Stress May Delay Women Getting Pregnant
A study by researchers at the National Institutes of Health and the University of Oxford supports the widespread belief that stress may reduce a woman's chance of becoming pregnant. The study is the first of its kind to document, among women without a history of fertility problems, an association between high levels of a substance indicative of stress and a reduced chance of becoming pregnant.
Scientists Find Antibodies that Prevent Most HIV Strains from Infecting Human Cells
Scientists have discovered two potent human antibodies that can stop more than 90 percent of known global HIV strains from infecting human cells in the laboratory, and have demonstrated how one of these disease-fighting proteins accomplishes this feat. According to the scientists, these antibodies could be used to design improved HIV vaccines, or could be further developed to prevent or treat HIV infection. Moreover, the method used to find these antibodies could be applied to isolate therape...
Aiming for Normal Blood Sugar Does Not Delay Risk of Some Co-morbidities in Chronic Diabetes
In people with longstanding type 2 diabetes who are at high risk for heart attack and stroke, lowering blood sugar to near-normal levels did not delay the combined risk of diabetic damage to kidneys, eyes, or nerves, but did delay several other signs of diabetic damage, a study has found. The intensive glucose treatment was compared with standard glucose control. These findings are from the NIH-funded Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes (ACCORD) trial. Although intensive treatme...
Gene Linked to Alzheimers Disease Plays Key Role in Cell Survival
Scientists have discovered that a gene linked to Alzheimer's disease may play a beneficial role in cell survival by enabling neurons to clear away toxic proteins. A study funded by the National Institute on Aging (NIA), part of the National Institutes of Health, shows the presenilin 1 (PS1) gene is essential to the function of lysosomes, the cell component that digests and recycles unwanted proteins. However, mutations in the PS1 gene -- a known risk factor for a rare, early onset form of Alz...
Endometrial Stem Cells Restore Brain Dopamine Levels
Endometrial stem cells injected into the brains of mice with a laboratory-induced form of Parkinson's disease appeared to take over the functioning of brain cells eradicated by the disease. The finding raises the possibility that women with Parkinson's disease could serve as their own stem cell donors. Similarly, because endometrial stem cells are readily available and easy to collect, banks of endometrial stem cells could be stored for men and women with Parkinson's disease.
Study Provides New Leads into Genetics of Cleft Lip and/or Palate
| May 6th of 2010 |
Diseases
Genetics FEATURED |
A consortium of scientists supported by the National Institutes of Health reported today that it has identified two human genes that, when inherited in a slightly altered form, may play a role in causing cleft lip and/or palate (roof of the mouth), one of the world's most common congenital malformations.
Additional Genes Associated with Age-Related Macular Degeneration Identified
A large genetic study of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) has identified three new genes associated with this blinding eye disease -- two involved in the cholesterol pathway. Results of this large-scale collaborative study, supported by the National Eye Institute (NEI), part of the National Institutes of Health, were published online April 12 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.