Researchers link cocoa flavanols to improved brain blood flow

Cocoa flavanols, the unique compounds found naturally in cocoa, may increase blood flow to the brain, according to new research published in the Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment journal. The researchers suggest that long-term improvements in brain blood flow could impact cognitive behavior, offering future potential for debilitating brain conditions including dementia and stroke. more  

1918 flu antibodies resurrected from elderly survivors

Ninety years after the sweeping destruction of the 1918 flu pandemic, researchers at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt have recovered antibodies to the virus – from elderly survivors of the original outbreak. more

Largest study of its kind implicates gene abnormalities in bipolar disorder

The largest genetic analysis of its kind to date for bipolar disorder has implicated machinery involved in the balance of sodium and calcium in brain cells. Researchers supported in part by the National Institute of Mental Health, part of the National Institutes of Health, found an association between the disorder and variation in two genes that make components of channels that manage the flow of the elements into and out of cells, including neurons. more  

Depressed drivers on meds performed worst in driving simulation

People taking prescription antidepressants appear to drive worse than people who aren't taking such drugs, and depressed people on antidepressants have even more trouble concentrating and reacting behind the wheel. more

Researchers create safer alternative to heparin  

Robert Linhardt has spent years stitching together minuscule carbohydrates to build a more pure and safer alternative to the commonly used and controversial blood thinner heparin. At the national conference of the American Chemical Society on August 17, 2008, Linhardt announced that his research team may have accomplished this task by building the first fully synthetic heparin. Their creation is the largest dose of heparin ever created in the lab. more

FDA approves 2008-2009 flu vaccines 

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today announced that it has approved this year's seasonal influenza vaccines that include new strains of the virus likely to cause flu in the United States during the 2008-2009 season. more

Gene signatures may help predict lung cancer survival

A new study provides perhaps the strongest evidence yet that profiling the activity of genes in lung tumors yields information that can help physicians and patients make treatment decisions. Yet the researchers caution that lung tumors are genetically diverse and it may be difficult to develop a single gene signature that could reliably classify all patients. The findings appeared online in Nature Medicine July 20. more

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