Curing Death by Curing Aging Archives Page 63

Physicians Test New Device For Diagnosing And Treating Prostate Cancer (8/15/2007)

Samir Taneja, MD., Director of Urologic Oncology is the Primary Investigator on a clinical trial in order to test Envisioneering Technologies' new mechanical device called TargetScan, which preliminary tests indicate can improve doctors' ability to detect cancer and could lead to more targeted treatments—reducing life-altering side effects like impotence and incontinence. ...> Full Article

Multi-centre Study Proves a New Treatment Option for Asian Chronic Hepatitis C Patients (8/15/2007)

Chronic hepatitis C is an important cause of liver cirrhosis and liver cancer. According to the 2005 updated report by the Department of Health, approximately 10% of people with history of blood transfusion and over 50% of intravenous drug abusers in Hong Kong are infected by hepatitis C virus. ...> Full Article

Protein Plays Role in Increased Skin Pigmentation (8/14/2007)

Researchers have identified a protein that plays an important, early role in the increase of protective skin pigmentation after exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation. The protein, called SOX9, is a transcription factor known to participate in embryo development and to be expressed in many adult tissues including the heart, kidney, and brain. ...> Full Article

Newly Created Cancer Stem Cells Could Aid Breast Cancer Research (8/14/2007)

In some ways, certain tumors resemble bee colonies, says pathologist Tan Ince. Each cancer cell in the tumor plays a specific role, and just a fraction of the cells serve as "queens," possessing the unique ability to maintain themselves in an unspecialized state and seed new tumors. These cells can also divide and produce the "worker" cells that form the bulk of the tumor. ...> Full Article

E. coli bacteria linked to Crohn's disease (8/14/2007)

A team of Cornell scientists has discovered that intestinal inflammation in patients with Crohn's disease may be associated with a novel group of E. coli bacteria with genes similar to bacteria that cause diseases ranging from salmonella to cholera and even bubonic plague. ...> Full Article

MicroRNA 'sponges' could aid cancer studies (8/14/2007)

MIT researchers have developed a new way to study the function of microRNA, tiny strands of genetic material that help regulate at least 25 percent of a cell's genes. ...> Full Article

Study Suggests Loss of Two Types of Neurons-Not Just One-Triggers Parkinson's (8/14/2007)

New evidence indicates that the loss of two types of brain cells--not just one as previously thought--may trigger the onset of symptoms associated with Parkinson's disease. ...> Full Article

Researchers Find Diabetes Drug Kills Some Cancer Cells (8/14/2007)

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have found that a commonly prescribed diabetes drug kills tumor cells that lack a key regulatory gene called p53. ...> Full Article

Survival Differences By Race Most Apparent In Advanced Stages Of Breast Cancer (8/14/2007)

Racial differences in breast cancer survival increase according to stage of disease, a new study finds. ...> Full Article

No Evidence That Widely Prescribed Statins Protect Against Prostate Cancer (8/13/2007)

A large community-based study refutes previous findings that statins - a top-selling drug class, worldwide -- might cut one's risk of developing prostate cancer by reducing production of the male hormones that fuel cancer growth. ...> Full Article

Smokeless Tobacco More Effective than Cigarettes for Delivering Dangerous Carcinogens into the Body (8/13/2007)

It may not be inhaled into the lungs, but smokeless tobacco exposes users to some of the same potent carcinogens as cigarettes. In the August issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, researchers at the University of Minnesota Cancer Center report that users of smokeless tobacco are exposed to higher amounts of tobacco-specific nitrosamines -- molecules that are known to be carcinogenic -- than smokers. ...> Full Article

New Cause of Tamoxifen Resistance in Breast Cancer (8/13/2007)

When a woman receives a breast cancer diagnosis her entire life may change in the blink of an eye. But the nature of that change is governed by the smallest alterations that take place within the proteins of the tumor cells, determining what treatments she can pursue with a hope of cure and those to which her cancer is resistant. ...> Full Article

Do Bones Help Control Metabolism and Weight? (8/13/2007)

Osteocalcin Finding May Implicate Bone as Therapeutic Target for Type 2 Diabetes ...> Full Article

Researchers Discover Novel Pathway for Increasing 'Good' Cholesterol (8/12/2007)

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have discovered that a group of liver enzymes called proprotein convertases (PCs) may be the key to raising levels of good cholesterol (HDL-C). ...> Full Article

Light Shines Way To Early Detection Of Oral Cancer (8/12/2007)

A light being trialed by University of Queensland researchers is showing promise as a tool for early detection of oral cancer - one of the deadliest cancers. ...> Full Article

Scientists Discover A Control Mechanism For Metastasis (8/12/2007)

Metastasis - when cancer cells dissociate from the original tumor and migrate via the blood stream to colonize distant organs - is the main cause of cancer death. A team of scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science has now revealed new details about the mechanisms controlling metastasis of breast cancer cells. Their findings, published recently online in Nature Cell Biology, add significantly to the understanding of metastasis and may aid, in the future, in the development of anti-cancer drugs. ...> Full Article

Scientist aims to stop cancer cells reading their own DNA (8/12/2007)

A promising new line in anti-cancer therapy by blocking the molecular motors involved in copying genetic information during cell division is being pursued by young Dutch researcher Dr. Nynke Dekker in one of this year's EURYI award winning projects sponsored by the European Science Foundation (ESF) and the European Heads of Research Councils (EuroHORCS). Dekker and her team are trying to stop tumor development by interfering with the molecular motors that copy DNA during cell division. This will cut off the genetic information flow that tumours need to grow, and could complement existing cancer therapies, while in the longer term bringing the promise of improved outcomes with greatly reduced side effects. ...> Full Article

Study Finds Pro-Death Proteins Required to Regulate Healthy Immune Function (8/11/2007)

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have found that proteins known to promote cell death are also necessary for the maturation and proliferation of immune cells. Activation of T-cell receptors on the surface of lymphocytes by foreign antigens initiate a calcium-mediated signaling pathway that ends in cell differentiation and growth. The Penn scientists discovered that in the cells that lack the pro-death proteins Bax and Bak, calcium signaling is disrupted and energy production is reduced. Restoration of Bax corrects the signaling problems, increases energy production, and stimulates cell division. ...> Full Article

Hormone Regulates Fondness For Food (8/11/2007)

Scientists have discovered that leptin, one of the key hormones responsible for reducing hunger and increasing the feeling of fullness, also controls our fondness for food. The report is published in today's edition of Science Express. ...> Full Article

Green Tea Boosts Production of Detox Enzymes, Rendering Cancerous Chemicals Harmless (8/11/2007)

Concentrated chemicals derived from green tea dramatically boosted production of a group of key detoxification enzymes in people with low levels of these beneficial proteins, according to researchers at Arizona Cancer Center. ...> Full Article

Study Links Prepregnancy Obesity and Birth Defects (8/11/2007)

In a large multi-site study of obesity and birth defects, epidemiologists at The University of Texas School of Public Health found that women who were obese before they became pregnant had a higher risk of having babies with certain birth defects. ...> Full Article

Answers to Aging from the Amish (8/11/2007)

Is your time up when your telomeres wind down? ...> Full Article

Genetic Finding Sheds Light On Diseases Causing Blood Vessel Breakdown (8/10/2007)

Twenty-one years after they first described a fatal genetic disorder in Missouri and Arkansas families, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have linked the condition to mutations in a gene known as TREX1. ...> Full Article

Gene Therapy Using Adeno-Associated Virus Linked To Liver Cancer In Mice (8/10/2007)

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found further evidence linking a method used to deliver gene therapy in humans with the development of liver tumors in mice. ...> Full Article

Scientists Target Future Pandemic Strains of H5N1 Avian Influenza (8/10/2007)

Preparing vaccines and therapeutics that target a future mutant strain of H5N1 influenza virus sounds like science fiction, but it may be possible, according to a team of scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and a collaborator at Emory University School of Medicine. Success hinges on anticipating and predicting the crucial mutations that would help the virus spread easily from person to person. ...> Full Article

Where Broken DNA is Repaired (8/10/2007)

Ionizing radiation, toxic chemicals, and other agents continually damage the body's DNA, threatening life and health: unrepaired DNA can lead to mutations, which in turn can lead to diseases like cancer. Intricate DNA repair mechanisms in the cells' nuclei are constantly working to fix what's broken, but whether the repair work happens "on the road" - right where the damage occurs - or "in the shop" - at specific regions of the nucleus - is an unanswered question. ...> Full Article

Discovery in plant virus may help prevent HIV and similar viruses (8/10/2007)

In a study that could lead to new ways to prevent infection by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and similar organisms, Purdue University researchers have been able to genetically modify a plant to halt reproduction of a related virus. ...> Full Article

Prevention Is Key To Avoiding Hantavirus Infection (8/10/2007)

Following the recent death of a University of Colorado at Boulder student, public health experts in Boulder are encouraging students, faculty and staff to learn more about hantavirus, a serious respiratory disease. ...> Full Article

Study Finds No Cause-and-Effect Link Between Microbes And Aging (8/10/2007)

Bacteria - you can live without 'em, but it won't do you any good, according to a study of fruit flies by USC biologists. ...> Full Article

Link Between Sunspots, Rain Helps Predict Disease in East Africa (8/9/2007)

A new study shows that sunspot cycles can be used to predict heavy rains, flooding and subsequent disease outbreaks in East Africa. ...> Full Article