New studies show mixed results on epilepsy drugs and birth defects
...ng to women. They also emphasize the importance of trying to control seizures with only one epilepsy drug if possible and the importance of planning carefully how epilepsy drugs will be used during pregnancy before the pregnancy occurs." The bad news is about the drug valproic acid. One study monitored the ...Chemical decoy shows promise for slowing Alzheimer's by acting as decoy
...s that have prevented their use. "We are currently trying to make decoys with higher affinity and specificity for beta amyloid by modifying the chemistry. Eventually we think we'll be able to make better decoys using molecular design," Good says. Down the line, if the polymers show promise in human studies,......ascular viewpoint." He said researchers have been trying to pinpoint why red wine has a cardiovascular protective effect ever since the discovery of the so-called "French Paradox" in 1992 when researchers found a 40 percent lower mortality rate from ischemic heart disease among people in France despite the...Rhesus monkeys reason about perspectives of others in obtaining food
...nsider whether someone can or cannot see them when trying to steal food, indicating they have the ability to reason about the mental states of others, according to a study published this month in Current Biology . In each of six experiments, two people stood in front of a platform, each with a grape attach...Study examines lessons learned at Africa's first public antiretroviral treatment clinic
...as valuable lessons for other developing countries trying to launch their own treatment programs, according to an article in the March 15 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, now available online. According to World Health Organization estimates, only about 700,000 of the 6 million people with HIV/AIDS wh...Cigarette smoke worsens respiratory infections in infants
...r. The Washington University researchers have been trying to learn why some kids have a relatively easy time...RSV affects some children so severely. "What we're trying to study isn't the likelihood of getting the disease because it seems just about every kid gets RSV,...Study: Two brain systems regulate how we call for help
...al to seek help from supportive individuals during trying times. Indeed, calling for help can be crucial to survival, says Kalin, a psychiatrist who has studied fear and social attachment in monkeys for two decades in an attempt to better understand anxiety and depression in humans. However, since a cry for...New trials for counseling caregivers and patients with Alzheimer's begin
... to go home and live together afterwards, so we're trying to help them do that." These studies are part of the NYU Silberstein Institute's Psychosocial Research Program, a longstanding research endeavor devoted to testing interventions to improve the well being of families dealing with Alzheimer's as they ...Columbia researchers receive $3 million to combat genetic killer of infants & toddlers
...to messenger RNA to produce the SMN protein and is trying to understand the defect in that process that results in SMA disease. Thomas Jessell, Ph.D., Investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Director of the Neuroscience Institute at Columbia University, is focused on defining the molecular m...Researchers model brain's electrical storm during a seizure
...gists better understand and treat epilepsy. "We're trying to get to the underlying state of the brain that leads to these seizures," said Mark Kramer, a Ph.D. student in UC Berkeley's Applied Science and Technology Program and lead author of the paper. "Our hope is that the model can highlight potential are...When the brain, not the ears, goes hard of hearing
...of babble, much as one might hear at a party while trying to speak to an individual nearby. The recently discovered feedback problem is central to this problem, says Frisina. His team has found that in mice, the brain problems usually precede actual hearing difficulties, and that early problems with the bra...Researcher explores ways to make hypnosis a more effective therapeutic technique
...hers provide information about how hypnosis works, trying to eliminate the subject's misconceptions-for example, that people under hypnosis are gullible and easily led. "We try to encourage them to use their imaginations, rather than to passively respond to the suggestions, and to actively immerse themselve...Diabetes a bigger heart disease risk for women than for men
...d Evaluation (ADVANCE) on 11,140 people. They are trying to ascertain whether more intensive glucose control combined with blood pressure lowering reduces cardiovascular mortality in people with Type 2 diabetes. The trial, which will follow participants for 4 years on average, will end in 2006....Brain activity of men and women during hostile or impulsive acts differs less on nicotine
...ful using the nicotine patch or gum therapies when trying to quit smoking." To better understand how nicotine impacts brain activity, Potkin and Fallon tested the behavior of smokers and non-smokers when subjected to different tests. For example, during one experiment, researchers had participants play a "...COX-2 product offers good and bad news in 'test tube' strokes
...re severe than normal animals. Andreasson is now trying to determine if these prostaglandins have a similar protective effect in mouse models of Lou Gehrig's disease, in which excessive glutamate is believed to damage neurons, and will begin work to see if the beneficial side of PGD2 activity can outweigh...Clot-busting drugs may help detect potentially deadly leg clots
...hat checks the blood for evidence that the body is trying to break down a clot. The body forms blood clots, impermeable masses of elastic fibrin and platelets and other cells, to stop bleeding. But clots also can form for no apparent good reason, particularly in areas such as the legs where blood pools. "I...Herb used to treat diabetes works like modern-day prescription drugs, study suggests
...Hertzler said. Right now he and his colleagues are trying to figure out what dose of the herb is most effective, and when it should be taken relative to a meal. "We want to know how long it takes for the herb to bind to the enzymes that break down carbohydrates," Hertzler said. "The participants in this stu...Induction at 32 weeks possible action for expectant moms with premature membrane rupture
...ets an infection," says Dr. Brost. "The dilemma is trying to deliver later so baby can get older but before an infection can set in." The study found that infections in both mom and baby were significantly lower in mothers experiencing membrane rupture when they opted for induction at 32 weeks pregnancy ra...Penn joins major NCI research initiative to advance breast cancer therapies
...l priority in cancer research. "Genetically, we're trying to identify the regulatory molecules responsible for the ability of tumors to metastasize, recur, or remain in a dormant state," explains Chodosh. "Imaging permits us to ask such questions as: Can we predict what a tumor will do in its natural histor...New stroke-prevention drug unlikely to be cost-effective except in patients at high risk of bleeding
...therapies. "Since each drug has its own drawbacks, trying to compare them was like comparing apples and oranges," Gage says. "We needed a common currency to make the comparison, so we accounted for quality of life factors and analyzed the way each drug affected quality-adjusted survival." Gage and Washingto...