medical breakthrough – News Stories About medical breakthrough - Page 4

studies say

Mar 21, 2012 7:32 AM CDT

An Aspirin a Day Cuts Cancer Risk

And appears to stop cancer from spreading, too: studies

(Newser) - A daily low dose of aspirin has long been recommended as a way of lowering stroke and heart attack risk, but new studies published this week suggest it also greatly reduces cancer risk. The UK studies found that after taking 75mg to 300mg of aspirin per day for just three...

Study May Be Breakthrough for Transplants

Mar 8, 2012 1:44 PM CST

Study May Be Breakthrough for Transplants

Patients accepted mismatched organs, without rejection drugs

(Newser) - A new study has the potential to be what the Los Angeles Times calls a "game-changer" in organ transplants. The idea seems simple enough: Give organ recipients a second transplant—of stem cells from the donor. This not only makes it more likely their body won't reject the...

Your New Drug:
Placebos

Jan 8, 2012 11:54 AM CST

Your New Drug: Placebos

They seem to work even when patients know what they're getting

(Newser) - Placebos aren't just for research: Studies increasingly show that treatments with no active ingredients can work as well as—or even better than—"real" therapies. In one such study, some hotel employees were told they were getting good exercise at work; they lost weight, while fellow workers who...

Drug Combos Hailed as Vast Breast Cancer Breakthrough

Drug Combos Hailed as Big Breast Cancer Breakthrough

Dec 8, 2011 6:04 AM CST

Drug Combos Hailed as Big Breast Cancer Breakthrough

New drug combos delay tumor growth in advanced cases

(Newser) - Two new studies mark what could be the biggest breakthrough in treating breast cancer in more than a decade, researchers say. Both involve combining drug therapies that attack tumors in different ways, significantly delaying the time until women with advanced breast cancer became sicker, the AP reports. One treatment held...

Scientists Make
Ebola Breakthrough

Dec 6, 2011 8:05 AM CST

Scientists Make Ebola Breakthrough

Create new synthetic vaccine that can survive long enough to be effective

(Newser) - Scientists have made a major breakthrough in the fight against Ebola, developing a new synthetic vaccine that successfully protected 80% of the mice into which it was injected. More importantly, the new vaccine can be dried down and frozen for storage, the BBC reports; past Ebola vaccines have used real...

Awareness Detected
in 'Vegetative' Patients

study

Nov 10, 2011 7:03 AM CST

Awareness Detected in 'Vegetative' Patients

Study results could provide new hope for patients thought to be unresponsive

(Newser) - A new study could have a life-changing impact on patients thought to be in a “vegetative” state: Three such patients displayed signs of full consciousness in a simple test. “It sure looks as if there’s not just a little bit of consciousness but a lot” in these...

Scientists Find Trick
to 'Disarm' HIV

Sep 20, 2011 9:42 AM CDT

Scientists Find Trick to 'Disarm' HIV

Without its cholesterol, virus can't harm immune system

(Newser) - A group of US and European scientists have discovered a way to prevent the HIV virus from harming the immune system, in a breakthrough that could lead to an entirely new approach to fighting AIDS. They discovered that by extracting cholesterol, they could render the virus a sitting duck for...

Ecstasy Can Treat
Cancer: Study

Aug 19, 2011 3:27 PM CDT

Ecstasy Can Treat Cancer: Study

Researchers find a way to drastically boost its effectiveness

(Newser) - Could ecstasy cure cancer? The idea suddenly doesn’t seem so farfetched. Researchers at Birmingham University have found a way to boost its cancer-suppressing powers 100-fold, making it a potentially viable treatment for leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma, the Telegraph reports. Ecstasy was already known to fight many white blood cell...

Artificial Windpipe
Saves Cancer Patient

Jul 7, 2011 5:06 PM CDT

Artificial Windpipe Saves Cancer Patient

Lab-made organ successfully transplanted

(Newser) - They almost make it sound easy: Surgeons in Sweden removed a man's cancerous windpipe and replaced it with an artificial one they had whipped up in the lab, reports the BBC . No more diseased windpipe, no more cancer. "He was condemned to die," says one of surgeons...

Fountain of
Youth Drug
Found on
Easter Island

Fountain of Youth Drug Found on Easter Island

Scientists think Rapamycin might be able to slow aging

(Newser) - Scientists think a drug derived from a chemical found in the soil of Easter Island may be able to slow down the aging process and extend human life spans. The drug Rapamycin, nicknamed the “forever young” drug, has been shown in experiments to counteract the effects of Hutchinson-Gilford Progerias...

Scientists Find
HIV's Achilles Heel

Scientists Find HIV's Achilles Heel

Vaccines should target one area, not the entire virus, new research suggests

(Newser) - Scientists have made an important breakthrough in HIV research, and we have the stock market to thank. Researchers used random matrix theory, which is also used to analyze stock behavior, to identify a major target for HIV and AIDS drugs—what the Wall Street Journal calls its “Achilles heel....

Study Yields
Breakthrough in
AIDS Treatment

May 12, 2011 2:00 PM CDT

Study Yields Breakthrough in AIDS Treatment

Taking antiretroviral drugs early slashes risk of spreading disease

(Newser) - AIDS patients who get treated early with antiretroviral drugs are as much as 96% less likely to pass on the disease to their sexual partners, according to a major new study. An independent review board found the results so persuasive they recommended the findings be released four years ahead of...

Sperm Grown
in Lab for First Time

Sperm Grown in Lab for First Time

If it works in humans, it could help with men's infertility

(Newser) - Japanese researchers have grown sperm in the laboratory for the first time, reports Nature . If the breakthrough with mice transfers to humans, it could open up IVF treatments for infertile men, notes the Guardian . Scientists created the sperm from the testicular tissue of mice and successfully produced a dozen baby...

To Battle Age, Exercise

Mar 14, 2011 9:12 AM CDT

To Battle Age, Exercise

Researcher found 'unprecedented changes' in mice who move

(Newser) - Just three 45-minute runs a week were enough to reverse the aging process in mice, according to researchers at McMaster University in Canada. Scientists genetically modified the mice so their mitochondria would break down faster, causing the mice to age faster. Half of the mice were then put on an...

How Nanodiamonds
Can Boost Cancer Drugs

Mar 10, 2011 1:07 PM CST

How Nanodiamonds Can Boost Cancer Drugs

New research shows the particles make drugs more effective

(Newser) - Cancer treatment could get a boost thanks to nanodiamonds, small carbon-based particles whose shape is similar to diamonds. Chemotherapy drugs often become ineffective, because cancer cells spit them out of cells too quickly. But by attaching anticancer drugs to nanodiamonds, the cancer cells are thwarted because they're unable to pump...

First Lab-Grown
Urethras Succeed

Mar 8, 2011 5:22 AM CST

First Lab-Grown Urethras Succeed

Surgeons produce viable urinary tubes from patients' own cells

(Newser) - The field of regenerative medicine has chalked up a major success. Scientists have successfully grown urethras in the lab using patients' own cells, and the urinary tubes are still functioning normally six years after they were implanted, the BBC reports. The five young boys involved in the study had suffered...

Study May Change
Breast Cancer
Treatment

Feb 8, 2011 4:58 PM CST

Study May Change Breast Cancer Treatment

Common removal of lymph nodes isn't necessary for many

(Newser) - A new study has the potential to make breast cancer treatment easier for a sizable number of women, the New York Times reports. The study says the removal of lymph nodes from the armpit—a common, painful procedure that carries side effects of its own—isn't necessary for about 20%...

Stroke Victims'
New Hope:
A Deep Chill

Jan 24, 2011 4:54 PM CST

Stroke Victims' New Hope: A Deep Chill

Hypothermia prompts 'hibernation' that aids doctors

(Newser) - Last year, surgeons eyed induced hypothermia to treat trauma ; now, experts think a deep chill could help stroke patients recover, the Daily Mail reports. Doctors throughout 20 European countries think inducing hypothermia could cut stroke victims’ brain damage; they’re now seeking funding for testing. “Hypothermia might improve the...

Woman Able to Speak After Rare Voice-Box Transplant

Jan 21, 2011 10:32 AM CST

Woman Able to Speak After Rare Voice-Box Transplant

Brenda Charett Jensen's surgery marks second successful attempt ever

(Newser) - For only the second time in known history, doctors have performed a successful voice-box transplant. Brenda Charett Jensen was unable to speak for more than a decade without using a device that produced robotic-sounding speech. Less than 2 weeks after her October surgery at UC Davis, she was able to...

Scientists Find Potential Cure for Diabetes in Men

Testicular tissue could help patients grow their own insulin

(Newser) - Scientists have made a breakthrough that they think could lead to a cure for diabetes in men. In recent experiments on diabetic mice, researchers were able to use tiny slivers of human testicular tissue to make replacements for the faulty cells that cause the condition, allowing the mice to produce...