What Makes Tics Tick? Clues Found In Tourette Twins' Caudates
...te symptoms respond to drugs like haloperidol that block D2 dopamine receptors. They used a radioactive tracer drug, IBZM (iodobenzamide), that similarly blocks D2 receptors, and a SPECT* (single-photon emission computed tomography) scanner to image dopamine binding in five identical twin pairs with the ...Study Shows Gum Disease Increases Risk Of Future Heart Disease
...to become infected, and the accumulated clumps can block blood vessels. "Weve known for some time that oral bacteria can infect damaged hearts and that certain oral bacteria cause platelets to aggregate," Genco said. "We just recently put these findings together as a possible explanation of how bacte...Researchers Finding May Boost Effectiveness Of Anti-HIV Drugs
...by combining the anti-HIV drugs with medication to block theaction of the protein protecting the virus. That strategy might also reduce the cost of the now-very-expensivetherapy by reducing the dose needed to get enough of the drugs into thebloodstream, where it can attack HIV. "Protease i...Bi-Monthly Boosts Of Aspirin Benefit Heart
..., 200-300 milligrams of aspirin wasinsufficient to block platelet clumping in the presence of red blood cells,despite the fact that aspirin abolished thromboxane synthesis," says Marcus."Insufficient blocking of this thrombosis-promoting property of red blood cellscan lead to additional thrombotic complica...Diuretic Drugs May Have Clot-Busting Effects
...t epinephrine. Since diuretics work by helping to block chloride, thesedrugs indirectly may affect epineph...nd coronary thrombosis). Agents that specifically block choridetransport, such as diuretics, may decrease thrombosis (clotting) independent oftheir effect o...Snipping Inflammation In The Bud; New Agents May Provide Relief
...larover-the-counter drugs such as ibuprofen, is to block events inside the cell.The synthetic molecules in Kiessling's approach act as inhibitors on the outsideof the cell, attaching themselves to aL-selectin proteins and preventing the cell from linking with an opposing cell. But synthetic molecules that ...Adding Progestins May Negate Heart Protection From Estrogen Replacement Therapy
...s inflatinga blood pressure cuff on the forearm to block the blood vessel. After aboutfour minutes, the cuff is deflated and images of the blood vessels are recordedby ultrasound as the blood rushes into the vessel. A similar degree of vesseldilation was seen in both groups, indicating that ERT plus prog...Study Shows Child Health Plus Eases Access, But Some Barriers Remain
...dedinsurance. "As more states begin to use federal block grants to implementtheir own insurance products for the poor we need to build inmethods to address these barriers," Pollard Shone said. Other researchers in the study included Peter G. Szilagyi, SarahH. Trafton, Lance E. rodeWald, Jane L. Holl, Richa...Health Workers May Experience Costly Dislocation As Health Spending Growth Slows
... if those who feel their jobs threatened worked to block change. "It is in our self-interest to reduce those frictions. We need to prepare for tomorrow." CONTACT: Rashi Fein, PhD, Department of Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School; tel. 617-432-2112; fax 617-432-2565; e-mail rfein@warren.harvard.edu ...Identification Of Brain Areas Could Help Eliminate Side Effects Of Pain Medication
...to the opioid molecule. This way the opioid could block the pain, and this new molecule could prevent the...how these drugs work to eliminate wakefulness and block the perception of pain." Steve Mortazavi, M.D., an anesthesia resident working with Lydic, presen...Researchers Synthesize Compounds For New Class Of Antibiotics
...myxopyronin A and B, two naturalcompounds known to block replication of drug-resistant strains of bacteria.Before this breakthrough, the compounds could only be isolated from theirbacterial source, a process that yielded quantities too small to be usable. From a therapeutic standpoint, the compound...New Drug Prevents Breast Cancer In Postmenopausal Women, UCSF Researchers Report
...lective estrogenreceptor modulators (SERMS), which block the actions of estrogen in sometissues, such as the breasts, and mimic estrogen in other tissues, such as thebones. "During the clinical trials of raloxifene, we saw twice as many cases of breastcancer develop among women taking placebo compared to ...Crystal Structure Of gp120 Reveals HIV In Action
... to be used to design compounds that interfere and block thatinteraction," says Wayne Hendrickson, Ph.D., professor of biochemistry andmolecular biophysics at Columbia University and a Howard Hughes MedicalInstitute Investigator. Adds Peter Kwong, Ph.D., associate research scientist atColumbia and lead aut...'Mutual Insurance Pool' Could Improve Transplant Organ Shortage
...ore than a decade ago. The major stumbling block of the earlier future market scheme, in whichindividuals could sell the rights to their organs, to be delivered at death, wasits emphasis on monetary incentives. The researchers, both public policy analysts in SFU's faculty ofbusiness adminis...Novel Therapy To Treat Lung Cancer Patients Enrolling Patients At UCSF Cancer Center
...asanti-angiogenesis therapies that are intended to block the growth of bloodvessels in and around tumor cells, thereby starving the tumor by cutting off itssupply of nutrients and oxygen. Many cells produce VEGF to help stimulate the growth and migration of bloodvessels that supply nutrients to cells in a......tion-only group. To evaluate the drug's ability to block tumor development, Cote, Ross andSkinner tracked key intermediate markers of disease, a novel approach to testingnew chemopreventive agents. They measured the participants' blood levels oftestosterone, PSA and dihydrotestosterone; they also compared ...Novel Therapy To Treat Lung Cancer Patients Enrolling Patients At UCSF Cancer Center
...searchers believe that a MMPI, called AG3340, will block theseprocesses while limiting the damage that may result from a broad suppression ofMMPs. Invasion is the expansion of tumors into neighboring healthy tissue. MMPs actto break down the matrix structure of the healthy tissue, paving the way for thein...Unsticking The "Glue" In Blood Cells Could Save Lives
...panies want to do,"Konstantopoulosexplains, "is to block the receptor for IIb IIIa, without affecting Ib. Thatway, you can reduce therisk of clots while continuing to limit blood loss." In related research, the Hopkins scientist is trying to understand howplatelets manage tostick to cancer cells that ......nge their structure due to UV-B light exposure and block lightcoming into the eye. Cortical cataracts affec... in case of an accident.Dark glasses are needed to block the visible light from the sun. The researchers calculated there is a 10 percent increase in......stroying enzymemonoamine oxidase (MAO). Some drugs block serotonin from being taken in byplatelets; others ... andthe antidepressant and anti-obesity drugs that block serotonin uptake intoplatelets are designed to enhance this effect. The serotonin in blood plasma,ma...