Clinical Research

At Cairo museum, on Queen Hatshepsut’s tomb in Deir el Bahari,it shows the chief Parihou with his wife Ati, Queen of Punt, (an area not still geographically established: Yemen, Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan?) while they offer gifts to the Egyptian Queen Hatshepsut (1516-1481 BC). A naval expedition to the mysterious land of Punt was undertaken in the summer of Hatshepsut’s eighth year as queen; she sent a fleet of five ships, headed by her Chancellor Senenmet. The Queen of Punt shows a rugged face, gluteal and femoral obesity, hyperlordosis and symmetrical deposits of fat on the trunk,…

Scientists have recently become interested in the biomechanics of a very unusual activity: skyscraper run-ups. Competitors in this extreme sport ascend the steps inside the world's tallest buildings, the winners often scaling thousands of steps in just a few minutes. The study of these athletes could shed light on the metabolic profile of athletes and impact on studies of ageing. "The wide age range of participants, from teenagers to those approaching their centenary, has improved our knowledge of the decline in body performance as we get older," Professor Alberto Minetti from the…

Using ultrasound to measure the height of a woman’s uterus is a good way to predict whether or not she is at risk of having babies born prematurely if she becomes pregnant with twins after IVF, according to new research presented at the 24th annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology in Barcelona today (Wednesday). Dr Raphaël Hirt, a Fellow in the Division of Reproductive Medicine at the Hôpital Antoine Béclère, Clamart, Paris (France) headed by Professor Renato Fanchin, told the conference that the finding would help medical professionals and women make…

Starve a fever, feed a traumatic brain injury. Recent studies by clinician-scientists from New York-Presbyterian Hospital and Weill Cornell Medical Center found that patients with traumatic brain injury, or TBI, have a higher survival rate when their caloric intake is increased. Patients of TBI are fed through a gastric feeding tube inserted through a hole in the stomach for long-term eternal nutrition. The sooner the supplemental nutrition plan is initiated the better chance a patient has for survival, up to four times, researchers say. Based on recent studies as published in the Journal of…

Researchers led by scientists at the Medical Genetics Institute at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center have identified a gene mutation and molecular mechanism causing an inherited form of scoliosis. Mutations in the TRPV4 gene cause a type of brachyolmia, a skeletal dysplasia. Those inheriting the disorder have a shorter-than-average trunk, limbs and fingers and toes, and are affected by scoliosis, primarily in the lumbar vertebrae. Mutations of the TRPV4 gene appear to cause increased calcium in the cells of the developing skeleton. This is the first study to identify this mechanism as a…

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have determined that starvation blocks the effects of growth hormone via a mechanism that may have implications in treating diabetes and extending life span. Using genetically altered mice, the researchers found that during fasting, the actions of growth hormone are blocked by a fat-burning hormone called FGF21. Growth hormone has many functions in the growth and reproduction of cells, such as controlling the length of developing arm and leg bones in children. "It's been well-established that growth is blunted during starvation. But our work…

Rachel Carson wasn't all that happy with DDT. I bet she really wouldn't like a gel bait insecticide that can kill three generations of cockroaches as they feed off of each other and transfer the poison. Unless she hated cockroaches as much as the rest of us do. It is the first time that scientists have shown that a pest control bait will remain effective when it's transferred twice after the first killing dose, said Grzegorz "Grzesiek" Buczkowski, assistant professor of entomology. Passing the insecticide from one cockroach to the next is called horizontal transfer. "Our findings are…

Researchers at the University of Cincinnati are looking for ways to reduce or prevent heart damage by starting where the problem often begins: in the genes. Following a heart attack, cells die, causing lasting damage to the heart. Keith Jones, PhD, a researcher in the department of pharmacology and cell biophysics, and colleagues are trying to reduce post-heart attack damage by studying the way cells die in the heart—a process controlled by transcription factors. Transcription factors are proteins that bind to specific parts of DNA and are part of a system that controls the transfer of…

Could injecting a gene into a patient with severe heart failure reverse their disabling and life-threatening condition? Physician-scientists are setting out to answer that question in a first-ever clinical trial of gene therapy to treat severe heart failure. NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center is the only center in the New York City area where the therapy is currently available. Patients enrolled in the multicenter CUPID trial (Calcium Up-Regulation by Percutaneous Administration of Gene Therapy in Cardiac Disease) will undergo a minimally invasive cardiac…

Amenorrhea, or absence of menstruation, occurs in as many as 25 percent of female high school athletes, compared with 2 to 5 percent in the general population, according to the study's presenter, Madhusmita Misra, MD, a pediatric endocrinologist at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston. Amenorrhea in athletes is known to cause infertility and early onset of low bone density and may increase the risk of breaking bones. Evidence suggests that intense exercise associated with caloric restriction, and therefore a state of energy deficit, is most responsible for menstrual…