A new protein identified as critical to insulating the wiring that connects the brain and body could one day be a treatment target for divergent diseases, from rare ones that lower the pain threshold to cancer, Medical College of Georgia researchers say. They report this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that in the peripheral nervous system that controls arms and legs, the p...

Trying to quit cigarettes but don`t know how? A new analysis led by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health, suggests that Web- and computer-based smoking cessation programs are worth a try, and fortunately during these tough economic times, many of them are free. Such programs offer a cost-effective alternative to interventions such as telephone hotlines or ...

Scientists are, for the first time, objectively evaluating ways to help species adapt to rapid climate change and other environmental threats via strategies that were considered too radical for serious consideration as recently as five or 10 years ago. Among these radical strategies currently being considered is so-called "managed relocation." Managed relocation, which is also known as &...

New light has been thrown on how humans choose their partners, according to new findings presented May 25 at the annual conference of the European Society of Human Genetics. Professor Maria da Graça Bicalho, head of the Immunogenetics and Histocompatibility Laboratory at the University of Parana, Brazil, says that her research had shown that people with diverse major histocompatibility comp...

As President Barack Obama calls for streamlining heath care by fully converting to electronic medical records and as Congress prepares to debate issues of patient privacy, one question has largely gone unasked: What do patients want? A qualitative study led by a research team at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) helps answer that question. Reported in the June 2009 issue of the Journal...

More Americans are developing drug-resistant staph infections, known as MRSA, from common, relatively minor foot problems such as cuts, cracks in the skin, athlete’s foot and ingrown toenails, according to the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons (ACFAS). Foot and ankle surgeons are noting an increase in community-associated MRSA, or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. MRSA L...