Researchers at SUNY Downstate Medical Center have developed a substance that inhibits the progress of multiple sclerosis (MS) in an animal model. The agent, a novel calpain inhibitor, can be administered orally.
Dystonia, a group of diseases that cause a patient’s muscles to involuntary contract with movement, has had a relatively limited and ineffective number of treatments in the past. New research shows that a recently developed surgical treatment, deep brain stimulation (an off switch for the brain), has provided dramatic benefits in some patients.
Psychologists estimate that hundreds, even thousands, of people directly affected by the events of Sept. 11, 2001, are still crippled by post-traumatic stress disorder.
To find a cure for cancer, the modern-day plague of our society — is synonymous to finding the holy grail of science. At a recent EuroDYNA conference in Brno, Czech Republic, scientists from around Europe came together to share their research carried out in the field of genetics and cell nucleus architecture. A greater understanding of the body’s building blocks might ultimately lead to a better understanding of human disease.
There is a strong link between panic episodes and increased complications from diabetes, according to a study conducted at Group Health Cooperative, a Seattle-based health system. The work appears in the November issue of General Hospital Psychiatry. Of the 4,385 patients surveyed, 193 reported experiencing recent episodes of panic. Panic episodes were associated with higher blood sugar levels, increased diabetic complications and symptoms, greater disability and lower self-rated health and functioning.
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), one of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is launching the largest randomized clinical trial of the effectiveness and safety of long-term, home oxygen therapy for COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). The six-year, $28 million project will study patients with moderate disease.
Donald A.B. Lindberg, MD, Director of the National Library of Medicine (NLM), a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), today announced that the NLM is awarding 18 five-year grants, totaling more than $75million, for research training in biomedical informatics, the discipline that seeks to apply computer and communications technology to the field of health.
The National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) today announced the results of the recent competition for support of its three large-scale sequencing centers, strengthening efforts to use the power of DNA sequencing to unlock the genomic secrets of human diseases. Also today, NHGRI and the National Cancer Institute (NCI), both part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), announced that all three sequencing centers will devote a significant part of their efforts to The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) Pilot Project, which is testing the feasibility of a large-scale, systematic approach to identify important genomic changes involved in cancer.
After a doctor sees a patient, he or she often prescribes medications. But what if such a doctor also wants to direct a patient to up-to-date, reliable, consumer-friendly information about a genetic condition, or an explanation of the basics of genetic science? Under a new program launched today, practitioners are being encouraged to refer their patients to Genetics Home Reference, a free, patient-friendly Web site of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), at http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov.
Compounds known to play an important role in how insects develop from larvae to adults have been shown in a mouse model for congestive heart failure to be effective in preventing and reducing cardiac cell overgrowth and irregular heart rhythms, according to UC Davis research published in the early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.