A blood component called cystatin C, used to test for early-stage kidney impairment, also may be a very early marker for those at risk of developing a condition known as pre-diabetes, a study conducted by researchers at the University at Buffalo has shown.
In what they call a “stunning research advance,” investigators at Georgetown University Medical Center have been able to use simple, nontoxic chemical injections to add and remove fat in targeted areas on the bodies of laboratory animals. They say the discovery, published online in Nature Medicine on July 1, could revolutionize human cosmetic and reconstructive plastic surgery and treatment of diseases associated with human obesity.
Health Canada is warning consumers not to use the product Encore Tabs for Men, because it contains an undeclared pharmaceutical ingredient similar to the approved drug tadalafil.
Health Minister Tony Clement announced that Health Canada is adopting the Trans Fat Task Force?s recommendation on trans fats in Canadian foods, by calling on Canada?s food industry to limit the trans fat content of vegetable oils and soft, spreadable margarines to 2 percent of the total fat content, and to limit the trans fat content for all other foods to 5 percent, including ingredients sold to restaurants.
The most common procedure for clearing blocked kidney arteries can also release thousands of tiny particles into the bloodstream that can impair kidney function, according to researchers from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center and colleagues.
Scientists have discovered a new type of mouse embryonic stem cell that is the closest counterpart yet to human embryonic stem cells, the National Institutes of Health announced today. The cells are expected to serve as an improved model for human ES cells in studies of regeneration, disease pathology and basic stem cell biology.
A new genetic test targeting the most common types of muscular dystrophy — those caused by mutations in the dystrophin gene — is far quicker with greater accuracy and sensitivity than existing tests. It can be used to confirm clinical diagnoses, to test female family members who may be carriers, and to perform prenatal testing.
Stroke is a leading cause of hospital admission among older adults. Yet more hospital readmissions after stroke are for pneumonia or for heart disease than for another stroke, according to a study published in the June 2007 issue of the journal Stroke. This finding may alter the standard medical management of post-stroke patients.
The use of drugs to prevent heart complications during surgery is called into question in this week?s BMJ.
Pioneering work to reduce the use of animals in scientific research — and ultimately remove them from laboratories altogether — has received a major boost at The University of Nottingham.