RSSGenetics
Do Your Genes Determine Which Diet Means Weight-Loss Success?
Katherine Hobson
The more science learns about the marvelous diversity among human beings -- fueled by genetic, environmental, and other factors -- the clearer it becomes that a one-size-fits-all approach to diet is bound to fail
Strong Genetic Component May be Associated with Asperger Syndrome
Robert Voigt, M.D., Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, Mayo Clinic
Asperger syndrome is a developmental disorder that affects a child's ability to socialize and communicate effectively with others. Children with Asperger syndrome typically exhibit social awkwardness and an all-absorbing interest in specific topics. Doctors and researchers don't understand exactly what causes Asperger syndrome, there seems to be a strong genetic component associated with this disorder
Clinical Trials Are Testing Stem Cells as Heart Failure Treatment
Sarah Baldauf
The ongoing study is one of many clinical trials now testing the ability of heart failure patients' own stem cells--which renew themselves and can develop into a range of cell types--to regenerate heart muscle and restore blood flow inside the heart tissue.
Why and How to Put Together a Family Medical History
Katherine Hobson
Most of us are aware of our family medical history on some level -- we're pretty familiar with our parents' recent ailments, for example, and probably could tell you what our grandparents died from. But if pressed to be more specific, we might not have all the details -- and those can be important. The information a detailed family medical history offers might change your own medical care or provide a needed incentive to make better lifestyle choices.
Hybrid Hearts for Transplant: Could Stem Cells Solve Rejection Problems
Andy Coghlan, New Scientist Magazine
Human organs for transplant are scarce. One option is to engineer organs from scratch in the lab, using artificial scaffolds. While bladders and skin can be grown in the lab, growing more complex organs and their intricate blood-vessel networks, has proved tricky.
Embryonic Stem Cells & Other Stem Cells Promise to Advance Treatments
Katherine Hobson
While the attention of the public and ethicists has been focused on embryonic stem cells, research into other kinds of stem cells -- including the adult bone-marrow stem cells -- has been advancing and, in some cases, exploding. Adult stem cells have been used in bone marrow transplants for 40 years, and trials are expected to expand their use. Meanwhile, many scientists predict that induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPS cells, created by turning back the biological clock of normal adult cells, will one day supplant embryonic stem cells.
Anthony Atala: Grinding Out New Organs One at a Time
Megan Johnson
Anthony Atala was the first to build a functioning organ from scratch -- a bladder made cell by cell -- and put it into a patient, a child whose own bladder was congenitally deformed. Since that breakthrough a decade ago, the 50-year-old pediatric urologist, director of Wake Forest University's Institute for Regenerative Medicine, has moved on to cobbling up bones, heart valves, muscles, and some 20 other body parts.
Jean Bennett and Albert Maguire: Gene Therapy to Reverse Near-Blindness
Deborah Kotz
The partners have restored much of the vision in patients who have a rare genetic form of severely impaired eyesight called Leber's congenital amaurosis, in which a mutated gene prevents the retina from manufacturing a nutrient vital to eye health. The technique eventually could be tried to treat macular degeneration.
First international study on the prevention of diabetes; Better and more cost-effective treatment possible. Patients with impaired glucose tolerance who receive treatment with acarbose at an early stage can not only prevent type II (adult-onset) diabetes from developing but can also drastically lower the risk of cardiovascular complications such as myocardial infarction. These findings of the large-scale international STOP-NIDDM Study were recently presented at the 21st International Bayer Pharma Press Seminar in Munich. "The clock starts ticking long before diabetes is diagnosed," warned the Principal Investigator of the Study, Professor Jean-Louis Chiasson from Montreal, Canada. According to Professor Chiasson, the findings of the STOP-NIDDM Study confirm that impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), a condition regarded as a precursor stage to diabetes, has to be treated at an early stage if cardiovascular complications which frequently take a fatal course are to be avoided.
West Nile Virus Underlines Threat From Mosquito-Borne Diseases
West Nile virus is spreading rapidly across the United States and poses a significant threat to human health, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
New Tool for Mammography Can Help Detect Breast Cancer More Effectively
The government re-affirmed the importance of early breast cancer detection with its recent update to guidelines recommending that women age 40 and older have mammograms. A new computer-aided tool can make mammograms even better by highlighting potential areas of concern, and ultimately increasing early detection.
Insect Repellent Helps Prevent Insect-Borne Diseases - Naturally
Many people are changing their perceptions about mosquitoes - from an itchy annoyance to a potential health risk. Already this year, reports of mosquito-borne encephalitis (West Nile and St. Louis) have been recorded in central Florida and Louisiana. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 20,000 confirmed cases of insect-related illnesses in humans are reported each year.
Drinking Purple Grape Juice Reduces Breast Cancer Cell Growth in Animal Study
A new study finds that drinking purple grape juice reduces breast cancer cell growth in animal study.
Stress & the Expectant Working Mom
For nearly one million working women who become pregnant each year, juggling stress in the workplace along with stress that comes with being pregnant can be a tall order. First among them is how to work and manage a healthy pregnancy at the same time.
People With Diabetes Fear Disability More Than Death
Singing Artist Gladys Knight Urges Americans with Diabetes to "Know More, Do More" to Reduce Their Risk of Deadly Heart Attacks and Strokes
AdvaMed Highlights How Medical Technologies Play a Key Role in Combating Bioterrorism
New medical technologies are under development to improve detection, prevention, and surveillance of bioterrorist attacks, health care experts reported at a recent meeting of the U.S. House of Representatives Medical Technology Caucus on Capitol Hill.
New Hope for Women with Advanced Breast Cancer
FemaraŽ (letrozole tablets) Data Demonstrate Survival Advantage in First-Line Hormonal Treatment of Post-Menopausal Women with Advanced Breast Cancer
Kids Are Not As Healthy And Fit As They Could Be
Health and Fitness Habits Get Worse As Kids Enter The Teen Years. Are children leading healthy lifestyles? Not always, according to a new survey.
Surgeon General Releases Preliminary Findings On Health Disparities and Mental Retardation
Comments from Surgeon General David Satcher at the conference on Health Disparities and Mental Retardation at a news conference in Washington, D.C.