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News Archive - Scott LaFee

Girl Child Marriages Decline In South Asia, But Only Among Youngest

May 16, 2012

Each year, more than 10 million girls under the age of 18 marry, usually under force of local tradition and social custom. Almost half of these compulsory marriages occur in South Asia. A new study suggests that more than two decades of effort to eliminate the practice has produced mixed results.

Why Omega-3 Oils Help at the Cellular Level

May 15, 2012

For the first time, researchers at the University of California, San Diego have peered inside a living mouse cell and mapped the processes that power the celebrated health benefits of omega-3 fatty acids. More profoundly, they say their findings suggest it may be possible to manipulate these processes to short-circuit inflammation before it begins, or at least help to resolve inflammation before it becomes detrimental.

Scarring Cells Revert To Inactive State As Liver Heals

May 7, 2012

An international team of scientists, led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, report that significant numbers of myofibroblasts – cells that produce the fibrous scarring in chronic liver injury – revert to an inactive phenotype as the liver heals. The discovery in mouse models could ultimately help lead to new human therapies for reversing fibrosis in the liver, and in other organs like the lungs and kidneys.

Insulin Resistance, Inflammation and a Muscle-Saving Protein

May 1, 2012

In the online May 2 issue of the journal Cell Metabolism, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine publish three distinct articles exploring: the complex interactions of lipids and inflammation in insulin resistance; the roles of omega 3 fatty acids and a particular gene in fighting inflammation;how elevated levels of a particular protein might delay the muscle-destroying effects of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

HIV Prevention in a Pill

April 24, 2012

Last year marked the 30th anniversary of the first clinical reports of AIDS, a then-mysterious and invariably fatal disease. Patients diagnosed with an HIV infection faced a looming death sentence. Most had just months to live.

Plaque Deposits Alone Do Not Trigger Clinical Symptoms of Alzheimer’s, Researchers Find

April 23, 2012

According to a new study, the neuron-killing pathology of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), which begins before clinical symptoms appear, requires the presence of both amyloid-beta (a-beta) plaque deposits and elevated levels of an altered protein called p-tau.

Modest Alcohol Use Lowers Risk and Severity of Some Liver Disease

April 19, 2012

People with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NALFD) who consume alcohol in modest amounts – no more than one or two servings per day – are half as likely to develop hepatitis as non-drinkers with the same condition, reports a national team of scientists led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine.

Two UC San Diego Professors Elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences

April 17, 2012

Susan Ferro-Novick, PhD, professor in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, and Herbert Levine, PhD, professor in the UC San Diego Department of Physics, have been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

How Genes Organize the Surface of the Brain

March 29, 2012

The first atlas of the surface of the human brain based upon genetic information has been produced by a national team of scientists, led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and the VA San Diego Healthcare System. The work is published in the March 30 issue of the journal Science.

Chronic Stress Spawns Protein Aggregates Linked to Alzheimer’s

March 26, 2012

Repeated stress triggers the production and accumulation of insoluble tau protein aggregates inside the brain cells of mice, say researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine in a new study published in the March 26 Online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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