Health and Medicine

Drug users with access to controversial syringe-exchange programs are up to six times less likely to put themselves at risk of HIV infection, according to a new UC Davis study published in the November issue of Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes.

“While programs to control the spread of HIV by providing clean needles to drug users remain controversial in California and around the country, this study clearly shows that syringe-exchange programs save lives — and save society mil

In a finding that could open the door to future treatments for many genetic diseases such as sickle cell anemia and muscular dystrophy, researchers have produced high levels of transplanted, healthy stem cells in mice, while sharply reducing a hazardous side effect of cell and organ transplants called graft-versus-host disease.
By combining prenatal transplants of blood-forming stem cells with manipulations of blood cells after birth, researchers at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia a

Study finds expectation of humor has a biological effect on body

Go ahead, laugh. In fact, look forward to the upcoming positive event. It does the body good.

Yes, even looking forward to a happy, funny event increases endorphins and other relaxation-inducing hormones as well as decreases other detrimental stress hormones, a UC Irvine College of Medicine-led study has found.

In previous studies, the scientists found that anticipating a funny video reduced feelings

In the race to cure cancer, researchers look for roadblocks that could stop cancer in its tracks, preventing it from spreading to other parts of the body. Scientists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison may have found that blockade – an enzyme critical to the ability of cells to metastasize, a biological phenomenon by which cells migrate. The findings are published in the Nov. 7 issue of the journal Nature.

“The real, life-threatening problem with most cancers is that they migrate away

Electronic nose detects pneumonia in critically ill patients

According to a team of researchers from University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, an electronic nose – a relatively new version of a sensor previously used in the food, wine and perfume industries – can quickly and accurately diagnose pneumonia in critically ill, mechanically ventilated patients. The results will be presented at the CHEST 2002 Annual Meeting Tuesday, November 5th in San Diago.

“We wanted to fu

Although a casual observer in the operating room at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on Oct. 8 could have been pardoned for initially believing that the surgeon was playing high-tech video games, he was actually performing the nation’s first Zeus® robotic system-assisted gastric bypass surgery. Zeus, manufactured by Computer Motion, is a multi-armed, highly evolved robotic system for computer-enhanced surgery.

The patient, Kim Kishi, was released from the hospital on Friday, Oct. 11, just thre