Browsing: Disease Discoveries

Young adults who used marijuana only recreationally showed significant abnormalities in two key brain regions that are important in emotion and motivation, scientists report.

Scientists from five institutions, including Northwestern, discovered a cancer-specific biomarker found in all stages of breast, prostate and pancreatic cancers.

The timing, intensity and duration of an individual’s light exposure during the day correlates to their body mass index.

M. Marsel Mesulam, MD, director of the Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer’s Disease Center, will travel to Philadelphia at the end of April to be honored at the annual American Academy of Neurology meeting.

Marcus Peter, PhD, professor in Medicine-Hematology/Oncology, has discovered how the removal of a known “tumor suppressor” causes cancer cells to kill themselves.

Chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology says discovery will help scientists understand one of the major causes of female infertility.

Part of the $8 million multinational TumAdoR project, the study investigates the CD73 enzyme, which is overexpressed in many different forms of the disease.

Christian Stehlik and colleagues have learned how the molecular sensors that detect viruses and trigger defensive inflammatory responses are controlled.

The technique, used to measure blood flow in the heart and vessels, can also diagnose bicuspid aortic valve, a common congenital abnormality, and may lead to better prediction of complications.

Elevated blood pressure as young as age 18 is a warning sign of cardiovascular disease developing later in life and the time to begin prevention. That’s decades earlier than clinicians and patients generally start thinking about heart disease risk.