Cardiovascular

People with larger stomachs in their 40s are more likely to have dementia when they reach their 70s, according to a new study. The study involved 6,583 people age 40 to 45 in northern California who had their abdominal fat measured. An average of 36 years later, 16 percent of the participants had been diagnosed with dementia.

New research illuminates the mechanical factors that play a critical role in the differentiation and function of fibroblasts, connective tissue cells that play a role in wound healing and scar tissue formation.

A protein called fibrinogen that is known to help form blood clots also triggers scar formation in the brain and spinal cord, according to new research in the April 28 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience. Researchers found that fibrinogen carries a dormant factor that activates when it enters the brain after...

Researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago have discovered that an unexpected cellular response plays an important role in breaking down and inhibiting the formation of excess scar tissue in wound healing. Their study was published online this week in Nature Cell Biology.

Individuals with chronic insomnia have an elevated risk of death, according to a research abstract presented June 7, 2010, in San Antonio, Texas, at SLEEP 2010, the 24th annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies LLC.

Scientists have taken another important step toward understanding just how sticking needles into the body can ease pain. In a paper published online May 30 in Nature Neuroscience, a team at the University of Rochester Medical Center identifies the molecule adenosine as a central player in parlaying some of the effects of acupuncture in the body.

Study links lack of sleep to risk of early death Sleeping consistently for less than six hours a night has been linked to an increased risk of early death. Sleeping consistently for less than six hours a night may cause an early death, but too much sleep could also mean problems, according to a study that claims to have found unequivocal evidence of the potential harm from abnormal sleep patterns.

A stunning discovery by German scientists may make blood doping and the treatment of severe anemia as easy as washing your hair. In the October print issue of The FASEB Journal, researchers show that the estimated 100,000 hair follicles on each person's head have the potential to become erythropoietin (EPO) factories.

People who take aspirin regularly for a year or more may be at an increased risk of developing Crohn's disease, according to a new study by the University of East Anglia (UEA).

Long-term, regular use of vitamin E in women 45 years of age and older may help decrease the risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) by about 10 percent in both smokers and non-smokers, according to a study conducted by researchers at Cornell University and Brigham and Women's Hospital.

Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine went on a molecular fishing trip and netted a catch of new mediators that not only can explain how omega-3 fatty acids reduce inflammation, but also hint at novel treatments for a host of diseases linked to inflammatory processes.

In addition to crystallized cholesterol, atherosclerotic plaques always contain large quantities of immune cells but, surprisingly, no bacteria or viruses. It was previously unclear just how the body's own defence forces are called into action. Even animals that are kept in an absolutely sterile environment can suffer from "clogging" or "furring" of the arteries when their food contains high levels of cholesterol. The same relationship is found in humans.