Health & Medicine : Science World Report

Feb 24, 2012 03:57 PM EST

Cancer Therapy More Potent when It Hits 2 Targets

Simultaneous targeting of two different molecules in cancer is an effective way to shrink tumors, block invasion, and stop metastasis, scientists at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) have foundâ€”work that may improve the effectiveness of combination treatments that include dru...

Feb 24, 2012 03:02 PM EST

Scripps Florida Team Awarded Nearly $1.5 Million to Develop Potent New HIV Inhibitors

A Scripps Florida team has been awarded nearly $1.5 million by the National Institutes of Health to identify and develop novel potent inhibitors of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the cause of AIDS. A. Donny Strosberg, a professor on the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute, i...

Feb 24, 2012 02:55 PM EST

Statins Linked with Lower Depression Risk in Heart Patients

Patients with heart disease who took cholesterol-lowering statins were significantly less likely to develop depression than those who did not, in a study by Mary Whooley, MD, a physician at the San Francisco VA Medical Center and a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco...

Feb 24, 2012 12:31 PM EST

In the Genes, But Which Ones?

For decades, scientists have understood that there is a genetic component to intelligence, but a new Harvard study has found both that most of the genes thought to be linked to intelligence are probably not in fact related to it, and identifying intelligence's specific genetic roots may still be a l...

Feb 24, 2012 11:24 AM EST

Doctors Find New Way to Predict Recurrent Stroke

New research from the University of Calgary's Hotchkiss Brain Institute (HBI) shows that using a CT (computerised tomography) scan, doctors can predict if patients who have had a transient ischemic attack (TIA) or minor stroke, with neurological symptoms such as weakness or speech issues, are at ris...

Feb 24, 2012 10:18 AM EST

A new Radiotherapy Technique Significantly Reduces Irradiation of Healthy Tissue

Researchers at the University of Granada and the university hospital Virgen de las Nieves in Granada have developed a new radiotherapy technique that is much less toxic than that traditionally used and only targets cancerous tissue.

Feb 24, 2012 09:22 AM EST

Neurotoxins in Shark Fins: A Human Health Concern

Sharks are among the most threatened of marine species worldwide due to unsustainable overfishing. Sharks are primarily killed for their fins alone, to fuel the growing demand for shark fin soup, which is an Asia delicacy. A new study by University of Miami (UM) scientists in the journal Marine Drug...

Feb 24, 2012 09:05 AM EST

Naked Mole-rats Bear Lifesaving Clues

Could blind, buck-toothed, finger-sized naked mole-rats harbor in their brain cells a survival secret that might lead to better heart attack or stroke treatments? University of Illinois at Chicago biologist Thomas Park and colleagues at UIC and the University of Texas Heath Science Center at San ...

Feb 24, 2012 08:20 AM EST

Scripps Florida Scientists Uncover Inflammatory Circuit That Triggers Breast Cancer

Although it's widely accepted that inflammation is a critical underlying factor in a range of diseases, including the progression of cancer, little is known about its role when normal cells become tumor cells. Now, scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have shed new li...

Feb 24, 2012 07:51 AM EST

Natural Method for Clearing Cellular Debris Provides New Targets for Lupus Treatment

Cells that die naturally generate a lot of internal debris that can trigger the immune system to attack the body, leading to diseases such as lupus. Now Georgia Health Sciences University researchers report that an enzyme known to help keep a woman's immune system from attacking a fetus also help...

Feb 23, 2012 04:00 PM EST

Blood Mystery Solved

You probably know your blood type: A, B, AB or O. You may even know if you're Rhesus positive or negative. But how about the Langereis blood type? Or the Junior blood type? Positive or negative? Most people have never even heard of these.

Feb 23, 2012 03:48 PM EST

Genome Sequencing Finds Unknown Cause of Epilepsy

Only 10 years ago, deciphering the genetic information from one individual in a matter of weeks to find a certain disease-causing genetic mutation would have been written off as science fiction.