http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. (HealthDay)—A new study of twins suggests that genes may play a big role in how long babies and toddlers sleep at night, while environment is key during nap time. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-tots-differences-due-genes-environment.html Pediatrics Mon, 27 May 2013 11:50:02 EST news288872246 A new study led by researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James) suggests that an unusual experimental drug can reduce breast-cancer aggressiveness, reverse resistance to the drug fulvestrant and perhaps improve the effectiveness of other breast-cancer drugs. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-agent-breast-cancer-growth.html Cancer Mon, 22 Apr 2013 09:50:01 EST news285842034 Neurosurgeons at the University of Texas–Houston and Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital (Houston, Texas) report on the success they achieved when they removed a hypothalamic hamartoma (HH) from a 10-year-old girl to combat hyperphagia (excessive appetite and compulsive overeating) and consequent unhealthy weight gain. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first time resection of an HH was performed for this particular reason. Findings in this case are reported and discussed in "Successful treatment of hyperphagia by resection of a hypothalamic hamartoma. Case report," by Yoshua Esquenazi, M.D., David I. Sandberg, M.D., and Harold L. Rekate, M.D., published today online, ahead of print, in the Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-hypothalamic-hamartoma-curbs-compulsive-excessive.html Surgery Tue, 09 Apr 2013 10:28:09 EST news284722076 When a nerve is damaged, glial cells produce the protein neuregulin1 and thereby promote the regeneration of nerve tissue. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-glial-cells-nerves.html Neuroscience Mon, 28 Jan 2013 16:15:54 EST news278612147 (Medical Xpress)—Adolescent boys with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are more likely to be shorter and slimmer than their same-age peers, according to a new study published in the Medical Journal of Australia today. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-adhd-medication-growth-teenage-boys.html Attention deficit disorders Mon, 21 Jan 2013 06:46:22 EST news277973173 Bioinformaticians at IMIM (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute) and UPF (Pompeu Fabra University) have used molecular simulation techniques to explain a specific step in the maturation of the HIV virions, i.e., how newly formed inert virus particles become infectious, which is essential in understanding how the virus replicates. These results, which have been published in the latest edition of PNAS, could be crucial to the design of future antiretrovirals. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-crucial-aids-virus-maturation-simulated.html HIV & AIDS Tue, 04 Dec 2012 04:16:46 EST news273816986 Researchers at the University of Gothenburg have discovered that a chemical can trigger the maturation of small eggs to healthy, mature eggs, a process that could give more women the chance of successful IVF treatment in the future. The results have been published in the revered journal PloS ONE. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-ivf-breakthrough.html Obstetrics & gynaecology Mon, 24 Sep 2012 10:24:46 EST news267701080 (Medical Xpress)—Long stretches of DNA once considered inert dark matter appear to be uniquely active in a part of the brain known to control the body's 24-hour cycle, according to researchers at the National Institutes of Health. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-dark-dna-brain-day-night.html Medical research Mon, 24 Sep 2012 08:14:29 EST news267693255 A national team of researchers led by investigators at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have developed a multidimensional set of brain measurements that, when taken together, can accurately assess a child's age with 92 percent accuracy. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-brain-scans-dont-age-maturation.html Neuroscience Thu, 16 Aug 2012 12:00:04 EST news264333607 A paper published 15 August 2012 in Biology of Reproduction's Papers-in-Press reveals that eating 75 grams of walnuts a day improves the vitality, motility, and morphology of sperm in healthy men aged 21 to 35. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-walnuts-day-fertility-specialist.html Obstetrics & gynaecology Wed, 15 Aug 2012 15:00:02 EST news264260759 Since anti-cancer drugs are carried to tumors by the bloodstream, abnormal blood vessel development can hamper delivery. In a paper published Aug. 14 in Cancer Cell, researchers at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute found a molecule that promotes tumor vessel maturation. This discovery could be used to help tumor-killing therapies more effectively reach their targets. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-protein-tumor-blood-vessels-mature.html Cancer Mon, 13 Aug 2012 12:00:02 EST news264063330 Researchers at the University of Michigan Health System are helping to quell parents' worry about why infants seem to get sick so often. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-infants-sick-reveal-cell-growth.html Immunology Tue, 07 Aug 2012 10:50:29 EST news263555420 Children who suffer or witness physical abuse undergo changes to their brain structure that may predispose them to depression and substance abuse later in life, a study said Wednesday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-child-abuse-disrupts-brain-depression.html Psychology & Psychiatry Wed, 01 Aug 2012 09:50:47 EST news263033417 (Medical Xpress) -- Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have identified a molecular signaling pathway that drives the growth and maturation of young human beta cells — the insulin-producing cell type in the pancreas that malfunctions in diabetes — in mice and humans. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-scientists-key-pathway-insulin-producing-cells.html Medical research Tue, 17 Jul 2012 04:25:03 EST news261717886 Prenatal exposure to bisphenol A, or BPA, a chemical found in many common plastic household items, can cause numerous genes in the uterus to respond differently to estrogen in adulthood, according to a study using a mouse model. The results will be presented Tuesday at The Endocrine Society's 94th Annual Meeting in Houston. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-bpa-exposure-pregnant-mice-gene.html Health Tue, 26 Jun 2012 11:00:08 EST news259925034 Angiogenesis is considered to be a major target of new cancer treatments. Angiopoietin-2 (Ang-2) is one of the key regulators of angiogenesis. Scientists of the German Cancer Research Center and Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, have now discovered that Ang-2 even has a dual effect on angiogenesis: Firstly, it affects the sprouting of new capillaries and, secondly, it impacts the maturation of the newly formed vessels. Therapies targeting Ang-2 might therefore attack angiogenesis from two angles at once. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-dual-effect-tumor-blood-vessels.html Cancer Thu, 31 May 2012 10:46:55 EST news257679979 An intriguing clue to longevity lurks in the sexual maturation timetable of female mammals, Jackson Laboratory researchers and their collaborators report. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-mouse-links-female-sexual-maturity.html Genetics Mon, 07 May 2012 15:00:21 EST news255605908 Infants whose gut is colonised by E. coli bacteria early in life have a higher number of memory B cells in their blood, reveals a study of infants carried out at the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-gut-flora-affects-maturation-cells.html Immunology Mon, 07 May 2012 12:43:24 EST news255613393 The thymus plays a key role in the body's immune response. It is here where the T lymphocytes or T cells, a major type of immune defence cells, mature. Different types of T cells, designated to perform specific tasks, arise from progenitor cells that migrate to the thymus from the bone marrow. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Immunology and Epigenetics in Freiburg have generated artificial thymus tissue in a mouse embryo to enable the maturation of immune cells. In this process, they discovered which signalling molecules control the maturation of T cells. Their results represent the first step towards the production of artificial thymus glands that could be used to replace or augment the damaged organ. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-artificial-thymus-tissue-enables-maturation.html Immunology Thu, 29 Mar 2012 12:00:07 EST news252239826 Ageing is a complex process involving physical, psychological, and environmental factors. Scientists believe that ageing can be programmed in the womb. One example of stress during pregnancy is the administration of glucocorticoids, i. e. synthetic stress hormones to accelerate fetal lung maturation in premature labor to allow breathing after birth. Could exposure to these stress hormones have an effect on health later in life? http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-healthy-aging-womb-scientists-stress.html Health Thu, 08 Mar 2012 10:50:54 EST news250426248 A new study suggests that age-associated improvements in the ability to consider the preferences of others are linked with maturation of a brain region involved in self control. The findings, published by Cell Press in the March 8 issue of the journal Neuron, may help to explain why young children often struggle to control selfish impulses, even when they know better, and could impact educational strategies designed to promote successful social behavior. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-self-centered-kids-blame-immature-brains.html Neuroscience Wed, 07 Mar 2012 12:35:55 EST news250346145 Neuroimaging has provided fascinating insight into the dynamic nature of human brain maturation. However, most studies of developmental changes in brain anatomy have considered individual locations in relative isolation from all others and have not characterized relationships between structural changes in different parts of the developing brain. Now, new research describes the first comprehensive study of coordinated anatomical maturation within the developing human brain. The study, published by Cell Press in the December 8 issue of the journal Neuron, reveals that functionally connected brain regions mature together and uncovers fascinating sex-specific differences in brain development. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-big-picture-long-term-imaging-reveals.html Neuroscience Wed, 07 Dec 2011 12:25:30 EST news242483118 For the first time, researchers have successfully injected cultured red blood cells (cRBCs) created from human hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) into a human donor, according to study results published today in Blood, the Journal of the American Society of Hematology (ASH). As the global need for blood continues to increase while the number of blood donors is decreasing, these study results provide hope that one day patients in need of a blood transfusion might become their own donors. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-successfully-cultured-red-blood-cells.html Medical research Thu, 01 Sep 2011 12:38:18 EST news234099468 A pandemic of ailments called the "allergic march" -- the gradual acquisition of overlapping allergic diseases that commonly begins in early childhood -- has frustrated both parents and physicians. For the last three decades, an explosion of eczema, food allergies, hay fever, and asthma have afflicted children in the United States, the European Union, and many other countries. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-combat-allergies-early-childhood.html Medical research Sun, 14 Aug 2011 13:01:32 EST news232544740 New neurons take more than six months to mature in adult monkeys and that time is likely even longer in humans, according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, the University of Illinois, and Pennsylvania State University. Their findings, reported this week in the online version of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, challenge the notion that the time it takes for neurogenesis is the reason anti-depressant medications are not fully effective until three to five weeks after treatment begins. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-neurons-months-mature-non-human-primate.html Medical research Mon, 06 Jun 2011 15:44:02 EST news226593819 Neuroepithelial stem cells, the early progenitors for much of the nervous system, need to maintain a keen sense of direction in order to properly manage replication, migration and maturation. These cells are highly polarized, and exclusively initiate cell division at their apical (top) end rather than at their basal (bottom) end, although it has remained a mystery how they determine which way is up. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-04-key-nervous-blocking-protein-stem.html Neuroscience Fri, 29 Apr 2011 11:30:02 EST news223294822