Health & Medicine : Science World Report

Mar 26, 2012 04:21 PM EDT

Does the Brain 'Remember' Antidepressants?

Individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD) often undergo multiple courses of antidepressant treatment during their lives. This is because the disorder can recur despite treatment and because finding the right medication for a specific individual can take time.

Mar 26, 2012 02:58 PM EDT

A 24-karat Gold Key to Unlock the Immune System

Developing a drug or vaccine requires a delicate balancing act with the immune system. On one hand, medications need to escape detection by the immune system in order to perform their function. But vaccinations - de-activated versions of a disease or virus - need to do the reverse. They prompt the i...

Mar 26, 2012 12:26 PM EDT

Study Suggests New Way to Treat Chronic Pain

Nearly one in five people suffers from the insidious and often devastating problem of chronic pain.

Mar 26, 2012 11:31 AM EDT

Autism Speaks Awards $1.1 Million to Fund High Priority Studies

Autism Speaks, the world's leading autism science and advocacy organization, today announced the award of new research grants totaling $1.1 million in funding to support high priority studies. "Suzanne and I are extraordinarily proud of Autism Speaks' continued funding for novel research projects wh...

Mar 26, 2012 11:05 AM EDT

Scientists Unlock Key to Cancer Cell Death Mystery

An international team of scientists has announced a new advance in the ability to target and destroy certain cancer cells. A group led by the University of Leicester has shown that particular cancer cells are especially sensitive to a protein called p21. This protein usually forces normal and cance...

Mar 26, 2012 10:16 AM EDT

Protein Found to Regulate Spread of Pancreatic Cancer Cells

Researchers at Queen Mary, University of London have identified a new protein that makes pancreatic cancer cells less 'sticky' and therefore less able to attach to and invade other tissue.

Mar 26, 2012 09:59 AM EDT

Diabetes Drug Can Prevent Heart Disease

The widely used diabetes medicine metformin can have protective effects on the heart, reveals a new study conducted at the Sahlgrenska Academy, at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

Mar 26, 2012 09:50 AM EDT

Electrical Pulse Treatment Gives Pancreatic Cancer Patients New Hope

Results of a study presented at the Society of Interventional Radiology's 37th Annual Scientific Meeting in San Francisco, Calif., signal a light at the end of the tunnel for individuals with inoperable locally advanced pancreatic cancer (LAPC). A new procedure called irreversible electroporation or...

Mar 26, 2012 07:33 AM EDT

Scientists Find Gene that Can Make Flu a Killer

A genetic discovery could help explain why flu makes some people seriously ill or kills them, while others seem able to bat it away with little more than a few aches, coughs and sneezes.

Mar 26, 2012 07:24 AM EDT

Some Drugs Less Harsh than Others for IBS: Study

A new look at past research suggests that certain drugs used to treat irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) may come with fewer side effects as a price for providing relief.

Mar 26, 2012 07:18 AM EDT

Scientist Who Coined "Pink Slime" Reluctant Whistleblower

Every time someone calls former U.S. government scientist Gerald Zirnstein a whistleblower, he cringes a little. When he coined the term "Pink Slime" to describe the unlabeled and unappetizing bits of cartilage and other chemically-treated scrap meat going into U.S. ground beef, Zirnstein was a mic...

Mar 26, 2012 07:13 AM EDT

Gravity-defying Workouts Lift Fitness Routines

More exercisers are taking their fitness to the air these days, held aloft by technology borrowed from sources as far-flung as the space program and the circus.