Lead chelation therapy can lessen learning and behavioral problems due to lead exposure, but the therapy adversely affected rats with no lead in their systems, a Cornell study shows. The finding has implications for the treatment of autistic children.
Tissue regeneration strategies, such as stem cell research, have undergone notable developments over the past two decades. However, an article in the journal, Artificial Organs, suggests that many challenges must be overcome before regenerative medicine is accepted as a viable science.
Clinical researchers at the University of Pennsylvania Health System are starting a trial utilizing a new mechanism to treat the heart when its electrical pulses essentially short-circuit, referred to as atrial fibrillation (A-Fib). The tool is a high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) ablation system. It’s the first to deliver energy bursts forward in a complete circle, all at once, from outside of the vein.
A clinical trial of a new targeted breast cancer drug, led by physicians at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Cancer Center, has begun enrolling patients. The TEACH (Tykerb Evaluation After CHemotherapy) trial will investigate the experimental drug Tykerb (lapatinib) in patients with early-stage, HER2-positive breast cancer who have not been treated with Herceptin, another targeted drug used for the same type of tumor.
A University of Illinois at Chicago study has been stopped early due to dramatic preliminary results indicating that medical circumcision reduces the risk of acquiring HIV during heterosexual intercourse by 53 percent.
Kids with dyslexia can’t block out distractions, say a group of new studies. The results cast doubt on an influential neurological model of dyslexia developed in the 1970s.
Feet, rather than fists, are the most dangerous bodily weapon available, reveals research on violent assaults, published in the journal Injury Prevention. The researchers base their findings on an assessment of nearly 25,000 people treated in emergency care in and around Cardiff, Wales between 1999 and 2005. All had sustained injuries during acts of violence.
Two Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) research teams working independently have discovered new information about how the botulinum neurotoxin shuts down neurons with deadly efficiency. By providing detailed views of the toxin plugged into its neuronal receptor, the new studies could aid efforts to engineer specialized versions of the powerful neurotoxin that is used to treat a wide array of medical problems.
Patients suffering from the most common type of lung cancer experienced a 20-percent improvement in overall survival in a national clinical trial of a drug that chokes off the blood vessels nourishing tumors, a multicenter study has found.
The American Dietetic Association commends Congress for passing a three-year reauthorization of the Ryan White CARE Act, the largest federal program specifically for people with HIV and AIDS, with new attention to the unique dietary needs of patients.