http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) derived from blood contains growth factors and other bioactive molecules that promote healing at sites of tissue injury. However, it is difficult to deliver and retain these molecules at a target site, and clinical results have proven to be mixed – until now. A new solid form of bioactive plasma-based biomaterials, known as PBMs, can accelerate tissue healing. Not only are PBMs easier to work with, inexpensive to produce, and safe to use, they are available as off-the-shelf products. All of these promising advantages, and the potential to use PBMs to enhance healing of difficult-to-treat connective tissue injuries affecting cartilage, tendons, and ligaments, contribute to their unique possibilities as described in the article "Biologically Active Blood Plasma-Based Biomaterials as a New Paradigm for Tissue Repair Therapies," by Smith et al. in Disruptive Science and Technology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-plasma-based-biomaterials-tissues.html Other Mon, 15 Apr 2013 11:38:59 EST news285244727 A technology being developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory promises to provide clear images of the brains of children, the elderly and people with Parkinson's and other diseases without the use of uncomfortable or intrusive restraints. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-ornl-imaging-device-diagnostics-field.html Medical research Thu, 04 Apr 2013 12:40:22 EST news284298016 An antibody that binds to a molecule on the surface of a rare but deadly tumor of the gastrointestinal tract inhibits the growth of the cancer cells in mice, according to researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-antibody-hinders-growth-gleevec-resistant-gastrointestinal.html Cancer Mon, 04 Feb 2013 15:00:08 EST news279195778 Researchers, led by the NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, the Health Protection Agency in Birmingham and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in Cambridge, have pioneered the whole genome sequencing (WGS) method through a study of 254 TB cases in the Midlands. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-tuberculosis-genetic-family-tree-key.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 14 Nov 2012 18:30:05 EST news272129666 Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) – inflammatory diseases of the gastrointestinal tract – have puzzled the scientific community for decades. Ten years ago, researchers recognized that both genes and the environment contributed to these diseases but knew little about precisely how and why illness occurred. To begin to narrow in on the key pathways involved, they would need thousands of patients' samples, millions of data points, and the commitment of physicians and scientists at dozens of institutions. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-genetic-links-inflammatory-bowel-disease.html Genetics Wed, 31 Oct 2012 15:11:57 EST news270914505 Scientists from A*STAR's Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences (SICS), together with clinical collaborators from London , discovered for the first time that children and young patients with chronic Hepatitis B Virus infection (HBV carriers) do have a protective immune response, contrary to current belief, and hence can be more suitable treatment candidates than previously considered. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-earlier-treatment-young-patients-chronic.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 06 Sep 2012 11:19:52 EST news266149183 Researchers at the University of Washington have determined that the majority of genetic changes associated with more than 400 common diseases and clinical traits affect the genome's regulatory circuitry. These are the regions of DNA that contain instructions dictating when and where genes are switched on or off. Most of these changes affect circuits that are active during early human development, when body tissues are most vulnerable. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-encode-disease-hidden-genome-circuitry.html Genetics Wed, 05 Sep 2012 13:00:01 EST news266059353 (Medical Xpress)—A team of University of Minnesota biomedical engineers and researchers from Mayo Clinic published a groundbreaking study today that outlines how a new type of non-invasive brain scan taken immediately after a seizure gives additional insight into possible causes and treatments for epilepsy patients. The new findings could specifically benefit millions of people who are unable to control their epilepsy with medication. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-university-minnesota-non-invasive-method-epilepsy.html Medical research Fri, 24 Aug 2012 12:32:18 EST news265030314 (HealthDay) -- In a theoretical cohort of 120,000 men, selecting active surveillance for prostate cancer results in considerable cost savings at five and 10 years of follow-up, compared with immediate treatment, according to a study published in the July issue of Cancer. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-surveillance-cost-effective-prostate-cancer.html Cancer Fri, 13 Jul 2012 10:30:01 EST news261393124 Alzheimer's disease is one of the most dreaded and debilitating illnesses one can develop. Currently, the disease afflicts 6.5 million Americans and the Alzheimer's Association projects it to increase to between 11 and 16 million, or 1 in 85 people, by 2050. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-small-molecule-big-role-alzheimer.html Alzheimer's disease & dementia Mon, 09 Jul 2012 17:39:50 EST news261074372 Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found new clues to why some urinary tract infections recur persistently after multiple rounds of treatment. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-discovery-mice-urinary-tract-infections.html Medical research Mon, 18 Jun 2012 15:08:08 EST news259250838 New research shows that an enzyme that has long been considered relatively useless to the immune response instead has an important role in setting up immune cells to kill infection-causing bacteria. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-long-ignored-enzyme-key-infectious-bacteria.html Immunology Mon, 11 Jun 2012 13:08:55 EST news258638926 In an important test of one of the first drugs to target core symptoms of autism, researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine are undertaking a pilot clinical trial to evaluate insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) in children who have SHANK3 deficiency (also known as 22q13 Deletion Syndrome or Phelan-McDermid Syndrome), a known cause of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-clinical-drug-subtype-autism.html Autism spectrum disorders Tue, 24 Apr 2012 14:47:17 EST news254497462 (Medical Xpress) -- Brain stimulation can markedly improve people's ability to solve highly complex problems, a recent University of Sydney study suggests. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-impossible-problem-non-invasive-brain.html Neuroscience Thu, 29 Mar 2012 07:57:53 EST news252226661 When our livers become loaded with fat, it isn't because they are slacking. A new study of human patients in the December Cell Metabolism shows that fatty livers actually burn more fat, not less. All that "hard work" may be at the root of the organ damage that comes with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), a condition associated with insulin resistance that affects about one in three in the U.S. population. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-fatty-livers-overdrive.html Medical research Tue, 06 Dec 2011 13:40:01 EST news242399349 Patients who rely on recombinant, protein-based drugs must often endure frequent injections, often several times a week, or intravenous therapy. Researchers at Children's Hospital Boston demonstrate the possibility that blood vessels, made from genetically engineered cells, could secrete the drug on demand directly into the bloodstream. In the November 17 issue of the journal Blood, they provide proof-of-concept, reversing anemia in mice with engineered vessels secreting erythropoietin (EPO). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-drug-secreting-blood-vessels-reverse-anemia.html Medical research Tue, 15 Nov 2011 16:27:32 EST news240596839