New Drug Makes Weight Loss Safer, Study Suggests
9/27/07
(www.americanheart.org)More than 60 percent of American women are overweight, with nearly a third falling into the category of obese and at greater risk of cancer, heart disease and diabetes. Until now, there has been no safe, long-term medical remedy that tackles unwanted weight gain. Now, a well-known drug used to treat vertigo has been adapted for a new purpose: to treat obesity. The vertigo drug has been in use for 30 years and has an excellent safety profile, according to the researchers.
Brain's Messengers Could Be Regulated, Study Suggests
Tiny, spontaneous releases of the brain's primary chemical messengers can be regulated, potentially giving scientists unprecedented control over how the brain is wired. The work could lead to a better understanding of neurological diseases like schizophrenia. Sputtering electrical activity -- like a firecracker's leftover sparks after a big bang -- was long considered inconsequential background noise compared with the main cell-to-cell interactions underlying thought and memory. But researchers found that the miniscule events that follow a burst of electrical and chemical activity among neurons are far more important that previously thought.
Eat Less To Live Longer: Calorie Restriction Linked To Long Healthy
For nearly 70 years scientists have known that caloric restriction prolongs life. In everything from yeast to primates, a significant decrease in calories can extend lifespan by as much as one-third. But getting under the hood of the molecular machinery that drives this longevity has remained elusive. Researchers have now discovered two genes in mammalian cells that act as gatekeepers for cellular longevity. When cells experience certain kinds of stress, such as caloric restriction, these genes rev up and help protect cells from diseases of aging.
Brain's Messengers Could Be Regulated, Study Suggests
Tiny, spontaneous releases of the brain's primary chemical messengers can be regulated, potentially giving scientists unprecedented control over how the brain is wired. The work could lead to a better understanding of neurological diseases like schizophrenia. Sputtering electrical activity -- like a firecracker's leftover sparks after a big bang -- was long considered inconsequential background noise compared with the main cell-to-cell interactions underlying thought and memory. But researchers found that the miniscule events that follow a burst of electrical and chemical activity among neurons are far more important that previously thought.
Eat Less To Live Longer: Calorie Restriction Linked To Long Healthy
For nearly 70 years scientists have known that caloric restriction prolongs life. In everything from yeast to primates, a significant decrease in calories can extend lifespan by as much as one-third. But getting under the hood of the molecular machinery that drives this longevity has remained elusive. Researchers have now discovered two genes in mammalian cells that act as gatekeepers for cellular longevity. When cells experience certain kinds of stress, such as caloric restriction, these genes rev up and help protect cells from diseases of aging.
