Curing Death by Curing Aging Archives Page 51

Sperm Banking Preserves Fertility In Young Male Cancer Patients (7/25/2007)

A Hamilton study proves that sperm freezing and banking is an effective way to preserve fertility in adolescents and young adult males with cancer. ...> Full Article

Scientists Find Key HIV Protein Makes Cell Membranes Bend More Easily (7/25/2007)

Carnegie Mellon University scientists have made an important discovery that aids the understanding of why HIV enters immune cells with ease. The researchers found that after HIV docks onto a host cell, it dramatically lowers the energy required for a cell membrane to bend, making it easier for the virus to infect immune cells. The finding, in press in Biophysical Journal, will provide vital data to conduct future computer simulations of HIV dynamics to help further drug discovery and prevent deadly infections. ...> Full Article

Breakthrough Approach Matches Tumor Profiles to Best Possible Anticancer Treatments (7/25/2007)

Cancer patients don't have time to waste. Many go through several different treatments, however, to find one that is more effective against their particular type of tumor. ...> Full Article

First Genome-Wide Study of Infectious Disease Opens New Avenues for HIV Treatment, Vaccines (7/24/2007)

The first genome-wide association study of an infectious disease, conducted by an international group of researchers through the Center for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Immunology (CHAVI), has yielded a new understanding of why some people can suppress virus levels following HIV infection. "The clearer picture of host responses to the virus achieved through this examination of genomes could lead to improved HIV therapies and provides new targets for vaccine developers," says Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D., director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). CHAVI, which is led by Barton Haynes, M.D., of Duke University, Durham, N.C., was established in 2005 by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the NIH. ...> Full Article

Molecular Detectors May Refine Cancer Treatment (7/24/2007)

University of Florida researchers have successfully used molecular probes to detect subtle differences in leukemia cells from patient samples, an achievement that could lead to more effective ways to diagnose and treat cancer. ...> Full Article

Leptin Role in Obesity, Cardiovascular Disease, Cancer Studied (7/24/2007)

Although scientists have long recognized that the hormone leptin plays an important role in obesity, Emory University researchers in separate studies are focusing on precisely how the hormone leads to weight gain as well as its relatively newfound role in cardiovascular disease and cancer. Produced in the fat cells, leptin is involved in a wide range of biological activities including appetite regulation, bone formation, reproduction and blood vessel formation. ...> Full Article

Study Reveals Surge in Male-Factor Infertility Technique (7/23/2007)

A national study reveals that the use of intracytoplasmic sperm injection or ICSI -- an assisted reproductive technology used to treat male-factor infertility -- has increased dramatically in the United States since 1995, while the proportion of patients receiving treatment for male-factor infertility has remained stable. ...> Full Article

Study Looks To Find If Soap Is Best For Cleaning Wounds (7/23/2007)

When broken bones pierce the skin, the chance of infection is a doctor's number one concern. ...> Full Article

Reducing Insulin Signaling In The Brain Can Prolong Lifespan (7/23/2007)

Study explains the physiologic benefits of diet and exercise ...> Full Article

Protein Protects Anti-Cancer Gene From Chemical Shutdown (7/23/2007)

A protein that is largely absent in one type of skin cancer protects an important gene in a cell's defense against harmful mutations from being silenced, researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center report in the July 20 edition of Molecular Cell. ...> Full Article

Scientists Lift Lid On Genetics Of Coronary Artery Disease (7/23/2007)

Scientists have moved a step closer to understanding how our genetic make-up can lead us to develop heart disease and to predicting who is most at risk. In a study published today, they have confirmed six new genetic variants that increase the likelihood of developing coronary artery disease. Heart disease is the UK's largest killer, accounting for 105,000 deaths annually. ...> Full Article

White Blood Cell Booster May Help Cancer Patients Avoid Deadly Complications (7/23/2007)

Cancer patients who receive a drug that stimulates the growth of infection-fighting white blood cells may be significantly less likely to die from a chemotherapy-related complication characterized by fever and low white blood cell levels, according to a multi-institutional study led by researchers from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry and the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center. ...> Full Article

Gene Therapy For Parkinson's Hitches Ride On Virus (7/22/2007)

OHSU is one of nine sites studying whether CERE-120 reduces symptoms of disorder ...> Full Article

Protein Suppresses Spread Of Prostate Cancer (7/22/2007)

A protein whose function is lost in a broad array of cancers normally suppresses the spread of prostate cancer, MIT researchers and colleagues have shown. As a result, testing for loss of the protein, called Protein 4.1B, could help clinicians predict which cancers are likely to spread, or metastasize. ...> Full Article

New Therapy Is Effective For Patients With Crohn's Disease, According To Studies (7/22/2007)

Mayo Clinic researchers have found that certolizumab pegol is an effective treatment for adults with Crohn's disease, according to two new studies. These findings were published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Certolizumab pegol blocks tumor necrosis factor, an important cause of inflammation in Crohn's disease. ...> Full Article

Obesity Found To Be A Risk Factor For Multiple Myeloma (7/22/2007)

An obese person is more likely than a lean person to develop multiple myeloma, according to researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and Harvard School of Public Health. ...> Full Article

Potential New Target for Cancer Found (7/22/2007)

By bypassing a well-known gene implicated in almost one-third of all cancers and instead focusing on the protein activated by the gene, Duke University Medical Center researchers believe they may have found a new target for anti-cancer drugs. ...> Full Article

Connecting Diabetes And Inflammation (7/21/2007)

It has long been known that type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease. The body attacks the islet cells in the pancreas that produce insulin. In recent years, the immune system has also been implicated in type 2 diabetes - in particular imbalances in cytokines, an immune system component that causes inflammation. These imbalances become especially marked as people become obese. Dr. Jerry Nadler and his colleagues are investigating the role of a key gene - 12/15-LO (12/15-lipoxygenase ) - that has been implicated in the immune-system induced inflammatory effects linked to both forms of diabetes and their complications. ...> Full Article

Universal Flu Vaccine Being Tested On Humans (7/21/2007)

A universal influenza vaccine that has been pioneered by researchers from VIB and Ghent University (Belgium) is being tested for the first time on humans by the British-American biotech company Acambis. This vaccine is intended to provide protection against all 'A' strains of the virus that causes human influenza, including pandemic strains. ...> Full Article

Gene Identified For Crohn's Disease In Children (7/21/2007)

Pediatrics researchers have identified a gene variant that raises a child's risk of Crohn's disease, a chronic and painful condition attributed to inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract. ...> Full Article

Clues to Future Evolution of HIV Come From African Green Monkeys (7/21/2007)

Monkey viruses related to HIV may have swept across Africa more recently than previously thought, according to new research from The University of Arizona in Tucson. ...> Full Article

Gene Discovered for Type 1 Diabetes in Children (7/21/2007)

Pediatrics researchers at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and McGill University in Montreal have identified a gene variant that raises a child's risk for type 1 diabetes, formerly called juvenile diabetes. As investigators continue to pinpoint genes contributing to diabetes, they have their eyes on providing a scientific basis for designing better treatments and preventive measures for the disease. ...> Full Article

Enzyme Eliminated By Cancer Cells Holds Promise For Cancer Treatment (7/21/2007)

An enzyme that cancer cells eliminate, apparently so they can keep proliferating, may hold clues to more targeted, effective cancer treatment, scientists say. ...> Full Article

Investigating The Causes Of Parkinson's Disease (7/21/2007)

A University of Nottingham researcher has been awarded more than �440,000 by the Parkinson's Disease Society (PDS) to investigate the causes of the condition. ...> Full Article

Brain Discovery Could Fight Deadly Tumors (7/21/2007)

MIT researchers have identified a critical link between two proteins found in brain tumors, a discovery that could eventually help treat a form of brain cancer that kills 99 percent of patients. ...> Full Article

Phase I Clinical Trials Offer New Avenue For Pediatric Cancer Patients (7/20/2007)

Patients who suffer from recurrence of childhood cancer now have another option. The New Therapies for Pediatric Cancer Program at Comer Children's Hospital makes Phase I clinical trials available to youths with certain refractory or relapsed cancer. ...> Full Article

Flavonoids in Orange Juice Make It a Healthy Drink, Despite the Sugar (7/20/2007)

Orange juice, despite its high caloric load of sugars, appears to be a healthy food for diabetics due to its mother lode of flavonoids, a study by endocrinologists at the University at Buffalo has shown. ...> Full Article

Diabetics Experience More Complications Following Trauma (7/20/2007)

Individuals with diabetes appear to spend more days in the intensive care unit, use more ventilator support and have more complications during hospitalization for trauma than non-diabetics, according to a report in the July issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. ...> Full Article

Researchers Identify New Combination Therapy that Promotes Cancer Cell Death (7/20/2007)

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine identified a combination therapy as a way to sensitize resistant human cancer cells to a treatment currently being tested in clinical trials. They propose that the therapy may help to selectively eliminate cancer cells while leaving healthy cells intact, providing a cancer treatment with fewer side effects. The Penn team reports their findings in the July issue of Cancer Cell. ...> Full Article

Researchers Discover Key Mechanism to Emergence of Deadly Strep Bacteria (7/20/2007)

The incidence of serious strep infections has risen dramatically in the last three decades, and this increase is largely attributed to the spread around the globe of a single strain of strep known as the invasive M1T1 clone. Researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine and the University of Wollongong in Australia have discovered that, 30 years ago, a virus infected the strep bacteria - creating a deadly strain of 'flesh-eating'� bacteria that has evolved to produce serious human infections worldwide. ...> Full Article