Latest Nature Medicine Stories

Paving the way for personalized treatment Cancer scientists have long debated whether all cells within a tumour are equal or whether some cancer cells are more potent - a question that has been highly investigated in experimental models in the last decade. Research published today in Nature Medicine (10.1038/nm.2415) focuses on patients and shows that acute myeloid leukemia (AML) contains rare cells with stem cell properties, called leukemia stem cells (LSC), that are better at predicting...

Obesity is growing at alarming rates worldwide, and the biggest culprit is overeating. In a study of brain circuits that control hunger and satiety, Yale School of Medicine researchers have found that molecular mechanisms controlling free radicals—molecules tied to aging and tissue damage—are at the heart of increased appetite in diet-induced obesity. Published Aug. 28 in the advanced online issue of Nature Medicine, the study found that elevating free radical levels in the...

Novel approach may offer treatment for other bacterial diseases Researchers at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston have discovered a molecular process by which the body can defend against the effects of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI), pointing the way to a promising new approach for treating an intestinal disease that has become more common, more severe and harder to cure in recent years. In the U.S., several million...

Researchers may have discovered an impressive new weapon in the struggle against hospital-acquired bacterial infections, Reuters is reporting. Clostridium difficile is an antibiotic-resistant bacterial infection that can cause diarrhea, colitis, the inflammation of the colon. At its worst, it can be fatal and is often spread around hospitals and medical facilities. Tests of an experimental compound are mimicking the human defense mechanism, used by cells in the gut to neutralize harmful...

Finding ends 5-decade searchResearchers at the University of Toronto, The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), St. Paul's Hospital and the University of British Columbia have identified a new treatment target for a virus that causes severe lung infections and an estimated 10% of common colds.The virus, called human respiratory syncytial virus or RSV, is the most common reason for hospitalization of infants and children under two years of age; currently there is no effective therapy or...

Published online on Aug. 7, 2011, the journal Nature Medicine reports that non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs including ibuprofen reduce the severity of postpartum breast cancers in animal models. "We caution patients and providers that because a mother's body is undergoing radical changes during this time, we can't yet speak to the safety of these drugs for women diagnosed with or at risk for postpartum breast cancer, and thus can't yet recommend NSAIDs as a preventative therapy or cancer...

VIB researchers have developed a mouse model for Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) neuropathy, a hereditary disease of the peripheral nervous system. They also found a potential therapy for this incurable disease. The treatment not only halted the damage to the nerves and the atrophy of the muscles, it even succeeded in reversing the symptoms. The research was conducted under supervision of Wim Robberecht en Ludo Van Den Bosch from VIB-K.U.Leuven, in collaboration with the team of Vincent Timmerman...

An inexpensive and portable blood test could provide a breakthrough in diagnosing infections and has been proven as accurate as expensive hospital-based testing in the detection of HIV, syphilis and other diseases, according to a new study released Sunday. Samuel K. Sia, assistant professor of biomedical engineering at Columbia Engineering, has developed the innovative strategy for an integrated microfluidic-based diagnostic device. The mChip, as it is called, has been tested with hundreds of...

A genome-wide association study published in the August issue of Nature Medicine has found two tiny genetic variations that can predict which patients with Hodgkin's lymphoma are most likely to develop radiation-induced second cancers years after treatment. Knowing in advance who is at risk could help physicians tailor treatment to reduce the risks for patients who are most susceptible to long-term damage.Hodgkin's lymphoma is one of the most treatable cancers, with more than 90 percent of...

MicroOCT may greatly improve understanding, diagnosis and treatment of coronary artery diseaseResearchers at the Wellman Center for Photomedicine at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) have developed a one-micrometer-resolution version of the intravascular imaging technology optical coherence tomography (OCT) that can reveal cellular and subcellular features of coronary artery disease. In a Nature Medicine paper receiving advance online publication, the investigators describe how microOCT...