Health and Medicine

Oxidative stress is implicated in a fast-growing list of human conditions, from the superficial (e.g., wrinkled skin) to the deadly: diseases such as cancer, heart disease and neurodegenerative disorders including Lou Gehrig’s disease (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS).

Researchers at The Jackson Laboratory announced that they have located a gene that protects certain brain and retinal neurons from oxidative stress, and prevents neurodegeneration.

Many normal metabolic func

Scientists at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) have discovered a common component to the burning sensation produced by chili peppers and the pain associated with arthritis. The finding, published in the September 26 issue of Neuron, could help scientists devise new strategies to block the pain hypersensitivity associated with inflammation.

“The receptor activated by chili peppers in the mouth and other tissues also increases in the terminals of sensory neurons in the skin after inflamma

University of Melbourne scientists have found clues to why patients with insulin-dependent diabetes are often unable to sense their need to take life-saving glucose.

The evidence came from a known and potent appetite stimulant released by the brain called Neuropeptide Y (NPY). Studies using diabetic rats have shown the NPY levels in the brains of diabetic rats differ significantly to those of normal rats under conditions of low glucose.

It was known that specific nerves in the bra

While biomedical devices such as prosthetic heart valves, heart-assist devices, oxygenators, vascular grafts and hemodialysis systems can help to save or significantly extend lives, these same devices also can damage the blood cells which travel through them. Severe consequences can result when blood cells are damaged or broken down, said Marina Kameneva, Ph.D., research associate professor of surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

Dr. Kameneva will discuss the issue in

A new medical study offers good news for expectant mothers facing the difficult choice of treating the nausea and vomiting of early pregnancy with things like soda, crackers or crushed ice, which are only marginally helpful, or trying prescription or over-the-counter medications, which may have potential side effects.

The September/October issue of Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine features results from a new double-blind, placebo-controlled, and hospital-based study conducted by

More than one-third of patients undergoing chemotherapy at risk for heart failure

Researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center have found that cancer patients who develop heart failure as a result of chemotherapy treatment can be effectively treated, with the condition potentially reversed, when standard medicated therapy for heart failure is utilized.

The findings were presented today at the Sixth Annual Scientific Meeting of the Heart Failure Society