Monthly Archives: December 2005

A large-scale analysis has shown that a blood test previously found useful in diagnosing or ruling out heart failure in emergency room patients remains effective in patients with chronic kidney disease.

A two-gram fish oil supplement given daily to elderly persons prevented a decline in heart rate variability caused by tiny, dangerous airborne pollutant particles.

Continued research could result in new therapies for those who suffer brain injury, Parkinson's disease and other conditions related to lost or damaged brain cells.

Discovery opens the way for new drugs to be designed to treat Parkinson's, type 2 diabetis, Alzheimer's and Creuzfeldt-Jacob disease.

A study has identified a protein that appears to play a key role in protecting neurons from oxidative stress, a toxic process linked to neurodegenerative illnesses including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases.

A growing number of women are overweight or obese when they become pregnant, a condition that is risky to both mother and baby.

The number of bariatric surgeries performed in the U.S. increased by 450 percent between 1998 and 2002, a growth the researchers say could be linked with use of the minimally invasive laparoscopic technique.

Amid mounting concerns about the ethics and limitations of animal use in laboratories, the PCRM announced that it has developed a diagnostic test used to measure insulin levels in diabetes patients.

Higher insulin concentrations and insulin resistance are associated with an increased risk of pancreatic cancer in men.

Roche Diagnostics has voluntarily sent people with diabetes, physicians, and pharmacists a letter informing them of a recall of some of its ACCU-CHEK Aviva blood glucose meters.

The drug pravastatin, which is used widely to decrease high cholesterol, may provide a previously unknown cardiovascular benefit in addition to lowering lipids.