Cardiovascular Research:Milk proteins may protect against cardiovascular disease ♦ Drug candidate can improve a failing heart’s function ♦ Interventions among healthy people save the most lives

Milk proteins may protect against cardiovascular disease The Maillard reaction is a chemical reaction between amino acids and reducing sugars that results in browned foods like seared steaks and toasted bread. When proteins and sugars are mixed together and heated, new chemical compounds are formed. Some are responsible for new flavors and some, according to a new study may protect us against cardiovascular disease.

Swift intervention doubles survival rate from cardiac arrest Researchers have found that early cardiopulmonary resuscitation more than doubles the chance of survival for patients suffering out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. The percentage of patients who receive life-saving resuscitation has also increased substantially thanks to so-called SMS Lifesavers

New powerful drug candidate can improve a failing heart’s function An experimental drug improves the ability of heart muscle cells damaged by heart failure to pump blood.

Severely impaired stroke survivors regain arm function after intensive physical therapy Time may heal all wounds, but in the case of stroke survivors, the key to better recovery is to spend more time in an intensive physical therapy program.

Interventions among healthy people save the most lives Mortality from coronary heart disease declined in Sweden from 1986 to 2002. The improvement was due mainly to a reduction in risk factors among the healthy population and, to a lesser extent, treatment of people who already had developed heart disease. A study explores the reasons for the trend

Cancer Research: Popular Soda Ingredient Ups Cancer Risk--Milk proteins to treatment cancer-- Cancer treatment with new laser tech-- Drug target in certain breast and ovarian cancers

Popular Soda Ingredient Ups Cancer Risk  Public health researchers have analyzed soda consumption data in order to characterize people's exposure to a potentially carcinogenic by product of some types of caramel color. Caramel color is a common ingredient in colas and other dark soft drinks. Continue Reading

Milk proteins show promise in prevention and treatment of cancer  In a review of existing research, a team of Australian researchers found that milk proteins, consisting of short sequences called peptides, are potential candidates for the development of anticancer agents and can be generated by enzymatic action, such as those experienced during digestion or food processing, including fermentation. Their findings are in the recent issue of … Continue Reading

Potentially faster and more accurate mode of cancer treatment with new laser technology  Surgeons rely on 200-year-old technology when removing cancer -- sight and touch -- to determine how much to remove and what to leave alone. Laser technology has the promise to help a surgeon better determine if an area is cancer or healthy tissue. Moreover, when combined with laser treatment for cancer, this work lays the groundwork for laser robotic treatment of cancer.Continue Reading

Promising drug target in certain breast and ovarian cancers Scientists indicate that the pool of patients who can benefit from the drug olaparib is potentially much wider – and offers a ready means of identifying them. Continue Reading

Novel strategy to prevent progression of inflammation-associated cancers  By targeting the specific pathological function of the 'culprit' molecule rather than inhibiting its gene expression, new approach facilitates development of cancer drugs with fewer side effects  Continue Reading