Nanoparticles that are one milliard of a metre in size are widely used, for example, in cosmetics and food packaging materials. There are also significant amounts of nanoparticles in exhaust emissions. However, very little is yet known of their health effects, because only a very small portion of research into nanoparticles is focused on their health and safety risks. Nanoparticles have even been dubbed the asbestos of the 2000s bys some researchers, and therefore a considerable threat to people's health.
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Berkeley -- A new study led by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, adds to the evidence that vitamin C supplements can lower concentrations of C-reactive protein (CRP), a central biomarker of inflammation that has been shown to be a powerful predictor of heart disease and diabetes. The same study found no benefit from daily doses of vitamin E, another antioxidant.
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ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Identifying malnutrition before surgery in massive weight loss patients seeking body contouring will significantly decrease surgical complications, accelerate wound healing, improve scar quality and boost patient energy levels, according to a study in the December issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery®, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS).
Philadelphia, PA, November 13, 2008 – There may be less than 20,000 rhinoceros in the world, with one species perhaps already extinct and another with possibly only four animals remaining in the wild. As the populations of these animals age and become infirm, successful breeding becomes increasingly difficult.
A study comparing the effects of real and placebo acupuncture on pregnancy rates during assisted reproduction has found that, surprisingly, placebo acupuncture was associated with a significantly higher overall pregnancy rate than real acupuncture.
SEATTLE and WHITEHOUSE STATION, N.J., Nov. 12, 2008 -- Results from the Step study, a test-of-concept efficacy study of a Merck & Co., Inc. HIV vaccine candidate, were published online today in two papers in The Lancet. These analyses of the Step study are being conducted, presented and published to inform the continued search for an effective HIV vaccine.
Heart experts at Johns Hopkins have evidence that life-saving coronary angioplasty at community hospitals is safer when physicians and hospital staff have more experience with the procedure.
LOS ANGELES – Researchers from the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute will participate in 42 presentations at the American Heart Association's annual Scientific Sessions being held in New Orleans, La., from Nov. 8 through 12. Among findings that will be shared by Cedars-Sinai cardiologists and their colleagues:
Having a large waistline can almost double your risk of dying prematurely even if your body mass index is within the 'normal' range, according to a new study of over 350,000 people across Europe, published today in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Two clones of highly antibiotic-resistant organism strains, which previously had only been identified in the United States, are now causing serious sickness and death in several Colombian cities including the capital Bogotá, say researchers at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston. The study, done in collaboration with Universidad El Bosque in Bogotá, is presented in a research letter published in the Nov. 13 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
African-American patients with acute myocardial infarction (MI) and previously treated depression that persists at their MI hospitalization have an increased risk of post-MI death, according to Emory researcher Susmita Parashar, MD, MPH.
Parashar, a member of the cardiology division, Emory University School of Medicine, presented findings Nov. 12 at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions conference in New Orleans.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - A five-year study that could help increase disease resistance, stress tolerance and plant yields is under way at Purdue University.
The $4 million project uses a new technique called "mutant-assisted gene identification and characterization," or MAGIC, to identify potentially useful gene combinations in crop species.
"If we can understand these genes better, we could engineer plants to be immune to most diseases," said principal investigator Guri Johal, an associate professor of botany and plant pathology.
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a term that refers to both ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD). IBD occurs most frequently in people in their late teens and twenties. There have been cases in children as young as two years old and in older adults in their seventies and eighties; men and women have an equal chance of getting the disease.
In recent years, women, particularly younger women, experienced larger improvements in hospital mortality after myocardial infarction than men, according to a new study.
Over the last decade some studies showed that younger women, but not older ones, are more likely to die in the hospital after MI than age-matched men. A team of researchers led by Emory University examined whether such mortality differences have declined in recent years.