http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. When you have your cholesterol checked, the doctor typically gives you levels of three fats found in the blood: LDL, HDL and triglycerides. But did you know your body contains thousands of other types of fats, or lipids? http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-biology-fats-body.html Medical research Mon, 29 Apr 2013 09:32:48 EST news286446761 Defibrillators are supposed to save lives by shocking a patient's heart back into a normal rhythm, but they have malfunctioned in about 45,000 cases since 2005, according to the Food and Drug Administration. So on Friday, the FDA proposed new rules aimed at ensuring that the potentially life-saving devices work properly when they're needed. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-fda-aims-safety-defibrillators.html Cardiology Tue, 26 Mar 2013 19:40:01 EST news283541145 Transplants of blood-forming stem cells from umbilical cord blood may be an effective alternative to transplants of matched donor bone marrow stem cells to treat children with a rare, debilitating disease known as Hurler's syndrome (HS), according to results of a study published online today in Blood, the Journal of the American Society of Hematology (ASH). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-cord-blood-effective-alternative-donor.html Medical research Thu, 14 Mar 2013 11:03:12 EST news282477785 Some 5.8 million Americans suffer from heart failure, a currently incurable disease. But scientists at Temple University School of Medicine's (TUSM) Center for Translational Medicine have discovered a key biochemical step underlying the condition that could aid the development of new drugs to treat and possibly prevent it. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-key-heart-failure-therapies-horizon.html Medical research Tue, 05 Mar 2013 17:31:11 EST news281727032 Research has shown that mutations in the psen1 gene are common in the familial forms of Alzheimer's disease, and the Presenilin-1 protein that the gene encodes is known to be involved in the cleavage of the amyloid precursor protein. In Alzheimer's disease the amyloid precursor protein is not cleaved the normal way, and the protein accumulates in the brain damaging neuronal tracts and neurons. It is still unknown if the psen1 gene is involved in the etiology of Alzheimer's disease via another mechanism. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-zebrafish-reveals-central-brain-histamine.html Neuroscience Tue, 05 Feb 2013 09:33:24 EST news279279143 Up to one-third of patients undergoing surgery in Ontario have a treatable form of anemia but are not optimally treated for it. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-anemia.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 24 Jan 2013 15:44:01 EST news278264633 (HealthDay)—Exjade (deferasirox) has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to remove excess iron in the blood among people with a genetic blood disorder called non-transfusion-dependent thalassemia (NTDT). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-drug-inherited-blood-disorder.html Medications Thu, 24 Jan 2013 15:30:01 EST news278262671 Thousands of individuals have had kidneys removed unnecessarily because doctors misdiagnosed their disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-kidneys-unnecessarily-due-misdiagnosis-genetic.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 10 Jan 2013 18:30:01 EST news277047791 (HealthDay)—Tennessee health officials report cases of a rare blood-clotting problem among people who injected the painkiller Opana ER (extended release) after crushing pills meant to be taken by mouth. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-blood-disorder-cases-tied-prescription.html Medications Thu, 10 Jan 2013 16:45:55 EST news277058749 Exposure to extreme heat can cause illness and even death for some people. But there are several small steps you can take to protect yourself and your loved ones. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-strategies-coping-extremely-hot-weather.html Health Tue, 08 Jan 2013 06:02:28 EST news276847334 Researchers have identified four new regions on the human genome associated with Behcet's disease, a painful and potentially dangerous condition found predominantly in people with ancestors along the Silk Road. For nearly 2,000 years, traders used this 4,000-mile network linking the Far East with Europe to exchange goods, culture and, in the case of the Silk Road disease, genes. National Institutes of Health researchers and their Turkish and Japanese collaborators published their findings in the Jan. 6, 2013, advance online issue of Nature Genetics. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-genetic-mystery-behcet-disease-unfolds.html Genetics Sun, 06 Jan 2013 13:00:09 EST news276685053 A year after a young amputee left the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania with transplanted hands and forearms, the lead surgeon calls her progress "nothing less than spectacular." http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-success-demand-transplants.html Other Mon, 17 Dec 2012 13:20:02 EST news274962069 Researchers conducting a preclinical study in mice successfully used targeted molecular therapy to block mostly untreatable nerve tumors that develop in people with the genetic disorder Neurofibromatosis 1 (NF1). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-molecular-therapy-untreatable-nf1-tumors.html Cancer Mon, 10 Dec 2012 12:00:15 EST news274359400 A drug originally developed to prevent the rejection of transplanted organs has now been shown to dramatically reduce a particular kind of brain tumor in patients with tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC)—a genetic disease that causes tumors to grow on vital organs. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-drug-brain-tumors-children-tuberous.html Cancer Tue, 13 Nov 2012 18:30:04 EST news272046793 Physician-researchers at Indiana University School of Medicine have reported the first effective therapy for a class of previously untreatable and potentially life-threatening tumors often found in children. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-effective-treatment-tumors-common-genetic.html Cancer Thu, 01 Nov 2012 13:45:34 EST news270996324 Amyloidosis is a group of clinical syndromes characterized by deposits of amyloid fibrils throughout the body. These fibrils are formed by aggregates of proteins that have not been properly folded. Deposits of amyloid fibrils are found in a number of diseases, including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases and type-2 diabetes. The amyloid deposits can be localized, as in the brain of Alzheimer's patients, or found spread through the body, as in amyloidosis related to mutations in the transthyretin gene. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-dna-made-amyloidosis-aggravation.html Medical research Tue, 09 Oct 2012 15:47:15 EST news269016426 Ovarian cancer takes the lives of nearly 900 Australian women each year. It's called the silent killer because by the time most cases are detected, the cancer has spread to other vital organs throughout the abdominal area. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-ovarian-cancer-stem-cells.html Cancer Fri, 05 Oct 2012 09:17:30 EST news268647442 (Medical Xpress)—Studying leukemia in mice, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have reduced a life-threatening complication of stem cell transplants, the only curative treatment when leukemia returns. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-deadly-complication-stem-cell-transplants.html Medical research Thu, 27 Sep 2012 16:13:02 EST news267981167 Researchers at the University of Southampton together with colleagues at King's College London have embarked on a unique study that will shed new light on the risk of heart disease and diabetes in later life. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-secrets-small-blood-vessels-reveal.html Cardiology Mon, 24 Sep 2012 11:35:05 EST news267705294 Twenty-three-year-old Paul Corby has a bad heart and a flawed mind. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-medical-debate-autism-block-heart.html Other Fri, 17 Aug 2012 14:10:01 EST news264428242 Strawberry-shaped birthmarks called infantile hemangiomas grow rapidly in infants much earlier than previously thought, Mayo Clinic and University of California, San Francisco, researchers found. Their study, published online in the journal Pediatrics, suggests that babies with complication-causing hemangiomas should be immediately referred to dermatologists for further evaluation. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-strawberry-birthmarks-rapidly-babies-weeks.html Cancer Tue, 14 Aug 2012 17:09:55 EST news264182977 An investigational parathyroid hormone replacement effectively treated a rare disorder characterized by low calcium and high phosphate levels in the blood, a new study finds. The results will be presented at The Endocrine Society's 94th Annual Meeting in Houston. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-hormone-treatment-rare-disorder.html Health Mon, 25 Jun 2012 09:10:01 EST news259834179 Initial results from an international, investigator-initiated, open label phase III trial were presented at EULAR 2012, the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism. Data indicate that haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) results in better long term survival than conventional treatment for patients with poor prognosis early diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-haematopoietic-stem-cell-transplantation-survival.html Arthritis & Rheumatism Thu, 07 Jun 2012 07:41:45 EST news258273688 The pulse quickens, the heart pounds and adrenalin courses through the veins, but in stressful situations is our reaction controlled by our genes, and does it differ between the sexes? Australian scientists, writing in BioEssays, believe the SRY gene, which directs male development, may promote aggression and other traditionally male behavioural traits resulting in the fight-or-flight reaction to stress. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-men-aggressively-women-stress-gene.html Genetics Wed, 07 Mar 2012 19:00:01 EST news250359768 The first clinical trial of a new vaccine for visceral leishmaniasis (VL) has been launched by the Infectious Disease Research Institute (IDRI), a Seattle-based nonprofit that develops products to prevent, detect, and treat diseases of poverty. The Phase 1 trial is taking place in Washington State, with a companion Phase 1 trial planned in India, an epicenter of the disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-vaccine-fatal-visceral-leishmaniasis-clinical.html Medications Thu, 23 Feb 2012 09:16:12 EST news249210964 An outbreak of Lassa fever has killed 40 people and infected dozens of others in a third of Nigeria's 36 states over the past six weeks, a senior health official said Wednesday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-lassa-fever-nigeria.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 22 Feb 2012 07:55:34 EST news249119711 New research published online in the FASEB Journal details a new antibody, called "OPN-305" that may significantly improve survival outcomes for those receiving donated kidneys and other organs. OPN-305 works by preventing inflammation triggered by oxygen deprivation in the donated organ, allowing for better recovery after transplantation. Specifically, it binds to sensors on transplant tissue, called "toll-like receptors" or "TLR-2," in the circulating blood and turns off signals that provoke inflammation. In addition, the compound is likely to extend the life of a donated organ after it has been transplanted. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-agent-kidney-transplant-survival-mice.html Other Tue, 31 Jan 2012 10:26:33 EST news247227984 Sickle cell anemia causes pain, fatigue and delayed growth, all because of a lack of enough healthy red blood cells. And yet genetic mutations that cause it - recessive genes for the oxygen-carrying hemoglobin protein - have survived natural selection because they also seem to provide a natural defense against malaria. Scientists have long known this, and they have long wondered how it worked. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-sickle-cell-anemia-malaria-defense.html Medical research Wed, 30 Nov 2011 10:30:01 EST news241865840 Peripheral artery disease, or "PAD," is a common and dangerous condition that affects tens of millions of Americans -- often unknowingly -- and can restrict blood flow to the legs, kidneys or other vital organs. PAD, which remains underdiagnosed, is often a sign of a more widespread accumulation of fatty deposits in the heart, brain or legs and, if untreated, it is one of the most common causes of preventable heart attack, stroke, leg amputations and death. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-accfaha-guideline-peripheral-artery-disease.html Cardiology Thu, 29 Sep 2011 14:33:07 EST news236525578 Babies and toddlers with congenital heart disease are at an increased risk of having harmful toxins in their blood, particularly following surgery, according to research by a team at Imperial College London. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-children-congenital-heart-disease-toxins.html Cardiology Fri, 26 Aug 2011 10:38:55 EST news233573921