http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Researchers at McMaster University have found that brief high intensity workouts, as little as six sessions over two weeks, rapidly lower blood sugar levels in type 2 diabetics, offering a potential fix for patients who struggle to meet exercise guidelines. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-high-intensity-workouts-diabetics-blood-sugar.html Health Mon, 12 Dec 2011 11:19:28 EST news242911159 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 Scientists at Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston have uncovered important molecular and genetic keys to the development of soft-tissue sarcomas in skeletal muscle, giving researchers and clinicians additional targets to stop the growth of these often deadly tumors. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-genetic-molecular-mystery-soft-tissue-sarcoma.html Cancer Wed, 30 Nov 2011 12:25:26 EST news241878317 A team of scientists from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) and CellThera, a private company located in WPI's Life Sciences and Bioengineering Center, have regenerated functional muscle tissue in mice, opening the door for a new clinical therapy to treat people who suffer major muscle trauma. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-body-rebuilding-regenerate-muscle-mice.html Medical research Tue, 29 Nov 2011 13:28:23 EST news241795693 University of Maryland School of Medicine researchers have uncovered a previously unknown molecular pathway that is critical to understanding cardiac arrhythmia and other heart muscle problems. Understanding the basic science of heart and muscle function could open the door to new treatments. The study, published recently in the journal Cell, examined the electrical impulses that coordinate contraction in heart and skeletal muscles, controlling heart rate, for example. Unraveling how the body regulates these impulses is key to understanding serious health conditions such as paralysis, muscle relaxation and heart arrhythmia. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-pathway-critical-heart-arrhythmia.html Medical research Wed, 26 Oct 2011 14:40:01 EST news238856780 (Medical Xpress) -- A team of scientists from the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem describe in C. elegans the process leading to a rare form of Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy, a disease caused by a mutation in lamin A in man. Lamin A not only gives shape to the nucleus, but here it is shown that it controls the positioning of genes in the nucleus, thereby guaranteeing proper transcription. In a paper appearing in Current Biology, the authors show that perturbation of tissue-specific gene localization leads to aberrant muscle structure and function. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-scientists-mechanism-rare-muscle-disease.html Medical research Mon, 03 Oct 2011 08:12:05 EST news236848311 Researchers at the University of Missouri have identified a communication breakdown between nerves and muscles in mice that may provide new insight into the debilitating and fatal human disease known as spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-insight-spinal-muscular-atrophy.html Neuroscience Mon, 26 Sep 2011 15:41:04 EST news236270454 Researchers at the Joslin Diabetes Center have shown that an enzyme found in the mitochondria of cells is decreased in the skeletal muscle of those with diabetes, a finding that could lead to the development of drugs to boost the activity of this enzyme in an effort to fight the disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-treatment-diabetes-prediabetes.html Medical research Mon, 22 Aug 2011 15:25:48 EST news233245537 A Baylor University study has found that a popular nutritional supplement that is marketed to lead to greater muscle strength through increasing blood flow to the muscle does not increase blood flow as claimed on the bottle. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-popular-muscle-boosting-supplement-blood.html Other Wed, 10 Aug 2011 11:13:11 EST news232193584 There is a reason exercise becomes more difficult with age. A report in the August Cell Metabolism, a Cell Press publication, ties the weakness of aging to leaky calcium channels inside muscle cells. But there is some good news: the researchers say a drug already in Phase II clinical trials for the treatment of heart failure might plug those leaks. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-weakness-aging-tied-leaky-muscles.html Medical research Tue, 02 Aug 2011 12:21:32 EST news231506441 (Medical Xpress) -- Though rats, fish oil and beetroot juice read like ingredients in a witch's brew, to a Kansas State University research team, information from this combination could lead to health breakthroughs for aging populations and people suffering from heart failure and diabetes. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-rodents-workouts-diets-health-benefits.html Medical research Fri, 22 Jul 2011 10:39:24 EST news230549927 Research at the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute (ARMI) at Monash University could lay the groundwork for new muscular dystrophy treatments. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-stem-cell-foundation-muscular-dystrophy.html Medical research Thu, 14 Jul 2011 09:23:34 EST news229854023 Research led by the University of East Anglia has discovered the crucial role of a molecule in skeletal muscle development. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-crucial-role-molecule-muscle.html Medical research Mon, 04 Jul 2011 15:00:17 EST news229008372 (Medical Xpress) -- As a result of a 70 million dollar investment from the U.S. military, researchers from the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh announced a successful technique using growth factors and proteins from a pig's bladder to regrow skeletal muscle. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-pig-bladder-cells-regenerate-war.html Medical research Wed, 22 Jun 2011 06:00:01 EST news227932622 (Medical Xpress) -- Excessive noise is not the only thing that causes damage to hearing. In many cases, genetic factors are responsible for the loss of hearing at a young age. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics in Berlin together with colleagues from Nijmegen have discovered a previously unknown genetic cause of progressive hearing impairment: the disease is caused by mutations of the SMPX (small muscle protein) gene, which is located on the X chromosome. It was not previously known that this gene, which is active in the skeletal muscle and heart, also plays a role in hearing. The discovery will make it easier to diagnose progressive hearing impairment and may also provide a starting point for the development of new treatment methods. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-mutated-muscle-protein-deafness.html Genetics Mon, 30 May 2011 10:27:41 EST news225969946 A simple blood test may help prevent a serious complication associated with a contrast agent commonly used in MRI exams, according to a study published in the July issue of Radiology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-contrast-agent-guidelines-debilitating-disorder.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 17 May 2011 03:54:58 EST news224823148 (Medical Xpress) -- Obesity appears to impair normal muscle function in rats, an observation that could have significant implications for humans, according to Penn State researchers. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-obesity-wimpy-rats.html Medical research Mon, 09 May 2011 11:56:15 EST news224160948 New insight into the physiology of cardiac muscle may lead to the development of therapeutic strategies that exploit an inherent protective state of the heart. The research, published by Cell Press online on April 19th in the Biophysical Journal, discovers a state of cardiac muscle that exhibits a low metabolic rate and may help to regulate energy use and promote efficiency in this hard-working and vital organ. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-04-cardiac-muscle-potential-cardio-protective-mechanism.html Cardiology Tue, 19 Apr 2011 13:12:33 EST news222437536