http://medicineworld.org/news/research-news.html MedicineWorld.Org brings daily research news from various sources to keep you updated on the latest events in the world on this topic. Medicineworld research news service is the most comprehensive research news service on the internet. We keep an archive of previous few days of news on this site. Please go down through the list to find the older news items Thu, 19 Nov 2009 06:02:30 GMT en-us http://medicineworld.org/images/research-news.jpg http://medicineworld.org/news/research-news.html 94 103 http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/11-2009/morphine-may-stimulate-cancer-growth.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/11-2009/morphine-may-stimulate-cancer-growth.html Thu, 19 Nov 2009 06:02:30 GMT Eventhough morphine has been the gold-standard therapy for postoperative and chronic cancer pain for two centuries, a growing body of evidence is showing that opiate-based painkillers can stimulate the growth and spread of cancer cells. Two new studies advance that argument and demonstrate how shielding lung cancer cells from opiates reduces cell proliferation, invasion and migration in both cell-culture and mouse models........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/11-2009/catching-circulating-cancer-cells.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/11-2009/catching-circulating-cancer-cells.html Thu, 19 Nov 2009 06:02:30 GMT Just as fly paper captures insects, an innovative new device with nano-sized features developed by scientists at UCLA is able to grab cancer cells in the blood that have broken off from a tumor. These cells, known as circulating tumor cells, or CTCs, can provide critical information for examining and diagnosing cancer metastasis, determining patient prognosis, and monitoring the effectiveness of therapies........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/11-2009/structural-brain-changes-in-alzheimers-disease.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/11-2009/structural-brain-changes-in-alzheimers-disease.html Thu, 19 Nov 2009 06:02:30 GMT In a study that promises to improve diagnosis and monitoring of Alzheimer's disease, researchers at the University of California, San Diego have developed a fast and accurate method for quantifying subtle, sub-regional brain volume loss using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The study will be published the week of November 16 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/11-2009/nanoparticles-causes-dna-damage.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/11-2009/nanoparticles-causes-dna-damage.html Thu, 19 Nov 2009 06:02:30 GMT Titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles, found in everything from cosmetics to sunscreen to paint to vitamins, caused systemic genetic damage in mice, as per a comprehensive study conducted by scientists at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. The TiO2 nanoparticles induced single- and double-strand DNA breaks and also caused chromosomal damage as well as inflammation, all of which increase the risk for cancer. The UCLA study is the first to show that the nanoparticles had such an effect, said Robert Schiestl, a professor of pathology, radiation oncology and environmental health sciences, a Jonsson Cancer Center scientist and the study's senior author........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/11-2009/what-makes-pandemic-h1n1-tick.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/11-2009/what-makes-pandemic-h1n1-tick.html Thu, 19 Nov 2009 06:02:30 GMT As the number of deaths correlation to the pandemic H1N1 virus, usually known as "swine flu," continues to rise, scientists have been scrambling to decipher its inner workings and explain why the incidence is lower than expected in elderly adults. In a study available online and appearing in a future issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a UT Southwestern Medical Center researcher and his collaborators in California show that the molecular makeup of the current H1N1 flu strain is strikingly different from prior H1N1 strains as well as the normal seasonal flu, particularly in structural parts of the virus normally recognized by the immune system........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/11-2009/a-view-inside-the-body.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/11-2009/a-view-inside-the-body.html Thu, 19 Nov 2009 06:02:30 GMT James Oliver picked up an Xbox game controller, looked up to a video screen and used the device's buttons and joystick to fly through a patient's chest cavity for an up-close look at the bottom of the heart. And there was a sight doctors had never seen before: an accurate, 3-D view inside a patient's body accessible with a personal computer. A view doctors can shift, adjust, turn, zoom and replay at will. Software that uses real patient data from CT and MRI scans. Software doctors can use to plan a surgery or a round of radiation treatment. Software that can be used to teach physiology and anatomy. Software that puts virtual reality technology developed at Iowa State University to work helping doctors and patients, teachers and students. Software that's now being sold by an Ames startup company, BodyViz.com........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/11-2009/what-helps-you-to-live-longer.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/11-2009/what-helps-you-to-live-longer.html Thu, 19 Nov 2009 06:02:30 GMT A team led by scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University has found a clear link between living to 100 and inheriting a hyperactive version of an enzyme that rebuilds telomeres - the tip ends of chromosomes. The findings appear in the latest issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/11-2009/stem-cells-help-paralyzed-rats-to-walk.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/11-2009/stem-cells-help-paralyzed-rats-to-walk.html Thu, 19 Nov 2009 06:02:30 GMT The first human embryonic stem cell therapy approved by the FDA for human testing has been shown to restore limb function in rats with neck spinal cord injuries - a finding that could expand the clinical trial to include people with cervical damage. In January, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave Geron Corp. of Menlo Park, Calif., permission to test the UC Irvine therapy in individuals with thoracic spinal cord injuries, which occur below the neck. However, trying it in those with cervical damage wasn't approved because preclinical testing with rats hadn't been completed........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/11-2009/learning-bacterial-communications.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/11-2009/learning-bacterial-communications.html Thu, 19 Nov 2009 06:02:30 GMT Using imaging mass spectrometry, scientists at the University of California, San Diego have developed tools that will enable researchers to visualize how different cell populations of cells communicate. Their study shows how bacteria talk to one another an understanding that may lead to new therapeutic discoveries for diseases ranging from cancer to diabetes and allergies........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/11-2009/new-synthetic-molecules-trigger-immune-response.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/11-2009/new-synthetic-molecules-trigger-immune-response.html Thu, 19 Nov 2009 06:02:30 GMT Scientists at Yale University have developed synthetic molecules capable of enhancing the body's immune response to HIV and HIV-infected cells, as well as to prostate cancer cells. Their findings, published online in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, could lead to novel therapeutic approaches for these diseases........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/11-2009/research-study-on-near-vision.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/11-2009/research-study-on-near-vision.html Thu, 19 Nov 2009 06:02:30 GMT The Cornea and Laser Eye Institute is participating in a research study to determine if an investigational corneal inlay can safely and effectively reduce the need for reading glasses. Dr. Peter Hersh, the study doctor, will perform the procedures. The investigational AcuFocus Corneal Inlay (ACI) is intended to improve near vision in patients with presbyopia, which is the loss of near vision, and reduce dependency on reading glasses. Qualified participants will receive the procedure at no charge........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/11-2009/nanoparticles-for-diagnosis.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/11-2009/nanoparticles-for-diagnosis.html Thu, 19 Nov 2009 06:02:30 GMT Whether it's magnetic nanoparticles (mNPs) giving an army of 'therapeutically armed' white blood cells direction to invade a deadly tumour's territory, or the use of mNPs to target specific nerve channels and induce nerve-led behaviour (such as the life-dependant thumping of our hearts), mNPs have come a long way in the past decade........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/11-2009/how-the-heart-is-formed.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/11-2009/how-the-heart-is-formed.html Thu, 19 Nov 2009 06:02:30 GMT While studying how the heart is formed, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine serendipitously found a novel cellular source of atrial fibrillation (AF), the most common type of abnormal heart beat. Jonathan Epstein, MD, William Wikoff Smith Professor, and Chair, Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, and Vickas Patel, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, have identified a population of cells in the atria of the heart and pulmonary veins of humans and mice that appear to be the seat of AF. The finding may lead to a more precise way to treat AF, with reduced side effects. Their findings appear online in the Journal of Clinical Investigation........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/10-2009/blocking-heat-shock-protein-to-fight-cancer.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/10-2009/blocking-heat-shock-protein-to-fight-cancer.html Thu, 19 Nov 2009 06:02:30 GMT Like yoga for office drones, cells do have coping strategies for stress. Heat, lack of nutrients, oxygen radicals all can wreak havoc on the delicate internal components of a cell, potentially damaging it beyond repair. Proteins called HSPs (heat shock proteins) allow cells to survive stress-induced damage. Researchers have long studied how HSPs work in order to harness their therapeutic potential........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/10-2009/treating-steroid-induced-osteoporosis.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/10-2009/treating-steroid-induced-osteoporosis.html Thu, 19 Nov 2009 06:02:30 GMT A recent study determined glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis (OP) is now treatable with Teriparatide, a synthetic form of the human parathyroid hormone. Scientists found patients with glucocorticoid-induced OP who were treated with teriparatide for 36 months had a greater increase in bone mineral density (BMD) and fewer new vertebral fractures than those treated with alendronate. The findings of this study are reported in the recent issue of Arthritis and Rheumatism, a journal of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR)........ ]]>