http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. (Medical Xpress)—Gastric banding, a common surgery to reduce obesity, leaves much to be desired. Typically, the patient is left with a feeling of constant hunger. Stimulators implanted in the feeding centers of the brain, like the hypothalamus, have met with mixed results. Partly that is to be expected since there is considerable functional overlap within those areas, and also due to the limited resolution that can be obtained with implanted electrodes in bulk brain tissue. Doctors have also tried to stimulate the main trunk of the vagus nerve, the largest nerve in the body. The vagus nerve, however, hits all the major organ systems, not least being the heart. It also provides two-way channels of communication throughout its extent. Researchers in the U.K. , led by Chris Toumazou, have developed a nerve cuff electrode that targets the branch of the vagus that ennervates the gut. The controller can apparently read conditions in the stomach and provide signals of satiety to the brain with proper stimulation. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-fat-chip-obesity-smart.html Overweight and Obesity Tue, 09 Apr 2013 06:50:02 EST news284707764 Borrowing from microfabrication techniques used in the semiconductor industry, MIT and Harvard Medical School (HMS) engineers have developed a simple and inexpensive way to create three-dimensional brain tissues in a lab dish. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-precisely-d-brain-tissues.html Neuroscience Thu, 29 Nov 2012 13:21:25 EST news273417677 (Medical Xpress)—Researchers at the University of Virginia School of Medicine have shed new light on blood pressure regulation with the discovery of an unexpected mechanism by which hemoglobin controls the delivery of nitric oxide. The findings may point to a new therapeutic target for treating high blood pressure and may have far-reaching implications for many organ systems and illnesses. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-discovery-nitric-oxide-delivery-mechanism.html Medical research Wed, 14 Nov 2012 08:12:06 EST news272103092 Within every human kidney, millions of filtration units known as nephrons are hard at work clearing metabolic waste products from the blood. Given the dirty work they perform, one might expect that the cells composing the nephrons undergo routine self-replacement, but nephrons retain very limited regenerative capabilities and essentially shut down when those limits are exceeded—a potential prelude to organ failure. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-stem-cell-population-day-source.html Medical research Wed, 07 Nov 2012 09:17:03 EST news271502210 A simple six-question quiz, typically used to assess disabilities in the elderly, could help doctors determine which kidney dialysis patients of any age are at the greatest risk of death, new Johns Hopkins research suggests. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-quiz-elderly-death-kidney-dialysis.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Fri, 12 Oct 2012 04:49:33 EST news269236161 Researchers have identified a new technique that can help determine the severity of muscle loss in critically ill patients. The breakthrough could lead to new research to help prevent muscle-wasting and new therapeutic interventions to help treat critically ill patients. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-technique-degree-muscle-critically-ill.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Sun, 02 Sep 2012 13:54:24 EST news265812856 Researchers from the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Loyola University Chicago Health Sciences Division and their collaborators have isolated an elusive human gene that causes a common form of Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA), a relatively rare but devastating form of early-onset blindness. The new LCA gene is called NMNAT1. Finding the specific gene mutated in patients with LCA is the first step towards developing sight-saving gene therapy. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-elusive-gene-leber-congenital-amaurosis.html Genetics Sun, 29 Jul 2012 13:00:11 EST news262780124 (Medical Xpress) -- An indication of whether a mother will develop pre-eclampsia, the most common and severe pregnancy-related disease, has been identified by a University of Sydney study. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-clue-pre-eclampsia.html Immunology Wed, 09 May 2012 08:52:41 EST news255772351 Hormone researchers at the University of Houston (UH) have their sights set on providing long-term treatment options for diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular diseases by better understanding estradiol, the most potent naturally occurring estrogen. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-hormonal-role-glucose-fat-metabolism.html Medical research Thu, 29 Sep 2011 12:32:40 EST news236518354 Researchers have demonstrated the feasibility of focused fetal gene expression analysis of target genes found in amniotic fluid using Standardized NanoArray PCR (SNAP) technology. This analysis could be used to monitor fetal development, enabling clinicians to determine very early in pregnancy whether fetal organ systems are developing normally. The study appears in the September issue of The Journal of Molecular Diagnostics. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-genetic-analysis-amniotic-fluid-fetal.html Genetics Mon, 08 Aug 2011 03:50:01 EST news231993381 Research presented at SNM's 58th Annual Meeting is taking targeted molecular imaging to a new level by combining two commonly used imaging agents into one molecular imaging procedure. The combination of these agents creates a comprehensive examination of the extent of cancer spread within a variety of organ systems in the body. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-combined-imaging-agents-advance-pet.html Cancer Mon, 06 Jun 2011 13:02:14 EST news226584116