http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. A bizarre twist on the usual way proteins are made may explain mysterious symptoms in the grandparents of some children with mental disabilities. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-science-toxic-protein-unusual-brain.html Neuroscience Thu, 18 Apr 2013 12:18:39 EST news285506312 (HealthDay)—Fraudulent health products are commonplace and can cause serious injury or even death, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warns. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-miracle-bogus-health-products-fda.html Medications Wed, 06 Mar 2013 15:40:01 EST news281804479 Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center and colleagues at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., have developed a novel computer algorithm to easily quantify a major risk factor for breast cancer based on analysis of a screening mammogram. Increased levels of mammographic breast density have been shown in multiple studies to be correlated with elevated risk of breast cancer, but the approach to quantifying it has been limited to the laboratory setting where measurement requires highly skilled technicians. This new discovery opens the door for translation to the clinic where it can be used to identify high-risk women for tailored treatment. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-automated-breast-density-linked-cancer.html Cancer Fri, 01 Feb 2013 16:41:32 EST news278959253 Last year, a team of researchers at Brown University discovered that certain skin cells use a light-sensitive receptor found outside of the eye to sense ultraviolet light and quickly begin pumping out melanin to protect against DNA damage. In a new study, lab members identify a key player in that biomolecular chain of events that could someday become a pharmacological target for improving this protective response. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-linchpin-skin-response-uva.html Medical research Mon, 21 Jan 2013 15:00:01 EST news277985598 (Medical Xpress)—Researchers at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute have identified the key gene in ensuring that our immune defences develop infection-fighting cells. No cells of the adaptive immune system - key to attacking and destroying bacteria and other pathogens - develop in the absence of the gene Bcl11a. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-gene-knockout-immune-cell.html Immunology Tue, 11 Dec 2012 08:26:24 EST news274436728 A new discovery from researchers at Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) at the University of Utah concerning a fundamental understanding about how DNA works will produce a "180-degree change in focus" for researchers who study how gene packaging regulates gene activity, including genes that cause cancer and other diseases. The discovery, by Bradley R. Cairns, PhD, Senior Director of Basic Science at HCI and a professor in the Department of Oncological Sciences, is reported in this week's online issue of the journal Nature. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-dna-packaging-discovery-reveals-principles.html Genetics Fri, 16 Nov 2012 19:35:15 EST news272316905 Many of the body's processes follow a natural daily rhythm or so-called circadian clock. There are certain times of the day when a person is most alert, when blood pressure is highest, and when the heart is most efficient. Several rare gene mutations have been found that can adjust this clock in humans, responsible for entire families in which people wake up at 3 a.m. or 4 a.m. and cannot stay up much after 8 at night. Now new research has, for the first time, identified a common gene variant that affects virtually the entire population, and which is responsible for up to an hour a day of your tendency to be an early riser or night owl. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-gene-distinguishes-early-birds-night.html Genetics Fri, 16 Nov 2012 11:34:27 EST news272288055 Enzyme hunters at UiO have discovered the function of an enzyme that is important in the spreading of cancer. Cancer researchers now hope to inhibit the enzyme. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-newly-enzyme-implicated-cancer.html Cancer Thu, 15 Nov 2012 06:17:03 EST news272182595 (Medical Xpress)—Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) have identified the lynchpin that activates brown fat cells, which burn fat molecules instead of storing them, making them the focus of pharmaceutical research aimed at fighting obesity. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-lynchpin-brown-fat-cells.html Medical research Fri, 19 Oct 2012 08:20:06 EST news269853594 (Medical Xpress)—Scanning the DNA of two people with a rare disease has led scientists to identify the precise genetic error responsible for their disorder, primary ciliary dyskinesia.  http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-genetic-error-linked-rare-disease.html Genetics Tue, 16 Oct 2012 06:51:07 EST news269589057 Early signs of lung cancer could be diagnosed using a simple blood test following a new discovery by scientists at the University of York. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-closer-lung-cancer-blood.html Cancer Mon, 15 Oct 2012 15:00:17 EST news269518514 It's a medical nightmare: a 24-year-old man endures 350 surgeries since childhood to remove growths that keep coming back in his throat and have spread to his lungs, threatening his life. Now doctors have found a way to help him by way of a scientific coup that holds promise for millions of cancer patients. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-bizarre-tumor-case-custom-cancer.html Cancer Wed, 26 Sep 2012 17:00:12 EST news267896984 A new discovery that sheds light on the genetic make up of ovarian cancer cells could explain why some women survive longer than others with this deadly disease. A multi-disciplinary team led by the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI MUHC), in collaboration with the Lady Davis Institute of the Jewish General Hospital and the University of Montreal Hospital Research Centre, has identified genetic patterns in ovarian cancer tumours that help to differentiate patients based on the length of their survival after initial surgery. The study was published in the journal PLOS ONE. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-ovarian-cancer-pathways-genetics.html Cancer Mon, 24 Sep 2012 15:48:13 EST news267720458 An international team led by human genetic researchers at the University of British Columbia and Vancouver Coastal Health has identified the latest gene associated with typical late-onset Lewy body Parkinson's disease (PD), with the help of a Canadian Mennonite family of Dutch-German-Russian ancestry. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-parkinson-disease-gene-mennonite-family.html Parkinson's & Movement disorders Wed, 27 Jun 2012 02:50:33 EST news259984002 A picture is worth 1,000 words when it comes to understanding how things work, but 3D moving pictures are even better. That's especially true for scientists trying to stop cancer by better understanding the proteins that make some chemotherapies unsuccessful. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-3d-key-human-protein-powerful.html Cancer Tue, 19 Jun 2012 13:10:06 EST news259330185 Researchers from the University of Notre Dame's Eck Institute for Global Health developed a "gene chip" to contribute to the identification of malaria drug resistance, an effort that will allow for real-time response in modified treatment strategies for this devastating disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-method-combats-malaria-drug-resistance.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 05 Apr 2012 14:49:50 EST news252856175 Scientists from Seattle Children's Research Institute and the University of Washington, in collaboration with the Genomic Disorders Group Nijmegen in the Netherlands, have identified two new genes that cause Baraitser-Winter syndrome, a rare brain malformation that is characterized by droopy eyelids and intellectual disabilities. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-genes-baraitser-winter-syndrome-brain-malformation.html Genetics Wed, 29 Feb 2012 17:14:54 EST news249758046 A new discovery by Californian scientists may lead to a pharmaceutical breakthrough for a wide range of illnesses that involve the hydration of cells that line the inner surfaces of our body's organs and tissues. In a new report appearing in the FASEB Journal, the researchers describe how they used high-throughput screening to identify small-molecule drug candidates which help cells bypass defective channels that normally move salt and water through cell membranes. These drug candidates work by activating an alternative chloride channel called "TMEM16A" that might be effective in treating conditions such as cystic fibrosis, dry eye and dry mouth diseases and slow-transit constipation. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-scientists-drug-candidates-cystic-fibrosis.html Medications Tue, 01 Nov 2011 10:16:20 EST news239361372 Asthma patients could clearly benefit from personalized medicine, a new study suggests. However, the new discovery of a key gene, while exciting, does not mean that day is here quite yet. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-asthma-treatment-personalized-medicine.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 05 Oct 2011 04:51:09 EST news237009055 A new discovery published in the October 2011 print issue of The FASEB Journal explains for the first time what kicks off the process that causes varicose veins. In the article, researchers from Germany describe a single protein that binds to DNA to control gene function (called "transcription factor AP-1") and the subsequent production of a newly discovered set of proteins that significantly affect the development of varicose veins. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-scientists-proteins-varicose-veins.html Medical research Thu, 29 Sep 2011 11:12:07 EST news236513396 Families suffering from a history of motor neuron disease have helped an international scientific team locate a new gene linked to the incurable disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-welsh-finnish-link-important-familial-motor.html Genetics Wed, 21 Sep 2011 15:43:24 EST news235829551