http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. The rate of strokes suffered by Australians has dropped over the past 20 years, while strokes caused by an irregular heartbeat now account for one third of all strokes, according to new research led by the University of Adelaide. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-australia-decline.html Cardiology Thu, 16 May 2013 06:03:51 EST news287903022 Drug-eluting stents can keep clogged leg arteries open, preventing amputation of the leg, suggests research being presented at the Society of Interventional Radiology's 38th Annual Scientific Meeting in New Orleans. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-drug-coated-stents-leg-amputation.html Cardiology Sun, 14 Apr 2013 10:00:02 EST news285143513 Tiina Näsi, a researcher of biomedical engineering at Aalto University, studied in her doctoral thesis the use of light in measuring the brain's blood circulation. This optical measurement may in the future help discover the cause of sleep disorders as well as their close connection with cardiovascular diseases. The method is currently being tested in a hospital. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-doctoral-dissertation-cerebral-circulation.html Medical research Fri, 12 Apr 2013 06:16:32 EST news284966182 UPMC surgeons have performed a "breathing lung" transplant using a portable machine that provides a constant supply of blood and nutrients to the donor organs, which doctors say has the potential to keep them healthier and viable for longer than ever before. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-lung-transplant-east-coast-ocs.html Other Thu, 14 Mar 2013 09:30:02 EST news282471528 A Finnish study shows that patients who have experienced subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) have a highly increased risk of death due to a stroke or cerebral haemorrhage, and have double the mortality rate of the general population. The researchers state that considerably more attention should be paid to risk factors in the life of SAH survivors. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-high-blood-pressure-cholesterol-fatal.html Neuroscience Mon, 14 Jan 2013 07:13:38 EST news277370010 A study conducted by researchers at the University of Granada Group of Neuropsychology and Clinical Psychoneuroimmunology has demonstrated that cortisol levels in saliva are associated with a person's ability to make good decisions in stressful situations. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-saliva-analysis-reveal-decision-making-skills.html Psychology & Psychiatry Mon, 10 Dec 2012 10:10:56 EST news274356643 (Medical Xpress)—Autoimmune diseases are triggered by immune cells that attack the body's own tissue. In multiple sclerosis (MS) immune cells succeed in invading nervous tissue and sparking off a destructive inflammation there which can be accompanied by neurological deficits such as paralysis and somatosensory defects. A healthy brain is practically free from immune cells, because the nervous system is separated from the rest of the body via specialized blood vessels that prevent immune cells from entering it from the blood. Up to now it has been unclear how in MS immune cells can overcome this barrier and seemingly pass unhindered into the brain tissue. A research team, initially at the Max Planck Institute for Neurobiology in Martinsried, and later at the University of Göttingen, could now show that these disease-causing immune cells are programmed in the lung to be more motile and to efficiently break through blood vessel barriers. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-multiple-sclerosis-remote.html Immunology Tue, 11 Sep 2012 09:00:04 EST news266571291 (Medical Xpress)—When the parasite responsible for malaria infects human red blood cells, it launches a 48-hour remodeling of the host cells. During the first 24 hours of this cycle, a protein called RESA undertakes the first step of renovation: enhancing the stiffness of the cell membranes. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-protein-impedes-microcirculation-malaria-infected-red.html Medical research Thu, 30 Aug 2012 10:25:53 EST news265541140 Sildenafil, also known as the erectile dysfunction drug Viagra, may give a boost to underdeveloped hearts in children and young adults with congenital heart defects. Researchers from The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia report that sildenafil significantly improved echocardiographic measures of heart function in children and young adult survivors of single ventricle heart disease palliation. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-erectile-dysfunction-drug-benefit-cardiac.html Cardiology Tue, 08 May 2012 13:14:42 EST news255701633 (HealthDay) -- Active conservative symptom-guided therapy for severe sciatica can safely reduce pain and improve neurological function at a rate that matches or surpasses outcomes from common higher-cost surgical interventions, according to a Danish study published in the April 1 issue of Spine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-relieves-sciatica-pain.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 09 Apr 2012 14:40:01 EST news253195918 (Medical Xpress) -- An international team of scientists, led by the University of Sydney, has found the molecular structure in the body which functions as our 'shock absorber'. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-human-absorbers.html Medical research Tue, 14 Feb 2012 06:20:02 EST news248420649 Sickle cell anemia causes pain, fatigue and delayed growth, all because of a lack of enough healthy red blood cells. And yet genetic mutations that cause it - recessive genes for the oxygen-carrying hemoglobin protein - have survived natural selection because they also seem to provide a natural defense against malaria. Scientists have long known this, and they have long wondered how it worked. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-sickle-cell-anemia-malaria-defense.html Medical research Wed, 30 Nov 2011 10:30:01 EST news241865840 A genetically engineered clotting factor that controlled hemophilia in an animal study offers a novel potential treatment for human hemophilia and a broad range of other bleeding problems. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-bioengineered-protein-preliminary-therapy-hemophilia.html Genetics Sun, 23 Oct 2011 13:27:14 EST news238595216 Within the next 20 years it is expected the number of people with Alzheimer's disease (AD) will double from its current figure of half a million to one million. A new study has looked at whether certain types of drugs used to treat high blood pressure, also called hypertension, might have beneficial effects in reducing the number of new cases of Alzheimer's disease each year. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-hypertension-drugs-people-alzheimer.html Alzheimer's disease & dementia Mon, 17 Oct 2011 10:06:58 EST news238064798 Patients with chronic conditions are likely to change their preferences for receiving emergency procedures in the event of cardiac arrest, according to new findings. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-decisions-life-sustaining-treatment.html Other Mon, 26 Sep 2011 04:31:44 EST news236230291 Recent PET-measurements in Turku, Finland, show that the GSM mobile phone electromagnetic field suppresses glucose metabolism in temporoparietal and anterior temporal areas of the hemisphere next to the antenna. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-mobile-electromagnetic-field-affects-local.html Medical research Thu, 15 Sep 2011 11:29:07 EST news235304937 A device developed by Aïmago, a start-up in EPFL's Science Park, shows how blood is circulating in the skin. It already facilitates the work of burn specialists and plastic and reconstructive surgeons at CHUV. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-camera-reveals-blood-circulation.html Other Wed, 14 Sep 2011 09:57:26 EST news235213031 People with diabetes want to stay active and lead a healthy life free from complications such as kidney disease, heart disease and stroke. However, many patients cannot escape from the common threat of Diabetic Retinopathy, a sort of damage to the blood vessels in the retina caused by poor blood circulation, which can inflict permanent vision damage and eventually lead to blindness. Our eye seldom complains before vision damage is felt. Therefore, early detection through routine eye screening can spare the sight. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-precious-eye.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 05 Jul 2011 10:52:09 EST news229081916 Researchers at St. Michael's Hospital have found more evidence of the benefits of home dialysis for patients with kidney failure. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-evidence-benefits-home-dialysis-kidney.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 21 Jun 2011 09:43:09 EST news227868159