MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, Mass. – Researchers in human genetics have long known that expansions of GAA repeats – resulting in this nucleotide triplet repeating hundreds or thousands of times – cause the most common hereditary neurological disorder known as Friedreich's ataxia. There is no cure for this condition, which damages the nervous system and can result in heart disease.
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Chemists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and the Scripps Research Institute have developed an innovative technique to create cheap but highly stable chemicals that have the potential to take the place of the antibodies used in many standard medical diagnostic tests.
BALTIMORE (July 9, 2009) – Approximately ninety-one percent of dentists say patients complaining about dry mouth are taking multiple medications, according to a nationwide member survey conducted by the Academy of General Dentistry (AGD). Dry mouth, or xerostomia, is caused by a decrease in salivary function. It affects approximately one in four Americans, placing more than 25 percent of people at risk for tooth decay.
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Managers who dole out discipline by taking away privileges – without considering the implications of restoring them – are missing a key in their bid to improve performance and behavior, a new University of Illinois study says.
Denying privileges is a widely used disciplinary tool, from workplaces to churches and other member-based organizations, but the consequences of giving them back have been largely ignored, according to research by Matthew McCarter and Arran Caza, of the U. of I. College of Business.
Montreal, July 9th 2009 – Twenty-five per cent of Crohn's disease patients have a mutation in what is called the NOD2 gene, but it is not precisely known how this mutation influences the disease. The latest study by Dr. Marcel Behr, of the Research Institute of the MUHC and McGill University, has provided new insight into how this might occur. The study will be published on July 9th in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.
New York, 9 July 2009 –As soccer continues to grow in popularity, injuries to soccer players are likely to increase as well. Certain injuries fall into gender-based patterns and new research at Hospital for Special Surgery suggests some underlying causes that could help lead to better treatment, or even prevention for present and future soccer stars.
ROCKVILLE, Maryland – July 9, 2009 – Human Genome Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: HGSI) today announced publication by the New England Journal of Medicine of the results of two pivotal animal efficacy studies, which showed the life-saving potential of the Company's human monoclonal antibody drug raxibacumab (ABthrax™), as well as the results of human safety studies, which supported the use of raxibacumab in the event of life-threatening inhalation anthrax disease.
Attractive males release fewer sperm per mating to maximise their chances of producing offspring across a range of females, according to a new paper on the evolution of ejaculation strategies. The findings by researchers at UCL (University College London) and the University of Oxford suggest that, paradoxically, matings with attractive males may be less fertile than those with unattractive ones.
A clinical report from Dresden supports the impression that "Spice Gold" is strongly addictive. In the current edition of Deutsches Ärzteblatt International (Dtsch Arzteblatt Int 2009: 106[27]: 464-7), Ulrich S. Zimmermann, from Dresden Technical University, and his colleagues describe a young man who developed physical withdrawal symptoms after regular consumption of this designer drug, accompanied by a dependence syndrome.
SEATTLE – The relationship between migraine headaches in women and a significant reduction in breast cancer risk has been confirmed in a follow-on study to landmark research published last year and conducted by scientists at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. The new study found a 26 percent reduced risk of breast cancer among both premenopausal and postmenopausal women with a clinical diagnosis of migraines.
PHILADELPHIA – Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that survival among women with ovarian cancer is influenced by age of menarche and total number of lifetime ovulatory cycles.
This finding suggests that hormonal activity over the course of a woman's lifetime may influence the prognosis after an ovarian cancer diagnosis. Results of this study are published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
New research, published today in the New England Journal of Medicine, shows that a woman's risk of having a child with a neural tube defect (NTD), such as Spina Bifida, is not linked to folic acid related auto-antibodies. The findings refute a well publicised study in 2004, which had indicated a link between the presence of these auto-antibodies in the circulation of mothers who had children with Spina Bifida compared to those who did not.
Scientists have recently been focused on the possible role of oral bacteria as a potential contributor to obesity.
New research, published today in the New England Journal of Medicine, shows that a woman's risk of having a child with a neural tube defect (NTD), such as Spina Bifida, is not linked to folic acid related auto-antibodies. The findings refute a well publicized study in 2004. The 2004 study had indicated a link between the presence of these auto-antibodies in the blood of mothers who had children with Spina Bifida compared to those who did not.
Reducing children’s exposure to a variety of allergens, rather than targeting a single “trigger,” might be a better way to avoid asthma, according to a new review of studies.
While some children are genetically predisposed to developing the disease, parents might still be able to prevent or delay the onset of symptoms by minimizing exposure to likely allergens.