Health and Medicine

Fatal, electrical chaos can develop in the hearts of otherwise healthy people who produce a defective accessory protein called ankyrin-B, reports W. Jonathan Lederer of the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute (UMBI) and collaborators, in the February 6 issue of the scientific journal Nature.

By discovering the molecular and cellular causes of the electrical chaos-known as Long QT Syndrome Type 4, or LQT4-Lederer and collaborators open the door to possible therapies and diagnostics

According to an article in the February 5 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, coronary artery disease in young women appears to be related to estrogen deficiency, and there may be a link to psychosocial stress. The findings are based on an analysis of statistics compiled from a major ongoing investigation of heart disease in women that is led by cardiac researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. “Although coronary artery disease is the leading killer of prem

A major computer project has been launched today to analyse millions of different chemicals in the search for drugs to combat the bioterrorist threat of smallpox.

The smallpox research project will use the ‘screensaver downtime’ donated by up to two million computer users worldwide to screen 35 million compounds and identify those most likely to be suitable for drug development.

Currently no drugs are available to combat the smallpox virus after infection, and the only prevention i

Researchers in the Baxter Laboratory at Stanford University Medical Center have published new evidence showing that cells from the bone marrow might help repair or maintain cells in other tissues. In a paper in this week’s online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers describe finding chromosomes from a bone marrow transplant in the brain cells of transplant recipients.

When people receive a bone marrow transplant after high-dose chemotherapy, s

Use of a vitamin A derivative in former smokers restored production of a crucial protein believed to protect against lung cancer development, researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center have found.

Use of a Vitamin A derivative in former smokers restored production of a crucial protein believed to protect against lung cancer development, researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center have found.

Although they don’t have clear

Diabetes is a widespread illness affecting 5 per cent of the population. In diabetics the metabolism produces an excess of glucose in the blood and, as a result, a number of sufferers need doses of insulin which allows them to regulate their glucose levels.

Currently, the method of administering insulin to diabetic patients making use of emergency services for insulin dosage depends on the experience of the qualified personnel. That is, the same patient can receive different insulin doses,