http://www.breakthroughdigest.com Medical Breakthroughs, Health News and Medical Information About Cancer, Diabetes, Leukemia and more Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:12:52 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en A new study has demonstrated that a procedure wherein healthy cartilage is transplanted to fix an area of damaged cartilage (osteoarticular cartilage transplantation or OATS procedure) is superior to the standard of care for repairing cartilage defects. It is thought that fixing such lesions may ultimately help to prevent the ... http://www.breakthroughdigest.com/medical-news/new-procedure-bests-standard-of-care-for-fixing-damaged-cartilage/ When it comes to diets, cookies and cake are off the menu. Now, in a surprising discovery, researchers from Tel Aviv University have found that dessert, as part of a balanced 600-calorie breakfast that also includes proteins and carbohydrates, can help dieters to lose more weight — and keep it ... http://www.breakthroughdigest.com/medical-news/top-off-breakfast-with-chocolate-cake/ In a study published last week in the prestigious Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, a team led by Dr. Vincent Poitout of the University of Montreal Hospital Research Centre (CRCHUM)* has made an important step forward in understanding how insulin secretion is ... http://www.breakthroughdigest.com/medical-news/a-team-of-crchum-researchers-paves-the-way-for-improving-treatment-for-type-2-diabetes/ Research just published by a team of demographers at the social science research organization NORC at the University of Chicago contradicts a long-held belief that the mortality rate of Americans flattens out above age 80. It also explains why there are only half as many people in the U.S. age 100 ... http://www.breakthroughdigest.com/medical-news/odds-of-living-a-very-long-life-lower-than-formerly-predicted/ A large Scandinavian study, that has been running for 30 years, has finally provided convincing evidence that the combined oral contraceptive pill does, indeed, alleviate the symptoms of painful menstrual periods reports scientists from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. The research is published in Europe´s leading reproductive medicine journal Human Reproduction. ... http://www.breakthroughdigest.com/medical-news/combined-oral-contraceptive-pill-helps-painful-periods/ Within a few years, a new generation of easy-to-use blood-thinning drugs will likely replace Coumadin for patients with irregular heartbeats who are at risk for stroke, according to a journal article by Loyola University Medical Center physicians. Unlike Coumadin, the new drugs do not require patients to come in to the ... http://www.breakthroughdigest.com/medical-news/easy-to-use-blood-thinners-likely-to-replace-coumadin/ A research team led by UC Davis Health System scientists has developed a novel technique to enhance bone growth by using a molecule which, when injected into the bloodstream, directs the body's stem cells to travel to the surface of bones. Once these cells are guided to the bone surface ... http://www.breakthroughdigest.com/medical-news/researchers-develop-method-of-directing-stem-cells-to-increase-bone-formation-and-bone-strength/ Repeated, low-dose injections of mononuclear cells derived from human umbilical cord blood (MNC hUCB, tradename: U-CORD-CELL™) have been found effective in protecting motor neuron cells, delaying disease progression and increasing lifespan for mice modeling amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, also referred to as Lou Gehrig's disease, report University of South ... http://www.breakthroughdigest.com/medical-news/usf-and-saneron-researchers-find-additional-benefits-of-cord-blood-cells-in-mice-modeling-als/ One of the big mysteries in biology is why cells age. Now scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies report that they have discovered a weakness in a component of brain cells that may explain how the aging process occurs in the brain. The scientists discovered that certain proteins, called ... http://www.breakthroughdigest.com/medical-news/discovery-of-extremely-long-lived-proteins-may-provide-insight-into-cell-aging/ Two different research groups have independently made the same important discoveries on how Alzheimer's disease spreads in the brain, according to a February 2 New York Times story. The groups' findings have the potential to give us a much more sophisticated understanding of what goes wrong in Alzheimer's disease and, ... http://www.breakthroughdigest.com/medical-news/why-2-new-studies-represent-important-breakthrough-in-alzheimers-disease-research/