Summaries | Headlines

There May Be Other Causes For Childhood Brain Aneurysms (June 18, 2007) -- A new University of Cincinnati study questions the commonly held scientific belief that childhood brain aneurysms are caused by trauma, infection or underlying vascular malformations. In a ... > full story

Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis Okay For Test-tube Babies, Study Finds (June 18, 2007) -- Children born after embryo biopsy for preimplantation genetic diagnosis do not show any more major malformations than those born after artificial reproduction technologies without ... > full story

Deprived Bacteria Grow Up Meaner (June 18, 2007) -- If the Listeria monocytogenes bacteria behind food poisoning are starved of oxygen, they are liable to turn really nasty according to recent research. Limiting oxygen produces bacteria up to 100 ... > full story

Colon Cancer Proteins Show Promise For Blood Test (June 18, 2007) -- Searching for less invasive screening tests for cancer, scientists have discovered proteins present in blood that accurately identify colon cancer and precancerous polyps. Initial studies of the ... > full story

New Leishmania Genome Sequences Highlight Gene Targets For Treatment Development (June 18, 2007) -- A comparison of three parasite species that cause Leishmaniasis has identified a small number of genes, many new to biology, that will provide a framework to target the search for new treatments. ... > full story

Hot On The TRAIL Of Controlling Inflammation In Bacterial Meningitis (June 18, 2007) -- Researchers report that the molecule known as TRAIL can limit excessive immune responses in bacterial meningitis, and as such may be of use to control inflammation of the spinal cord and brain, which ... > full story

Alzheimer's-associated Enzyme Can Disrupt Neural Activity In The Brain (June 18, 2007) -- An enzyme involved in the formation of the amyloid-beta protein associated with Alzheimer's disease can also alter the mechanism by which signals are transmitted between brain cells, the disruption ... > full story

MRI Is Key To Understanding Cartilage Health (June 18, 2007) -- Cartilage injury, repair and regrowth have long been mysterious processes. In part, this is because injured cartilage doesn't act like many other injured tissues; cartilage continues to decline in ... > full story

Elevated Pepsin Levels May Lead To Rejection Of Lung Transplants (June 18, 2007) -- Researchers have demonstrated that high levels of pepsin, a digestive enzyme that is a marker for gastric aspiration, are associated with acute rejection of a lung ... > full story

Tumor Microenvironment Successfully Targeted To Stop Cancer Growth (June 18, 2007) -- Researchers have found that bone marrow derived endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) play a critical role in the early stages of tumor progression and that eliminating EPCs stops cancer ... > full story

Discriminating Fact From Fiction In Recovered Memories Of Childhood Sexual Abuse (June 18, 2007) -- How accurate are recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse? Researchers have found that spontaneously recovered memories were corroborated about as often as continuous ... > full story

Uncoupling A High-fat Diet From Insulin Resistance And Diabetes (June 18, 2007) -- Insulin resistance is a major factor in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes and is strongly associated with obesity, according to a new study. Gerald Shulman and colleagues from Yale University ... > full story

< more recent summaries | earlier summaries >

Health science -- Health science is the discipline of applied science which deals with human and animal health. There are two parts to health science: the study, research, and knowledge of health and the application ... > full article

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder -- Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (sometimes referred to as ADD for those without hyperactivity) is thought to be a neurological disorder, always present from childhood, which manifests ... > full article

Encephalopathy -- Encephalopathy is a nonspecific term describing a syndrome affecting the brain. Generally, it refers to involvement of large parts of the brain (or the whole organ), instead of identifiable changes ... > full article

Limbic system -- The limbic system is the collective name for structures in the human brain involved in emotion, motivation, and emotional association with memory. It affects motivation and is more active in ... > full article

Human brain -- The human brain is the center of the central nervous system in humans as well as the primary control center for the peripheral nervous system. The brain controls "lower" or involuntary activities ... > full article

Amygdala -- The amygdala (Latin, corpus amygdaloideum) is an almond-shape set of neurons located deep in the brain's medial temporal lobe. Shown to play a key role in the processsing of emotions, the amygdala ... > full article

Hypothalamus -- In mammals, the hypothalamus is a region of the brain located below the thalamus, forming the major portion of the ventral region of the diencephalon and functioning to regulate certain metabolic ... > full article

Central nervous system -- The central nervous system (CNS) represents the largest part of the nervous system, including the brain and the spinal cord. Together with the peripheral nervous system, it has a fundamental role in ... > full article

Spinal cord -- The spinal cord is a part of the vertebrate nervous system that is enclosed in and protected by the vertebral column (it passes through the spinal canal). It consists of nerve cells. The cord conveys ... > full article

Motor neuron -- In vertebrates, motor neurons (also called motoneurons) are efferent neurons that originate in the spinal cord and synapse with muscle fibers to facilitate muscle contraction and with muscle spindles ... > full article

Sensory neuron -- Sensory neurons are nerve cells within the nervous system responsible for converting external stimuli from the organism's environment into internal electrical impulses. For example, some sensory ... > full article

Heart -- The heart is a hollow, muscular organ in vertebrates that pumps blood through the blood vessels by repeated, rhythmic contractions, or a similar structure in annelids, mollusks, and arthropods. The ... > full article

Lung -- The lung is the essential organ of respiration in air-breathing vertebrates. Its principal function is to transport oxygen from the atmosphere into the bloodstream, and to excrete carbon dioxide from ... > full article

Electrocardiogram -- An electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG, abbreviated from the German Elektrokardiogramm) is a graphic produced by an electrocardiograph, which records the electrical voltage in the heart in the form of a ... > full article

Cardiac arrest -- A cardiac arrest is the cessation of normal circulation of the blood due to failure of the ventricles of the heart to contract effectively during systole. The resulting lack of blood supply results ... > full article

Blood transfusion -- Blood transfusion is the process of transferring blood or blood-based products from one person into the circulatory system of another. Blood transfusions may treat medical conditions, such as massive ... > full article

Immune system -- The immune system is the system of specialized cells and organs that protect an organism from outside biological influences. (Though in a broad sense, almost every organ has a protective function - ... > full article

Stomach -- In anatomy, the stomach is an organ in the gastrointestinal tract used to digest food. In general, the stomach's primary function is not the absorption of nutrients from digested food; this task is ... > full article

Enzyme -- Enzymes are proteins that catalyze (i.e. accelerate) chemical reactions. Enzymes are biochemical catalysts. In these reactions, the molecules at the beginning of the process are called substrates, ... > full article

Aspirin -- Aspirin or acetylsalicylic acid is a drug in the family of salicylates, often used as an analgesic (against minor pains and aches), antipyretic (against fever), and anti-inflammatory. It has also an ... > full article