Scientists have found important genetic differences that significantly raise the risk of stroke, and they are found in millions of people.
The study is the first to identify common genetic variants influencing stroke risk in the United States and may lead to better treatments, they reported on Wednesday.
While other stroke-related genes have been discovered, none involved such a wide portion of the population, said Eric Boerwinkle of The University of Texas Health Science Center.
More than half of the newly diagnosed patients with type 1 diabetes who got an experimental treatment for the disease did not need insulin injections for at least a year.
Patients also showed improvements in the functioning of the insulin-producing cells that are attacked and destroyed in patients with type 1 diabetes.
Four of the 23 patients who took part in the study remained insulin free for at least three years and one patient went without insulin injections for more than four years.
The most common form of dementia may be closely related to another common disease of old-age – type II diabetes, say scientists.
Treating Alzheimer’s with the hormone insulin, or with drugs to boost its effect, may help patients, they claim.
The journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reports insulin could protect against damage to brain cells key to memory.
UK experts said the find could be the basis of new drug treatments.
Researchers continue to test the mettle of breakthrough breast cancer drugs, three decades after tamoxifen changed the medical landscape by drastically reducing the risk of recurrences in women with estrogen receptor-positive tumors.
Encouraging findings on several different drugs were presented Thursday at the CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium in Texas.
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Eating fish at least twice a week seems to reduce the incidence of kidney disease in patients with diabetes, according to findings from a large British study.
Although diabetics are advised to limit dietary protein to delay the progression of kidney disease, recent observations suggest that the benefit to the kidneys may have to do with “the protein source rather than quantity,” the investigators note in the American Journal of Kidney Diseases.
Despite research linking fish to improved outcomes in diabetics, they add, epidemiological evidence of this benefit is scarce.
BAGAMOYO, Tanzania (Reuters) – Billionaire Bill Gates and thousands of babies are helping Africa prepare its largest medical experiment ever, in the search for a new vaccine against malaria.
Researchers say the push comes at a crucial time in the battle against a disease which has been beaten back several times before, only to resurge with deadly vigor.
For Dr. Zena Mtajuka, an exhausted warrior on the frontlines of the fight against one of the planet’s most devastating diseases, a vaccine cannot come quickly enough.
NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) – AstraZeneca’s cholesterol fighter Crestor dramatically cut deaths, heart attacks and strokes in patients with healthy cholesterol levels but who had high levels of a protein associated with heart disease, researchers said on Sunday.
Crestor, known chemically as rosuvastatin, reduced heart attack, stroke, need for bypass or angioplasty procedures and cardiovascular death by a surprising 45 percent over less than two years.
People who get their annual flu shot may reap an extra benefit: a reduction in their risk of developing a blood clot.
The benefit appeared stronger in those under the age of 52, according to research that was presented Sunday at the American Heart Association’s annual scientific sessions, in New Orleans.
The findings, the first to demonstrate such an effect, may help explain why the flu shot lessens the risk of cardiovascular events in people with coronary artery disease, but the real current value of the data may lie in it convincing more people to get their annual shot.
In a group of Medicare beneficiaries who have diabetes, being depressed was associated with a higher death rate, according to a new study.
Publishing in the October issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine, researchers from the University of Washington tracked 10,704 Medicare beneficiaries (average age of 75.6 years) who had diabetes and were enrolled in a disease management program in Florida. The participants’ depression status was assessed by physician diagnosis, patient reports of antidepressant use, and answers to a brief screening test.
Infliximab (Remicade) alone or in combination with azathioprine is more effective in treating Crohn’s disease than azathioprine alone, researchers report.
Crohn’s disease is an inflammatory disorder of the gastrointestinal tract. It causes abdominal pain, fever, nausea, vomiting, weight loss and diarrhea. There is no known cure for Crohn’s disease.
Treatment options for people with Crohn’s disease include intravenous infusions of infliximab, which blocks tumor necrosis factor, an important cause of inflammation in Crohn’s disease. Another treatment, azathioprine, is taken orally, and suppresses the immune system.
