medical breakthrough

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Bone Marrow Breakthrough Gives New Hope

Safer technique could benefit MS, arthritis sufferers

(Newser) - Scientists investigating bone marrow transplants have made a breakthrough that could one day help millions. Currently, before transplants occur defective cells are killed with radiotherapy or chemotherapy—which causes widespread damage and can have serious side effects. But researchers have found it's possible to pinpoint and destroy blood-forming stem cells...

Gene Therapy for Parkinson's Delivers Major Results

Researchers find dramatic improvement

(Newser) - New evidence indicates that the first gene therapy for Parkinson's disease has achieved measurable success. Brain scans of patients receiving the treatment confirmed significant changes, supporting earlier anecdotal accounts of 65% improvements in mobility and other gains, according to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of ...

Human Stem Cells Grow Heart Muscle
Human Stem Cells Grow Heart Muscle
Aug 27, 2007 2:34 PM CDT

Human Stem Cells Grow Heart Muscle

Rats' cardiac tissue regenerated, halting progress of disease

(Newser) - Researchers are using human embryonic stem cells to regrow heart muscle and actually stop the progression of heart failure in rats. Although stems cells injected into rat heart tissue had previously been shown to become muscle tissue, very few had survived. Now  a team from the University of Washington has...

Missing Link in Pneumonia Deaths Found

Antibiotics useless against toxin causing lung infection

(Newser) - Many pneumonia patients die despite receiving treatment, and a new study finds that an infectious toxin unaffected by antibiotics can cause the deaths. One of the researchers involved in the study, published in the journal Immunity, tells Reuters that scientists are working to find a treatment for sometimes-fatal bleeding in...

New Procedure Gives Hope to Diabetics

UK treatment ends insulin dependency for type 1 sufferers

(Newser) - Car crashes, comas, sudden stabbings, divorces – all are being indirectly diminished as Britain spearheads a new procedure to help sufferers of type 1 diabetes. Victims of the growing disorder are often subject to fits and blackouts as they scramble for insulin, but a new operation is offering hope: already...

10 Technologies on the Cusp
10 Technologies on the Cusp
Aug 5, 2007 2:33 PM CDT

10 Technologies on the Cusp

MIT experts look ahead at breakthroughs and brainstorms that may change the way we live

(Newser) - Technology Review presents 10 technologies you'll soon be hearing about.
  1. Peer-to-peer networking as a way for legitimate businesses to handle heavy data streaming.
  2. Nanocharging solar, which could make solar power cost-competitive.
  3. Artifically structured metamaterials.
  4. Personalized medical monitors.
  5. Single-cell analysis.

Electric Stimulation Revives Man in Near-Coma

Case brings hope, raises questions

(Newser) - Electric stimulation may help improve the brain function of patients in a minimally conscious state, a case study reported in Nature reveals. A 38-year-old man who was mute and barely conscious for nearly 6 years is able to name objects, perform precise movements, and eat without the aid of a...

New Genetic Ties to MS Found
New Genetic Ties to MS Found
Jul 29, 2007 6:04 PM CDT

New Genetic Ties to MS Found

Findings represent stunning medical breakthrough

(Newser) - Scientists have pinpointed two genes that may be linked to MS, signaling a breakthrough in the fight against the debilitating disease 20 years in the making. In separate studies published today by two medical journals, researchers revealed one specific gene receptor may trigger cells to inhibit the body's autoimmune reaction,...

Bloodthinner Can Help Frostbite Victims

Drug spares digits, study says

(Newser) - A clot-busting drug is remarkably effective in treating frostbite patients, according to new research from the University of Utah health center, reports the Los Angeles Times. Patients whose treatment included tissue plasmingoen activator (tPA) kept 90% of affected fingers and toes; patients treated before the drug was in use had...

Britain OKs Human-Animal Hybrids for Research

(Newser) - The British government has reversed its stance on the creation of human-animal hybrid embryos and will propose allowing scientists to use them as sources of stem cells. Scientists developing treatments for incurable diseases would be allowed to grow the hybrid embryos for no longer than two weeks, and implanting them...

Research Gives Alzheimer's Patients Hope

New study suggests disease-related memory loss may be reversible

(Newser) - Alzheimer's patients may be able to recover some memory by using a combo of drugs and mental stimulation, a new study in the journal Nature concludes. Mice with an Alzheimer's-like condition were more likely to remember an electric shock if they had taken a drug stimulating brain-cell growth or lived...

Sperm Made From Bone Marrow
Sperm Made From Bone Marrow
Apr 13, 2007 8:54 AM CDT

Sperm Made From Bone Marrow

Scientists may be able to produce sperm from women's bone marrow

(Newser) - Scientists are getting closer to removing men from the conception equation, announcing yesterday that they have produced early-stage sperm cells from male bone marrow. Now the team of British researchers is seeking ethical approval to try the same thing with women.

Conjoined Twins Are Freed
Conjoined Twins Are Freed
Apr 6, 2007 9:59 AM CDT

Conjoined Twins Are Freed

Thai twins joined at the heart and liver healthy after surgery separates them

(Newser) - A pair of conjoined twins attached at the liver and the heart are alive and separate after a surgery Bangkok's Siriraj Hospital calls a "world first." The 10-month-old girls' hearts were joined at the atrium, and the blood flow was connected,  but the organs were not dependent...

Bacteria Battle Depression
Bacteria Battle Depression
Apr 6, 2007 8:55 AM CDT

Bacteria Battle Depression

Research shows brain produces serotonin as an immune response

(Newser) - Clinical depression may be treatable with bacteria, doctors at Bristol University posit. They got the idea when they observed lung cancer patients inoculated with harmless Mycobacterium vaccae who showed reduced symptoms and improved mental health. The brain produces serotonin as an immune response, the docs hypothesized, raising the low serotonin...

Cheap Anticancer Drugs Are Ignored
Cheap Anticancer Drugs Are Ignored
Apr 5, 2007 9:51 PM CDT

Cheap Anticancer Drugs Are Ignored

Why? They don't make pharmeceutical companies enough money

(Newser) - Ralph Moss writes about why inexpensive cancer treatments get no research dollars. The publisher of a newsletter that covers both conventional and alternative cancer therapies, Moss blames the inability to patent already discovered and available chemicals and drugs for the situation.

New Breast Scan Beats Mammogram
New Breast Scan Beats Mammogram
Mar 27, 2007 12:58 PM CDT

New Breast Scan Beats Mammogram

Uses near-infrared rays to illuminate tumors and sort benign from malignant

(Newser) - A new type of breast scan promises to pick up the tumors mammograms often miss and to distinguish between benign and malignant masses—without surgery. The technology relies on harmless near-infrared light to illuminate the masses, which glow when exposed to a particular chemical combination.

Implant Tricks Brain To Lower Blood Pressure

Implant delivers shocks to lower blood pressure

(Newser) - A pacemaker-like implant that relies on small electrical shocks may cut the risk of heart attack and stroke in half for patients with drug-resistant hypertension, a new study shows. The device, which sends electrical shocks through the neck's carotid arteries, tricks the brain into thinking blood pressure is even higher...

Glowing Wounds Will Signify Infection
Glowing Wounds Will Signify Infection
Mar 12, 2007 10:11 AM CDT

Glowing Wounds Will Signify Infection

British-designed polymers to be used to identify bacteria in moments

(Newser) - Bacterial infections could be diagnosed in moments with the use of glowing polymers developed by British scientists. The designer molecules are made to identify bacteria, bind to it, and then change shape, causing them to emit light that would give the wound a glow that's discernible to the naked eye...

Plastic Surgeons Cut a New Path Down Under

Forget breast implants: The frontier in plastic surgery is below the belt

(Newser) - David Matlock, a flamboyant California gynecologist who's been a pioneer in cosmetic surgery aimed at giving women "a youthful, aesthetic look" for their nether regions, has unleashed a host of protégés now improving unsightly genitals all over the country. Despite being uninsured, the procedures are growing in...

Stories 161 - 179 | << Prev