http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Genetics and demographics likely put you at risk for salt-sensitive hypertension, and scientists are looking for a way to protect you. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-sodium-salt-sensitive-hypertension.html Medical research Tue, 26 Feb 2013 17:38:18 EST news281122503 Administration of the active compound tetrahydroxystilbene glucoside (TSG) derived from the Chinese herbal medicine Polygonum multiflorum Thunb, reversed both overexpression of α-synuclein, a small protein found in the brain, and its accumulation using a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. These results, which may shed light on the neuropathology of AD and open up new avenues of treatment, are available in the current issue of Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-herbal-compound-potential-alzheimer-disease.html Alzheimer's disease & dementia Sat, 16 Feb 2013 01:17:39 EST news280199842 (Medical Xpress)—It takes a lot to make a memory. New proteins have to be synthesized, neuron structures altered. While some of these memory-building mechanisms are known, many are not. Some recent studies have indicated that a unique group of molecules called microRNAs, known to control production of proteins in cells, may play a far more important role in memory formation than previously thought. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-uncover-previously-unknown-mechanism-memory.html Neuroscience Wed, 30 Jan 2013 13:18:51 EST news278774326 Whitehead Institute scientists report that certain molecules present in high concentrations on the surfaces of many cancer cells could be exploited to funnel lethal toxic molecules into the malignant cells. In such an approach, the overexpression of specific transporters could be exploited to deliver toxic substances into cancer cells. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-cell-surface-exploited-cancer-drug.html Genetics Sun, 02 Dec 2012 13:00:28 EST news273667569 (Medical Xpress)—It seems as if a tumor deprived of oxygen would shrink. However, numerous studies have shown that tumor hypoxia, in which portions of the tumor have significantly low oxygen concentrations, is in fact linked with more aggressive tumor behavior and poorer prognosis. It's as if rather than succumbing to gently hypoxic conditions, the lack of oxygen commonly created as a tumor outgrows its blood supply signals a tumor to grow and metastasize in search of new oxygen sources – for example, hypoxic bladder cancers are likely to metastasize to the lungs, which is frequently deadly. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-lack-oxygen-cancer-cells-growth.html Cancer Thu, 13 Sep 2012 11:36:25 EST news266754978 (HealthDay)—Some patients with congenital generalized lipodystrophy (CGL), who lack adipocytes and develop severe insulin resistance, have a defect in adipocyte development that can be partially reversed, according to a study published online Aug. 28 in Diabetes. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-congenital-disease-linked-adipocyte.html Diabetes Fri, 07 Sep 2012 13:10:01 EST news266238371 The finding involves the cancer gene RhoC, which has previously been shown to promote metastasis of many types of cancer. RhoC levels increase as breast cancer progresses and high levels of RhoC are associated with worse patient survival. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-driver-breast-cancer-stem-cell.html Cancer Tue, 24 Jul 2012 13:04:45 EST news262353878 Scientists from Western University in London, Canada and the Children's Health Research Institute, an Institute within the Lawson Health Research Institute, have identified the critical role of a receptor called c-Kit in the development and function of insulin-producing beta cells, making it an exciting therapeutic target for the management of diabetes. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-kit-insulin-production.html Diabetes Tue, 17 Jul 2012 15:57:42 EST news261759446 Dietary restriction can slow age-related diseases and extend the lifespan of all species tested to date. Understanding this phenomenon might help people live longer, preferably without having to drastically limit calories. Now, investigators reporting in the July 3 issue of the Cell Press journal Cell Metabolism have found that in flies, dietary restriction causes enhanced fat metabolism in the muscle and increased physical activity, both of which are critical for extending lifespan. The findings suggest that dietary restriction may cause changes in muscle that can lead to a more active and longer life. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-calories-longer-physical.html Medical research Tue, 03 Jul 2012 12:00:02 EST news260534543 Acute inflammatory diseases, such as sepsis, as well as chronic inflammatory diseases like diabetes and arthritis, develop as a result of sustained inflammation of the blood vessel wall. Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) have discovered that a microRNA (small, non-coding RNA molecule) called miR-181b can reduce the inflammatory response that is responsible for such diseases. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-boost-microrna-sepsis-inflammatory-diseases.html Inflammatory disorders Thu, 24 May 2012 12:01:08 EST news257076641 Researchers have taken a critical step in understanding how allergic reactions occur after identifying a genetic signature for regulation of a key immune hormone, interleukin (IL-13). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-allergic-diseases.html Immunology Wed, 28 Mar 2012 11:10:01 EST news252149755 The University of Kentucky has announced that Dr. Daret St. Clair, the James Graham Brown Endowed Chair and professor of toxicology, has published the first comprehensive study that provides insight into the relationship between two types of suppressors in cancerous tumors. The results will enhance the understanding of transcriptional mechanisms in carcinogenesis. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-uk-insight-cancer.html Cancer Wed, 22 Feb 2012 11:50:21 EST news249133812 Spanish researchers at CIC Biogune, the Cooperative Centre for Research into Biosciences and led by Dr. Maria Luz Martinez Chantar, have found a strong relationship between high levels of Hu antigen R (HuR) protein and the malignancy of Hepatocellular Carcinoma, through a novel molecular process in the investigation of this pathology and known as neddylation. The project provides new opportunities for making advances in the quest for personalised therapeutic applications in the treatment for Hepatocarcinoma. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-therapeutic-combat-liver-cancer.html Cancer Thu, 26 Jan 2012 09:58:00 EST news246794260 In patients with HER2-positive breast cancer, Tykerb (lapatinib) has been used both in combination with herceptin (trastuzumab) and as an alternative single-agent therapy for pre-surgery (neo-adjuvant) chemotherapy treatment. Two new studies are published today on these drugs. One published by The Lancet Oncology, showing lapatinib to be less beneficial than trastuzumab for single-agent therapy, and one by The Lancet showing that combining both drugs appears almost twice as effective as single-agent therapy (although lapatinib causes more side-effects). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-role-lapatinib-trastuzumab-her2-positive.html Cancer Mon, 16 Jan 2012 18:30:01 EST news245930332 The anxiety and behavioral issues associated with excess MeCP2 protein result from overexpression of two genes (Crh [corticotropin-releasing hormone] and Oprm 1 [mu-opioid receptor MOR 1]), which may point the way to treating these problems in patients with too much of the protein, said Baylor College of Medicine scientists in a report that appears online in the journal Nature Genetics. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-genes-affect-anxiety-behavior-mice.html Genetics Sun, 08 Jan 2012 13:00:14 EST news245240348 Just as people's bodies and minds can become addicted to substances such as drugs, caffeine, alcohol, their cancers can become addicted to certain genes that insure their continued growth and dominance. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-oncogene-cancer-cell-treatment.html Cancer Thu, 08 Dec 2011 14:00:02 EST news242573362 Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most common malignant brain cancer in humans. Patients with GBM have a poor prognosis because it is a highly aggressive form of cancer that is commonly resistant to current therapies. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-glioblastoma-multiforme-dock.html Cancer Mon, 14 Nov 2011 12:32:01 EST news240496299 German researchers have identified an unexpected molecular marker that predicts how sensitive hard-to-treat triple-negative breast cancers are to chemotherapy. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-gene-chemotherapy-sensitivity-triple-negative-breast.html Cancer Thu, 05 May 2011 10:05:37 EST news223808703