A study published this week in the scientific journal PNAS provides new information on the origin of different cells in the cerebellum, an important component of the central nervous system found in all vertebrates, including humans, and the part of the brain that controls movement.
Brain activity has been compared to a light bulb turning on in the head. Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have reversed this notion, creating a drug that stops brain activity when a light shines on it.
Multiple sclerosis, diabetes, and arthritis are among a variety of autoimmune diseases that are aggravated when one type of white blood cell, called the immune regulatory cell, malfunctions. In humans, one cause of this malfunction is when a mutation in the FOXP3 gene disables the immune cells? ability to function.
An estimated 75% of Americans seek medical advice from their doctors each year, confirming that health care workers wield significant influence over their patients? lifestyle choices. Unfortunately, physicians tend to underestimate their role as health counselors and don?t always suggest controlling heart disease risk factors, such as smoking, high cholesterol and blood pressure, obesity, and inactivity.
In experiments with laboratory mice that bearaggressive human breast cancers, UC Davis researchers have used hotnanoprobes to slow the growth of tumors — without damage to surroundinghealthy tissue. The researchers describe their work in the March issue ofthe Journal of Nuclear Medicine.
High-temperature superconductors hold the key to a handheld tool for surgeons that promises to be more accurate, cost-effective and safer than existing methods for staging and treating various cancers, including breast cancer.
A newly published study demonstrates that imaging with Positron Emission Tomography (PET) using a radiolabeled antibody accurately identifies whether a patient has clear cell renal carcinoma — the most common and aggressive type of renal tumor — and arms the urologist with crucial information that will help determine whether surgery is needed.
The case for low-carbohydrate diets is gaining weight. Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have completed the largest and longest-ever comparison of four popular diets, and the lowest-carbohydrate Atkins diet came out on top.
Postmenopausal women without symptoms of cardiovascular problems who have minor or major abnormalities on an electrocardiogram are at increased risk for future cardiovascular events and death, according to a study in the March 7 issue of JAMA.
Across the country, states are embroiled in a debate over “specialty hospitals” ? physician-owned hospitals that focus on a single disease process such as heart care or orthopedics. The debate has intensified ever since a federal government moratorium on opening new specialty hospitals expired last year.