A loss of brain cells that make a chemical called "hypocretin" may be responsible for narcolepsy, a debilitating, lifelong disease that causes patients to fall asleep uncontrollably during the daty, according to a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) study. (Neuron, 9-00)
Studies in mice show that a drug used to treat diabetes, called metformin, may be helpful in combating a common and potentially fatal liver disorder. The discovery may lead to the development of the first drug to treat people who suffer from the condition known as fatty liver. (Nature Medicine, 9-00)
A year after finding the defect that causes narcolepsy in dogs, Stanford researchers have made the leap from canines to humans to show that people with the sleep disorder have a breakdown in the same molecular pathway. (Nature Medicine, 9-1-00)
In a pioneering effort to bridge the chasm between mental and physical health care for Medicaid recipients and indigent patients, the University of Michigan and a local county have launched a new program that may become a model for the state and nation to follow.
Neurosurgeons have developed a new method for accurately directing a surgical tool along a curved pathway in the brain and to follow and correct its course using intraoperative imaging. (Journal of Neurosurgery, 8-00)
Basketball, bicycling, baseball and soccer are the center of sports fans' attention during the summer and will be again when the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games begin. But these sports also get a lot of attention in hospital emergency rooms and doctors' offices, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons reports.
A statewide, state-funded initiative to rigorously study the safety and efficacy of medicinal cannabis to treat certain diseases is being established at the University of California.
The hunt for new antibiotic drugs, driven by emerging diseases and growing bacterial resistance to existing antibiotics, may get a little easier thanks to a new process for making compounds that contain a key bacteria-stopping structure.
Unnecessary heart attacks and heart failures occur worldwide every year among the estimated 28 million users of longer-acting calcium channel blockers, a class of drugs used to treat high blood pressure, according to a study reported at the European Society of Cardiology meeting in Amsterdam.
Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) have developed a modified poliovirus, incapable of transmitting the disease, to deliver genes specifically to motor neurons in the spinal cord. (Nature Biotechnology, 9-00)
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded grants of $20 million each to the University of Maryland School of Medicine and the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health to develop a new type of measles vaccine that, for the first time, would protect infants younger than 9 months old.
A simple scratch-and-sniff test -- combined with an unawareness of one's own olfactory dysfunction -- might help predict Alzheimer's disease, according to a study in the Sept. 2000 American Journal of Psychiatry.
A review of 10 years' worth of published data from controlled studies on the effectiveness of herbal products -- St. John's wort, kava, ginkgo biloba, and valerian -- shows evidence of efficacy in treating psychiatric conditions (Psychiatric Services, 9-00).
Researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center who have previously discovered and localized genes involved in neurodegenerative disorders called hereditary ataxias are presenting new findings about the underlying mechanisms causing these diseases. (Nature Genetics, 9-00)
Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine and the New England Research Institutes report that physical activity of at least 200 calories a day--the equivalent of walking briskly for two miles--may reduce a man's risk of developing erectile dysfunction/ED (impotence). (Urology, 8-00)
A $3.2 million grant from NIH will establish a new research center at UAB that will help unlock the causes of mental retardation.
New research at the University of Pittsburgh indicates that a heart scan using electron beam computed tomography (EBCT) may be an important tool in finding Type 1 diabetics who are particularly high heart disease risks. (Diabetes, 9-00)
Cancer researchers are testing two drugs to thwart angiogenesis, the formation of new blood vessels that sustain the out-of-control growth of cancer cells.
A rapid biomedical test that measures antioxidant levels in the blood, with the potential to affect millions of patients and to aid researchers developing new drugs, has been developed by two researchers from Washington State University at Spokane.
Public school districts nationwide are putting more emphasis and resources than ever on improving grades and test scores, but at the same time have cut physical education classes.
A unique program known as the MOD Squad, in which the mothers of organ donors assist families who are facing the death of a loved one, has been shown to increase organ donation consent rates to unparalleled levels.
Babies who attended day care and those with older siblings are protected from developing asthma later in life, according to a study by an assistant professor of Clinical Pediatrics at the University of Arizona (NEJM).
In the report of a major study of hormone replacement therapy and heart disease, researchers write in the NEJM that the treatment didn't slow the progression of heart disease in older women, despite improvements in cholesterol.
Chemical engineers at Purdue University have created a new class of non-toxic materials that might be used to deliver medicines orally instead of by injection, and they will discuss their findings on Aug. 23 at the American Chemical Society Meeting in Washington, D.C.
To prevent school playground injuries, authorities should check playground equipment for loose, damaged or missing parts before students go back to school, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons advises.
Results of a six-year study show that sustained use of the drug Copaxone significantly reduces the relapse rate and also delays disability in people with the relapsing-remitting form of multiple sclerosis.
A child's understanding of and willingness to participate in a research trial vary depending on the child's age, illness and previous research experience, according to University of Alabama at Birmingham, University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee and Medical College of Wisconsin researchers.
UCLA AIDS Institute researchers have found that HIV may have an easier time penetrating and replicating itself through the gut than the circulatory system, explaining why unprotected oral and anal sex with an infected partner holds even greater risk than previously believed (AIDS).
Hundreds of researchers are expected next month at Ohio State University for the first-ever comprehensive international conference devoted to two growing disciplines that may revolutionize medicine: micro- and nanotechnology.
Young girls may not be getting the exercise they need to remain healthy because a time-honored standard for measuring their physical activity levels may not be as accurate as originally thought, research at Michigan State University has shown (Pediatric Exercise Science, 8-00).
Researchers at Johns Hopkins have found yet another reason to eat a well-balanced diet low in fats and rich in fruits and vegetables: it lowers blood levels of homocysteine, thereby reducing the risk of heart disease (Circulation, 8-22-00).
All children should be routinely screened for any developmental problems and specifically for autism beginning as early as infancy, recommend guidelines from the American Academy of Neurology. The guidelines are published in the August 22 issue of Neurology.
A new technique of transplanting laboratory-grown neuronal cells into the brains of stroke patients is safe and well-tolerated by patients, according to a study in the August 22 issue of Neurology.
Those greenish black patches growing on your bathroom walls may look innocent, but they could be guilty of potential health risks according to a U Maryland chemistry professor, who will present data on the toxicology of molds during the 220th national meeting of the American Chemical Society, Aug. 20-24.
Taking a cue from the Biblical story of David and Goliath, Purdue University scientists are using small molecules to bring down the molecular giants responsible for viral replication in AIDS.
Potential bias in the reporting of results of pharmaceutical industry-sponsored clinical trials was found by a study published in The Lancet.
Men who are moderately aggressive have stronger immune systems, according to study by a team of researchers from Penn State and the University of Nebraska (Psychosomatic Medicine, 8-00).
Those painful foot growths known as plantar warts may yield to a topical therapy now in clinical trials only at UAB.
AHRQ awarded contracts to nine research consortia to establish the Integrated Delivery System Research Network. This model of field-based research will enable AHRQ to accelerate the pace of its research on concerns such as medical care quality and safety, access to services and costs.
In their latest attempt to discredit chiropractic and discourage people from seeking care from chiropractors, some proponents of allopathic medicine continue to disseminate misleading information about a possible link between cervical adjustments and strokes.
Pharmaceutical and medical researchers will soon be able to measure for the first time the viscosity or thickness of unadulterated human blood with accuracy and ease using a new device reported in the Aug. 2000 Review of Scientific Instruments.
During their training following medical school, residents are expected to provide instruction to students, but their academic abilities do not ensure that they excel as teachers, a UC Irvine College of Medicine research team has found.
The hair follicle isn't just a hair factory. Researchers have now discovered that the hair follicle is the source of new cells for the skin's outermost layer, the epidermis, which is replenished throughout life (Cell, 8-18).
A program of regular exercise and weight loss can be a first option for treating overweight individuals with moderately high blood pressure -- and may keep them from having to take anti-hypertensive drugs, according to a study in Hypertension (8-00).
Important new biological information about how cancer cells grow and spread has been uncovered by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Oncology Center and Howard Hughes Medical Institute (Science, 8-18-00).
A drug commonly used to treat the symptoms of arthritis in humans is showing promise in reducing both the number and the size of cancerous breast tumors in animal tests (Cancer Research).
Some people with autism may have a better memory when performing certain tasks than do non-autistic people, suggests a study at Ohio State (Proceedings of the National Academy of Science).
1- Survival rates rise two-fold for HIV-related pneumonia with respiratory failure; 2- New lung function data for Hong Kong-born Chinese children and adolescents; 3- Relapses for cryptogenic organizing pneumonia are part of the disease process and do not affect outcome.
The 700,000 Americans diagnosed with sepsis each year might have a better chance of reversing the dramatic and often fatal blood pressure drop that typically accompanies septic shock if new treatments are developed based on an animal study reported.
Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas have uncovered a potential explanation for how cyclosporine and related anti-rejection drugs can elevate blood pressure and cause hypertension in organ-transplant recipients.
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