Studies and Analyses

Results of a new study indicate that people who have recently stopped abusing the powerfully addictive drug methamphetamine may have brain abnormalities similar to those seen in people with mood disorders. The findings suggest practitioners could improve success rates for methamphetamine users receiving addiction treatment by also providing therapy for depression and anxiety in appropriate individuals. The study is published in the January 2004 issue of the journal Archives of General Psychiatry.

Scientists have identified a gene in the cerebral cortex that apparently controls the developmental clock of embryonic nerve cells, a finding that could open another door to tissue replacement therapy in the central nervous system. In a new study, the researchers found that they could rewind the clock in young cortical cells in mice by eliminating a gene called Foxg1. The finding could potentially form the basis of a new method to push progenitor cells in the brain to generate a far wider array of ti

Study in NEJM indicates dietary fatty acids may influence atherosclerosis in a segment of the population genetically at risk

Scientists have found the first strong link in humans between a common gene and risk for the disease that leads to most heart attacks and strokes, according to results of a study by researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California and the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

People with a variant form of a gene ca

Drug-coated stents are safe and effective at preventing death, heart attack or repeat procedures in “real world” patients who are often sicker or older than those selected for clinical trials, according to a study in today’s rapid issue of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

The drug-coated stents were more effective than uncoated stents, just as they had been in clinical trials, said lead investigator Patrick W. Serruys, M.D., Ph.D., professor of cardiology at Eras

By the time you reach your 60th birthday, your heart could still be out performing the hearts of inactive 20-year-old whippersnappers, according to a study on cardiac output in healthy men carried out by Paul Chantler and his team from Liverpool John Moores Hospital. Unfortunately, you will have to be prepared to run nearly 30 miles a week for the 20 years preceding the celebration to achieve this.

The study’s findings, to be presented at this year’s Physiological Society conference on Frid

Grape juice joins blueberries as possible anti-aging ’brain food’

Consuming Concord grape juice significantly improved laboratory animals’ short-term memory in a water maze test as well as their neuro-motor skills in certain of the coordination, balance and strength tests, according to preliminary research presented at the 1st International Conference on Polyphenols and Health recently held in Vichy, France.

“In the study we subjected 45 senescent rats-meaning