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Two laboratories report the discovery that pacemaker activity in both the heart and the brain is mediated by a common family of novel genes. Pacemaker cells generate rhythmic, spontaneous electrical impulses that can control muscle activity, certain automatic functions such as breathing, and behavioral states, including arousal from sleep. Inappropriate pacemaker activity can lead to both inherited and acquired cardiac arrhythmias, and may also underlie various neurological disorders.

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Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School have characterized the function of a subunit of the NMDA receptor, a specialized molecule on nerve cells that admits calcium when activated by the neurotransmitter glutamate. The subunit, dubbed NR3A, appears to regulate the activity of the NMDA receptor in ways that may protect nerve cells from damage. Their findings are published in the May 28 Nature.

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Leading Researchers and Clinicians Present the Latest Information on Antipsychotic Treatments at the American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting in Toronto, Canada : 1)Individualizing the Treatment of Psychoses; 2) New Atypicals: Data Versus Clinical Experience

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Investigators have succeeded in designing synthetic therapeutic RNA molecules that are 14,000 times more stable in the body than their natural counterparts. After a single injection, these small catalytic RNA molecules---molecular "scissors" termed ribozymes---were able to shrink human glioma brain tumors that had been transplanted into rats from 20 grams to almost 1 gram in only 20 days.

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Amplification is a good way to get your message across. Similarly, an unusual type of virus---alphaviruses---employ a novel mechanism to amplify their mRNA in the cell to produce unprecedented amounts of protein. Now, a team of scientists in Sweden have exploited this intriguing facet of alphavirus biology to make a DNA vaccine that generates unprecedented amounts of influenza virus antigen, rendering mice resistant to influenza infection. The alphavirus-derived vaccine provides protective immunity comparable to conventional DNA vectors, but requires between 10 and 1000-fold less DNA.

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"Medical librarians can point people to the best Internet sites, help them narrow down their reading choices, or explain complicated information in easy-to-understand terms," said Rachael K. Anderson, AHIP, president of the Medical Library Association (MLA), an organization that represents 4,000 medical librarians in health, medical and academic centers across the nation.

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People who lower fat or carbohydrate intake in an attempt to lose weight might be in for a bigger battle than they expected. A new study found that people who ate low-fat or low-carbohydrate lunches compensated by eating more fat or carbohydrates at other meals.

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Despite technical refinements in the use of radioactive "seeds" to treat prostate cancer, a study by Johns Hopkins investigators casts doubt on its effectiveness in curing the disease. The radioactive pellets are put into the prostate in a procedure called interstitial radiotherapy.

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Regular exercise can help people with serious lung disease reduce anxiety and depression and improve endurance and some kinds of intellectual functioning, a new study shows.

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A study published in the May 28 issue of the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry demonstrates that Prozac (fluoxetine hydrochloride) in combination with group therapy is more effective than group therapy alone in treating HIV-positive patients diagnosed with major depression. The study also shows that Prozac did not interact significantly with any HIV medications and produced minimal side effects. Results of the study might lead to better compliance by patients already taking multiple drug therapies.

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More than 1,800 original research studies aimed at preventing, diagnosing, and treating adult and childhood diseases of the kidney, urethra, and genitals, plus dozens of state-of- the-art educational presentations, will highlight the 93rd Annual Meeting of the American Urological Association at the San Diego Convention Center, San Diego, California, May 30 - June 4, 1998.

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American Urological Association Annual Meeting Media Briefing Schedule. All media briefings will be held in Room 18 of the San Diego Convention Center.

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Accompanying this memo is detailed information about the American Urological Association 1998 Annual Scientific Meeting slated for May 30-June 4 at the San Diego Convention Center. Among the materials included with this memo are a news release providing detailed information about the meeting, including a description of key plenary sessions; a listing and summaries of newsworthy abstracts scheduled to be presented; and an overview of the program for this international scientific forum.

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The first ever head to head study in North America comparing St. Johnís Wort with standard prescription drug treatment for depression has just been launched. Dr. Jonathan Davidson will lead a panel of medical experts who will discuss the clinical use of St. Johnís Wort to treat depression. Leading Canadian psychiatrist, Dr. Jacques Bradwejn, who helped design and plan the study, will provide a Canadian psychiatric perspective on using St. Johnís Wort to treat depression.

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A relatively new and highly useful anticancer drug appears to work by cutting up the ends of chromosomes, a region known as the telomere, new research shows. The finding may help explain a serious after-effect of the drug.

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Capitalizing on an opportunity presented by a patient scheduled for tests using electrodes surgically placed on his brain, Johns Hopkins scientists have clocked the speed of thought, measuring the time the patient took to understand what everyday objects are in pictures.

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Measuring a certain type of protein in the blood during a common cholesterol test could improve a physician's ability to predict a person's chance of having a heart attack, a new study shows.

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After spending only 30 minutes in a smoke-filled room, participants in a study had losses in their blood stores of antioxidants, including vitamin C, according to a study reported today in an American Heart Association journal.

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Insurance companies that limit payment for the acne drug tretinoin to teen-agers and young adults are leaving thousands of Americans who suffer adult acne to pay for treatment themselves or do without, according to two dermatologists at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.

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Johns Hopkins researchers have developed a new test that may allow doctors to regularly and quickly check for early cancers in patients at risk for developing cancer due to genetic or environmental factors.

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Research on this process not only may lead to improved cancer treatments, but also may offer new approaches to treating a wide range of other medical problems, says Peter Polverini, U-M professor of dentistry and pathology who has been doing research on angiogenesis for 20 years.

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The Food and Drug Administration today announced that Cholestin, a product sold as a dietary supplement to promote healthy cholesterol levels, is not a dietary supplement but an unapproved drug.

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An eye operation that moves the most light-sensitive part of the retina away from an underlying diseased area has saved sight in several people with a common, age-related eye disease.

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The number of pathogenic bacteria decreases on vegetables when stored at temperatures just above freezing.

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A trial of this new treatment for HIV/AIDS suggests that it can stimulate the immune system to produce increased CD4 cells without an accompanying rise in HIV viral load. Patients who received Reticulose also gained weight and their clinical condition improved compared to controls.

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A major international study by cardiologists has shown that the addition of tirofiban into the medical management of patients with unstable angina reduces their risk of death by as much as 47%.

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A few years from now, during a checkup, your physician will turn to a wristband computer and type in a few words. Seconds later, the doctor will have specific answers to questions about a new drug or diagnostic test.

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American Nurses Association leader joins U.S. House of Representatives Health Care Task Force Co-Chairs and Senate leaders to urge the Republican leadership of Congress to stop blocking managed care reform legislation. A key focus of their call to legislative action was the unmet needs of women and children.

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Two new studies in the New England Journal of Medicine on tirofiban (Aggrastat) show that the drug may be useful in the treatment of heart attack. "Tirofiban is a novel drug that will open the door to new treatments for the preceding stages of heart attack or the heart attack itself," says Valentin Fuster, M.D., Ph.D., president-elect of the American Heart Association, commenting on two studies.

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For the first time in more than 20 years, a new product is available to combat the deadliest form of skin cancer ñ metastatic melanoma. Proleukin (aldesleukin), a recombinant form of interleukin-2 approved this year by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of patients with metastatic melanoma, is the only therapy proven to offer a reasonable chance of survival to those patients diagnosed with advanced-stage melanoma.

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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Aggrastat (tirofiban HCl), as the first and only medicine in a class of drugs called glycoprotein (GP) IIb/IIIa inhibitors ("platelet blockers") to reduce the combined risk of death, new heart attack or refractory ischemia*/repeat cardiac procedures in patients presenting with unstable angina or non-Q-wave myocardial infarction, Merck & Co., Inc. announced today.

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A new prostate specific antigen (PSA) test that measures the percentage of "free" PSA in the blood not bound to other proteins could spare up to 200,000 men a year in the United States the pain, anxiety and inconvenience of a surgical biopsy to detect cancer.

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A gene therapy technique may provide a new treatment for fatal, cancerous brain tumors, according to a study published in the May issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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Over-the-counter toothpaste and mouth rinses may kill bad breath and bacteria, but most are virtually harmless against viruses. Researchers at Pace University have found that by adding naturally occurring substances - such as zinc, aloe and grapefruit extract - to oral hygiene products, they can destroy harmful viruses that lead to illness.

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Protein from African Snake Inspires Development of Aggrastat

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Aggrastat (Tirofiban Hydrochloride Injection Premixed) Aggrastat (Tirofiban Hydrochloride Injection)

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A natural supplement may provide protection from heart attacks or strokes, especially for smokers or those with a family history of heart disease, according to a breakthrough study presented here during the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology annual meeting.

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Growing methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in the presence of tea extracts prevents the bacteria from synthesizing an important enzyme for antibiotic resistance, rendering them suceptible to certain antibiotics again.

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A new test for HIV is extremely simple to carry out and can provide results in a few minutes with an accuracy of nearly 98 percent. A test of this nature could serve as an important screening test in high prevalence areas.

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New data on CASODEX (bicalutamide) Tablets released here at the 34th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology offer additional evidence of the medicationís positive clinical benefits, both as monotherapy and in combination with a luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone analogue (LHRH-A), in the treatment of advanced prostate cancer.

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A gene that blocks cells from dying may play a role in prostate cancer in African Americans, offering a new hypothesis as to why black men have the highest rate of prostate cancer in the world. The findings appear in the June issue of the Journal of Urology.

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Genetics Institute, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of American Home Products, announced today the formation of the Genetics Institute Hemophilia Group, a group within the company dedicated to advancing care for people with hemophilia and their caregivers through advanced technologies and community-based programs.

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Genetics Institute and Wyeth-Ayerst announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Evaluation Agency (EMEA) have accepted for review a Biologics License Application (BLA) and a Marketing Authorisation Application (MAA) for ReFacto(R) Antihemophilic Factor (Recombinant), an albumin-free formulated recombinant factor VIII product for the treatment of hemophilia A.

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Joycelyn Elders, M.D., spoke about her former position as the United States Surgeon General at a book signing at her alma mater, the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

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In March, a New York man became the first U.S. person to die from infection by a bacteria resistant to vancomycin, the powerful antibiotic physicians turn to when others fail. Now, scientists report discovery of a novel form of vancomycin that advances the search for more effective versions of the antibiotic.

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Men who watch their favorite sports team compete and win experience the same type of testosterone surges as the players.

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Every year millions of people with "normal" cholesterol levels suffer chest pain or heart attacks. A UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas study indicates these individuals may suffer from a high concentration of a type of cholesterol not detected with conventional screenings.

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Medical researchers have established a link between second-hand tobacco smoke and serious breathing problems for children who receive general anesthesia. Girls are at greater risk, especially those whose mothers have a lower level of education, according to a study published in the May 1998 scientific journal Anesthesiology, the scientific publication of the American Society of Anesthesiologists.

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U.S. Food and Drug Administration Approves Prometrium (Progesterone, USP) Capsules, Only Oral Form of Micronized Progesterone

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Teenagers, especially boys, with high blood pressure may be harboring a serious, but silent, heart condition, according to two new studies and an editorial in today's Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.