Over the past several decades, the incidence of melanoma ? the most serious form of skin cancer ? has steadily increased in the United States. From 1995 to 2004, melanoma has increased by more than 1 percent per year in this country ? in sharp contrast to overall cancer rates that have steadily decreased by 0.6 percent per year during this time.
While laser and light-based therapies continue to make their mark on many dermatologic procedures, some dermatologists believe the tried-and-true oral medications for treating moderate to severe acne offer patients the best long-term treatment outcomes. In fact, the introduction of new oral acne medications demonstrates that the demand for systemic acne therapies is still strong.
UK scientists have shown for the first time that key proteins involved in Alzheimer’s disease are also implicated in glaucoma, the major cause of irreversible blindness worldwide. Research carried out at the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology and funded by the Wellcome Trust has also shown that novel drugs being trialled for Alzheimer’s disease which target this protein may be used to treat glaucoma.
Which brain processes enable humans to rapidly access their personal knowledge? What happens if humans perceive either familiar or unfamiliar objects? The answer to these questions may lie in the direction of information flow transmitted between specialized brain areas that together establish a dynamic cortical network. This finding is reported in the latest issue of the scientific journal PLoS ONE published on Aug. 1, 2007.
Virginia Commonwealth University researchers studying hemoglobin genes, mutations of which play a role in genetic blood disorders like sickle cell anemia and beta-thalassemia, have identified two proteins that are responsible for regulating overlapping groups of genes during the development of red blood cells.
On 3 August UK Chief Veterinary Officer, Debby Reynolds confirmed the presence of Foot and Mouth Disease on a farm near Guildford, in Surrey.
American women have gotten fatter as it has become more socially acceptable to carry a few extra pounds, according to a new study.
Concussions are common in young athletes but the underlying changes in brain function that occur have been poorly understood. Now, a University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine study is the first to link changes in brain function directly to the recovery of the athlete. Results of the five-year study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, are published in the August issue of the scientific peer-reviewed journal, Neurosurgery, the official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons.
For more than 200 years, vaccines have played an important role in the prevention of infectious diseases. In the United States, measles, mumps and rubella are now rare diseases thanks to vaccines. Now, two vaccines recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ? the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine and the herpes zoster vaccine ? are proving effective in protecting people from serious or potentially life-threatening diseases.
A report from researchers at Children’s Hospital Boston and the Harvard Stem Cell Institute sheds new light on a now-discredited Korean embryonic stem cell line, setting the historical record straight and also establishing a much-needed set of standards for characterizing human embryonic stem cells. The report was published online August 2 by the journal Cell Stem Cell.