A new genetic finding from Duke Medicine suggests that some people who are prone to hostility, anxiety and depression might also be hard-wired to gain weight when exposed to chronic stress, leading to diabetes and heart disease. An estimated 13 percent of people, all of…

Sick mice divert internal resources to protect beneficial gut bacteria, which appear to help fight infection, study finds To protect their gut microbes during illness, sick mice produce specialized sugars in the gut that feed their microbiota and maintain a healthy microbial balance. This protective…

•Discovery could lead to new test for early detection of pancreatic cancer•Detecting pancreatic cancer earlier in its development may improve the ability to treat the disease Scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and other institutions have discovered a sign of the…

Early evidence suggests value treatment effectiveness Patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) were able to safely tolerate treatment with cells cultured from human placental tissue, according to a study published today in the journal Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders. The study, which is the first of…

Data from worldwide trial of two HER2-positive breast cancer drugs Analysis of more than 8,000 women who participated in the world’s largest study of two treatments for HER2-positive breast cancer reinforces other findings from the clinical trial showing that trastuzumab (Herceptin) should remain the standard…

Among patients with morbid obesity, blocking the vagus nerve, which plays a role with appetite and metabolism, did not meet pre-specified efficacy objectives compared to a control group, although the intervention did result in greater weight loss, according to a study in the September 3…

Branded or trademarked diets have similar levels of effectiveness; the key is sticking to it, a research study has found.

For years, doctors have known that there is a link between childhood obesity and asthma, but have found it difficult to determine which condition tends to come first, or whether one causes the other.

The Endocrine Society has expanded its 2006 clinical practice guideline on androgen therapy in women.Writing in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, the society continues to recommend against diagnosing androgen deficiency syndrome in healthy women because “there is a lack of a well-defined syndrome,”…

Study results may encourage hospitals to consider more liberal blood sugar control policies Patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery may not have to follow a strict blood sugar management strategy after surgery, according to a study in the October 2014 issue of The…

Nicotine, no matter the source, may function as a gateway to marijuana and cocaine

A recent study by a Georgia State University scientist and her colleagues with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found that youth who have never even touched a regular tobacco cigarette — but have ever used e-cigarettes — are more likely to report…