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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: medical breakthrough

medical breakthrough stories: 72 news summaries

21 - 40 of 72 Stories | << Prev 1 2 3 4 Next >>

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Cleveland Clinic Performs First US Face Transplant

Years of prep precede controversial treatment

Dec 16, 08 2:16 PM CST
(Newser) - Doctors in Cleveland have successfully completed the nation’s first near-total facial transplant on a on a patient disfigured by traumatic injury, the Plain Dealer reports today. The hospital, which said the patient didn’t want to be identified, was the first in the US to approve the controversial procedure,... More »

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medical breakthrough • Cleveland • face transplant

 Watershed Vaccine 
 May End Malaria Toll 

If trials work as expected, shots could save millions of children

Dec 9, 08 1:45 AM CST
(Newser) - Scientists have developed a promising vaccine against malaria, a devastating disease that kills a milion people a year, most of them young children. Trials of the breakthrough vaccine enter the final phase next year and it could be widely available by 2012, reports the Los Angeles Times. Successful trials have... More »

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Kenya • medical breakthrough • malaria • Ethiopia • GlaxoSmithKline • Tanzania • vaccine • mosquito • Zambia • World Health Organization • Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation • Rwanda • RTS,S • PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative

Genetic Therapy Reverses Heart Disease in Mice

Trials in other animals have begun; humans would be up next

Dec 1, 08 11:52 AM CST
(Newser) - Damage to heart muscle can be stopped and maybe even reversed, but for now only in mice, the BBC reports. Blocking the activity of a specific type of genetic material that regulates gene expression, scientists found, avoided a type of cardiac scarring that leads to heart disease. "Heart function... More »

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medical breakthrough • heart disease • RNA • genetic research • lab mice

 US Child Gets Prosthetic Iris 

Surgery allows boy to see colors, corrects vision problems

Nov 22, 08 5:22 PM CST
(Newser) - Surgeons in Cincinnati implanted a prosthetic iris this week in the eye of a 7-year-old boy, the first US child to get one. “It’s just like Mom’s,” said Nathaniel Brantley as he looked in a mirror. “Just like it’s supposed to be.” Born... More »

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medical breakthrough • eye care • eyes • prosthetics

Infertile Woman to Give Birth After Transplant

Twin sister donated ovary in first-of-its-kind procedure

Nov 10, 08 1:09 PM CST
(Newser) - A formerly infertile London woman will give birth this week, the Daily Mail reports, thanks to an ovary transplant from her twin sister. The 38-year-old was declared infertile at age 15 and underwent menopause as a teenager, but became pregnant soon after the first-of-its-kind surgery. The discovery could help... More »

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pregnancy • medical breakthrough • fertility • surgery • infertility

 Assassin Cells Slay Hidden HIV 

Human trials set next year

Nov 10, 08 4:02 AM CST
(Newser) - A promising new treatment for AIDS may be in the works, with the discovery that genetically engineered immune cells can detect and destroy HIV even when the virus tries to hide by mutating. The so-called “assassin” cells, created from the T-cells of an HIV patient, have worked their magic... More »

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medical breakthrough • AIDS • HIV • immune system • scientific research • genetic engineering • CD4 T-cells

Cancer Treatment May Have Cured Man's AIDS

After marrow transplant, patient stays virus-free

Nov 7, 08 11:03 AM CST
(Newser) - A German doctor has inspired hope for a new approach to AIDS treatment with his handling of a leukemia case, the Wall Street Journal reports. Because the patient also had AIDS, Gero Hütter looked for a bone marrow donor with a specific mutation that seems to stymie the HIV... More »

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cancer • medical breakthrough • AIDS • Germany • HIV • gene therapy • bone marrow • transplant

Vitamin Could Delay Onset of Alzheimer's

B3 pills caused big improvement in mice; human trials to begin

Nov 5, 08 2:07 PM CST
(Newser) - A simple dose of vitamin B3 may be one of the keys to combating the brain deterioration caused by Alzheimer’s disease, California scientists say. The team found that diseased mice given high levels of the vitamin retained normal memory ability over the four months of a study, and healthy... More »

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memory • medical breakthrough • medical research • vitamin B • neurons • scientific research • Alzheimer's Disease

Docs Tout Safer, Non-Embryonic Stem Cells

Virus, used in mice, repurposes adult cells with no risk of cancer

Sep 26, 08 3:34 PM CDT
(Newser) - Scientists have discovered a safer way to turn adult cells into stem cells, the Boston Globe reports. The cells, similar to those harvested from embryos, are called induced pluripotent stem, or iPS, cells; Japanese researchers introduced the method 2 years ago. But the Japanese used retroviruses, which can cause cancer;... More »

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medical breakthrough • Massachusetts • virus • biology • Harvard • scientific research • induced pluripotent stem cells

 Autism-Reversing 
 Drugs Show Promise 

MIT scientists stumbled onto workaround for misfiring brain system

Sep 24, 08 12:50 PM CDT
(Newser) - MIT scientists have discovered one of the mechanisms of Fragile X Syndrome, one cause of autism, and are developing drugs to treat it, NPR reports. The disorder, triggered by a genetic mutation, interferes with the normal links between brain cells, making those networks something like a car without a brakes.... More »

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medical breakthrough • mental health • autism • MIT • brain • neurons • scientific research • Fragile X Syndrome

Need Your Gall Bladder Taken Out? Say 'Ahhh'

Controversial surgeries avoid scars by using existing orifices

Sep 21, 08 11:56 AM CDT
(Newser) - A new surgery technique aims to send patients home without a scar —but you might have to put your gall bladder where your mouth is to do it. The Washington Post takes a look at surgeons who operate purely through existing bodily openings, largely the aforementioned gall bladder being... More »

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health care • medical breakthrough • surgery

Scientists Reprogram  Adult Cells

Breakthrough could leap embryonic stem-cell quagmire

Aug 28, 08 2:20 AM CDT
(Newser) - In a stunning medical advance, scientists have found a way to transform an adult cell in a living animal into an entirely different type of cell. The development is another step toward freeing the field of regenerative medicine from the controversies of stem-cell research. Harvard biologists discovered three key molecular... More »

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stem cell research • medical breakthrough • diabetes • medical research • medical ethics • Harvard Stem Cell Institute • induced pluripotent stem cells

Can an Orange
a Day Keep Cancer Away?

No, but study finds vitamin C injections may slow tumor growth

Aug 5, 08 8:17 AM CDT
(Newser) - Injections of high doses of vitamin C may help the body fight tumors, a new study has found. While previous tests have shown that oral doses don't provide much cancer-fighting help, the high concentrations injected into lab mice resulted in only half as much tumor growth as in the control... More »

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cancer • medical breakthrough • tumor • medical study • vitamin C

Guzzle Coffee, Prevent Multiple Sclerosis?

Mice who consumed equivalent of 6-8 cups a day were protected

Jul 1, 08 10:44 AM CDT
(Newser) - For preventing the autoimmune disease multiple sclerosis, caffeine might be just what the doctor ordered, the Daily Telegraph reports. In a study involving what must have been some very jittery mice, researchers found that the equivalent of 6-8 cups of coffee per day conferred protection from the rodent equivalent of... More »

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medical breakthrough • coffee • caffeine • multiple sclerosis • lab mice

Surgery Cuts Down Obesity Without a Knife

First-of-its-kind trial a success in Boston

Jun 28, 08 5:54 PM CDT
(Newser) - A Boston hospital has successfully performed a first-of-its-kind obesity surgery that doesn’t require a scalpel. The promising treatment involves passing a tube through the patient’s throat, which bypasses the need to cut the patient—and reduces the risk of infections, bleeding, and scarring. “This is less invasive,... More »

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obesity • medical breakthrough • surgery • gastric banding surgery

Magnetic Pulse  Heads Off Migraines

New device prevents pain without the side effects of drugs

Jun 27, 08 10:13 AM CDT
(Newser) - For some of the 13% of Americans who suffer from migraine headaches, help might be only a button-click away, Gizmag reports. A new hand-held device works by sending a painless magnetic pulse through the brain, effectively scrambling the signals that would otherwise lead from the "aura" phase of the... More »

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medical breakthrough • migraines • medical devices • Ohio State University • headaches

Gene Test
May Rewrite Breast Cancer Screening

Mouth swab will offer more precise measure

Jun 25, 08 7:57 PM CDT
(Newser) - Scientists say they will soon be able to take a simple mouth swab from women to better determine their risk of breast cancer, the Guardian reports. Researchers at Cambridge University have zeroed in on several genetic variants—with more to come—that offer a far more precise measure of a... More »

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cancer • medical breakthrough • breast cancer • women's health • genetic testing

Powder Could Help Wounded Regrow Limbs

Substance extracted from pigs provides 'scaffold' for new tissue

May 27, 08 5:40 PM CDT
(Newser) - Powder sprinkled on the wounded hand of an Iraq veteran might help him regrow a lost finger, CNN reports. The new therapy, taking a cue from the regenerative abilities of salamanders, uses a powder made from pig tissue to trick the body into using stem cells to attract other cells—... More »

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medical breakthrough • amputees • salamanders • wounded

$600M Windfall Aims to Boost Risky Research

Institute launches drive to encourage scientific breakthroughs

May 27, 08 2:07 PM CDT
(Newser) - American medical research got a big boost today, courtesy of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The philanthropic body, one of the world’s largest, committed $600 million to fund the research of 56 scientists that it thinks can change the world. The institute hopes to back high-risk, high-reward research that... More »

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medical breakthrough • medical research • funding • private donors • Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Predicting Cancer Is All in Your Head

Test on smokers' mouths shows link to disease in lungs

Apr 14, 08 1:28 PM CDT
(Newser) - A simple test on cells from the mouth could help doctors predict which smokers will develop lung cancer, Reuters reports. In a test group, 95% of subjects with the genetic damage associated with cancer in their lungs had the same damage in their mouths. More »

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cancer • medical breakthrough • lung cancer • smoking • University of Texas • lung biopsy

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