Individuals who suffer from migraines with aura (temporary visual or sensory disturbances before or during a migraine headache) are at a higher risk of dying from heart disease or stroke, according to research published today on bmj.com. This is the first large population-based study showing a link between migraine and overall mortality as well as specific mortality.
The findings support increasing evidence that migraine, particularly with aura, is associated with death from heart disease. The researchers stress, however, that the individual risk for a migraine sufferer remains low. Continue Reading »
A desire to understand how breast cancer starts has seen Walter and Eliza Hall Institute researcher Dr Marie-Liesse Asselin-Labat today win one of three 2010 L’Oreal Australia For Women in Science Fellowships.
Dr Asselin-Labat, a senior postdoctoral fellow in the institute’s Stem Cells and Cancer division in Melbourne, Australia, is rapidly establishing an international profile for her studies of how breast stem cells develop and how these cells are influenced by oestrogen and other steroids. Continue Reading »
Human pluripotent stem cells, which can become any other kind of body cell, hold great potential to treat a wide range of ailments, including Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis and spinal cord injuries. However, scientists who work with such cells have had trouble growing large enough quantities to perform experiments — in particular, for use in human studies. Furthermore, most materials now used to grow human stem cells include cells or proteins that come from mice embryos, which help stimulate stem-cell growth but would likely cause an immune reaction if injected into a human patient.
To overcome those issues, MIT chemical engineers, materials scientists and biologists have devised a synthetic surface that includes no foreign animal material and allows stem cells to stay alive and continue reproducing themselves for at least three months. It’s also the first synthetic material that allows single cells to form colonies of identical cells, which is necessary to identify cells with desired traits and has been difficult to achieve with existing materials. Continue Reading »
For those with high blood pressure, chili peppers might be just what the doctor ordered, according to a study reported in the August issue of Cell Metabolism, a Cell Press publication. While the active ingredient that gives the peppers their heat — a compound known as capsaicin — might set your mouth on fire, it also leads blood vessels to relax, the research in hypertensive rats shows.
“We found that long-term dietary consumption of capsaicin, one of the most abundant components in chili peppers, could reduce blood pressure in genetically hypertensive rats,” said Zhiming Zhu of Third Military Medical University in Chongqing, China. Continue Reading »
Scientists hoping to understand how cells work may get a boost from a new technique to tag and image proteins within living mammalian cells.
The new technique, developed by a research team led by University of Illinois at Chicago assistant professor of chemistry Lawrence Miller, provides the clearest, most dynamic view yet of protein-protein interactions in cells when viewed through a specially modified microscope. Continue Reading »
Women who smoke or pierce their nipples are more likely to develop a breast abscess, according to a new study in the July issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.
Researchers at the University of Iowa found the odds of developing primary breast abscess were six times higher in smokers than in nonsmokers, and smokers were 11 times more likely to develop subareolar abscess. Breast abscesses were 15 times more likely to recur in smokers than in nonsmokers. In addition, this study is one of the first to provide clinical evidence that nipple piercing is also a risk factor for subareolar breast abscess, with the onset of abscess occurring from one month to seven years from the time of piercing. Continue Reading »
Throughout embryonic development, proteins known as Polycomb group complexes turn genes off when and where their activity should not be present, preventing specialised tissues and organs from forming within the wrong places. They also play a huge role in processes like stem cell differentiation and cancer. Continue Reading »
Research carried out by the University of Warwick in collaboration with the Federico II University Medical School in Naples, Italy, has found that people who sleep for less than six hours each night were 12% more likely to die prematurely than those who get the recommended 6-8 hours. The study, published today in the journal Sleep, provides unequivocal evidence of the direct link between short duration of sleep (less than 6 hours sleep a night) and an increased chance of dying prematurely. Continue Reading »
Oats is really a extremely healthy cereal, which may be accepted through many celiac patients. A variety of commercial oat flours in addition to specific oat flours produced from single varieties have been evaluated for their suitability for bread-baking. Enzyme technology, bioprocessing in addition to high-pressure processing technology have been successfully applied to improve the quality, safety and nutritional attributes of oat based foods. Continue Reading »
Current research suggests that tumor-secreted exosomes inhibit the immune response, enhancing tumor metastasis. The related report by Liu et al, appears in the May 2010 issue of The American Journal of Pathology.
The immune system plays a critical role in identifying and destroying tumor cells. Many tumors overcome this surveillance by inhibiting local immune responses, often leading to metastasis. Continue Reading »
