Gene for age-related macular degeneration discovered by Yale researchers
...people in the United States. It destroys vision by attacking an area of the retina called the macula, particularly in people age 60 or older. The macula is the most sensitive region of the retina, enabling fine-detail vision, reading, driving and leisure tasks such as playing sports and watching movies and tel...Mayo Clinic researchers create 'obedient virus'; First step to use measles virus against cancer
.../ . The researchers harnessed the viral trait for attacking and commandeering cells, and then redirected the virus to attack diseased, rather than healthy cells. The work was done on laboratory animals implanted with two kinds of human cancer cells -- ovarian cancer and lymphoma -- and is probably still years...USC/Norris oncologists test new front-line therapy for pancreatic cancer
...s (even potentially killing the cells), while also attacking the blood vessels needed to nourish the tumor, Lenz says. BAY 43-9006's first strategy is to disrupt cell signaling in what scientists call the Ras gene pathway. The Ras oncogene drives cell division and is critical to many cancers' development; mor...The human eye cannot spot the offside rule
... visual field at the same time (two players of the attacking team, the last two players of the defending team, and the ball). This is beyond the capacity of the human eye, especially as these five objects can be anywhere within the defenders' half of the pitch, an area of at least 3200m2, says the author. Thi...New marrow transplant method developed at Stanford may eliminate fatal side effects
...alf of the cases transplanted immune cells wind up attacking the patient's body, as well as the cancer. In resp..., signaling to other T cells when to hold off from attacking an intruder. "The news going into this meeting is that the field of regulatory T cells has not only ...NCI scientists create model that predicts follicular lymphoma survival
...immune cells with the good-prognosis signature are attacking the lymphoma and keeping it in check," Staudt speculated. "Another possibility is that these immune cells may provide signals that encourage the cancer cells not to leave the lymph node, preventing or delaying the spread of the cancer," he added. K...Tests begin of flu vaccine grown in insect cell lines
...ms, which are better known for their role as pests attacking crops such as corn, cotton, barley and alfalfa. The study of FluBlOk, made by Protein Sciences Corp. of Meriden, Ct., was initiated by flu expert John Treanor, M.D., professor of medicine and director of the Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Unit a...Lab study defines and blocks mechanism that lets brain tumors sidetrack immune response
...s finding supports the suggestion that medications attacking the enzyme may boost the immune system's ability to recognize and target gliomas. Results of the study on cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) appear in the October 1 issue of the Journal of Immunology. While COX-2 inhibition has been considered an attractive an...Clinical trial shows drug may offer a new option to prevent rejection of transplanted kidneys
...ory blocker, which prevents the immune system from attacking the transplanted kidney in a more selective manner than traditional anti-rejection drugs. It blocks one of the two signals needed to activate T-cells, once they recognize the transplanted organ as foreign, but leaves the T-cells intact to fight off i...Newborn testing for immune disorders could save lives
... remove T cells, preventing the donor T cells from attacking the recipient, known as graft-versus-host disease. Mature, donor-derived, T cells typically appear in SCID patients within 90 to 120 days after transplant. The success of treatment varies among different forms of SCID. Clinicians are striving to impr...An alternative to bone-marrow donation
...e that the immune cells derived from ES cells were attacking the recipient. The equivalent process after bone marrow transplantation is an often fatal complication known as graft-versus-host disease. The immune response to foreign antigens was, however, normal, indicating that recipients would be able to fight...Study supports new theory for nicotine's protective effect against neurodegenerative disorders
...lammatory substance to help prevent microglia from attacking the brain. This neurotransmitter may consistently signal brain's immune system that everything is OK -- no need to activate more microglia, Dr. Shytle said. But, he said, if the neurons that communicate using acetylcholine begin to die and the acetyl...Protein helps immune system mount 'instant strike' against deadly flu viruses
...roduction of T cells, and for those cells to begin attacking the virus. Unlike antibodies, T cells are much more effective at recognizing viruses that have changed, and they can attack instantly. "In a lethal form of flu, like avian flu has the potential to be, you may not have three days. A lethal infecti...Anti-eosinophil therapy shown to be effective in treating hypereosinophilic syndrome
...s, eosinophils multiply in an uncontrolled manner, attacking numerous parts of the body, including the heart, lungs, gastrointestinal tract, and skin. Treatment usually involves the use of potentially toxic medications to stop the overproduction of eosinophils. However, current treatments only provide limited ...Anthrax toxin inhibitor identified
... a number of advantages to taking this approach in attacking inhalational anthrax," notes Cantley. "Unlike an anti-serum, which would require that whole populations be vaccinated -- regardless of whether or not an anthrax outbreak developed -- a therapeutic combination of antibiotics and protease inhibitor dru...Novel gene therapy delivery uses stem cells that target, attack tumors
..."delivery system" capable of homing in on and then attacking cancer that has metastasized -- wherever it is in a patient's body. And the stem cells will not be rejected, even if they are not derived from the patient. The researchers have tested the system in mice with a variety of human cancers, including soli...Major prostate-cancer prevention study to launch awareness campaign in churches nationwide
...o the American Cancer Society. "Prostate cancer is attacking our black men at an alarming rate and we need to find a way to prevent this horrible disease," said the campaign's celebrity supporter Les Brown, a motivational speaker, author and television personality who also is a five-year survivor of prostate c...Outpatient treatment shrinks liver tumors to acceptable size for laser procedure
... This treatment allows us to be very aggressive in attacking the tumor, while maintaining a good quality of life for the patient," he said. Median survival of patients who responded to this combined treatment was 26.2 months. In patients treated with only TACE, median survival was 12.8 months. While Dr. Vogl ...ACP publishes 'Medical Meanings,' second edition
...heal more quickly if a tuft of hair taken from the attacking dog was embedded in the open wound. There is no evidence this actually worked; more likely it only made matters worse." "Medical Meanings" is designed not just to teach but to entertain. A review of the first edition said, "[I]t belongs in the librar......y has safeguards to prevent the immune system from attacking its own tissues, but when these safeguards are breached, an autoimmune disease can result. Medical science has identified more than 80 clinically distinct autoimmune diseases, including systemic lupus erythematosus, type 1 diabetes, severe lupus neph...