The new Hollywood film EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES, starring Harrison Ford as a brilliant scientist, opens Friday and is based on a true story taking place at Genzyme Corporation in Cambridge. It is about the treatment developed for Pompe disease, a rare enzyme deficiency. Genzyme created Myozyme using in house research. Boston Globe staffer Geeta Anand wrote […]

Denmark has spearheaded the use of electronic healthrecords and use of telemedicine via the internet to assist doctors in treating their patients. There are a number of telemedicine projects allowing monitoring patients in their home saves doctors an average of 50 minutes a day in administrative work. Apparently Denmark’s success may relate to its small […]

Top researchers have completed a major study which concluded that consumption of caffeine in coffee greater than two cups per day significantly reduces the incidence of certain liver diseases. January 2010 Journal of Hepatology

There is one invention concerning mobile devices that I’d like to see advanced next year, for the safety of the American public and my sanity. I would estimate that over half of the drivers in America text while driving. This estimate is entirely anecdotal, based on my own observation of accidents, near misses and crazy […]

Australian scientists have found that antibodies in shark blood are highly resilient, can withstand high temperatures, extremely acidic or alkaline conditions and could be crucial in the development of a cancer fighting pull. Professor Mick Foley of Melbourne’s La Trobe University said the shark molecules can attach themselves to cancer cells and stop them from […]

According to the Journal of Neurology and Psychiatry, the niacin in peanuts, when eaten regularly, provides protection against Alzheimer’s disease. The study, conducted on 3000 men 65 or older found that those getting 22mgs of niacin a day were 70% less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease than those consuming 13 mgs. In addition, peanut butter […]

Mounting evidence from rigorous scientific studies reveals that power napping boosts mental performance, information processing, learning, reduces burnout and increases test scores significantly. Studies funded by The National Institute of Mental Health, overseen by Alan Hobson M.D. at Harvard show that a midday nap reverses information overload and increases learning, memory and motor skill by over 20%. […]

High soy consumption appears to decrease the risk of tumor recurrence among breast cancer survivors, according to a study published in JAMA. The subjects consumed an average of 47 milligrams of isoflavones, in the soy, 80 times as much as the average American woman. The study cautioned that the findings should not be generalized to […]

Researchers have now developed a new form of plastic from corn-starch which is 100% biodegradable in less than 60 days and is already being used for compost bags, food packaging, displosable tableware and in biomedicine for sutures, stents, dialysis and drug delivery devices. In addition, researchers have now succeeded in making the new plastic less […]

A new drug resistant strain of bacteria now causing death in one of four cases among children, is gaining ground in Africa and is expected to migrate to different nations. A variant of Salmonella typhimurium, named ST313, appears to be circulating to humans independently of animals, as drug resistant staph infections do now. The normal […]