http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. (HealthDay)—Implementation of systematic monitoring for medication adherence will allow for identification of barriers to adherence and tailoring of interventions, according to a viewpoint piece published in the May 22/29 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-systematic-screening-med-adherence-id.html Health Wed, 22 May 2013 17:30:02 EST news288458251 As scientists probe and parse the genetic bases of what makes a human a human (or one human different from another), and vigorously push for greater use of whole genome sequencing, they find themselves increasingly threatened by the unthinkable: Too much data to make full sense of. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-methods-scientists-genome-wide-association.html Genetics Fri, 26 Apr 2013 09:06:17 EST news286185970 Research from Western University and Lawson Health Research Institute sheds new light on a gene called ATRX and its function in the brain and pituitary. Children born with ATRX syndrome have cognitive defects and developmental abnormalities. ATRX mutations have also been linked to brain tumors. Dr. Nathalie Bérubé, PhD, and her colleagues found mice developed without the ATRX gene had problems in in the forebrain, the part of the brain associated with learning and memory, and in the anterior pituitary which has a direct effect on body growth and metabolism. The mice, unexpectedly, also displayed shortened lifespan, cataracts, heart enlargement, reduced bone density, hypoglycemia; in short, many of the symptoms associated with aging. The research is published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-aging-molecular.html Medical research Mon, 08 Apr 2013 12:00:05 EST news284633413 Considerable opportunity exists to improve interventions and outcomes of traumatic brain injury (TBI) in older adults, according to three studies published in the recent online issue of NeuroRehabilitation by researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-effects-traumatic-brain-injury.html Neuroscience Thu, 28 Mar 2013 12:07:02 EST news283691213 The fact that excess weight during pregnancy has negative consequences is not new information. A new study now concludes that the children of mothers obese before falling pregnant are four times more likely to have frequent wheezing, which is one of the symptoms of asthma, compared to the children of mothers weighing a normal weight. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-maternal-obesity-frequent-wheezing-offspring.html Pediatrics Fri, 08 Mar 2013 11:29:27 EST news281964556 Working with a group from Nagasaki University, a research group at the Center for iPS Cell Research and Application (CiRA) at Japan's Kyoto University has announced in the Feb. 21 online publication of Cell Stem Cell has successfully modeled Alzheimer's disease (AD) using both familial and sporadic patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), and revealed stress phenotypes and differential drug responsiveness associated with intracellular amyloid beta oligomers in AD neurons and astrocytes. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-alzheimer-disease-ipscs.html Alzheimer's disease & dementia Thu, 21 Feb 2013 12:14:55 EST news280671287 A University of Connecticut researcher is advancing the understanding of the devastating inherited condition known as spinal muscular atrophy. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-advancing-motor-neuron.html Neuroscience Tue, 29 Jan 2013 08:46:14 EST news278671562 Female mice exposed to Bisphenol A through their mother's diet during gestation and lactation were found to be hyperactive, exhibit spontaneous activity and had leaner body mass than those not exposed to the chemical, researchers at the University of Michigan School of Public Health have discovered. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-female-mice-exposed-bpa-mothers.html Medical research Thu, 24 Jan 2013 13:02:22 EST news278254919 (Medical Xpress)—According to the Centers for Disease Control, nearly 3 of every 100 babies in the U.S. are born with a birth defect. Among boys, one of the most common defects is the displacement of the urethral opening in the penis, a condition called hypospadias. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-mouse-mutant-path-birth-defect.html Medical research Wed, 16 Jan 2013 09:42:23 EST news277551737 Elevated levels of Cyclin D1b could function as a novel biomarker of lethal metastatic disease in prostate cancer patients, according to a pre-clinical study published ahead of print on December 21 in the Journal of Clinical Investigation by researchers at the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-pathways-metastatic-prostate-cancer.html Cancer Fri, 21 Dec 2012 12:00:01 EST news275306017 (HealthDay)—Genotyping of two genetic risk alleles can be used to estimate the long-term risk of early and late age-related macular degeneration (AMD), but knowing the phenotype is important in assessing risk when early AMD is present, according to a study published online Nov. 9 in the Archives of Ophthalmology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-genotyping-ids-long-term-macular-degeneration.html Ophthalmology Tue, 13 Nov 2012 18:10:04 EST news272048480 Research findings confirming that de novo mutations represent a major cause of previously unexplained intellectual disability were presented on Nov. 8 at the American Society of Human Genetics 2012 meeting in San Francisco. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-exome-sequencing-potential-diagnostic-assay.html Genetics Thu, 08 Nov 2012 13:30:03 EST news271583263 (HealthDay)—A new autoinflammatory disease characterized by features including inflammatory polyarthritis/polyarthralgia and dermatitis, and involving mutations in the nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain 2 (NOD2) gene has been identified, according to research published online Oct. 26 in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-autoinflammatory-disease-linked-nod2-mutations.html Inflammatory disorders Fri, 02 Nov 2012 16:40:01 EST news271078723 (HealthDay)—The morphology of bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) malformations plays an important role in outcomes, according to a study published in the Nov. 1 issue of The American Journal of Cardiology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-morphology-bicuspid-aortic-valve-outcomes.html Cardiology Fri, 19 Oct 2012 10:00:02 EST news269856670 Okayama University's Masaharu Seno and colleagues have demonstrated in vitro the development of cancer stem cells (CSCs) from a type of normal stem cell exposed to their hypothetical microenvironment of a tumor. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-stemming-cancer.html Cancer Fri, 21 Sep 2012 06:49:26 EST news267428920 The genetics of a patient affects the extent of septic shock development and response to therapy. European researchers have identified genes related to sepsis in a study group of more than 2,500 patients in Europe. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-genetic-fatalities-due-sepsis.html Medical research Mon, 17 Sep 2012 08:26:23 EST news267089175 (HealthDay)—A new review summarizes the ways in which inflammation and altered metabolism are associated with colorectal cancer in obese individuals; the review was published online Sept. 3 in Obesity Reviews. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-inflammation-role-obesity-colorectal-cancer-link.html Overweight and Obesity Thu, 13 Sep 2012 15:20:02 EST news266765980 Leuven scientists (VIB/KU Leuven) are using zebrafish as a model in their search for genes that play a role in the mechanism of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). As a result, they have identified a molecule that could be the target for a future ALS treatment. ALS is a progressive degenerative motor neuron disease for which there currently is no treatment. Their study has been published in the prestigious journal Nature Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-zebra-fish-therapies-amyotrophic-lateral.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 27 Aug 2012 10:52:30 EST news265283534 As upper level undergraduate genetics instructors plan their syllabi for the fall semester, the Genetics Society of America's GENETICS journal offers a new educational resource, articles called "Primers." These articles are designed to bring cutting-edge scientific research into the classroom by making scientific papers accessible to students. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-genetics-resource.html Genetics Thu, 09 Aug 2012 11:26:18 EST news263730368 Participants in a study who were normal weight at the time of a diagnosis of diabetes experienced higher rates of total and noncardiovascular death compared with those who were overweight or obese at diabetes diagnosis, according to a study in the August 8 issue of JAMA. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-death-diabetes-diagnosis-weight-overweight.html Diabetes Tue, 07 Aug 2012 16:00:04 EST news263568142 A research group at the Center for iPS Cell Research and Application (CiRA) at Japan's Kyoto University has successfully recapitulated amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)-associated abnormalities in motor neurons differentiated from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) obtained from patients with familial ALS, a late-onset, fatal disorder which is also known for Lou Gehrig's disease. In a drug screening assay using the disease model, the team further found that the chemical compound anacardic acid can rescue some ALS phenotypes in vitro. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-drug-screening-platform-als.html Medical research Thu, 02 Aug 2012 09:33:54 EST news263118654 (HealthDay) -- Five novel single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are significantly associated with osteoarthritis, including one near the nucleostemin-encoding gene, according to a study published online July 3 in The Lancet. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-susceptibility-loci-osteoarthritis.html Arthritis & Rheumatism Tue, 03 Jul 2012 14:20:01 EST news260540553 (HealthDay) -- Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) on the ear is significantly more likely to be aggressive, and occurs more frequently in men, according to a study published in the May issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-basal-cell-carcinoma-ear-significantly.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 18 Apr 2012 14:30:01 EST news253976610 Lost in the euphoria of the 2003 announcement that the human genome had been sequenced was a fundamental question: how can we be sure that an individual's genome has been read correctly? http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-methods-accurately-genome-sequencing.html Genetics Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:44:28 EST news247513456 Laquinimod is an orally available synthetic compound that has been successfully evaluated in phase II/III clinical studies for the treatment of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). The mechanism of action of laquinimod has not been fully elucidated, but a study published in the January 2012 issue of The American Journal of Pathology suggests that laquinimod triggers immune cells within the central nervous system to produce and release brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), contributing to the repair or survival of neurons and thus limiting brain damage. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-multiple-sclerosis-treatment-immune-cells.html Medical research Tue, 06 Dec 2011 04:50:01 EST news242367553 A low level of response (LR) to alcohol is a genetically influenced characteristic, or phenotype, that reflects at least in part a low brain response to alcohol, and carries significant risk for the later development of alcoholism. This study addressed the physiological underpinnings of a low and high LR, finding significant differences in brain activation during a cognitive task, possibly reflecting differences in the amount of brain activity used to deal with a cognitive challenge. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-genetically-responses-alcohol-affect-brain.html Medical research Fri, 14 Oct 2011 16:30:15 EST news237828606 The Allen Institute for Brain Science announced today the discovery of a new class of cells in the spinal cord that act like neural stem cells, offering a fresh avenue in the search for therapies to treat spinal cord injury and disease. The published collaborative study, authored by scientists from the University of British Columbia, the Allen Institute for Brain Science and The Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital at McGill University and titled "Adult Spinal Cord Radial Glia Display a Unique Progenitor Phenotype," appears in the open access journal PLoS One. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-class-stem-cell-like-cells-possibility.html Medical research Thu, 15 Sep 2011 11:45:24 EST news235305621