http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress provides the latest news from Northwestern University Northwestern University scientists have shown a gene involved in neurodegenerative disease also plays a critical role in the proper function of the circadian clock. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-circadian-clock-component.html Genetics Thu, 16 May 2013 14:58:48 EST news287935099 The dangerously high salt levels in processed food and fast food remain essentially unchanged, despite numerous calls from public and private health agencies for the food industry to voluntarily reduce sodium levels, reports a new Northwestern Medicine study conducted with the Center for Science in the Public Interest. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-voluntary-reduction-fast-food-salt.html Health Mon, 13 May 2013 16:00:08 EST news287658436 A small group of elusive neurons in the brain's cortex play a big role in ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), a swift and fatal neurodegenerative disease that paralyzes its victims. But the neurons have always been difficult to study because there are so few of them and they look so similar to other neurons in the cortex. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-neon-exposes-hidden-als-cells.html Neuroscience Tue, 30 Apr 2013 17:04:26 EST news286560257 A team of international researchers led by Northwestern Medicine scientists has identified how a defective protein plays a central role in a rare, lethal childhood disease known as Giant Axonal Neuropathy, or GAN. The finding is reported in the May 2013 Journal of Clinical Investigation. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-rare-lethal-childhood-disease-tracked.html Medical research Mon, 29 Apr 2013 18:43:57 EST news286479831 With the help of genetics, prostate specific antigen (PSA) screenings may become more accurate and reduce the number of unnecessary prostate biopsies, according to a new study from Northwestern Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-genetic-variants-psa-technique-biopsies.html Cancer Wed, 24 Apr 2013 15:47:26 EST news286037239 Pioneering biophotonics technology developed at Northwestern University is the first screening method to detect the early presence of ovarian cancer in humans by examining cells easily brushed from the neighboring cervix or uterus, not the ovaries themselves. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-screening-ovarian-cancer-neighboring-cells.html Cancer Mon, 22 Apr 2013 17:10:19 EST news285869412 A study published today in the European Heart Journal found no evidence that digoxin increases mortality in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), the opposite of results just published by another group in the same journal analyzing the same data. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-digoxin-safe.html Cardiology Tue, 16 Apr 2013 15:47:59 EST news285346072 The cholera strain that transferred to Haiti in 2010 has multiple toxin gene mutations that may account for the severity of disease and is evolving to be more like an 1800s version of cholera, reports a new Northwestern Medicine study. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-haiti-cholera-mutations-severe-disease.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 16 Apr 2013 01:00:01 EST news285270133 Why do some memories last a lifetime while others disappear quickly? A new study suggests that memories rehearsed, during either sleep or waking, can have an impact on memory consolidation and on what is remembered later. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-reactivating-memories-memory-rehearsal-big.html Neuroscience Fri, 12 Apr 2013 13:38:44 EST news284992711 Systemic sclerosis, also known as scleroderma, is a rare autoimmune connective tissue disorder that's difficult to treat. However, thanks to new research at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and Dartmouth's Geisel School of Medicine, doctors may be able to treat some patients more effectively. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-genes-reveal-patients-benefit-scleroderma.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 10 Apr 2013 14:00:01 EST news284819657 Lifetime risk for heart failure is similar for blacks and whites and higher than expected for both groups—ranging from 20 to 45 percent—according to a new Northwestern Medicine study. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-heart-failure-doesnt-discriminate.html Cardiology Tue, 02 Apr 2013 16:15:49 EST news284138143 For-profit hospitals are out-performing other hospitals when treating stroke, heart attack and pneumonia patients in emergency departments and, thus, will be more likely to receive bonuses under Medicare's new payment rules, according to a new Northwestern Medicine® study. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-hospitals-medicare-reimbursement.html Health Mon, 01 Apr 2013 10:37:49 EST news284031462 Researchers are digging deeper into whether infants' ability to learn new words is shaped by the particular language being acquired. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-nouns-verbs-agenda-early-language.html Psychology & Psychiatry Mon, 25 Mar 2013 17:09:36 EST news283450162 A new gentler chemotherapy drug in the form of nanoparticles has been designed by Northwestern Medicine® scientists to be less toxic to a young woman's fertility but extra tough on cancer. This is the first cancer drug tested while in development for its effect on fertility using a novel in vitro test. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-chemo-drug-gentler-fertility-tougher.html Cancer Fri, 22 Mar 2013 11:50:02 EST news283169605 Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants taken by a woman during pregnancy do not impact her infant's growth over the first year, reports a new study from a Northwestern Medicine scientist. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-antidepressants-pregnant-moms-dont-affect.html Psychology & Psychiatry Wed, 20 Mar 2013 00:10:01 EST news282938698