Summaries | Headlines

Scientists Progress In Successful Tissue Engineering (March 25, 2007) -- Tissue engineering is a relatively new field of basic and clinical science that is concerned, in part, with creating tissues that can augment or replace injured, defective, or diseased body ... > full story

Alcohol Worse Than Ecstacy, According To Proposed 'Matrix Of Harm' For Drugs (March 25, 2007) -- A new study proposes that drugs should be classified by the amount of harm that they do. The new ranking places alcohol and tobacco in the upper half of the league table. These socially accepted ... > full story

How Estrogen Protects Bones (March 25, 2007) -- Researchers at the University at Buffalo have described a novel pathway by which estradiol, the primary estrogen in humans, aids in maintaining bone density, a function critical to avoiding ... > full story

Could Estriol Be The Elixir For Multiple Sclerosis? (March 25, 2007) -- This month a UCLA researcher begins a widespread clinical trial of the female sex hormone estriol, produced during pregnancy, which she's shown sharply reduces the symptoms of multiple ... > full story

Global Computer Grid To Analyze Bird Flu (March 25, 2007) -- Researchers will use bioinformatics, grid computing and networking infrastructure, as well as collaborative ties to Asian institutions to learn more about avian flu, in hopes of helping to head off a ... > full story

Tooth Decay And Gum Infections Linked To Ethnicity And Country Of Origin (March 25, 2007) -- NYU College of Dentistry researcher Dr. Gustavo D. Cruz has found that immigrants' ethnicity and country of origin predispose them to caries and periodontal disease. Dr. Cruz, undertook the ... > full story

New Research On Cancer-fighting Foods, Supplements (March 25, 2007) -- Researchers worldwide are discovering a cornucopia of compounds in foods and dietary supplements, including black raspberries, blueberries and grape seed extract, that show promise for preventing ... > full story

Blueberries Contain Chemical That May Help Prevent Colon Cancer (March 25, 2007) -- A compound in blueberries shows promise of preventing colon cancer in animals, according to a joint study by scientists at Rutgers University and the US Department of Agriculture. The compound, ... > full story

Heart Failure Medication Provides Some Symptom Relief (March 25, 2007) -- A medication used to treat heart failure, tolvaptan, appears to improve some symptoms and signs of heart failure during hospitalization, but does not reduce the risk of re-hospitalization or death, ... > full story

IPods Help Doctors Improve Stethoscope Skills (March 25, 2007) -- The ability of physicians to recognize abnormal heart sounds is only fair at best. Fortunately, the solution is simple: Listening repeatedly. In fact, intensive repetition -- listening at least 400 ... > full story

Scientists Discover Zinc Link To A Leading Cause Of Blindness (March 24, 2007) -- Scientists have found high levels of zinc in amyloid plaque deposits in the eye that are an indication of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The discovery marks an additional similarity between ... > full story

Gene Connected To A Chronic Skin Condition And Other Autoimmune Diseases Identified (March 24, 2007) -- Researchers have discovered a connection between a gene and the chronic skin condition vitiligo, as well as a possible link to an array of other autoimmune ... > full story

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Health science -- Health science is the discipline of applied science which deals with human and animal health. There are two parts to health science: the study, research, and knowledge of health and the application ... > full article

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder -- Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (sometimes referred to as ADD for those without hyperactivity) is thought to be a neurological disorder, always present from childhood, which manifests ... > full article

Encephalopathy -- Encephalopathy is a nonspecific term describing a syndrome affecting the brain. Generally, it refers to involvement of large parts of the brain (or the whole organ), instead of identifiable changes ... > full article

Limbic system -- The limbic system is the collective name for structures in the human brain involved in emotion, motivation, and emotional association with memory. It affects motivation and is more active in ... > full article

Human brain -- The human brain is the center of the central nervous system in humans as well as the primary control center for the peripheral nervous system. The brain controls "lower" or involuntary activities ... > full article

Amygdala -- The amygdala (Latin, corpus amygdaloideum) is an almond-shape set of neurons located deep in the brain's medial temporal lobe. Shown to play a key role in the processsing of emotions, the amygdala ... > full article

Hypothalamus -- In mammals, the hypothalamus is a region of the brain located below the thalamus, forming the major portion of the ventral region of the diencephalon and functioning to regulate certain metabolic ... > full article

Central nervous system -- The central nervous system (CNS) represents the largest part of the nervous system, including the brain and the spinal cord. Together with the peripheral nervous system, it has a fundamental role in ... > full article

Spinal cord -- The spinal cord is a part of the vertebrate nervous system that is enclosed in and protected by the vertebral column (it passes through the spinal canal). It consists of nerve cells. The cord conveys ... > full article

Motor neuron -- In vertebrates, motor neurons (also called motoneurons) are efferent neurons that originate in the spinal cord and synapse with muscle fibers to facilitate muscle contraction and with muscle spindles ... > full article

Sensory neuron -- Sensory neurons are nerve cells within the nervous system responsible for converting external stimuli from the organism's environment into internal electrical impulses. For example, some sensory ... > full article

Heart -- The heart is a hollow, muscular organ in vertebrates that pumps blood through the blood vessels by repeated, rhythmic contractions, or a similar structure in annelids, mollusks, and arthropods. The ... > full article

Lung -- The lung is the essential organ of respiration in air-breathing vertebrates. Its principal function is to transport oxygen from the atmosphere into the bloodstream, and to excrete carbon dioxide from ... > full article

Electrocardiogram -- An electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG, abbreviated from the German Elektrokardiogramm) is a graphic produced by an electrocardiograph, which records the electrical voltage in the heart in the form of a ... > full article

Cardiac arrest -- A cardiac arrest is the cessation of normal circulation of the blood due to failure of the ventricles of the heart to contract effectively during systole. The resulting lack of blood supply results ... > full article

Blood transfusion -- Blood transfusion is the process of transferring blood or blood-based products from one person into the circulatory system of another. Blood transfusions may treat medical conditions, such as massive ... > full article

Immune system -- The immune system is the system of specialized cells and organs that protect an organism from outside biological influences. (Though in a broad sense, almost every organ has a protective function - ... > full article

Stomach -- In anatomy, the stomach is an organ in the gastrointestinal tract used to digest food. In general, the stomach's primary function is not the absorption of nutrients from digested food; this task is ... > full article

Enzyme -- Enzymes are proteins that catalyze (i.e. accelerate) chemical reactions. Enzymes are biochemical catalysts. In these reactions, the molecules at the beginning of the process are called substrates, ... > full article

Aspirin -- Aspirin or acetylsalicylic acid is a drug in the family of salicylates, often used as an analgesic (against minor pains and aches), antipyretic (against fever), and anti-inflammatory. It has also an ... > full article