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 Back to Eurekalert Medical and Health News Archives
Eurekalert Medical and Health News: 12-08-2004
Psychologists have found that a region of the brain associated with the detection and learning of emotional responses is associated with unconscious race bias, and that the perception of race happens even more readily when a black or white face is seen subliminally. The researchers, at Harvard University, Yale University, and the University of Toronto, have also determined that areas of the brain involved in conscious thought processes can take over within half a second to override the unconscious bias observed in the subcortical region.
A new book charting the health of Edinburgh residents in the past century is launched today Wednesday (8 December) at the University of Edinburgh.
The December tipsheet from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center includes story ideas on an innovative minimally invasive spine surgery, the new Center for Reproductive Medicine, organ transplantation, holiday safety tips for kids and more. To pursue any of these story ideas, please contact Glenda Collins at 310-423-2103.
An immune-modulating therapy improves kidney transplantation rates, even among "highly sensitized" patients whose immune systems have prevented them from receiving donated organs. Results of a government-supported study appear in the December 2004 issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.
.In laboratory tests on multiple myeloma cells, researchers found that this type of cancer expresses a protein that makes it an easy target for an existing class of diabetes drugs. After more investigation, they hope the discovery will lead to a new, targeted therapy for myeloma patients.
Scientists studying a vital protein called Serum Response Factor (SRF) in mice have learned new and unexpected facts about SRF's role in early cardiovascular development, and how a defect in this gene may be an underlying cause in human miscarriages. The research provides a foundation for understanding how gene mutations may disrupt heart function, perhaps making some adults more susceptible to heart failure or irregular reactions to drugs.
The survey results released today underscore the severity of asthma in children in the US and the significant impact the disease has on children and their families.
Researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center have found a potential predictor of response to the chemotherapy drug Taxol, which is commonly used before or after surgery for stage I-III breast cancers, even though only a subset of women ultimately benefit from this treatment.
Different molecular subtypes of breast cancer respond differently to chemotherapy, a research team from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center reported at the annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium meeting.
New research on rat heart cells suggests that a well-known antioxidant found in red wine, called resveratrol, may benefit heart tissue by limiting the effects of a condition called cardiac fibrosis. Diseases such as hypertension and heart failure can cause fibrosis, a hardening or stiffening of the heart tissue. This condition arises when heart cells called cardiac fibroblasts are activated. These cells secrete collagen, a protein that provides structural support for the heart.
Transplanted bone marrow cells can reduce carbon tetrachloride-induced liver fibrosis in mice and significantly improve their survival rates, according to a new study published in Hepatology.
A new study has found hepatic steatosis - fatty liver disease - in nearly one third of American adults in a large urban population sample. The prevalence of the disease varied significantly among ethnic groups.
New research at Rice University is allowing biochemists to understand a key hierarchy of protein interactions that occurs in DNA replication, showing for the first time how a key protein "trumps" its rivals and shuts down cell division while DNA repairs take place. The work, sponsored by the American Cancer Society, appears in the Dec. 8 issue of the journal Structure. It could aid drug makers in designing therapies that block cancer cells from multiplying.
Studies from the December 2004 issue of Ophthalmology, the clinical journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, are now available.
Teen-agers suffering from bulimia may in fact be fighting a two-front war, coping with the effects of a devastating eating disorder while struggling with a chronic form of depression, reveals research by Texas A&M University psychologist Marisol Perez, who says the finding has critical implications for the way the disorder is treated.
What causes the most stress during the holiday season? Money issues were the top vote getters for holiday stress, according to a recent poll by the American Psychological Association (APA).
What can cellular neuroscientists learn about the human brain from studying a marine snail? "On a cell biological level, the mechanisms of learning and memory are identical, as far as we can tell," said David Glanzman, a UCLA professor of physiological science and neurobiology, whose research has strengthened the view that the human brain and that of a snail named Aplysia are surprisingly similar.
A new treatment for cholera and perhaps a new type of antibiotic medicine may emerge from compounds discovered in an Australian seaweed. University of New South Wales researchers have found that furanones - isolated from the seaweed Delisea pulchra - can prevent the bacteria that cause cholera from switching on their disease-causing mechanisms. Furanones don't kill such microbes but simply "jam" their ability to signal each other, meaning their use less likely to create the drug-resistance problems.
As survival rates have steadily improved for children with heart defects, physicians have focused more attention on improving quality-of-life factors such as neurological and cognitive abilities. A new study shows that newborns with congenital heart disease often have abnormally low blood flow in their brains before they undergo surgery. The research adds to growing evidence of abnormal neurological conditions before heart surgery that may contribute to later neurodevelopmental problems.
A multicenter study of 821 patients referred for breast biopsy based on prior examinations that suggested cancer finds that while magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) distinguishes between benign and malignant breast tumors better than mammography, biopsies are still needed to confirm the diagnosis.
The National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, part of the National Institutes of Health, has begun supporting an innovative, three-year study to compile the first full catalogue of genes found in oral biofilms, the sticky bacteria-laden films that form on our teeth and gums.
Most young Black adolescents appear to believe that their Black peers use drugs more than White or Hispanic teens, when in reality studies show that fewer Black youth use alcohol or other drugs than do youth of other ethnic groups, a Penn State researcher says.
Pharmaceutical drug companies spend upward of $25 billion per year on promoting new drugs and distributing free samples to doctors, but new research shows such marketing devices have little impact on physicians and their prescribing behavior.
Biochemists have overcome one of the major obstacles to drug design, by trimming some of the fat from a molecular sponge that scientists use to study proteins. In the December issue of the journal Structure, the biochemists report using their method successfully in experiments with two common cellular proteins. The results suggest that scientists could one day use the method as a step in designing drugs for diseases such as cystic fibrosis, Alzheimer's, and tuberculosis.
Highlights in the December Journal of Neuroscience include: wake-sleep cycling in the rat and Insulin, IDE, and beta-Amyloid.
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