For African Americans infected with HIV, the risk of end-stage renal disease is six times higher than for whites with HIV — and similar to the ESRD risk associated with diabetes, reports a study in the November Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.
Schizophrenia may occur, in part, because of a problem in an intermittent on/off switch for a gene involved in making a key chemical messenger in the brain, scientists have found in a study of human brain tissue. The researchers found that the gene is turned on at increasingly high rates during normal development of the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain involved in higher functions like thinking and decision-making — but that this normal increase may not occur in people with schizophrenia.
It’s almost flu season, so keep washing your hands and get a flu shot. But no matter how well we prepare, the virus stays one step ahead. Researchers now think that’s because the flu virus doesn’t vacation—it remains on duty throughout the year, traveling the globe and mixing with other strains.
New data generated using mice by Charles Drake and colleagues at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, have identified a role for the protein LAG-3 in limiting the response of immune cells known as CD8+ T cells to both host and tumor proteins.
Eating garlic is one of the best ways to lower high blood pressure and protect yourself from cardiovascular disease. A new study from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) shows this protective effect is closely linked to how much hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is produced from garlic compounds interacting with red blood cells.
Immune cells known as neutrophils produce reactive oxygen intermediates (ROIs) to combat infection with microbes that can cause diseases such as pneumonia. New insight into the molecular pathway regulating neutrophil production of ROIs in mice has been provided by Wojciech Swat and colleagues at Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis.
The epilepsy drug lamotrigine is effective in controlling partial seizures when taken once a day as an added therapy, according to a study published in the October 16, 2007, issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
Children diagnosed with sleep-disordered breathing appear to sleep better and have improved behavior following removal of their tonsils and adenoids, according to a report in the October issue of Archives of Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Using acupuncture before and during surgery significantly reduces the level of pain and the amount of potent painkillers needed by patients after the surgery is over, according to Duke University Medical Center anesthesiologists who combined data from 15 small randomized acupuncture clinical trials.
More than one-third of patients receiving HIV medication in Africa die or discontinue their treatment within two years, according to a study published in PLoS Medicine.