Preliminary findings from a University of Florida study show there is little difference in the dose of general anesthesia needed to anesthetize patients in weightless or normal gravity environments. It’s a step forward, but just one of many hurdles researchers face in trying to establish proper medical protocols in space.
Genetic research over the past decade has linked Ashkenazi Jewish ethnicity to an increased risk for hereditary breast cancer, so much so that certain gene mutations have become known as “Jewish ancestral mutations.” But a new study released in the November 2006 issue of the American Journal of Public Health challenges this population-based approach, warning that disparities in access to care and other unintended consequences for specific ethic groups can result, and may have already occurred.
A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine shows that treatment for periodontal disease in pregnant women does not result in a lower rate of adverse pregnancy outcomes such as preterm birth and low birth weight. At the same time, the study showed that periodontal treatment during pregnancy is safe. The researchers recommend additional studies to assess the potential benefits of the treatment.
A groundbreaking study, which provides the first ever comprehensive analysis of sexual behaviour around the world, is published today in the Lancet, as part of a major series on sexual and reproductive health.
A leading population expert will today make a plea for a revitalization of the family planning agenda in the world’s poorest countries, cautioning that soaring population rates are now a bigger threat to achieving the MDGs than HIV/AIDS.
In the November 15th issue of G&D, Dr. Robert Schneider and colleagues at NYU School of Medicine report that the AUF1 gene underlies susceptibility to septic shock.
New research shows that higher levels of uric acid are strongly associated with high blood pressure in blacks, suggesting that a simple blood test could predict risk and that treatments to lower uric acid may be a novel way to reduce hypertension-related complications in this population.
Ohio State University chemists have devised a new way to create tiny molecular rings that could one day function as drug delivery devices or antibiotics. The rings are made from polymers — large molecules that are made up of many smaller molecules — and the chemical reaction that creates them is similar to others that create polymer chains. But this new reaction solely makes rings, ones tailored to perform specific functions.
Just a small fraction of patients who have a stroke receive the only drug — TPA — available to treat the condition. Now doctors and scientists at the University of Rochester Medical Center have developed a potential new treatment that will reach a milestone in the next few months, when the experimental treatment is tested for the first time in people who have suffered a stroke or “brain attack.”
In this era of molecular medicine, controversy among cancer researchers is increasing as to whether the laboratory cells they study — and upon which human treatment is based — accurately reflect the biology of “real” tumors growing in a person’s body. Some argue that cancer cells that learn to live in a flat lab dish cannot reflect cancer in the body, but others say that without any other way to study cancer, they seem to have performed well.