Health News

Restoring The Ovulation Function

Date: Oct-19-2012
One of the most frequent problems is the existence of tumours that induce an over-secretion of a hormone. These women present with chronic infertility due to anovulation. Thanks to the work of the Inserm researchers from unit 693 "Steroid receptors: endocrinian and metabolic physiopathology", the intimate mechanism of the hyperprolactinaemia alterations affecting reproduction in mice has been discovered. This work has been published in the journal JCI. Hyperprolactinaemia is a major cause of anovulation and is responsible for menstruation disorders and infertility...

Study Identifies Pathology Of Huntington's Disease

Date: Oct-19-2012
A study led by researchers at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) provides novel insight into the impact that Huntington's disease has on the brain. The findings, published online in Neurology, pinpoint areas of the brain most affected by the disease and opens the door to examine why some people experience milder forms of the disease than others. Richard Myers, PhD, professor of neurology at BUSM, is the study's lead/corresponding author...

Romantic Outcomes In Adulthood Predicted By First Sexual Experience

Date: Oct-19-2012
It's a common lament among parents: Kids are growing up too fast these days. Parents worry about their kids getting involved in all kinds of risky behavior, but they worry especially about their kids' forays into sexual relationships. And research suggests that there may be cause for concern, as timing of sexual development can have significant immediate consequences for adolescents' physical and mental health...

New Way To Image Brain-Cell Activity Could Shed Light On Autism And Other Psychiatric Disorders

Date: Oct-19-2012
A team led by MIT neuroscientists has developed a way to monitor how brain cells coordinate with each other to control specific behaviors, such as initiating movement or detecting an odor. The researchers' new imaging technique, based on the detection of calcium ions in neurons, could help them map the brain circuits that perform such functions. It could also provide new insights into the origins of autism, obsessive-compulsive disorder and other psychiatric diseases, says Guoping Feng, senior author of a paper appearing in the journal Neuron...

Myasthenia Gravis, A Rare Neuromuscular Disorder, Likely Preceded By Impaired Sense Of Smell

Date: Oct-19-2012
Changes in the ability to smell and taste can be caused by a simple cold or upper respiratory tract infection, but they may also be among the first signs of neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. Now, new research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania has revealed an association between an impaired sense of smell and myasthenia gravis (MG), a chronic autoimmune neuromuscular disease characterized by fluctuating fatigue and muscle weakness. The findings are published in the latest edition of PLOS ONE...

Just One Dose Of New Malaria Drug May Be Twice As Effective As Existing Regimen

Date: Oct-19-2012
Scientists are reporting development of a new malaria drug that, in laboratory tests, has been twice as effective as the best current medicine against this global scourge and may fight off the disease with one dose, instead of the multiple doses that people often fail to take. A report on the drug appears in ACS' Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. Gary Posner and colleagues explain that malaria continues to kill almost 1 million people annually. The best existing treatment is so-called artemisinin combination therapy (ACT)...

Protein Could Be Key For Drugs That Promote Bone Growth

Date: Oct-19-2012
Georgia Health Sciences University researchers have developed a mouse that errs on the side of making bone rather than fat, which could eventually lead to better drugs to treat inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. Drugs commonly used to treat those types of conditions - called glucocorticoids - work by turning down the body's anti-inflammatory response, but simultaneously turn on other pathways that lead to bone loss. The result can lead to osteoporosis and an accumulation of marrow fat, says Dr...

Improved Understanding Of Microglia Biology In The Developing And Injured Adult Brain

Date: Oct-19-2012
In many pathologies of the nervous system, there is a common event - cells called microglia are activated from surveillant watchmen into fighters. Microglia are the immune cells of the nervous system, ingesting and destroying pathogens and damaged nerve cells. Until now little was known about the molecular mechanisms of microglia activation despite this being a critical process in the body...

Screening For Cervical Cancer Misses Nearly 4 Out Of 10 Lesbians

Date: Oct-19-2012
Nearly 38 percent of lesbians polled in a national survey were not routinely screened for cervical cancer, putting them at risk of developing a highly preventable cancer, according to a University of Maryland School of Medicine study presented at the 11th Annual AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research. Cervical cancer is caused by a sexually transmitted virus, the human papillomavirus (HPV), and can be detected through regular Pap smears. The percentage of lesbians not being screened as recommended is higher than for women overall...

Two Ways To Voluntarily Forget Unwanted Memories

Date: Oct-19-2012
If only there were a way to forget that humiliating faux pas at last night's dinner party. It turns out there's not one, but two opposite ways in which the brain allows us to voluntarily forget unwanted memories, according to a study published by Cell Press October 17 in the journal Neuron. The findings may explain how individuals can cope with undesirable experiences and could lead to the development of treatments to improve disorders of memory control...