Treating

Potential Drug Target For Treating Cocaine Abuse Found

A substance similar to a drug used in the treatment of Parkinson's disease blocks the stimulating effects of cocaine and could potentially be used to develop drug therapy for cocaine abuse, new research shows. In an article published in the February 23, 2005, issue of The Journal of Neuroscience, Jonathan Katz and his colleagues at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) report the re...

NCI Researchers Confirm the Effectiveness of Immunotherapy Approach to Treating Melanoma

A team of researchers, led by Steven A. Rosenberg, M.D., at the National Cancer Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, have found that patients with advanced melanoma who had not responded to previous therapies experienced a significant reduction in the size of their cancers as a result of receiving a new immunotherapy. This immunotherapy consisted of a combination of chemotherapy...

Gene silencing technique offers new strategy for treating, curing disease

A new technique aimed at directly controlling the expression of genes by turning them on or off at the DNA level could lead to drugs for the treatment or cure of many diseases, say researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center. "Virtually every disease starts at the level of malfunctioning gene expression, or viral or bacterial gene expression," said Dr. David Corey, professor of pharmacol...

U of M researchers discover genetic key to treating deadly fungal infections

University of Minnesota researchers have discovered how a prevalent fungal pathogen that causes 10,000 deaths per year in the United States overcomes the effects of antifungal drugs by duplicating a section of one of its chromosomes. Candida albicans, a type of yeast present in 80 percent of humans, is usually harmless. In otherwise healthy people, it can cause mild oral and vaginal infe...

Ibruprofen and other commonly used painkillers for treating inflammation may increase the risk of heart attack

When it comes to the deadly skin cancer melanoma, studying functional tissue rather than cell lines may better provide insight into the disease's development, according to new research from a Howard Hughes Medical Institute predoctoral fellow at Stanford University School of Medicine. Though multiple genetic alterations are associated with melanoma development, scientists have not been abl...

Opiates Better Than Sedatives For Treating Newborns In Withdrawal

For years, sedatives have been the gold standard for treating newborns suffering from opiate withdrawal. However, new research suggests that opiates themselves are superior to sedatives for treating infants born to women who used heroin or methadone while pregnant. Opiates appear to better "ameliorate the withdrawal, facilitate feeding and potentially reduce the likelihood of seizures," ac...

Scavenger cells could be key to treating HIV-related dementia

Understanding macrophages could lead to ways to prevent HIV-associated dementia Macrophages, long-living white blood cells often considered the scavengers of the immune system, actually may damage a part...

Pretreating rogue cancer cells with aspirin cripples their resistance to targeted therapy

Safeguarding 595 sites around the world would help stave off an imminent global extinction crisis, according to new research published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ( Conducted by scientists working with the 52 member organizations of the Alliance for Zero Extinction (AZE –?<A HREF="http://www.zeroextinction.org...

Treating populations infected with HIV and latent TB could speed the emergence of drug-resistant TB

In 2005, 46 regional Ministers of Health in Africa declared that a dramatic rise in tuberculosis (TB) cases was cause for emergency. In some African countries, annual TB case notifications have increased as much as four-fold over the past 15 years. The main culprit? The emergence of HIV. When individuals are infected with both HIV and TB, they are more likely to progress from latent TB infection...

Study by Einstein researchers could lead to a novel strategy for treating obesity

In their latest finding on the brain's role in controlling appetite and weight, researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine have shown that reducing levels of fatty acids in the hypothalamus causes rats to overeat and become obese. Their results suggest that restoring fatty-acid levels in the brain may be a promising way to treat obesity. The study, published in the January 15th on-lin...

Technique speeds up detecting, treating wound bacteria

For Dr. Sydney Finegold, research is like reading a really good mystery or detective story. With a grant from the Department of Defense, Finegold has taken his passion for research and applied it to a problem that affects civilians...

Microscopic scaffolding offers a 'simple' solution to treating skin injuries

A revolutionary dissolvable scaffold for growing new areas of skin could provide a safer, more effective way of treating burns, diabetic ulcers and similar injuries. This ultra-fine, 3-dimensional scaffold, which is made from specially developed polymers, looks similar to tissue paper but has fibres 100 times finer. Before it is placed over a wound, the patient's skin cells (obtained via...

Studies suggest new brain protein may help in treating schizophrenia, insomnia and anxiety

A small protein in the brain that has only recently been discovered and, paradoxically, induces both profound wakefulness and a less anxious state, may represent a novel target for the treatment of psychotic behavior and schizophrenia, according to new research presented at the 6th International Congress of Neuroendocrinology (ICN 2006). ICN 2006 is being held at the David L. Lawrence Convention...

Novel therapy combinations gain ground in treating hepatitis

According to recent estimates, hepatitis has become a worldwide health problem, affecting millions of people in the U.S. and abroad. Researchers are experimenting with combinations of anti-inflammatory medicines like interferons to improve hepatitis symptoms. In research presented today at Digestive Disease Week® 2006 (DDW), new combinations of therapies are making significant progress to impro...

Discovery of agile molecular motors could aid in treating motor neuron diseases

(Philadelphia, PA) - Over the last several months, the labs of Yale Goldman, MD, PhD, Director of the Pennsylvania Muscle Institute at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and Erika Holzbaur, PhD, Professor of Physiology, have published a group of papers that, taken together, show proteins that function as molecular motors are surprisingly flexible and agile, able to navigate obstac...

Bacterial protein shows promise in treating intestinal parasites

Scientists at the University of California, San Diego and Yale University have discovered that a natural protein produced by Bacillus thuringiensis, a bacterium sprayed on crops by organic farmers to reduce insect damage, is highly effective at treating hookworm infections in laboratory animals. Their discovery, detailed in this week's early online edition of the Proceedings of the Natio...

Einstein researchers demonstrate a novel approach to treating AIDS

Using a radically new strategy featuring radioactive "guided missiles," researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have successfully targeted and destroyed human immune cells infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. "This study in mice supports the idea that radioimmunotherapy might help in treating people infected with HIV," says Dr. Arturo Casadev...

8 plants from South Africa may hold potential for treating high blood pressure

Medicinal plants are an integral part of African culture, one of the oldest and most diverse in the world. In South Africa, 21st century drug therapy is used side-by-side with traditional African medicines to heal the sick. While plants have been used in African medicine to treat fever, asthma, constipation, esophageal cancer and hypertension, scientific analyses of the purported benefits of many...

Arctic ice retreating more quickly than computer models project

Arctic sea ice is melting at a significantly faster rate than projected by even the most advanced computer models, a new study concludes. The research, by scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and the University of Colorado's National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), shows that the Arctic's ice cover is retreating more rapidly than estimated by any of the 18 computer...

Treating HIV in war zones -- Public health emergencies need rapid advice from WHO

Heather Culbert and colleagues report their results of three years’ experience of providing HIV care, including antiretroviral therapy...

UCF nanoparticle offers promise for treating glaucoma

“The nanoparticle can safely get past the blood-brain barrier making it an effective non-toxic tool for drug delivery,” said Sudipta Seal, an engineering pro...