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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. researchers have created a primitive artificial lung that rats used to breathe for several hours and said on Tuesday it may be a step in the development of new organs grown from a patient's own cells. The finding, reported in the journal Nature Medicine, is the second in a month from researchers seeking ways to regenerate lungs from ordinary cells. In the latest study, Harald Ott and colleagues at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston removed the cells from rat lungs to leave a scaffolding or matrix. They soaked these in a bioreactor...

If your brain is an email account, sleep—and more specifically, naps—is how you clear out your inbox. That's the conclusion of a new study that may explain why people spend so many of their sleeping hours in a pre-dreaming state known as stage 2 non-rapid eye movement, or REM, sleep. For years sleep studies have hinted that shut-eye improves our ability to store and consolidate memories, reinforcing the notion that a good night's sleep—and power naps—is much more conducive to learning than an overnight cram session. Now scientists may have figured out how, in part, this happens: During sleep, information...

SHREWSBURY — Charles River Laboratories International Inc., which conducts research for drug developers, will suspend operations at its Shrewsbury facility and lay off 300 workers by mid-2010 because of weak demand for the company's preclinical services, Charles River reported yesterday. The company, based in Wilmington, said it expects to retain about 30 workers who will handle ongoing operations at the plant or take jobs at other Charles River sites. Charles River said it expects the move will cut operating costs by about $20 million this year. The company has no plans at this time to dispose of the plant, said...

The state will destroy blood samples legally collected from newborns, but kept without parental consent under a federal lawsuit settlement announced today. There were between 4 million and 4.5 million specimens stored between 2002 and this year at Texas A&M University by the Texas Department of Health, said lawyer Jim Harrington of the Texas Civil Rights Project, which sued over the practice on behalf of parents in federal district court in San Antonio. The number of newborns involved was unclear, because there could be multiple samples from each... “There's no financial gain for any of the plaintiffs,” Beleno said. “Basically,...

Among the weird findings: Pulling a tick off the wrong way can lead to meat allergy. An Australian doctor found the link while studying rising cases of the allergy among people who live on Sydney's tick-prone northern beaches. "I now tell everybody I see who lives anywhere near ticks to use `Aerostart' (spray-on engine cleaner) or another high-alcohol substance," said Dr Sheryl van Nunen. "Stun the tick before you scrape it out and it can't inject what it injects." The first US case of "cannabinoid hyperemesis" was recorded in the medical literature. The syndrome was first described in 2004 in...

  The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), a ridiculously misnamed animal rights group, filed a complaint with the USDA yesterday against a Massachusetts hospital that uses pigs in its trauma treatment training. PCRM claims the hospital’s use of pigs violates the federal Animal Welfare Act. But the USDA was having none of it. As a government spokesman made clear, “The use of live animals in the type of training we’re talking about here is not a violation of the Animal Welfare Act.” And a medical center chief pointed out that the pigs are fully anesthetized in compliance with the...

After World War II, the U.S. government invested an enormous amount of money in medicine; medical research, medical procedures and medical technologies. This investment made contemporary scientific medicine into American medicine, characterized by a continuing flow of new treatment possibilities. These advances raised all kinds of ethical questions. Some were personal and individual, others were social and political. Both type questions are addressed by a new academic discipline called bioethics. The first attempt to develop a scientific medicine took place in Greece in the 5th century B.C. It was called Hippocratic medicine. Closely linked with this first scientific medicine was...

Op-Ed Contributor Washington IT’S Christmas in August for hopeful scientists. The National Institutes of Health is now sending out its annual “priority scores,” the indicators of whether grant requests will likely receive financing from the agency. And hearts are beating faster than ever, as the federal stimulus package has poured an additional $8.2 billion into the institutes’ budget specifically for research. However, for those grant-winners whose studies will involve human volunteers, another big hurdle remains: federal ethics regulations. No one denies the need to shield human subjects from undue risk. But current regulations have become so stringent and unwieldy that...

So many times you hear of someone having a heart attack just a few weeks after they have had medical exam or even a stress test that gave a clean bill of health. In most cases the doctor is not at fault, the growing heart problem was not detectable by present methods. A Doctor in Heart Institute at the Sheba Medical Center Israel, has found a solution, looking at the arteries in your arm. An accurate correlation between the elasticity of the endothelial lining of the brachial arteries in the arm has been shown scientifically to be a good predictor...

Scientists from Scotland and Singapore have unraveled a mystery that has perplexed scientists since red wine was first discovered to have health benefits: how does resveratrol control inflammation? New research published in the August 2009 print issue of The FASEB Journal, not only explains resveratrol's one-two punch on inflammation, but also show how it - or a derivative -can be used to treat potentially deadly inflammatory disease, such as appendicitis, peritonitis, and systemic sepsis.

Enlarge ImageMystery disease. Scientists monitor a narcoleptic patient. Credit: Donna E. Natale Planas/Miami Herald/MCT/Newscom The millions of people who suffer from narcolepsy might have their immune system to blame. Researchers have tied the disabling sleep disorder to two immune system genes, suggesting that it's an autoimmune disease. The discovery may eventually lead to improved narcolepsy treatments. Narcolepsy affects 1 in every 2000 people, making it about as common as multiple sclerosis. The disorder encompasses an odd constellation of symptoms, including overwhelming daytime drowsiness, uncontrollable sleep attacks, and cataplexy, a sudden loss of muscle tone after an intense emotional outburst,...

Over the past 12 years, anesthesiologist Scott Reuben revolutionized the way physicians provide pain relief to patients undergoing orthopedic surgery for everything from torn ligaments to worn-out hips. Now, the profession is in shambles after an investigation revealed that at least 21 of Reuben’s papers were pure fiction, and that the pain drugs he touted in them may have slowed postoperative healing. “We are talking about millions of patients worldwide, where postoperative pain management has been affected by the research findings of Dr. Reuben,” says Steven Shafer, editor in chief of the journal Anesthesia & Analgesia, which published 10 of...

Row over 'tree man' virus samples By Felix Lowe and agencies Last Updated: 5:00pm GMT 26/11/2007 An Indonesian fisherman who developed tree-like growths on his hands and feet is at the centre of an international medical spat after his country's health minister criticised doctors trying to treat him. Indonesia's health minister, Siti Fadilah Supari, lambasted the US doctor currently treating the 35-year-old man, who has the rare affliction caused by the Human Papilloma Virus. Indonesia's health minister Siti Fadilah Supari (second right) inspects Dede's tree-like growths Mrs Supari is angry that Dr Anthony Gaspari has taken blood and tissue samples...

McLean, VA - Senator Fred Thompson issued the following statement regarding today's scientific breakthrough in adult cell research: "There is exciting news for patients today. In yet another breakthrough for adult cell research, scientists have made normal human skin cells take on the relevant properties of embryonic stem cells. That is in addition to 73 breakthroughs for adult and cord blood research to date. There are still no embryonic stem cell breakthroughs. "For all who are concerned for patients and their families, the effective, ethical, and compassionate answer is to put our money where the breakthroughs are happening -- in...

A British pro-life group warns that a new type of embryo research, likely to be approved this week by a U.K. government panel, undermines human dignity. Britain's Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority is expected to give a green light this week to U.K. laboratories seeking to create the first animal-human embryos for medical research using eggs taken from dead cows. British scientists want to use the hybrid embryos in order to research genetic diseases. Anthony Ozimic, political secretary for the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, opposes the embryo-destructive research. He says that an "a-nucleated" cow egg will only...

The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (American). 2007;89:74-81. doi:10.2106/JBJS.E.01396  © 2007 The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Inc. This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Letters to the Editor: Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when Letters to the Editor are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to My File Cabinet Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Google Scholar Articles by Chong, A. K.S. Articles by Lim, B....

<p>Scientists are conducting experiments to change the sexuality of “gay” sheep in a programme that critics fear could pave the way for breeding out homosexuality in humans.</p> <p>The technique being developed by American researchers adjusts the hormonal balance in the brains of homosexual rams so that they are more inclined to mate with ewes.</p>

November 30, 2006, 0:00 a.m. The Animal House Falls ApartPeter Singer shocks with monkeys. By Wesley J. Smith Is the animal-rights movement beginning to fracture? The evidence definitely points in that direction. Liberationists have been engaged recently in some nasty infighting over basic issues of ideology and the propriety of violent and intimidating protest tactics. Indeed, the antipathy among the various factions seems to have grown so intense that the animal-rights movement could soon segregate into antagonistic camps. A shattering blow accelerating this potential disintegration may have just been struck — ironically, by Princeton bioethicist Peter Singer, who is...

Women Consider How to Interpret Health Study Results October 01, 2006 As results emerge from one of the largest women's health studies ever undertaken, women are trying to sort out how to apply the findings to their own lives. With more than 160,000 participants, the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) tracked postmenopausal women for seven to 12 years looking at, among other things, the value of menopausal hormone therapy, a low-fat diet, and calcium and vitamin D supplements. UCLA participated in the study under the direction of Howard Judd, M.D., now professor emeritus of obstetrics/gynecology. Some of the still-emerging results have...

UCLA/VA Study Finds Chemical Found in Curry May Help Immune System Clear Amyloid Plaques Found in Alzheimer’s Disease UCLA/VA researchers found that curcumin — a chemical found in curry and turmeric — may help the immune system clear the brain of amyloid beta, which form the plaques found in Alzheimer's disease. Published in the Oct. 9 issue of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, the early laboratory findings may lead to a new approach in treating Alzheimer's disease by enhancing the natural function of the immune system using curcumin, known for its anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties. Using blood samples from six...