Scientists investigating a molecule known to play a key role in causing colon cancer have made a series of ground-breaking discoveries that could have major implications for future treatment of the disease, responsible for 655,000 deaths worldwide per year. Their findings are published in the journal Cancer Research, today (Wednesday 1 October 2008).
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It's not what you take but the way that you take it that can produce different results in women who take hormone replacement therapy (HRT), according to new research on the association between HRT and heart attacks, published online in Europe's leading cardiology journal, the European Heart Journal [1] today (Wednesday 1 October).
The study is the largest to look at the effects of HRT since the Women's Health Initiative trial was stopped early after finding that HRT increased the risk of women developing a range of conditions including breast cancer and thromboembolism.
Thousands of Deaf* patients are receiving inadequate healthcare because they are struggling to communicate with healthcare professions, say experts on bmj.com today.
There is a basic lack of deaf awareness and appropriate communication support by healthcare professionals, write Michael Paddock and colleagues from Kings College London School of Medicine and South West London and St George's Mental Healthcare NHS Trust.
Researchers have identified two new genes – and confirmed the role of a third gene – associated with increased risk of higher levels of uric acid in the blood, which can lead to gout, a common, painful form of arthritis. Combined, the three genetic variations were associated with up to a 40-fold increased risk in developing gout. The findings suggest that genetic testing could one day be used to identify individuals at risk for gout before symptoms develop, as well as determine who might benefit from medications to prevent the development of gout.
Japanese research group led by Prof Makoto Tominaga and Dr Takaaki Sokabe, National Institute for Physiological Sciences (NIPS), Japan, found that a small fly, drosophila, has a receptor for noxious heat. The research group reports their finding in Journal of Neuroscience published on Oct 1, 2008.
Reducing the number of doses of an anthrax vaccine and changing its administration to intramuscular injection resulted in comparable measures of effectiveness but with fewer adverse events, according to a study in the October 1 issue of JAMA.
Variation of a gene for a protein hormone that is secreted by fat cells is associated with a decreased colorectal cancer risk, according to a study in the October 1 issue of JAMA.
An analysis of news media coverage of medical studies indicates that news articles often fail to report pharmaceutical company funding and frequently refer to medications by their brand names, both potential sources of bias, according to a study in the October 1 issue of JAMA.
Psychodynamic psychotherapy lasting for at least a year is effective and superior to shorter-term therapy for patients with complex mental disorders such as personality and chronic mental disorders, according to a meta-analysis published in the October 1 issue of JAMA.
How many times have you spent hours slaving over an impossible problem, only to take a break and then easily solve the problem, sometimes within minutes of looking at it again? Although this is actually a common phenomenon, up until now the way that this occurs has been unclear. But new research in the September issue of Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, demonstrates the answer is more complex than simply having an "Aha!" moment.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – A new study reveals the first-ever genetic link between obesity and colon cancer risk, a finding that could lead to greater accuracy in testing for the disease, said a researcher at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).
The discovery also may improve efforts to ward off colon cancer with obesity-fighting activities like exercise, weight loss and healthy eating.
The findings are published in JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association.
The level of knowledge and understanding of children with food allergies varies significantly across three key groups: pediatricians and family physicians, the general public and families who have a child with food allergies. The article describing the new findings was published in the September issue of BioMed Central Pediatrics.
Young adults without a family history of bowel disease are unlikely to develop adenomas, the colorectal polyps most likely to lead to cancer, according to new research directed by scientists at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center. The finding supports current cancer screening guidelines recommending adults in general undergo screening colonoscopies starting at age 50.
The findings from a study by a team based at the London School of Hygiene &Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) are published today in PLoS Medicine.
Associations between birth size, perhaps as a marker of the pre-natalenvironment, and subsequent breast cancer risk have been identified before,but the findings from epidemiological studies have been inconsistent.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Research out of Wake Forest University School of Medicine suggests that a surgical technique not traditionally used in advanced abdominal cancer may be a viable treatment option for some patients previously thought to be untreatable, offering the real possibility of extending survival for those patients.