Famous for its antioxidant properties and role in tissue repair, vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is touted as beneficial for illnesses ranging from the common cold to cancer and perhaps even for slowing the aging process. Now, a study published online on December 24, 2009 by Cell Press in the journal Cell Stem Cell uncovers an [...]

Seniors over 80 years old are being treated too aggressively for high blood pressure, warns an expert in an editorial in BMJ Clinical Evidence. According to Dr James Wright, the latest evidence suggests that less aggressive drug therapy may be more effective at reducing mortality in this age group. Based on this evidence, he suggests [...]

A panel of experts at the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) has issued a statement calling for an open discussion of the facts about radiation hazards from computed tomography scanning (CT scans) in light of recent public concerns and news reports about radiation dose. Medical physicists are partnering with technologists, radiologists, regulators, manufacturers, [...]

Einstein.YU.edu – A new approach that uses nanotechnology for treating and healing skin abscesses caused by MRSA, or antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, has been developed by researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University. The study appears in the journal PLoS One. Abscesses are deep skin infections that often resist antibiotics and may [...]

AACR.org – Supplementation with a mixture of antioxidants and the trace mineral selenium decreased the risk of developing new polyps of the large bowel – called colorectal metachronous adenomas – in people who previously had colorectal polyps removed. “Our study is the first intervention trial specifically designed to evaluate the efficacy of the selenium-based antioxidant [...]

Wisc.edu – Patients with depression are unable to sustain activity in brain reward centers related to positive emotion, according to a new study at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The NIMH-funded study challenges previous notions that individuals with depression show less brain activity in areas associated with positive emotion. Instead, the new data suggest similar initial [...]