DALLAS – Dec. 3, 2008 – Scientists at UT Southwestern Medical Center have determined that the immune-system protein interferon plays a key role in "teaching" the immune system how to fight off repeated infections of the same virus.
The findings, available online and in the Dec. 15 issue of the Journal of Immunology, have potential application in the development of more effective vaccines and anti-viral therapies.
Having an imperfect body may come with some substantial benefits for some women, according to a new article in the December issue of Current Anthropology.
The hormones that make women physically stronger, more competitive and better able to deal with stress also tend to redistribute fat from the hips to the waist, according to Elizabeth Cashdan, an anthropologist at the University of Utah. So in societies and situations where women are under pressure to procure resources, they may be less likely to have the classic hourglass figure.
With new drugs being reviewed by regulatory agencies and then released onto the market faster than ever before, patients' safety is being compromised, warns a study published on bmj.com today.
Dr David Kao from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, argues that while drug regulatory bodies are under pressure to make new drugs available more quickly, there are concerns that the deadlines for approving drugs have shifted the focus away from safety.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – The statistics for sexual assault are unsettling; the Department of Justice reports that one in five college women will be the victim of attempted or actual sexual assault during their college years. In a new study, researchers from two universities, including the University of Missouri, have found that college women often are unaware of drug-facilitated sexual assault and fail to recognize the risk of certain behaviors, including leaving drinks unattended.
Although there is an effort to implement rapid response teams in hospitals throughout the country, new research suggests that they do not result in a reduced rate of cardiopulmonary arrests or deaths, according to a study in the December 3 issue of JAMA.
Contrary to the perception of some patients and physicians, there is no evidence that brand-name drugs are clinically superior to their generic counterparts, according to an article in the December 3 issue of JAMA, which examined studies comparing the effectiveness of generic vs. brand-name drugs for treating cardiovascular diseases.
Women who have up to two alcoholic drinks per day do not appear to be at increased risk of atrial fibrillation (irregular heart beat), but drinking more than that amount is associated with a higher risk, according to a study in the December 3 issue of JAMA.
(Embargoed for Tuesday, December 2, 2008 at 3 pm CST)--Radiology and cardiovascular researchers from the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, S.C., today present new data that shows the risk of cancer from exposure to radiation during computed tomography for cardiovascular disease has been overstated and that new estimates are several times lower than previously published conclusions. The MUSC researchers presented their findings at the annual meeting of theRadiological Society of North America in Chicago.
(COLUMBUS, Ohio)—Rare injuries accounted for 3.5 percent of high school athletes' injuries 2005 through 2007, according to the first study to examine rare injuries and conditions of U.S. high school athletes. Rare injuries include eye injuries, dental injuries, neck and cervical injuries and dehydration and heat illness, which may result in high morbidity, costly surgeries and treatments or life-altering consequences.
Most successful vaccines and drugs rely on protecting humans or animals by blocking certain bacteria from growing in their systems. But, a new theory actually hopes to take stopping infectious diseases such as West Nile virus and Malaria to the next level by disabling insects from transmitting these viruses.
Work by specialists from the USC Viterbi School of Engineering has led to significant improvements in turnover times for operating rooms at three California safety net hospitals, allowing "many more hours of daytime surgery per year." Because of the success of the program, the work will be expanded to include three more hospitals.
Plant researchers from McGill University and the University of California, Berkeley, have announced a major breakthrough in a developmental process called epigenetics. They have demonstrated for the first time the reversal of what is called epigenetic silencing in plants.
ANN ARBOR, Mich.---Older people tend to feel about 13 years younger than their chronological age.
That is one of the findings of a study forthcoming in the Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Science. The researchers analyzed the responses of 516 men and women age 70 and older who participated in the Berlin Aging Study, tracking how their perceptions about age and their satisfaction with aging changed over a six-year period.
The phrase "empty nest" can conjure up images of sad and lonely parents sitting at home, twiddling their thumbs, waiting for their children to call or visit. However, a new study, reported in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, suggests that an empty nest may have beneficial effects on the parents' marriage.