ScienceBlog.com

Health

Cogent trial shows lack of adverse interaction between clopidogrel and stomach medicine

SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- SEPTEMER 24, 2009 -- Results from a late breaking clinical trial called COGENT demonstrate that the combination of giving patients clopidogrel, a blood thinner commonly prescribed to patients with cardiovascular disease, and stomach medicines such as omeprazole, known as proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), did not lead to adverse events, as some prior studies had suggested.

Sep 24, 2009

Health

Coronary imaging techniques helps to identify plaques likely to cause heart attacks

SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- SEPTEMBER 24, 2009 -- Late-breaking results from the PROSPECT clinical trial shed new light on the types of vulnerable plaque that are most likely to cause sudden, unexpected adverse cardiac events, and on the ability to identify them through imaging techniques before they occur.

Sep 24, 2009

Health

Vitamin D deficiency in younger women is associated with increased risk of high blood pressure

Vitamin D deficiency in premenopausal women may increase the risk of developing systolic hypertension 15 years later, according to research reported at the American Heart Association's 63rd High Blood Pressure Research Conference. Researchers examined women enrolled in the Michigan Bone Health and Metabolism Study and analyzed data from 559 Caucasian women living in Tecumseh, Mich.

Sep 24, 2009

Health

Environmental chemicals found in breast milk and high incidence of testicular cancer

A comparison of breast milk samples from Denmark and Finland revealed a significant difference in environmental chemicals which have previously been implicated in testicular cancer or in adversely affecting development of the fetal testis in humans and animals. This finding is published today in the International Journal of Andrology.

Sep 24, 2009

Health

Caltech scientists get detailed glimpse of chemoreceptor architecture in bacterial cells

PASADENA, Calif. -- Using state-of-the-art electron microscopy techniques, a team led by researchers from Caltech has for the first time visualized and described the precise arrangement of chemoreceptors -- the receptors that sense and respond to chemical stimuli -- in bacteria.

Sep 24, 2009

Health

Use of statins favors the wealthy, creating new social disparities in cholesterol

PHILADELPHIA -- Since the introduction of statins to treat high cholesterol, the decline in lipid levels experienced by the wealthy has been double that experienced by the poor.

Sep 24, 2009

Health

University Hospitals Case Medical Center to test gammaglobulin treatment for Alzheimer's disease

Researchers from the Memory and Cognition Center at University Hospitals Case Medical Center will begin testing an intriguing new approach to slowing down the progression of Alzheimer's Disease (AD) using Intravenous Immune Globulin (IGIV), also known as gammaglobulin.

Sep 24, 2009

Earth & Environment

MU researchers find planning, positivism influence employment success at different stages

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- With America's unemployment rate higher than it has been in decades, many people find themselves looking for jobs. The process can be tiring and, in such a competitive climate, receiving that final job offer is challenging. In a new study, researchers at the University of Missouri focus on what job seekers need to get ahead of the competition.

Sep 24, 2009

Health

New England Journal of Medicine publishes Mayo Clinic study about health care reform

ROCHESTER, Minn. - Results of a Mayo Clinic survey published in the New England Journal of Medicine shows that while physicians are open to being involved in health care reform discussions, some opposition may exist.

Sep 24, 2009

Health

Reactive oxygen in fruit flies acts as a cell signalling mechanism for immune response

For years, health conscious people have been taking antioxidants to reduce the levels of reactive oxygen in their blood and prevent the DNA damage done by free radicals, which are the result of oxidative stress. But could excessive use of antioxidants deplete our immune systems? Research at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center has raised that question.

Sep 24, 2009

Health

Vaccination and testing for the human papilloma virus could eradicate cervical cancer

Berlin, Germany: Cervical cancer could be eradicated within the next 50 years if countries implement national screening programmes based on detection of the human papilloma virus (HPV), which causes the disease, together with vaccination programmes against the virus, according to a cervical cancer screening expert.

Sep 24, 2009

Health

Identification of highly radiosensitive patients may lead to side effect-free radiotherapy

Berlin, Germany: An international group of scientists has taken the first step on the road to targeting radiotherapy dosage to individual patients by means of their genetic characteristics, a radiation oncologist told Europe's largest cancer congress, ECCO 15 -- ESMO 34 [1], in Berlin today (Thursday September 24).

Sep 24, 2009

Health

Pancreatic cancer: Researchers find drug that reverses resistance to chemotherapy

Berlin, Germany: For the first time researchers have shown that by inhibiting the action of an enzyme called TAK-1, it is possible to make pancreatic cancer cells sensitive to chemotherapy, opening the way for the development of a new drug to treat the disease.

Sep 24, 2009

Health

Fish fend off invading germs with an initial response similar to the one found in people

Since the human response to infection is highly complex, research to understand how people fight infection is facilitated by studying how similar processes occur in simpler organisms. Zebrafish are becoming an important model for human disease, since they are easily handled, maintained and manipulated and many fundamental processes between zebrafish and humans are conserved.

Sep 24, 2009