To sleep, perchance to dream: New insight into melatonin production

Contact: Heather Cosel
coselpie@cshl.edu
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

In the April 1 issue of G&D, a Korean research team led by Dr. Kyong-Tai Kim (Pohang University) describes how melatonin production is coordinated with the body’s natural sleep/wake cycles.
Melatonin is a hormone produced by the pineal gland in the brain, which helps to regulate our bodies’ circadian rhythm (the [...]

Subgroups of fibromyalgia.

1: Schmerz. 2007 Mar 29; [Epub ahead of print]
[Article in German]
Muller W, Schneider M, Joos T, Hsu HY, Stratz T.
Rheumatologische Forschungsabteilung, Park-Klinik Bad Sackingen, Weihermatten 1 , 79713, Bad Sackingen, Deutschland.
As has been shown by a number of working groups, primary fibromyalgia syndrome does not represent a single clinical entity. It is possible to distinguish [...]

Unique partnership produces life-critical 3D structures

Contact: Katarina Sternudd
katarina.sternudd@ki.se
46-852-483-895
Karolinska Institutet
Most diseases are caused by malfunctions in the body’s complex protein machinery. The next generation of drugs will be designed on the basis of 3D protein models that scientists are creating. The Structural Genomics Consortium laboratory at Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet has now made available the structure of PARP3, the four [...]

Arthritis pain, the brain and the role of emotions

Contact: Amy Molnar
amolnar@wiley.com
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Arthritis pain is processed in brain areas concerned with emotions and fear, finds study, indicating target for pain-relieving therapies
How does the brain process the experience of pain? Thanks to advances in neuroimaging, we now know the answer lies in a network of brain structures called the pain matrix. This [...]

Altered cortical excitability in subjectively electrosensitive patients: Results of a pilot study.

1: J Psychosom Res. 2007 Mar;62(3):283-8.
Landgrebe M, Hauser S, Langguth B, Frick U, Hajak G, Eichhammer P.
Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatics, and Psychotherapy, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany.
OBJECTIVE: Hypersensitivity to electromagnetic fields is frequently claimed to be linked to a variety of unspecific somatic and/or neuropsychological complaints. Whereas provocation studies often failed to demonstrate a causal [...]

Long-term opioid contract use for chronic pain management in primary care practice. A five year experience.

1: J Gen Intern Med. 2007 Apr;22(4):485-90.
Hariharan J, Lamb GC, Neuner JM.
Division of General Internal Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin, Froedtert East Clinic Bldg., Suite E4200, 9200 West Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee, WI, 53226, USA, jharihar@mcw.edu.
BACKGROUND: The use of opioid medications to manage chronic pain is complex and challenging, especially in primary care settings. Medication contracts [...]

Johns Hopkins housing and testing only 256-slice CT scanner in North America

Contact: David March
dmarch1@jhmi.edu
410-955-1534
Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions
Device can image whole hearts or brain and tiny vessels safely
Johns Hopkins Medicine has installed for three months of initial safety and clinical testing a 256-slice computed tomography (CT) scanner, believed to be the world’s most advanced CT imaging software and machinery.
The new 2-metric-ton device – the first of its [...]

New Consortium Will Develop Computer Systems to Connect Genomic Data With Disease – 2007-03-25

A $20 million grant awarded to a consortium of four research universities including Duke University Medical Center will help scientists collaborate to develop the powerful computing systems and analyses to trace the origins of neurologic disease from alterations in the basic structural information of the human genome to the diseases they produce.
By focusing on mouse [...]

HHS Secretary Leavitt Announces Steps Toward a Future of ‘Personalized Health Care’

WASHINGTON, March 23 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt today outlined a course for achieving gene-based medical care combined with health information technology, which he called “Personalized Health Care.” He said the initiative has the potential to transform the quality, safety and value of health care for patients in the future.
“Personalized health care will combine [...]

Health insurance fails to protect Americans from financial risk

Contact: Nancy Kohn
nkohn@accessproject.org
617-654-9911 x230
Brandeis University
Low premiums do not mean affordable insurance
Boston, MA—Sickness or injury can leave people in serious financial jeopardy even when they have health insurance, according to a report released today by The Access Project and Brandeis University. The Illusion of Coverage: How Health Insurance Fails People When They Get Sick, reports findings [...]