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News | Archive (March 2009)
Researchers discover link between schizophrenia and diabetes
— 31 Mar 2009 | HealthPeople with schizophrenia are at increased risk for type 2 diabetes, Medical College of Georgia researchers have found. In a study of 50 people newly-diagnosed with schizophrenia or a related psychotic disorder with no other known risk factors, 16 percent had either diabetes or an abnormal rate of glucose metabolism, says Dr Brian Kirkpatrick, vice chair of the MCG Department of Psychiatry and Health Behaviour. In a similar size control group of people without schizophrenia, none had signs of or had developed the disease…
Massive majority want EU illegal timber law
— 31 Mar 2009 | EnvironmentEuropean citizens overwhelmingly want stricter controls on illegally sourced timber, according to a poll commissioned by WWF and Friends of the Earth (FoE) Europe…
Homebody queen ants help preserve family ties in large populations
— 31 Mar 2009 | BiologyAnt and bee colonies have long fascinated biologists because of their hierarchical social structure and the apparently altruistic behaviour of female workers in rearing the queen's young rather than reproducing themselves. In colonies headed by a single queen, this makes evolutionary sense in that the workers are as closely related to the princesses and princes they nurture as they would be to their own children…
Study exposes need for paediatric cardiac devices
— 31 Mar 2009 | HealthNearly two-thirds of children who undergo routine interventional cardiology procedures - those involving a catheter to treat structural disorders of the heart - may be receiving treatment with a device that's being used for an off-label application…
A missing enzyme conveys major heart protection in pre-clinical work
— 31 Mar 2009 | HealthMice born without a certain enzyme can resist the normal effects of a heart attack and retain nearly normal function in the heart's ventricles and still-oxygenated heart tissue, according to a study by researchers at Duke University Medical Centre…
New approach discovered to lowering triglycerides
— 31 Mar 2009 | HealthStudies done with laboratory rats suggest that supplementation of their diet with lipoic acid had a significant effect in lowering triglycerides, which along with cholesterol levels and blood pressure are one of the key risk factors in cardiovascular disease…
Multiple sclerosis associated with lower cancer risk
— 31 Mar 2009 | HealthA new study shows that people with multiple sclerosis may be at a lower risk for cancer overall, but at a higher risk of developing certain types of cancer, such as brain tumours and bladder cancer. The study is published in the 31 March print issue of Neurology(R), the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology…
New radiation-free targeted therapy detects and eliminates breast cancer tumours in mice
— 31 Mar 2009 | HealthCombining a compound known as a gallium corrole with a protein carrier results in a targeted cancer therapy that is able to detect and eliminate tumours in mice with seemingly fewer side effects than other breast-cancer treatments, says a team of researchers from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), the Israel Institute of Technology (Technion) and the Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre…
Stem cell breakthrough: Monitoring the on switch that turns stem cells into muscle
— 31 Mar 2009 | HealthIn a genetic engineering breakthrough that could help everyone from bed-ridden patients to elite athletes, a team of American researchers - including 2007 Nobel Prize winner Mario R. Capecchi - have created a 'switch' that allows mutations or light signals to be turned on in muscle stem cells to monitor muscle regeneration in a living mammal. For humans, this work could lead to a genetic switch, or drug, that allows people to grow new muscle cells to replace those that are damaged, worn out, or not working for other reasons (e.g., muscular dystrophy). In addition, this same discovery also gives researchers a new tool for the study of difficult-to-treat muscle cancers. The full report containing details of this advance is available online in The FASEB Journal…
A milestone toward ending river blindness in the Western Hemisphere by 2012
— 31 Mar 2009 | HealthAn international team of researchers led by Rodrigo Gonzalez of the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala reports that the transmission of onchocerciasis or river blindness has been broken in Escuintla, Guatemala, one of the largest endemic areas in the Western Hemisphere to date to stop the transmission of the parasitic disease…
Scientists develop nano-sized 'cargo ships' to target and destroy tumours
Halos of planetary nebulae revealed