http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Researchers at Johns Hopkins have unraveled the molecular foundations of cocaine's effects on the brain, and identified a compound that blocks cravings for the drug in cocaine-addicted mice. The compound, already proven safe for humans, is undergoing further animal testing in preparation for possible clinical trials in cocaine addicts, the researchers say. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-scientists-uncover-molecular-roots-cocaine.html Neuroscience Wed, 22 May 2013 12:00:02 EST news288435228 Making more use of in-vitro testing, the upcoming 21st-century scientific fields known as 'omics' sciences and developing smart test strategies can clearly reduce the amount of essential animal testing. This is the view of Professor Bennard van Ravenzwaay in his inaugural speech on accepting the endowed chair in Reproduction and Developmental Toxicology at Wageningen University on 2 May. His chair will be funded by BASF and is part of the sub-department of Toxicology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-methods-amount-animal.html Medical research Tue, 07 May 2013 08:50:03 EST news287135129 Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is the most effective acute treatment for severe major depression. However, even with newer forms of ECT, there remains a significant risk of adverse cognitive effects, particularly memory problems. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-reveal-precise-method-electroconvulsive-therapy.html Psychology & Psychiatry Mon, 06 May 2013 10:48:45 EST news287056091 (Medical Xpress)—By using swarms of untethered grippers, each as small as a speck of dust, Johns Hopkins engineers and physicians say they have devised a new way to perform biopsies that could provide a more effective way to access narrow conduits in the body as well as find early signs of cancer or other diseases. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-team-deploys-hundreds-tiny-untethered.html Medical research Tue, 23 Apr 2013 14:06:32 EST news285944785 When babies are deprived of oxygen before birth, brain damage and disorders such as cerebral palsy can occur. Extended cooling can prevent brain injuries, but this treatment is not always available in developing nations where advanced medical care is scarce. To address this need, Johns Hopkins undergraduates have devised a low-tech $40 unit to provide protective cooling in the absence of modern hospital equipment that can cost $12,000. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-low-cost-cooling-avert-brain-oxygen-starved.html Medical research Thu, 21 Mar 2013 16:02:21 EST news283100529 In a London ceremony today, Wyss Founding Director Don Ingber, M.D., Ph.D., received the NC3Rs 3Rs Prize from the UK's National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) for his innovative Lung-on-a-Chip—a microdevice lined by human cells that recapitulates complex functions of the living lung. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-lung-on-a-chip-prize-potentially-animal.html Medical research Tue, 26 Feb 2013 11:38:21 EST news281101092 For more than 40 years, Bisphenol A, more commonly known as BPA, was used in everything from plastic baby bottles and the lining of metal food containers to dental sealants. When scientists began seeing a connection between BPA and abnormal sperm and egg development, it set off worldwide public health concerns. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-scientists-toxicant-tool-links-abnormal.html Health Fri, 07 Dec 2012 10:05:48 EST news274097128 Biju Parekkadan saw his future in the plight of a newborn thousands of miles away. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-body-disease.html Medical research Mon, 03 Sep 2012 09:44:58 EST news265884286 Sportsmen and women dope with the blood hormone Epo to enhance their performance. Researchers from the University of Zurich now discovered by animal testing that Epo has a performance-enhancing effect in the brain shortly after injection and not only after days by improving oxygen transport in blood. As Epo also increases motivation, it could be useful in treating depression. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-doping-drug-epo-impact-brain.html Medications Mon, 11 Jun 2012 10:28:11 EST news258629285 European legislation restricts animal testing within the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries and companies are increasingly looking at alternative systems to ensure that their products are safe to use. Research published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Genomics demonstrates that the response of laboratory grown human cells can now be used to classify chemicals as sensitizing, or non-sensitizing, and can even predict the strength of allergic response, so providing an alternative to animal testing. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-cell-based-alternative-animal.html Health Mon, 08 Aug 2011 03:32:52 EST news231993153 (Medical Xpress) -- In a new report published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a team of researchers reveal a new miniature artificial human liver that can be implanted into mice to better enable testing of new drugs and how humans will metabolize them. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-mice-human-livers-pharmaceutical-accurate.html Medical research Tue, 12 Jul 2011 06:50:01 EST news229668175