patients with low levels of LDL cholesterol are more than three and a half times more likely to develop Parkinson’s disease than those with higher LDL levels.
Smokers have an increased risk of tuberculosis (TB) infection, TB disease and of dying from TB compared to people who do not smoke.
A score that measures the proteomic profile of amniotic fluid may predict inflammation before delivery. Researchers from Yale University, led by Catalin Buhimschi, have previously identified a set of four protein markers that were closely associated with inflammation in the amniotic fluid, and developed a score based on these proteins “the “Mass Restricted” (MR) score. This score has been shown to be able to identify women at risk of preterm delivery.