http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. A class of anti-retroviral drugs commonly used to treat HIV, particularly in Africa and low income countries, can cause premature ageing, according to research published today in the journal Nature Genetics. The study shows that the drugs damage DNA in the patient's mitochondria – the 'batteries' which power their cells. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-premature-aging-hiv-drugs.html Genetics Sun, 26 Jun 2011 16:27:48 EST news228324452 (Medical Xpress) -- Researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center have revealed novel mechanisms in mitochondria that have implications for cancer as well as many other age-related diseases such as Parkinson’s disease, heart disease and hypertension. This discovery has pioneered the formation of a whole new field within epigenetics research ripe with possibilities of developing future gene therapies to treat cancer and age-associated diseases. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-discoveries-mitochondria-field-cancer.html Cancer Mon, 20 Jun 2011 06:50:04 EST news227771260 A human drug that both prevents and cures kidney failure in mice sheds light on disabling human mitochondrial disorders, and may represent a potential treatment in people with such illnesses. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-animal-results-pave-rare-mitochondrial.html Medical research Thu, 19 May 2011 11:03:15 EST news225021774 (Medical Xpress) -- Researchers have discovered the first real evidence of the 'mother's curse' and its connection to male infertility due to genetic mutations in mitochondria. Led by Dr. Damian Dowling from Monash University in Melbourne and Paolo Innocenti from Uppsala University, their breakthrough research has been recently published in Science. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-mothers-curse-linked-male-infertility.html Genetics Mon, 16 May 2011 11:04:41 EST news224762657 Two proteins that are abnormally modified in the brains of patients with Alzheimer disease collude, resulting in ill effects on the crucial energy centers of brain cells, according to new findings published online in Neurobiology of Aging. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-defective-proteins-conspire-impair-nerve.html Neuroscience Fri, 13 May 2011 15:47:01 EST news224520370 (Medical Xpress) -- New data offer hints to why Parkinson's disease so selectively harms brain cells that produce the chemical dopamine, say researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-disruption-nerve-cell-chain-contribute.html Neuroscience Thu, 12 May 2011 16:35:13 EST news224436895 Scientists have discovered a new component of mitochondria that plays a key part in their function. The discovery, which is presented in the journal Cell Metabolism, is of potential significance to our understanding of both inherited and age-related diseases. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-mitochondrial-mechanism.html Medical research Wed, 04 May 2011 06:57:04 EST news223710921