Chronic Asthma

Scientists identify gene crucial to normal development of lungs and brain

Scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have identified a gene that tells cells to develop multiple cilia, tiny hair-like structures that move fluids through the lungs and brain. The finding ...

Medical research created Jan 12, 2012 | popularity 4 / 5 (5) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Study identifies new therapeutic target for asthma, COPD and other lung disorders

Michael Croft, Ph.D., a researcher at the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology, has discovered a molecule's previously unknown role as a major trigger for airway remodeling, which impairs lung function, making the ...

Medical research created Apr 17, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

A closer look at the placebo effect

Placebos are "dummy pills" often used in research trials to test new drug therapies and the "placebo effect" is the benefit patients receive from a treatment that has no active ingredients. Many claim that the placebo effect ...

Medications created Jul 13, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast


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Teams of highly respected Alzheimer's researchers failed to replicate what appeared to be breakthrough results for the treatment of this brain disease when they were published last year in the journal Science.

Scientists discover molecule triggers sensation of itch

Scientists at the National Institutes of Health report they have discovered in mouse studies that a small molecule released in the spinal cord triggers a process that is later experienced in the brain as ...

Researchers find common childhood asthma unconnected to allergens or inflammation

Little is known about why asthma develops, how it constricts the airway or why response to treatments varies between patients. Now, a team of researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College, Columbia University Medical Center ...

Diabetes' genetic underpinnings can vary based on ethnic background, studies say

Ethnic background plays a surprisingly large role in how diabetes develops on a cellular level, according to two new studies led by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

Study reveals new mechanism for estrogen suppression of liver lipid synthesis

By discovering the new mechanism by which estrogen suppresses lipid synthesis in the liver, UC Irvine endocrinologists have revealed a potential new approach toward treating certain liver diseases.

When oxygen is short, EGFR prevents maturation of cancer-fighting miRNAs

Even while being dragged to its destruction inside a cell, a cancer-promoting growth factor receptor fires away, sending signals that thwart the development of tumor-suppressing microRNAs (miRNAs) before it's dissolved, researchers ...

Scientists discover cinnamon compounds' potential ability to prevent Alzheimer's

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Ferrets, pigs susceptible to H7N9 avian influenza virus

Chinese and U.S. scientists have used virus isolated from a person who died from H7N9 avian influenza infection to determine whether the virus could infect and be transmitted between ferrets. Ferrets are often used as a mammalian ...