Can conception, the most intimate of human experiences, be automated? Teruo Fujii of the University of Tokyo in Japan and his colleagues are building a microfluidic chip to nurture the first stages of pregnancy.
Should we be watching our exposure to airborne pollution as well as our cholesterol levels” Research now indicates that air pollution has a role to play in atherosclerosis (artery hardening), which can contribute to heart attacks or strokes.
A combination of two types of blood pressure-lowering drugs — an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEI) plus an angiotensin-receptor blocker (ARB), added to enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) with agalsidase-beta (Fabrazyme, Genzyme Corporation, Cambridge, Mass.) — is the first treatment shown to stop progressive loss of kidney function in patients with severe kidney involvement due to the rare genetic disorder Fabry disease, reports a study in the September Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.
Itching for a better anti-itch remedy” Your wish may soon be granted now that scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified the first gene for the itch sensation in the central nervous system.
Imagine a chip, strategically placed in the brain, that could prevent epileptic seizures or allow someone who has lost a limb to control an artificial arm just by thinking about it.
UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have found that a user-friendly, 30-minute, video-based cardiopulmonary resuscitation training session is just as effective as the traditional three- to four-hour course in teaching basic life-saving techniques to laypersons.
Researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center have developed a fast and accurate way to measure a major hormone released by the thyroid gland — an advance they say may help in the treatment of many women who have overactive or underactive thyroid glands.
Testicular cancer patients who do not respond to traditional therapy can be cured with high-dose chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant, according to an Indiana University School of Medicine report in the July 26 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
Cancer patients who receive a drug that stimulates the growth of infection-fighting white blood cells may be significantly less likely to die from a chemotherapy-related complication characterized by fever and low white blood cell levels, according to a multi-institutional study led by researchers from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry and the Duke University Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Mummies that have recently been unearthed in South Korea may provide clues on how to combat hepatitis B, according to Prof. Mark Spigelman of the Kuvin Center for the Study of Infectious and Tropical Diseases at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.