http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Hormonal therapy for transsexual patients is safe and effective, a multicenter European study indicates. The results will be presented Saturday at The Endocrine Society's 95th Annual Meeting in San Francisco. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-06-hormonal-therapy-transsexualism-safe-effective.html Other Tue, 18 Jun 2013 13:29:28 EST news290780945 (Medical Xpress)—Calories in, calories out. Any dieter is familiar with the two sides of the equation for weight loss, usually reduced to eating less and exercising more. But what controls the body's balance between burning fuel and storing it as fat? What tips the scales toward leanness and away from obesity? http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-06-mitochondrial-protein-little-known-enzyme-fat.html Medical research Tue, 18 Jun 2013 06:30:01 EST news290754689 African-Americans with a variant of the ABCA7 gene have almost double the risk of developing late-onset Alzheimer's disease compared with African-Americans who lack the variant. The largest genome-wide search for Alzheimer's genes in the African-American community, the study was undertaken by the Alzheimer's Disease Genetics Consortium and led by neurologists from Columbia University Medical Center. It will be published in the April 10 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. The study was primarily funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-abca7-gene-alzheimer-african-americans.html Genetics Tue, 09 Apr 2013 16:00:08 EST news284735193 A group of tiny RNA molecules with a big role in regulating gene expression also appear to have a role in causing insulin resistance in woman with polycystic ovary syndrome and, perhaps, in all women, researchers report. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-tiny-rna-molecule-role-polycystic.html Diabetes Tue, 19 Mar 2013 09:45:17 EST news282905110 Alcohol consumption affects the brain in multiple ways, ranging from acute changes in behavior to permanent molecular and functional alterations. The general consensus is that in the brain, alcohol targets mainly neurons. However, recent research suggests that other cells of the brain known as astrocytic glial cells or astrocytes are necessary for the rewarding effects of alcohol and the development of alcohol tolerance. The study, first-authored by Dr. Leonardo Pignataro, was published in the February 6th issue of the scientific journal Brain and Behavior. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-alcohol-consumption-brain-cells.html Neuroscience Mon, 18 Mar 2013 09:32:20 EST news282817900 A 98-year-old researcher argues that, contrary to decades of clinical assumptions and advice to patients, dietary cholesterol is good for your heart – unless that cholesterol is unnaturally oxidized (by frying foods in reused oil, eating lots of polyunsaturated fats, or smoking). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-lipid-dietary-heart-disease.html Cardiology Wed, 27 Feb 2013 15:01:31 EST news281199666 Researchers have identified a microRNA liver gene, miR-27b, which regulates lipid (cholesterol or fat) levels in the blood. This regulator gene controls multiple genes involved in dyslipidemia—abnormal blood cholesterol levels that can contribute to heart disease. Study details published in the February issue of Hepatology, a journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD), describe a new in silico approach to identify the significance of microRNAs in regulating disease-related gene pathways. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-liver-gene-cholesterol-fat-blood.html Genetics Thu, 07 Feb 2013 14:49:29 EST news279470963 (Medical Xpress)—Researchers under ETH-Zurich professor Martin Fussenegger have created a new genetic network that could cure the various symptoms of so-called metabolic syndrome in one fell swoop. It already works in mice. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-clever-gene-combats-metabolic-syndrome.html Medical research Tue, 18 Dec 2012 07:03:20 EST news275036594 (Medical Xpress)—Neural stem cells in the adult brain boost their levels of lipid metabolism to grow and generate new neurons. This new finding may open novel therapeutic avenues to treat age- or disease-associated loss of brain cells. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-lipid-metabolism-adult-neural-stem.html Medical research Tue, 04 Dec 2012 06:23:02 EST news273824574 The University of Ottawa Heart Institute (UOHI) participated in the largest genetic study of Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) to date. Researchers from the CARDIoGRAMplusC4D Consortium report the identification of 15 genetic regions newly associated with the disease, bringing to 46 the number of regions associated with CAD risk. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-largest-coronary-artery-disease-evidence.html Genetics Mon, 03 Dec 2012 10:17:38 EST news273752229 In the largest genetic study of Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) to date, researchers from the CARDIoGRAMplusC4D Consortium report the identification of 15 genetic regions newly associated with the disease, bringing to 46 the number of regions associated with CAD risk. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-insights-genetic-coronary-artery-disease.html Genetics Sun, 02 Dec 2012 13:00:37 EST news273668467 (HealthDay)—Meta-analyses have identified an additional 16 loci with genome-wide significance for coronary artery disease (CAD), according to research presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics, held from Nov. 6 to 10 in San Francisco. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-ashg-additional-loci-idd-coronary.html Genetics Fri, 09 Nov 2012 09:43:55 EST news271676627 Research to be presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior (SSIB), the foremost society for research into all aspects of eating and drinking behavior, finds that gastric bypass surgery induces changes in the gut microbiota and peptide release that are similar to those seen after treatment with prebiotics. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-gastric-bypass-surgery-gut-microbiota.html Surgery Tue, 10 Jul 2012 04:47:30 EST news261114401 Fruit flies on dietary restriction (DR) need to be physically active in order to get the lifespan extending benefits that come from their Spartan diet. If the same axiom holds true in humans, those practicing caloric restriction in hopes of living longer need to make sure they eat enough to avoid fatigue. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-physical-reap-benefits-dietary-restriction.html Medical research Mon, 02 Jul 2012 12:00:02 EST news260448824 (HealthDay) -- It's hard to imagine a pacifier or a rubber ducky making your child fat. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-plastics-chemical-linked-obesity-kids.html Overweight and Obesity Mon, 25 Jun 2012 15:00:01 EST news259853945 Exposure to arsenic in drinking water at the level the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) currently deems as safe in the United States (10 parts per billion) induces adverse health outcomes in pregnant and lactating mice and their offspring, concludes a study led by Joshua Hamilton of the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) and Courtney Kozul-Horvath at Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. The team is part of the Dartmouth Superfund Research Program on Toxic Metals. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-safe-arsenic-compromise-pregnantlactating-mothers.html Health Thu, 31 May 2012 17:04:24 EST news257702620 A new University of Illinois study contains a warning for obese women who are planning pregnancies. Even if they eat a healthy diet when they are pregnant, their babies will develop in an unhealthy environment that places the infants at risk for future health problems. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-body-weight-gaining-baby.html Health Thu, 12 Apr 2012 11:29:40 EST news253448972 (Medical Xpress) -- University of Alabama researcher Dr. Yasmin Neggers, a professor of human nutrition and hospitality management, found a possible lipid metabolism disorder in children with autism. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-reseacher-lipid-metabolism-disorder-children.html Autism spectrum disorders Fri, 24 Feb 2012 05:36:56 EST news249284179 From tracking activities within bacteria to creating images of molecules that make up human hair, several experiments have already demonstrated the unique abilities of the revolutionary imaging technique called multi-isotope imaging mass spectometry, or MIMS, developed by researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH). MIMS can produce high-resolution, quantitative three-dimensional images of stable isotope tags within subcellular compartments in tissue sections or cells. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-quantitative-imaging-application-gut-ear.html Medical research Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:45:33 EST news245857300 A hormone derived from visceral fat called adiponectin may play a role as a risk factor for development of all-cause dementia and Alzheimer disease (AD) in women, according to a study published Online First by the Archives of Neurology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-potential-factor-dementia-alzheimer-disease.html Alzheimer's disease & dementia Mon, 02 Jan 2012 16:00:01 EST news244731397 An article to be published Friday (Dec. 23) in the December 2011 issue of The Quarterly Review of Biology argues that multiple sclerosis, long viewed as primarily an autoimmune disease, is not actually a disease of the immune system. Dr. Angelique Corthals, a forensic anthropologist and professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, suggests instead that MS is caused by faulty lipid metabolism, in many ways more similar to coronary atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) than to other autoimmune diseases. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-contends-multiple-sclerosis-disease-immune.html Immunology Thu, 22 Dec 2011 16:36:30 EST news243794165 People who carry a malfunctioning copy of a particular gene are especially good at clearing fat from their systems. The report in the December Cell Metabolism, a Cell Press publication, shows how the mutant gene influences metabolism in this way. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-mutation-cream.html Genetics Tue, 06 Dec 2011 13:10:01 EST news242399378 A Van Andel Research Institute (VARI) study published recently in the Journal of Biological Chemistry reveals that a natural fatty acid can serve as a regulator of blood sugar levels, which may have important applications in designing better and safer drugs for diabetes treatment. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-safer-drug-diabetes.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 21 Nov 2011 16:05:57 EST news241113947 In a new study, scientists report that they substantially curbed weight gain, improved metabolism, and improved the efficacy of insulin in mice by engineering them to express a specific human enzyme in their fat tissue. Although the obesity prevention came at the significant cost of widespread inflammation, the research offers new clues about the connections among obesity, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes, and inflammation. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-enzyme-boosts-metabolism-weight-gain.html Medical research Mon, 14 Nov 2011 12:30:41 EST news240496234 Research conducted by Dr. Jayne S. Weiss, Professor and Chair of Ophthalmology at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, and colleagues has found that a defect in a gene involved in a rare disease of the cornea also contributes to the progression of invasive bladder cancer. The findings are published in the November 2011 issue of the peer-reviewed journal, DNA and Cell Biology. It is the featured research of the issue, selected for the cover. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-mutation-gene-rare-eye-disease.html Cancer Tue, 01 Nov 2011 14:53:12 EST news239377984 Everyone has heard the old adage, "an apple a day keeps the doctor away." We all know we should eat more fruit. But why apples? Do they contain specific benefits? http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-04-apple-day-advice-rooted-science.html Health Tue, 12 Apr 2011 13:56:41 EST news221835388