Chronic infection with the hepatitis C virus (HCV) is the leading reason patients receive liver transplants today. Unfortunately, infection of the new liver by residual HCV in the blood is inevitable, and the immune system suppression crucial to prevent transplant rejection can worsen HCV-mediated disease in transplant patients.
Scientists at the University of Bonn, together with colleagues from Romania, have discovered a gene variant that significantly increases the risk of developing gallstones (Hepatology No. 46, July 11, 2007, DOI 10.1002/hep.21847). It is estimated that one in ten Europeans has this variant in their hereditary disposition. For those affected, the likelihood of developing a gallstone in the course of their life is two to three times higher.
A chemically-modified version of a mitochondrial toxin long used to control species of invasive fish in lakes has been found to selectively inhibit two “survival proteins? in cancer cells.
While the overall cost-effectiveness of Medicare benefits have been much-debated, new data now show that people who were uninsured before receiving benefits at age 65 required more intensive and costlier care than those who had been privately insured prior to receiving Medicare.
Those with heavy hearts ? in the literal not figurative sense ? long have been known to be prone to cardiac arrest and sudden death. But many are not, and who among them is subject to serious risk is a mystery.
The Minister for Education, Science and Training, the Hon Julie Bishop MP, announced the construction of a new nuclear medicine production facility that promises to significantly improve the availability of the latest in disease diagnosis and treatment to thousands of Australians suffering from cancer and serious illness each year.
The fourth annual WNY Flow Users Group Meeting at the University of Rochester Medical Center Wednesday, July 11, adds a new feature this year ? an award for innovative flow cytometry named for retired pathologist, Leon Wheeless, whose work at the University in the 1970s helped lead to the development of the high-tech (imaging) flow cytometer which is currently opening many new doors in research today at the University of Rochester and around the world.
Nearly 90 percent of all babies born in the United States ? more than double the percentage in 2005 ? live in states that require screening for at least 21 life-threatening disorders, according to the latest March of Dimes Newborn Screening Report Card.
Silence may impact women?s health since few women or their doctors are comfortable talking about vaginal health openly. This hesitation, combined with a limited understanding of the differences between women, can lead to misinformation, misdiagnosis and potentially ineffective treatments.
Far fewer rheumatoid arthritis patients treated with the drug hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) went on to develop diabetes compared to those who never took the drug, according to a 20-plus-year University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine-led study reported today in the Journal of the American Medical Association.