Curing Death by Curing Aging Archives Page 61

Abnormal Insulin Test Levels Under Investigation (7/6/2007)

The patient safety team at the University of Chicago Medical Center is investigating two cases during May and early June in which blood tests showed insulin levels much higher than would normally be observed. Given these two instances and to ensure the highest level of patient safety, the Medical Center has notified appropriate regulatory, enforcement, and oversight agencies. ...> Full Article

Researchers Discover Method for Identifying How Cancer Evades the Immune System (7/6/2007)

One of the fundamental traits of a tumor - how it avoids the immune system - might become its greatest vulnerability, according to researchers from the University of Southern California. Their findings, demonstrated in human breast and colorectal cancers, indicate that a technique for determining a tumor's "immune signature," could be useful for diagnosing and treating specific cancers. ...> Full Article

Turning Stem Cells Taken from Fat Tissue into Personalized, Cancer-Targeted Therapeutics (7/5/2007)

Researchers in Slovakia have been able to derive mesenchymal stem cells from human adipose, or fat, tissue and engineer them into "suicide genes" that seek out and destroy tumors like tiny homing missiles. This gene therapy approach is a novel way to attack small tumor metastases that evade current detection techniques and treatments, the researchers conclude in the July 1 issue of Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. ...> Full Article

Scientists Describe How 1918 Influenza Virus Sample was Exhumed in Alaska (7/5/2007)

The effort to find preserved samples of the 1918 influenza virus has been a pursuit of both historical and medical importance. The 1918 influenza pandemic was the most devastating single disease outbreak in modern history, and examining the virus that caused it may help prepare for, and possibly prevent, future pandemics. When the complete sequence of the 1918 virus was published in 2005, it represented a watershed event for influenza researchers worldwide. ...> Full Article

Possible Relation Between Dairy Consumption And Mutations Of A Gene That Causes Pancreatic Cancer Uab Barcelona (7/5/2007)

A scientific article published in the July issue of the English Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health suggests that there could be a relation between consuming dairy products and the mutations of a gene that is closely linked to pancreatic cancer. ...> Full Article

How Cancer Evades the Immune System (7/5/2007)

USC researchers discover a way to determine which genes have been altered in a tumor, enabling it to avoid a body's defenses. ...> Full Article

Key To Male Infertility (7/5/2007)

A factor in immune cells regulates human semen and seems to determine whether a man will be fertile, according to a new study. ...> Full Article

More Couples Travel Abroad For Embryo Testing (7/4/2007)

A new study has shown that increasing numbers of couples are travelling abroad for embryo testing, known as preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), and that the main reason for this cross-border movement is the legal position in patients' countries of origin. ...> Full Article

Loss Of Cell's 'Antenna' Linked To Cancer's Development (7/4/2007)

Submarines have periscopes. Insects have antennae. And increasingly, biologists are finding that most normal vertebrate cells have cilia, small hair-like structures that protrude like antennae into the surrounding environment to detect signals that control cell growth. In a new study published in the June 29 issue of Cell, Fox Chase Cancer Center researchers describe the strong link between ciliary signaling and cancer and identify the rogue engineers responsible for dismantling the cell's antenna. ...> Full Article

Natural Signal Holds Promise For Psoriasis, Age-Related Skin Damage (7/4/2007)

The body may hold a secret to normalizing skin cell growth that is over zealous in psoriasis and non-melanoma skin cancers and too slow in aging and sun-damaged skin, researchers say. ...> Full Article

Research Says Sugar Coated Proteins Seal in a Memory of Diabetes (7/4/2007)

Researchers at the University of Warwick's Warwick Medical School have uncovered a process that locks the body's metabolism in a diabetic state after only relatively limited exposure to high glucose levels. ...> Full Article

Human Antibodies that Block Human and Animal SARS Viruses Identified (7/4/2007)

An international team of investigators has identified the first human antibodies that can neutralize different strains of virus responsible for outbreaks of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). The researchers used a mouse model and in vitro assays (lab tests) to test the neutralizing activity of the antibodies. The research team was led by scientists from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), both parts of the National Institutes of Health, and included collaborators from the U.S. Army (USAMRIID), academic institutions in the United States, Switzerland, and Australia. The research findings appear after July 2, 2007 in the early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. ...> Full Article

Critical Protein Prevents DNA Damage From Persisting Through Generations (7/3/2007)

A protein long known to be involved in protecting a cell from genetic damage has been found to play an even more important role in protecting the cell's offspring. New research shows that the protein, known as ATM, is not only vital for helping repair double-stranded breaks in the DNA of immune cells, but is also part of a system that prevents genetic damage from being passed on when the cells divide. ...> Full Article

'Modular' Leukemia Drug Shows Promise in Early Testing (7/3/2007)

A new type of engineered drug candidate has shown promise in treating chronic lymphocytic leukemia in both test tube and early animal tests, a new study shows. ...> Full Article

How Weight-Loss Prevents Breast Cancer Reoccurrence (7/3/2007)

Breast cancer is twice as likely to reoccur in women who are overweight or obese. Whether the process of weight loss provides protection against cancer, or if it is necessary to reach a healthy weight to reduce the reoccurrence of cancer is a key question addressed in a new study to be conducted by the Cancer Prevention Laboratory at Colorado State University. ...> Full Article

Gene Deficiency is a Protective Barrier to Obesity (7/2/2007)

A search for the molecular clues of longevity has taken Mayo Clinic researchers down another path that could explain why some people who consume excessive calories don't gain weight. The study, which was done in laboratory mouse models, points to the absence of a gene called CD38. When absent, the gene prevented mice on high-fat diets from gaining weight, but when present, the mice became obese. ...> Full Article

Research Suggests Omega-3s May Help Slow Prostate Cancer Growth (7/2/2007)

Research in mice suggests that a diet high in omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oil and certain types of fish could potentially improve the prognosis of men who are genetically prone to develop prostate cancer. ...> Full Article

Virologists Show How Memory T Cells Curb the Spread of Viruses Throughout the Body (7/2/2007)

A scientific discovery by Fox Chase Cancer Center researchers helps explain how "memory" T cells protect the body from viral diseases. The research published today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science Online Early Edition shows lymph nodes are not just organs where immune cells reside and proliferate, but also are the sites where a major fight against the spread of an invading virus occurs. ...> Full Article

Type 1 Diabetes and Heart Disease - Heavier May Mean Healthier (7/1/2007)

Researchers find more fat equals less coronary artery calcification ...> Full Article

Researchers Have Discovered A Treatment Which Slows The Growth Of Cancers Of The Colon And Liver (7/1/2007)

Leire GarcĂ­a Navarro, a researcher at the School of Pharmacy of the University of Navarra, has developed a new treatment which slows the growth of colon and liver cancers. ...> Full Article

Researchers Track Influence Of Cancer Inhibitor On Single DNA Molecule (7/1/2007)

Researchers in Delft University of Technology's Kavli Institute of Nanoscience in The Netherlands have cast new light on the workings of the important cancer inhibitor topotecan. Little had been known about the underlying molecular mechanism, but the Delft scientists can now view the effects of the medicine live at the levelin of a single DNA molecule. ...> Full Article

Cord Blood May Preserve Insulin Levels In Children With Type 1 Diabetes (6/30/2007)

Umbilical cord blood may safely preserve insulin production in children newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, according to findings from a small national pilot study presented today (June 25) at the American Diabetes Association's 67th Scientific Sessions in Chicago. ...> Full Article

Acute Mountain Sickness May Lead To Death (6/30/2007)

Acute mountain sickness (AMS) affects almost half of those ascending to heights over 3,000m and may lead to life-threatening complications such as pulmonary or cerebral edema. A new study appearing in Journal of Travel Medicine details a prospective on-site study in the Himalayas between July and October 2004 in which the knowledge and practices concerning AMS were examined amongst trekkers. ...> Full Article

Researchers Find New Pathway To Thwart Antibiotic Resistance (6/30/2007)

Researchers at UAB (University of Alabama at Birmingham) have new information on the structure of a key enzyme in bacteria that could lead to improved antibiotics and less antibiotic resistance. In findings published today online in two complementary papers in Nature, the research team describe the differences in an enzyme called RNA polymerase in bacterial cells as opposed to human cells. These differences provide potential new targets for drug design. ...> Full Article

New Study Offers Hope To Infertile Couples By Investigating Role Of Hormone In Pregnancy (6/30/2007)

A new study from the University of Leicester is investigating whether a naturally produced hormone could provide the key to helping couples conceive. ...> Full Article

HIV Ejected From Cells With Engineered Enzyme (6/30/2007)

A new enzyme eradicates the AIDS-virus from the host-cell genome ...> Full Article

Frog Molecule Could Provide Drug Treatment For Brain Tumors (6/29/2007)

A synthetic version of a molecule found in the egg cells of the Northern Leopard frog (Rana pipiens) could provide the world with the first drug treatment for brain tumours. ...> Full Article

Antibodies Protect Mice from Developing Respiratory Tularemia (6/29/2007)

The respiratory form of tularemia, a potentially serious bacterial disease, is a significant public health concern because it is highly infectious, it has a high mortality rate if untreated, and it could be introduced into a population in an intentional act of bioterror. Though much research is focused on developing drugs and vaccines targeted to the bacterium that causes tularemia, Francisella tularensis, little is known about the role that antibodies play in protecting against infection. ...> Full Article

Researchers Find Gene Is Needed For Healthy Sperm (6/29/2007)

Human sperm cells travel up to 6 meters in their transit from testes to penis, and most of that journey occurs in the epididymis, a tightly coiled tube that primes the cells for their ultimate task: fertilization. In a paper released this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers at the University of Illinois report that they have discovered a gene – and related mechanism – essential to the embryonic development of the epididymis. ...> Full Article

New Vaccine Prevents CMV Infection and Disease in Mice (6/28/2007)

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences have patented a strategy for developing a human vaccine to prevent against Human Cytomegalovirus (hCMV) infection and disease. ...> Full Article