The risk and nature of injury in the sport of boxing has generated a great deal of controversy in the medical community, especially in relation to youth boxing. A new study, conducted by researchers in the Center for Injury Research and Policy…
TORONTO, Nov. 19, 2010–For every one person in Canada who is homeless, another 23 live in unsafe, crowded or unaffordable housing, meaning the country’s housing crisis is even worse than previously thought, according to Dr. Stephen Hwang of St. Mic…
Toronto, Ontario, November 5, 2010 — Even though most adults want to avoid looking older than their actual age, research led by St. Michael’s Hospital shows that looking older does not necessarily point to poor health. The study found that a perso…
Although sledding is a popular winter pastime, it can unfortunately lead to serious injury. A new study conducted by the Center for Injury Research and Policy of The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital found that from 1997-2007, an …
A research team led by investigators from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) has discovered that amyloid-beta (A-beta), the protein that forms plaques in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease, can also be detected in the lens of the human eye. The investigators were able to identify A-beta in lens samples from elderly individuals with and without the disorder; however, an unusual pattern of amyloid deposits was found only on the lenses of Alzheimer’s patients.
Researchers have found that the secret to mending a broken heart — at least at the molecular level — resides within the two-chambered heart of a fish commonly found in household aquariums. The scientists showed that the zebrafish can regenerate its heart after injury, and their studies suggest that understanding cardiac regeneration in this fish may lead to specific strategies to repair damaged human hearts.
A diet combining a handful of known cholesterol-lowering plant components cut bad cholesterol by close to 30 per cent in a recent study by Candian researchers. The reduction is similar to that achieved by some drug treatments for high cholesterol, suggesting a possible drug-free alternative for combating the condition.
A discovery published in the current issue of The Lancet may lead to new treatments for a deadly liver disease of infancy — dramatically reducing the number of liver transplants in children. A team of researchers at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital have revealed a genetic underpinning to biliary atresia, the most common reason for liver transplant in children. Biliary atresia occurs in infants and usually becomes evident two to eight weeks after birth. Its cause has been unknown. Symptoms include unexplained jaundice, dark urine, clay-colored stools and weight loss. The disease destroys bile ducts in the liver, trapping bile, rapidly causing damage to liver cells and severe scarring.
Elderly heart attack patients who visit a cardiologist’s office in the months after leaving the hospital are less likely to die within two years than patients who visit only their primary care doctor, a study by Harvard Medical School researchers finds. And patients who visit both a cardiologist and a primary care doctor have even better outcomes than those who visit only a cardiologist.
Although individuals vary widely, on average, pre-term infants are markedly slower at processing information — including understanding what they see — than full-term infants. New research shows this deficit in processing speed is already present in the first year of life and the gap in performance does not narrow with age. The research is published in the November issue of Developmental Psychology, a journal of the American Psychological Association (APA).
A single gene change that boosts the amount of a certain protein in early brain cells causes mice to develop abnormally large brains, Reuters Health reports. Normal mice have smooth, flat brains. But tinker with the gene in question and suddenly the little furballs develop brains so big they fold in on themselves, forming the wrinkles, ridges and crevices found also in the human brain. Study author Dr. Anjen Chenn of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard University in Boston said the finding might help researchers understand how humans came to develop brains so much bigger than those of other mammals. Whether or not more size means more smarts is uncertain, Chenn said. “It is quite an interesting question … and that’s something we want to look at in the future.”