In a new study, researchers examined the differential contribution of genetic factors involved in regulating blood pressure based on samples drawn from a large community. They found significant differences in genetic contributors to blood pressure in males vs. females.
For patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), the risk of elevated levels of parathyroid hormone (PTH), or hyperparathyroidism?a significant complication that increases the risk of cardiovascular problems and death?increases along with body weight, reports a study in the September Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.
A literature review published in the August issue of the Journal of Periodontology (JOP) saw a strong relationship between stress and periodontal diseases; 57% of the studies included in the review showed a positive relationship between periodontal diseases and psychological factors such as stress, distress, anxiety, depression, and loneliness.
Almac Diagnostics announced a major study analysing ductal carcinoma in situ tissue samples using its novel Breast Cancer DSA? microarray. DSA? research tools focus on the transcriptome of an individual disease, in this case breast cancer, and contain significant additional data, relevant to the disease of interest that is not available on other generic microarrays.
deCODE scientists have identified a sequence variant responsible for virtually all cases of a major subtype of glaucoma. The protein encoded by the gene appears to have a clear pathophysiologal role.
A reanalysis of the data used in a previous analysis of the drug Rosiglitazone — marketed by GlaxoSmithKoine as Avandia — using different statistical models suggests that the earlier methodology may have resulted in inflated risk estimates.
An in-depth understanding of the mechanisms that trigger cancer cell growth is vital to the development of more targeted treatments for the disease. An article published in the August 3 issue of Molecular Cell provides a key to these mechanisms that may prove crucial in the future.
It may not be inhaled into the lungs, but smokeless tobacco exposes users to some of the same potent carcinogens as cigarettes. In the August issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, researchers at the University of Minnesota Cancer Center report that users of smokeless tobacco are exposed to higher amounts of tobacco-specific nitrosamines — molecules that are known to be carcinogenic — than smokers.
According to a new landmark study published in The New England Journal of Medicine, infusions of clotting factor VIII used preventively can significantly reduce the risk of developing joint damage associated with joint bleeding in young children with hemophilia A.
New molecular pathway shown in bone healing that could be enhanced by lithium treatment. Researchers have described a novel molecular pathway that may have a critical role in bone healing and have suggested that lithium, which affects this pathway, has the potential to improve fracture healing.