http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. (Medical Xpress)—A little more than a year after the FDA approved Kalydeco (Vx-770), the first drug of its kind to treat the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis, University of Missouri researchers believe they have found exactly how this drug works and how to improve its effectiveness in the future. Described in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, MU researchers have redefined a key regulatory process in the defective protein responsible for cystic fibrosis that could change the way scientists approach the lethal genetic disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-discovery-efficacy-cystic-fibrosis-drug.html Medical research Thu, 21 Mar 2013 14:21:27 EST news283094460 A pair of studies published by Cell Press on February 14th in the journal Cell sheds new light on genetic variation that may have played a key role in human evolution. The study researchers used an animal model to study a gene variant that could have helped humans adapt to humid climates, and they used whole-genome sequence data to identify hundreds of gene variants that potentially helped humans adapt to changing environmental conditions over time. The findings provide a road map for understanding human biological history as well as modern-day variability. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-reveal-genetic-variation-human-evolution.html Genetics Thu, 14 Feb 2013 13:24:09 EST news280070633 The first animal model of recent human evolution reveals that a single mutation produced several traits common in East Asian peoples, from thicker hair to denser sweat glands, an international team of researchers reports. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-animal-human-evolution.html Genetics Thu, 14 Feb 2013 13:12:17 EST news280069915 Turns out the same glands that make you sweat are responsible for another job vital to your health: they help heal wounds. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-glands-major-role-human-wounds.html Medical research Tue, 20 Nov 2012 10:15:54 EST news272628941 Weight loss that occurs in conjunction with a low-fat, high fruit and vegetable diet may help to reduce or eliminate hot flashes and night sweats associated with menopause, according to a Kaiser Permanente Division of Research study that appears in the current issue of Menopause. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-weight-loss-resulting-low-fat-diet.html Health Wed, 11 Jul 2012 09:45:21 EST news261218715 To date, few fundamentals have been known about the most common gland in the body, the sweat glands that are essential to controlling body temperature, allowing humans to live in the world’s diverse climates. Now, in a tour de force, researchers at The Rockefeller University and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute have identified, in mice, the stem cell from which sweat glands initially develop as well as stem cells that regenerate adult sweat glands. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-glands-grown-newly-stem-cells.html Medical research Fri, 06 Jul 2012 08:24:25 EST news260781859 The human subconscious has a bigger impact than previously thought on how we respond to danger, according to research led by the University of Exeter. Published today, the study shows that our primitive response to fear can contradict our conscious assessment of danger. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-reveals-power-subconscious-human.html Psychology & Psychiatry Wed, 18 Jan 2012 04:20:04 EST news246081053 Egocentric, self-centred, and insensitive to the needs of others: these social problems often arise in people with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) and have been attributed in part to a loss of emotional empathy, the capacity to recognise and understand the emotions of other people. Given that traumatic brain injuries are becoming more common, and resulting empathy deficits can have negative repercussions on social functioning and quality of life, it is increasingly important to understand the processes that shape emotional empathy. A new study has recently revealed evidence of a relationship between physiological responses to anger and a reduction of emotional empathy post-injury, as reported in the May 2011 issue of Cortex. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-lack-empathy-traumatic-brain-injury.html Psychology & Psychiatry Tue, 28 Jun 2011 10:23:40 EST news228475381