A new multicenter trial finds that taking silymarin (milk thistle) has no effect on serum ALT or levels of the hepatitis C virus in people with chronic hepatitis C infection.
A new study by University of North Carolina School of Medicine researchers found that 31 percent of children identified as at risk for autism spectrum disorders (ASD) at 12 months received a confirmed diagnosis of ASD by age 3 years.
Scientists at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine have used injections of antibodies to rapidly reverse the onset of Type I diabetes in mice genetically bred to develop the disease. Moreover, just two injections maintained disease remission indefinitely without harming the immune system.
CHAPEL HILL, NC – New research led by a medical geneticist at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine points to an increased risk of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) among individuals whose parents or siblings have been diagnosed with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.
A national survey identifies which U.S. military veterans may be at most risk of aggression after deployment and what strategies could potentially help reduce likelihood of violence when service members return home.
UNC scientists have discovered that a commonly held assumption is wrong and that a separate role of the SMN gene – still not completely elucidated -- is likely responsible for the disease’s manifestations.
University of North Carolina School of Medicine researchers urge changes to practice guidelines for nurses and others who provide care to sexual assault survivors.
On Monday, June 18, 2012, the UNC Center for Heart & Vascular Care’s Aortic Disease Management team became the first in the U.S. to successfully treat a complex abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) with the Zenith® Fenestrated AAA Endovascular Graft.
Although breastfeeding is attributed to a significant number of HIV infections in infants, most breastfed babies are not infected with HIV, despite prolonged and repeated exposure. HIV researchers have been left with a conundrum: does breast milk transmit the virus or protect against it? New research from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine explores this paradox in a humanized mouse model, demonstrating that breast milk has a strong virus killing effect and protects against oral transmission of HIV.
Saskia B. Neher, PhD, assistant professor in the department of biochemistry and biophysics at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, was one of twenty-two of America’s most promising scientists to be named Pew Scholars in the Biomedical Sciences by the Pew Charitable Trusts.
A new study may help clarify why some people infected with HIV are better able to control the virus. It may also pinpoint a target for treatment during early HIV infection aimed at increasing the supply of certain immune cells in the gut.
New research by scientists at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine may have pinpointed an underlying cause of the seizures that affect 90 percent of people with Angelman syndrome (AS), a neurodevelopmental disorder.
A study conducted in Chile and funded by the University of North Carolina Center for Women's Health Research finds that the most important factor in reducing maternal mortality is the educational level of women.
Embryonic stem cells are primed to kill themselves if damage to their DNA makes them a threat to the developing embryo. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researchers reveal how they do it.
A team of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researchers developed nanoparticle carriers to successfully deliver therapeutic doses of a cancer drug that had previously failed clinical development due to pharmacologic challenges.
The goal of the study is to identify genetic variations that may help predict the response to various treatment options for type 2 diabetes to reduce cardiovascular disease.
New research finds that early weaning – stopping breastfeeding before six months – is of little, if any, protective value against HIV transmission nor is it safe for infant survival.
The Perl prize carries a $10,000 award and is given to recognize a seminal achievement in neuroscience. Past recipients have included four subsequent winners of the Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine.
Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill describe how exploiting the molecular mechanism behind acupuncture resulted in six-day pain relief in animal models. They call this new therapeutic approach PAPupuncture.
A UNC-led team of scientists finds that transcription factors don’t act like an ‘on-off’ switch, but instead can exhibit much more complex binding behavior.
The discovery by an international team of researchers offers the possibility of developing therapies to intervene in utero. Some of these genes may influence disease in other cystic fibrosis-affected organs.
A research team has determined the structure of the kappa-opioid receptor—site of action of the widely abused hallucinogen Salvia divinorum – solving longstanding scientific mysteries and offering new insights for treating drug addiction, chronic pain and depression.
This is the first to demonstrate that the biological mechanism that keeps the HIV virus hidden and unreachable by current antiviral therapies can be targeted and interrupted in humans, providing new hope for a strategy to eradicate HIV completely.
A team of UNC researchers has explained for the first time how a long-studied protein complex affects cell migration and how external cues affect cell’s ability to migrate.
Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine found that during the recession, continuously insured Americans underwent fewer screening colonoscopies, a cost-effective, recommended preventive service.
A study led by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill suggests that autism does not appear suddenly in young children, but instead develops over time during infancy.
February 3, 2012 marks the grand opening of the UNC Comprehensive Angelman Syndrome Clinic at the Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities (CIDD). This new clinic brings together multiple subspecialists into one setting to address the complex medical and psycho-educational needs of individuals with Angelman syndrome and their families.
Researchers led by William E. Goldman, PhD of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine show that the plague bacteria transform the lungs from a nasty place for microbes into a playground for them to flourish.
Developing World Health (DWH), a leading medical charity based in Stirlingshire, Scotland and committed to developing effective treatments for neglected tropical diseases, has signed a collaboration agreement with the internationally respected Consortium for Parasitic Drug Development (CPDD), based at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
For more than 40 years, scientists and physicians have thought eating a high-fiber diet lowered a person’s risk of diverticulosis, a disease of the large intestine in which pouches develop in the colon wall. A new study of more than 2,000 people reveals the opposite may be true.
A study led by Margaret L. Gourlay, MD, MPH of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine finds that women aged 67 years and older with normal bone mineral density scores may not need screening again for 15 years.
The HIV Prevention Trials Network 052 study, led by Myron S. Cohen, MD of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has been named the 2011 Breakthrough of the Year by the journal Science.
An interdisciplinary team of UNC scientists say they have found a way to “awaken” the paternal allele of Ube3a, which could lead to a potential treatment strategy for AS. Their results were published online by the journal Nature.
New research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill schools of medicine and pharmacy may help explain the failure of some recent clinical trials of prevention of HIV infection, compared to the success of others that used the same drugs.
Two UNC experts write in JAMA that whole genome and whole exome sequencing technology “will routinely uncover both trivial and important medical results, both welcome and unwelcome … and presents the medical community with new challenges.”
A study by UNC researchers finds that among parents of overweight children, less than 25 percent recall ever being told by a doctor or other health care provider that their child is overweight.
Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have shown that it is safe to cut and paste together different viruses in an effort to create the ultimate vehicle for gene therapy.
Scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine have identified a cellular protein that plays a central role in the formation of new blood vessels. The molecule is the protein Shc (pronounced SHIK), and new blood vessel formation, or angiogenesis, is seriously impaired without it.
An international study finds that the immunosuppressant drug mycophenolate mofetil is superior to azathioprine, an older immunosuppressant, as a maintenance therapy for lupus nephritis. Dr. Mary Anne Dooley of UNC is first author of the study.
After a heart attack, the portions of the heart damaged by a lack of oxygen become scar tissue. Researchers have long sought ways to avoid this scarring, which can harden the walls of the heart, lessen its ability to pump blood and eventually lead to heart failure. But new research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine shows that interrupting this process can weaken heart function even further.
A study by UNC researchers finds that people 75 years old or older are less likely to receive any pain medication in hospital emergency departments than people between 35 and 54 years old.
A surgical procedure aimed at bypassing a blocked artery that supplies blood to the brain did not lower the subsequent stroke rate after 2 years in people who previously had a minor stroke, compared to those who did not have the surgery.
Study suggests that restricting sunbathing or visits to the tanning booth to morning hours reduces the risk of skin cancer. DNA repair activity may be greatest.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill scientists investigate a gene that appears to protect against rheumatoid arthritis. The research could inform future treatment approaches.
Dr. Nicholas Shaheen, professor in the UNC School of Medicine, adjunct professor in the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health and director of the UNC Center for Esophageal Diseases and Swallowing, will co-direct Barrett’s Esophagus Translational Research Network (BETRNet) projects.