Summaries | Headlines

Gene Believed To Promote Long Life Linked To Cholesterol Flushing (October 12, 2007) -- Researchers have discovered a link between a gene believed to promote long lifespan and a pathway that flushes cholesterol from the body. The finding could help researchers create drugs that lower ... > full story

Chemotherapy For Breast Cancer More Successful If Certain Protein Is Expressed, Study Suggests (October 12, 2007) -- Researchers have found they can potentially target chemotherapy for breast cancer to only those women most likely to benefit, sparing the majority of patients from unnecessary side effects. Women ... > full story

Cognitive Impairment Due To Chronic Lyme Disease Can Be Treated (October 12, 2007) -- Findings from the first placebo-controlled study of chronic cognitive impairment after treated Lyme disease demonstrate that patients report moderate cognitive impairment, physical dysfunction ... > full story

The 'Arms' Race: Adult Steroid Users Seek Muscles, Not Medals (October 12, 2007) -- The majority of nonmedical anabolic-androgenic steroid users are not cheating athletes or risk-taking teenagers. According to a recent survey, containing the largest sample to date, the typical male ... > full story

Saturn's Moon Titan -- Land Of Lakes And Seas (October 12, 2007) -- Views of the hydrocarbon lakes and seas on Saturn's moon Titan taken by the Cassini spacecraft are now available. A new radar image comprised from seven Titan fly-bys over the last year and a half ... > full story

Obesity Boosts Gullet Cancer Risk Six Fold (October 12, 2007) -- Obese people are six times as likely to develop gullet (esophageal) cancer as people of "healthy" weight, shows new research. Rates of esophageal cancer have been rising rapidly, and in some ... > full story

Anticlotting Drug Found To Be Safe In Sickle Cell Patients, Study Suggests (October 12, 2007) -- An intravenous "blood thinner" widely used in patients with acute coronary syndromes and during coronary artery stent placement appears to be safe in patients with sickle cell disease and may have ... > full story

Patients Can't Recall Their Medications To Tell Doctors (October 12, 2007) -- Doctors depend on patients to accurately tell them what drugs they are taking in out-patient visits. But nearly 50 percent of patients taking antihypertensive drugs were unable to accurately name a ... > full story

New Hearing Mechanism Discovered (October 12, 2007) -- Researchers have discovered a hearing mechanism that fundamentally changes the current understanding of inner ear function. This new mechanism could help explain the ear's remarkable ability to sense ... > full story

Potential Early Warning System For Lung Cancer Identified (October 12, 2007) -- An immune system protein could act as an early warning system for lung cancer, reveals new research. Lung cancer kills around 900,000 people every year, and can take 20 years or more to develop ... > full story

Biometric Sensors No Dirtier Than Doorknobs, Study Finds (October 12, 2007) -- While biometric equipment is gaining popularity in a variety of applications, such as ensuring secure access to buildings, industries are finding that many users believe the devices are unsanitary ... > full story

Repressor Protein Blocks Neural Stem Cell Development (October 12, 2007) -- A protein known to repress gene transcription at the molecular level in a variety of processes also blocks embryonic neural stem cells from differentiating into neurons, according to a new ... > 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