http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have found inborn traits in mice, which might explain why some individuals are more prone to develop anorexia/self starvation than others. A study showing that genetic defects in the cells power plant, the mitochondria, might cause the neurons in the feeding center of the brain to die, when they are exposed to starvation, is published today in the scientific journal PNAS. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-neurbiological-mechanism-anorexiaself-starvation-mouse.html Medical research Tue, 25 Oct 2011 06:22:49 EST news238742551 New research is prompting a fresh look at the value of vitamin supplements, with some surprising results indicating that taking too many supplements of some could be harmful. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-highlight-vitamin-supplements.html Health Mon, 17 Oct 2011 10:35:03 EST news238066492 Researchers in Japan have discovered how a patient's neural stem cells could be used as an alternative source of the beta cells needed for a regenerative treatment for diabetes. The research, published in EMBO Molecular Medicine today, reveals how harvesting stem cells could overcome a lack of beta cell transplants from donors. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-neural-stem-cell-transplant-tackle.html Medical research Fri, 07 Oct 2011 04:17:11 EST news237179820 Conditions like atherosclerosis and age-related macular degeneration (AMD) -- the most common cause of blindness among the elderly in western societies -- are strongly linked to increased oxidative stress, the process in which proteins, lipids and DNA damaged by oxygen free radicals and related cellular waste accumulate, prompting an inflammatory response from the body's innate immune system that results in chronic disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-immune-mechanism-blocks-inflammation-oxidative.html Medical research Wed, 05 Oct 2011 13:00:10 EST news237037658 Imagine a single drug that would treat most, if not all, autoimmune disorders, such as asthma, inflammatory bowel disease, and Lupus. That might not be so hard to do thanks to a team of researchers who have discovered a molecule normally used by the body to prevent unnecessary immune reactions. This molecule, pronounced "alpha v beta 6," normally keeps our immune systems from overreacting when food passes through our bodies, and it may be the key that unlocks entirely new set of treatments for autoimmune disorders. This discovery was recently published in research report appearing the Journal of Leukocyte Biology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-scientists-master-key-treatments-autoimmune.html Medical research Thu, 29 Sep 2011 11:15:18 EST news236513710 Short-term energy storage in animal cells is usually achieved through the accumulation of glucose, in the form of long and branched chains, known as glycogen. But when this accumulation happens in neurons it is fatal, causing them to degenerate. This neuronal deterioration and death associated with glycogen accumulation is the hallmark of an extremely rare and progressive type of epilepsy known as Lafora disease (LD). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-mouse-perspectives-lafora-disease.html Medical research Mon, 29 Aug 2011 09:37:49 EST news233829446 Groundbreaking research encompassing Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and University Hospitals Case Medical Center, has uncovered a natural defense mechanism that is capable of inactivating the toxin that spreads Clostridium difficile, or C. diff, an increasingly common bacterial infection in hospitals and long-term care settings. The research has immediate implications for developing a new form of treatment for antibiotic-resistant bacteria. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-newly-cell-mechanism-amplified-nitric.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Sun, 21 Aug 2011 13:00:15 EST news233150210 How do the intestines in tiny birds or large mammals form intricate looping patterns? How do hearts and vascular systems form? Why do some large dog breeds succumb to gastric torsion while others don't? Newly released research co-authored by a Cornell University assistant professor provides some key clues to these natural phenomena. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-reveals-clues-formation-hearts-intestines.html Medical research Tue, 09 Aug 2011 12:20:07 EST news232110638 Scientists at the University of Washington (UW) in Seattle have determined the atomic architecture of a sodium channel. The achievement opens new possibilities for molecular medicine researchers around the world in designing better drugs for pain, epilepsy, and heart rhythm disturbances. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-atomic-sodium-channel-electrical-cells.html Medical research Wed, 13 Jul 2011 15:02:29 EST news229788132 High doses of the hormone progesterone can kill neuroblastoma cells while leaving healthy cells unscathed, scientists at Emory University School of Medicine have found in laboratory research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-progesterone-inhibits-growth-neuroblastoma-cancer.html Cancer Wed, 13 Jul 2011 12:13:59 EST news229777948 For patients suffering from epidermolysis bullosa (EB), a hereditary skin disease, even a gentle touch is extremely painful. Now Dr. Li-Yang Chiang, Dr. Kate Poole and Professor Gary R. Lewin of the Max Delbruck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) in Berlin-Buch have discovered the causes underlying this disease. Due to a genetic defect, individuals with EB cannot form laminin-332, a structural molecule of the skin that in healthy individuals inhibits the transduction of tactile stimuli and neuronal branching. According to the findings of the MDC researchers, this explains why EB patients are more sensitive to touch and experience it as painful. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-patients-epidermolysis-bullosa-extreme-pain.html Neuroscience Fri, 08 Jul 2011 10:20:51 EST news229339234 (Medical Xpress) -- Researchers from the University of Leeds will carry out a series of experiments to see whether fish oil can prevent or treat the spread of bowel cancer to the liver. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-benefit-fish-oil-bowel-cancer.html Cancer Fri, 01 Jul 2011 12:27:04 EST news228742013 British researchers have identified specific resistance mutations for two classes of p7 inhibitor, which may explain their lack of effectiveness in clinical trials combined with current standard of care. Study results support the role of p7 inhibitor combinations as potential components of future HCV-specific therapies and are available in the July issue of Hepatology, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-p7-protein-resistance-mutations-drug.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 28 Jun 2011 10:41:00 EST news228476444 Using the latest gene sequencing tools to examine so-called epigenetic influences on the DNA makeup of colon cancer, a Johns Hopkins team says its results suggest cancer treatment might eventually be more tolerable and successful if therapies could focus on helping cancer cells get back to normal in addition to strategies for killing them. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-cancer-cells-universal-dark-exposed.html Cancer Sun, 26 Jun 2011 16:24:39 EST news228324269 A team of scientists, led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, have uncovered a novel mechanism regulating gene expression and transcription linked to Spinocerebellar ataxia 7, an inherited neurological disorder. The discovery promises to have broad ramifications, suggesting that abundant non-coding transcripts of ribonucleic acid (RNA) may be key players in neurological development and function, and could be powerful targets for future clinical therapies. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-non-coding-rna-role-inherited-neurological.html Neuroscience Tue, 21 Jun 2011 13:36:33 EST news227882168 Millions of people with knee injuries could benefit from a new type of stem cell bandage treatment if clinical trials are successful. The world's first clinical trial for the treatment of patients with torn meniscal cartilage has received approval from the UK regulatory agency, the MHRA1, to commence. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-stem-cell-bandage-clinical-trial.html Medical research Sun, 05 Jun 2011 01:58:43 EST news226457901 Researchers studying the life threatening infectious disease sepsis have discovered how the infection can lead to a fatal inflammatory response through blood vessel cells. The research, which is published in EMBO Molecular Medicine, focuses on blocking crucial Matrix Metalloprotease enzymes (MMP) which activate the response. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-blueprint-blocking-mmp-treatments-deadly.html Medical research Wed, 18 May 2011 04:17:04 EST news224910977 A team of researchers have found that pre-existing malaria prevents secondary infection by another Plasmodium strain, the parasite responsible for malaria, by restricting iron availability in the liver of the host. This discovery will be published this Sunday, May 15, in Nature Medicine and has important implications for the management and prevention of malaria, a condition which affects millions of individuals worldwide. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-malaria-pre-existing-infection.html Medical research Sun, 15 May 2011 13:00:16 EST news224506442 A protein associated with Alzheimer's disease clogs several motors of the cell transport machinery critical for normal cell division, leading to defective neurons that may contribute to the memory-robbing disease, University of South Florida researchers report. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-alzheimer-related-protein-disrupts-motors-cell.html Medical research Mon, 02 May 2011 11:09:44 EST news223553343