News by Subject Medicine & Health

A study comparing the evidence and recommendation levels of pregnancy information in new prescription drug labeling found significant discrepancies in labeling information among the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, and Korea.

Studying two rare inherited cancer syndromes, Yale Cancer Center (YCC) scientists have found the cancers are driven by a breakdown in how cells repair their DNA. The discovery, published today in Nature Genetics, suggests a promising strategy for treatment with drugs recently approved for other forms of cancer, said the researchers.

A class of molecules formed when the body metabolizes omega-3 fatty acids could inhibit cancer's growth and spread, University of Illinois researchers report in a new study in mice. In mice with tumors of osteosarcoma - a bone cancer that is notoriously painful and difficult to treat -- endocannabinoids slowed the growth of tumors and blood vessels, inhibited the cancer cells from migrating and caused cancer cell death.

A study shows that the expression of PI3Kγ protein increases during infection by T. cruzi, an essential response in avoiding excessive inflammation and controlling parasitemia. Heart tissue analyses involving human patients who developed cardiopathy in the disease's chronic stage also provided results. The next challenge is to devise treatment for Chagas using molecules capable of modulating the cellular signaling pathway mediated by PI3Kγ.

Research in mice shows that a pharmacological strategy can alleviate multiple behavioral and cellular deficiencies in a mouse model of fragile X syndrome, the most common inherited form of intellectual disability.

Researchers carried out studies in animal model that mimics condition in children and adolescents considered at risk for development of the disease in adulthood. Young and hypertense rats displaying cognitive and social impairments as well as hyperlocomotion have reached a healthy adulthood after being treated with daily doses of sodium nitroprusside doses for 30 days.

A study has newly identified an immune trigger of some fibrotic diseases and an experimental compound to treat it. Fibrosis -- a progressive scarring and hardening of internal organs -- is estimated to cause 35 to 40 percent of deaths in the world.