September/October 2004 Annals of Family Medicine tip sheet
...ndition such as a malignancy (98 percent) or heart attack (97 percent). However, in the case of a minor foot operation, only 33 percent wanted contact with their physician. At the time of major life events, many patients anticipated needing contact as well: 81 percent in the case of a birth within the fami...Most promising clinical uses for stem cells from fat agreed on by international society
...ential for the development of treatments for heart attack or bone injury, for example, while results looking at other uses are still quite preliminary. There are currently no human trials in the United States evaluating the potential of stem cells derived from fat, but in reaching consensus on the most p...Botulism bug says no to nitric oxide, provides key to molecule's role in human cell signaling
...an said. "Having these structures now will help us attack that problem, because we know that this bacterial version of SONO is very similar to soluble guanylyl cyclase. "If you know the structure of a protein, then you can develop therapeutics targeted to detect specific binding pockets on the molecul...T cell's memory may offer long-term immunity to leishmaniasis
...tive against the disease. "Without the persistent attack from the Leishmania parasite, the immune system does not keep protective CD4+ T cells in place," said Phillip Scott, professor and chair of the Department of Pathobiology at Penn's School of Veterinary Medicine. "The strategy of most vaccines, to 't...HHS awards $232 million in biodefense contracts for vaccine development
... are even more prepared to respond to a biological attack or outbreak." These awards respond to a key objective of the NIAID biodefense research agenda, which emphasizes the development of new and improved medical products against "Category A" agents--those considered by the Centers for Disease Control a...New study on smallpox in monkeys reveals tactics of a killer
... smallpox alters gene activity in host cells under attack by the virus. It also reveals changes in levels of gene expression and expression of some proteins in the blood of monkeys when they are infected with smallpox virus. In their PNAS paper, Dr. Relman and colleagues suggest possible mechanisms by which...Touching research: How white blood cells navigate
...erosis and lupus happen when our white blood cells attack our own tissues somehow our cells have gained admittance and are allowed to congregate and operate where they shouldn't. The same is true of much heart disease, where atherosclerosis occurs when white blood cells cause blockages by narrowing blood v...Laboratory test of evolutionary theory confirms importance of links between populations
...tance to the virus. The virus, in turn, evolves to attack the resistant bacteria, and then the bacteria are able to evolve a second level of resistance to the more potent form of the virus. According to Bohannan, microbial experimental systems have become increasingly popular in ecology, due in part to the...Ancient Chinese folk remedy packs anti-cancer punch
...t chemists call "free radicals." The free radicals attack the cell membrane and other molecules, breaking it apart and killing the parasite. Lai said he began to wonder if the process might work with cancer, too. "Cancer cells need a lot of iron to replicate DNA when they divide," Lai explained....Researchers find protein that makes long-term memory possible
...or its use in dissolving clots in stroke and heart attack patients. Dr. Lu and his colleagues then sought to determine how tPA and BDNF might interact with each other to form long term memory. A breakthrough came in 2001, when another author of the current paper, Barbara Hempstead, M.D., Ph.D, of ...Gene linked to greater risk of heart disease in type 2 diabetes
...s that affect this pathway, reducing risk of heart attack and stroke in these patients." An estimated 18 mi... complete blockage of the artery, leading to heart attack or stroke. In the first part of this study, the researchers mapped the structure of the CD36 gene, w...Lag-3 gene dampens immune responses by controlling regulatory T-cell function
...at the ability of regulatory T cells to control an attack by effector T cells is substantially prevented or ...ype 1, which occurs when effector T cells mount an attack on the cells of the pancreas that produce insulin," Vignali said. However, regulatory ...Gene-altered mouse is model for rare autoimmune syndrome
...sing dry eyes and mouth, as they are damaged by an attack of the person's own immune cells. According to res...the immune system. T cells are those that directly attack invaders such as bacteria and viruses, while B cells are the armament factories of the immune system...Genetically modified parasite lets researchers probe immune system's memory
... an immune system cell can "remember" a parasite's attack and help the body mount a more effective defense against subsequent invasions by the same parasite. The finding, published in the October issue of Nature Medicine, will likely aid efforts to develop a vaccine for Leishmania major, a parasite that inf...Sandbagging cancer in the bloodstream
...d" in the bloodstream where they are vulnerable to attack and clearance from the immune system. "You can imagine that a prolonged treatment [with Src kinase inhibitors] may actually help people ward off some of the most deadly and metastatic cancers," says Cheresh. "Currently, anti-cancer drugs are typical...Farmers don't need a new superstar toxin to fight bugs
...ay development of new resistant insects that could attack the main crop, Pittendrigh said. "When we first started this project, we didn't believe that you could use a genetic toxin that was effective in killing a moderate number of resistant insects, so this finding was very surprising," he said. ...Insects implicated in the evolution of new human infectious diseases
...o infect insects already have a head start if they attack people. "Most scientists are looking at diseases of farm animals as the biggest threat to humans. Insects are numerous and reside in close proximity to man, yet they have been generally ignored as a potential source of microbes that could be harmful ...Darwin's greatest challenge tackled: the mystery of eye evolution
When Darwin's skeptics attack his theory of evolution, they often focus on the eye. Darwin himself confessed that it was "absurd" to propose that the human eye evolved through spontaneous mutation and natural selection. Scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMB...Diabetic damage to eyes, heart, nerves, kidneys may be explained by controversial theory
... Americans have diabetes. Diabetes' links to heart attack and stroke make it the sixth leading cause of death, and it is the leading cause of new cases of blindness among adults 20-74 years old. Diabetic nerve damage is a major contributor to non-traumatic lower limb amputations, and diabetic kidney damage ...New AAAS report cites 'serious concerns' with electronic voting
...creen computer technology has come under sustained attack because most such systems leave no paper trail to verify the final count. An interim report was released last month. Reflecting the breadth of the issue, participants in the workshop included social and behavioral scientists, experts in cybersecurity...