Severe in Biological News

Research shows rates of severe childhood obesity have tripled

WINSTON-SALEM Rates of severe childhood obesity have tripled in the last 25 years, putting many children at risk for diabetes and heart disease, according to a report in Academic Pediatrics by an obesity expert at Brenner Children's Hospital, part of Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Cente...

UF makes gene therapy advance in severe genetic disorder

GAINESVILLE A dog born with a deadly disease that prevents the body from using stored sugar has survived 20 months and is still healthy after receiving gene therapy at the University of Florida putting scientists a step closer to finding a cure for the disorder in children. Called glycogen st...

New center at Georgia Tech aims to improve recovery of soldiers with severe injuries

When a soldier is wounded during combat, surgeons must focus on reducing infection and reconstructing damaged bone and tissues. Technologies that could improve the repair and regeneration processes are being developed in research laboratories across the country, but they are not being moved quickl...

Preclinical work shows how one gene causes severe mental retardation

Durham, N.C., and Chapel Hill, N.C. -- Researchers at Duke University Medical Center and the University of North Carolina have discovered in mice how a single disrupted gene can cause a form of severe mental retardation known as Angelman syndrome. In a study published in the journal Nature N...

UT Public Health researchers find link to severe Staph infections

Researchers at The University of Texas School of Public Health recently described studies that support the link between the severity of community-acquired antibiotic-resistant Staph ylococcus aureus (CA MRSA) infections and the Panton Valentine leukocidin (PVL). The Panton Valentine leuk...

Franklin Square to study airway bypass procedure for severe emphysema

October 27, 2008 (Baltimore, MD)Franklin Square Hospital Center announces the start of the EASE (Exhale Airway Stents for Emphysema) Trial to explore an investigational treatment for advanced widespread emphysema/COPD. The trial focuses on airway bypass, a bronchoscopic procedure designed to reduc...

Cortisol and fatty liver: Researchers find cause of severe metabolic disorders

A healthy body stores fat in the form of so-called triglycerides in specialized fatty tissue as an energy reserve. Under certain conditions the delicate balance of the lipid metabolism gets out of control and fat is accumulated in the liver, leading to the dreaded fatty liver. This increases the r...

Toxoplasmosis found more severe in Brazil compared to Europe

Newborns in Brazil are more susceptible to toxoplasmosis than those in Europe, according to a recent study. Researchers based in Austria, Brazil, Denmark, France, Italy, Poland, Sweden, and the United Kingdom studied the disease's ocular effects in children from birth to four years of age. Deta...

Treatment corrects severe insulin imbalance in animal studies

Researchers have used a drug to achieve normal levels of blood sugar in animals genetically engineered to have abnormally high insulin levels. If this approach succeeds in humans, it could become an innovative medicine for children with congenital hyperinsulinism, a rare but potentially devastatin...

UIC researchers make promising finding in severe lung disease

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have identified a novel function for an enzyme that plays a role in the tissue injury in acute respiratory distress syndrome, also known as ARDS. The finding offers a new therapeutic target for the prevention and treatment of lung inflammatio...

Hyperviscous fluids: Better treatment for severe blood loss

Intravenous administration of isotonic fluids is the standard emergency treatment in the U.S. for patients with severe blood loss, but UC San Diego bioengineering researchers have reported improved resuscitation with a radically different approach. Building on earlier studies in humans that have s...

Impoverished areas of Africa and Asia face severe crop losses from climate change in 20 years

Many of the worlds poorest regions could face severe crop losses in the next two decades because of climate change, according to a new study by researchers at Stanford Universitys Program on Food Security and the Environment (FSE). Their findings will be published in the Feb. 1 issue of the journ...

Yale discovery suggests protein may play a role in severe asthma

New Haven, Conn.A protein measured in a simple blood test may be a new biomarker to identify patients with the most serious form of asthma, Yale School of Medicine researchers report today in the New England Journal of Medicine. Identifying this new biomarker, YKL-40, brings investigators one ...

Cell transplants may improve severe urinary incontinence

Tampa, Fla. (November 8, 2007) Estimates are that up to 70 million people worldwide may be suffering from severe urinary incontinence. A major cause of urinary incontinence is a deficiency of the urethral sphincter muscle, often associated with trauma during child birth, resulting from prostate s...

In the laboratory, green tea proves a powerful medicine against severe sepsis

MANHASSET, NY A major component of green tea could prove the perfect elixir for severe sepsis, an abnormal immune system response to a bacterial infection. In a new laboratory study, Haichao Wang, PhD, of The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, and his colleagues have been studying the ther...

Clot-dissolving agent may be beneficial in treatment of severe frostbite

A preliminary study suggests that a blood clot-dissolving medication that is administered to some patients following a stroke or heart attack may help to reduce the risk of amputation following severe frostbite, according to a report in the June issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archiv...

Stanford-led study closes in on genes that may predispose some people to severe depression

Some people appear to be genetically predisposed to developing severe depression, but researchers have yet to pin down the genes responsible. Now, a specific region rife with promise has been located on one chromosome by a consortium of researchers working under Douglas Levinson, MD, professo...

Mutant gene causes severe kidney disease in infants

Scientists at the University of Michigan Medical School have discovered a previously unknown cause for a severe, early-onset form of kidney disease and renal failure in children: recessive mutations in a gene called phospholipase C epsilon or PLCE1. Identifying the mutant gene is important to sci...

MRSA toxin acquitted: Study clears suspected key to severe bacterial illness

Researchers who thought they had identified the bacterial perpetrator of the often severe disease caused by community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) had better keep looking: Scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of th...

New findings could lead to vaccine for severe malaria

The most severe form of malaria hits pregnant women and children the hardest. A joint study between Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and Makerere University in Uganda has now produced some important findings on how the malaria parasite conceals itself in the placenta. Plasmodium falciparium is the...

Highly concentrated botulinum preparation for cosmetic injections can result in severe illness

An examination of 4 cases of botulism following cosmetic injections to the face indicates that the adults received a highly concentrated, unlicensed preparation that resulted in toxin levels up to 40 times the estimated human lethal dose, according to a report in the November 22/29 issue of JAMA. ...

New treatment for severe malaria

The most dangerous form of malaria is difficult to treat and claims two million lives a year. Now, researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have developed a powerful new weapon against the disease. Severe anaemia, respiratory problems and encephalopathy are common and life-threatening cons...

Study shows pine bark naturally decreases severe chronic venous insufficiency

Recent findings published in the journal of Clinical and Applied Thrombosis/Hematosis show a significant symptom reduction of chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) in patients after supplementing with Pycnogenol® (pic-noj-en-all), an antioxidant plant extract from the bark of the French maritime pine ...

Study reveals genomics of inflammation from severe injury

Could improve prediction of patient outcomes, lead to tailored treatmentsWhen it comes to inflammation, too much of a good thing can be deadly. In some severely injured patients, this normal healing process can develop into a lethal, whole-body response, including bloodstream infection (sepsis) and...

Late peak may have prevented severe flu season from becoming worse

The 2004-2005 flu season was at least as severe as the 2003-2004 season, but peaked later according to data from Solucient, a leading provider of healthcare information. This later peak may have prevented the most recent flu season from being even worse. A flu season's severity is reflected in ho...

Rush Physicians Using Gene Therapy For Heart Patients With Moderate To Severe Chest Pains Who Do Not Benefit From Other Treatments

Individuals with moderate to severe chest pains (angina) who have not found relief from medication may benefit from a new gene therapy approach being used by cardiologists at Rush University Medical Center to grow new blood vessels in the heart. The phase II clinical research study uses vascular...

The hepatitis healing power of blueberry leaves

...ccine for HCV, and though a combination drug regimen can clear HCV infection, this treatment is only about 60% effective on average and poses risks of severe side effects. Kataoka and colleagues believed that since HCV is localized in the liver and can take 20 years or more to develop into disease, a die...

Holding breath for several minutes elevates marker for brain damage

...e blood suggests that holding one's breath for a long time disrupts the blood-brain barrier, they said. The concern is that repetitive exposures to severe hypoxia (lowered oxygen supply), such as that experienced by individuals training and competing in static apnea diving events, could cause neurologica...

La Jolla Institute discovers novel tumor suppressor

...her, choosing to focus specifically on myeloproliferative disease because almost all of the mice with a defective PLC-beta 3 gene eventually developed severe myeloproliferative disease. The team determined that tumor production hinged on the PLC-beta 3's ability to block the action of STAT5, a transcrip...

August 2009 Geology and GSA Today media highlights

... of Surficial Geochemistry, Dept. of Earth Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093. Pages 727-730. Densely populated East Asia is often hit by severe dust storms. It has been suggested that the dust particles are blown from the arid lands of northern China. However, scientists know little about the ...

Scientists decoding genomic sequences of H1N1 using isolates from outbreak in Argentina

...enomic sequences of influenza pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus from patients with severe respiratory disease. The scientists will be comparing sequences of viruses ...equencing of these virus specimens will allow the team to both characterize severe versus mild cases, as well as determine how the virus evolved at different ...

MU researchers create drought conditions to unearth solutions

...our mobile rain shelters and will vary the amount of water that the test plants receive, simulating everything from short dry spells to persistent and severe drought conditions. The shelters measure 50 feet by 100 feet, look like greenhouses and are mobile. The researchers will move the shelters during sunn...

Large trees declining in Yosemite

...pines to fire-intolerant white fir and incense cedar. In burned areas, however, pines remained dominant. "We should be aware that more frequent and severe wildfires are possible in Yosemite because of the recent shift to fire-intolerant trees in unburned areas and warmer climates bring drier conditions,"...

First genetically-engineered malaria vaccine to enter human trials

...emoving the genes the malaria parasite is halted during its liver infection phase, preventing it from spreading to the blood stream where it can cause severe disease and death. Their success in genetically modifying the parasite and thereby preventing its invasion of red blood cells is published in the cu...

Researchers team up to provide new hope for childhood hunger

...o-use therapeutic food (RUTF) for the treatment of severe acute malnutrition has consistently resulted in 90...apeutic feeding regimen for home-based therapy for severe childhood malnutrition. Develop effective strategies to treat severe malnutrition in young children with AIDS in sub-Sa...

Nanodiamonds deliver insulin for wound healing

... Bacterial infection is a major health threat to patients with severe burns and other kinds of serious wounds such as traumatic bone fractures. R... increasing the pH to the basic levels commonly observed in the skin during severe burns, the researchers confirmed the insulin was released from the nanodiam...

Discovery to aid in future treatments of third-world parasites

...re long lived (>10 years) and dwell within blood vessels, where they produce eggs that become the focus of intense, chronic inflammatory responses. In severe cases, this inflammation is associated with life-threatening liver disease. No vaccine is currently available to prevent schistosomiasis. Options ...

ISU researchers find possible treatment for spinal muscular atrophy

...0 people are carriers of the disease -- they don't have the symptoms, but could pass the disease to their children. Most children born with the most severe type of SMA die within two years. Using this junk sequence in SMN2 to restore the high levels of functional SMN protein could eliminate Spinal Muscu...

Smaller than expected, but severe, dead zone in Gulf of Mexico

...ne to be smaller than forecasted, measuring 3,000 square miles. However the dead zone, which is usually limited to water just above the sea floor, was severe where it did occur, extending closer to the water surface then in most years. Earlier this summer, NOAA-sponsored forecast models developed by R. ...

Cancer's distinctive pattern of gene expression could aid early screening and prevention

...e patterns that could one day be detected in the blood, urine or feces. The patterns could give patients a heads up that lifestyle changes, or more severe intervention, is in order, says Dr. Kapil Bhalla, director of the MCG Cancer Center, Cecil F. Whitaker Jr., M.D./Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Sch...