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August 2008 - Posts
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An update of the evidence on this topic from the NLH Neurological Conditions Specialist Library
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Preterm infants born to mothers receiving intravenous magnesium sulfate -- a common treatment to delay labor -- are less likely to develop cerebral palsy than are preterm infants whose mothers do not receive it, report researchers in a large National Institutes of Health research network.
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A brain chemical that plays a role in long term memory also appears to be involved in regulating how much people eat and their likelihood of becoming obese, according to a National Institutes of Health study of a rare genetic condition.
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The National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), today awarded more than $20 million in grants to develop innovative sequencing technologies inexpensive and efficient enough to sequence a person's DNA as a routine part of biomedical research and health care.
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The majority of deaths during the influenza pandemic of 1918-1919 were not caused by the influenza virus acting alone, report researchers from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health. Instead, most victims succumbed to bacterial pneumonia following influenza virus infection. The pneumonia was caused when bacteria that normally inhabit the nose and throat invaded the lungs along a pathway created when the virus destroyed the cells that line the bronchial tubes and lungs.
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The largest genetic analysis of its kind to date for bipolar disorder has implicated machinery involved in the balance of sodium and calcium in brain cells. Researchers supported in part by the National Institute of Mental Health, part of the National Institutes of Health, found an association between the disorder and variation in two genes that make components of channels that manage the flow of the elements into and out of cells, including neurons.
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New research indicates that giving patients a continuous low dose of an immune system booster, a method known as metronomic dosing, as part of a therapeutic prostate cancer vaccine strategy is safe and produces similar immune responses and fewer side effects than the more common dosing method, which is not well tolerated by many patients. This study, led by researchers at that National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, was published in the Aug. 15, 2008, issue of "Clinical Cancer Research."
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Cutaneous leishmaniasis, a disease characterized by painful skin ulcers, occurs when the parasite Leishmania major, or a related species, is transmitted to a mammalian host by the bite of an infected sand fly. In a new study from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, scientists have discovered L. major does its damage by not only evading but also by exploiting the body's wound-healing response to sand fly bites, as reported in the August 15 issue of "Science."
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Scientists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have found
a mechanism in the immune systems of mice that can lead to the
development of autoimmune disease when turned off. The findings
shed light on the processes that lead to the development of autoimmunity
and could also have implications for the development of drugs to
increase the immune response in diseases such as cancer and HIV.
The study paper appears online today in the journal "Nature."
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People with schizophrenia have an alteration in a pattern
of brain electrical activity associated with learning and memory. Now,
researchers from the National Institutes of Health and Sweden's Karolinska
Institute have identified in mouse brain tissue a molecular switch that,
when thrown, increases the strength of this electrical pattern. The researchers
found that adding the brain chemical Neuregulin-1 to the brain tissue
boosted the electrical signals that the tissue generated.
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Despite considerable progress in research to understand the health effects of vitamin D, experts convened by the NIH to review the available data found major gaps in the evidence. The data are strongest in the area of bone health among elderly men and post-menopausal women, suggesting that increased vitamin D intake can improve bone health and prevent falls. For other age groups and health issues, though, it is too early to say conclusively whether more vitamin D might be beneficial.
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Robert H. Carter, M.D., former director of the Division of Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), has been selected as deputy director of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Dr. Carter will be assuming his official responsibilities as of October 1, 2008.
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Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has been extremely effective at slowing the progression of HIV infection to AIDS as well as extending the lives and improving the quality of life for those with HIV. However, some doctors have been reluctant to prescribe HAART to HIV-infected injection drug users because of concern that they may not fully benefit from the therapy. A new study by investigators funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health, and led by the British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS in Canada, suggests that this is not the case: in their large, community-based study of HIV-infected people, injection drug users and people who did not inject drugs had equivalent survival rates seven years after initiating HAART. These results will be published August 6 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
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The NIDA NewsScan #54 examines the latest findings on drug abuse among youth as well as key issues including the relationship between marijuana and the perception of pain, the role emotions play in smoking, and innovative approaches to pain management through virtual reality. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
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High-dose injections of vitamin C, also known as ascorbate or ascorbic acid, reduced tumor
weight and growth rate by about 50 percent in mouse models of brain, ovarian, and pancreatic cancers,
researchers from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) report in the August 5, 2008, issue of the
"Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences." The researchers traced ascorbate's anti-cancer effect
to the formation of hydrogen peroxide in the extracellular fluid surrounding the tumors. Normal cells were
unaffected.
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"For Women with Diabetes: Your Guide to Pregnancy" is an illustrated, 44-page booklet that includes information about checking and controlling blood glucose -- also called blood sugar levels, maintaining a healthy diet, staying physically active and taking tests and diabetes medications during pregnancy. The importance of planning for pregnancy and getting blood glucose levels under control before pregnancy to decrease the risk of birth defects associated with diabetes is emphasized. Logs for recording daily blood glucose and ketone levels, food intake and physical activity are included.
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As published in the August issue of the journal "Biosensors
and Bioelectronics," a team of researchers supported by the
National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR),
part of the National Institutes of Health, report they have developed
an ultra-sensitive optical protein sensor, a first for a salivary
diagnostic test. The sensor can be integrated into a specially
designed lab-on-a-chip, or microchip assay, and preprogrammed
to bind a specific protein of interest, generating a sustained
fluorescent signal as the molecules attach. A microscope then
reads the intensity of the fluorescent light--a measure
of the protein's cumulative concentration in the saliva sample and
scientists gauge whether it corresponds with levels linked to
developing disease.
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Cancer
Research. NCI is part of the National Institutes of Health.
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The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has published several new resources to help people learn more about urologic and kidney disorders. These disorders are among the most critical health problems in the United States, affecting millions of Americans, including children and young adults. The publications address interstitial cystitis/painful bladder syndrome (IC/PBS), urinary tract infections (UTIs) in children, prostatitis, IgA nephropathy, and home hemodialysis.
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Grant Information
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This Web site was made possible in part by NIH Grant Number R43 DK70418
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