Researchers create hair follicles from stem cells

Laaska News  Apr. 18, 2012

A group of researchers have successfully created an organ that creates hair using two different types of stem cells. Stem cells have the potential to evolve into any tissue or organ.

Team: Intestinal dysfunction linked to gout

Japanese researchers say intestinal dysfunction is one of the causes of a disease that makes people suffer from swollen joints. Gout is usually linked to high levels of uric acid in the blood.

Study shows egg may help alleviate depression

Japanese researchers have found that an ingredient in eggs appears to alleviate depression.

A group led by Professor Mitsuhiro Furuse of Kyushu University’s graduate school of agriculture released the results of their study at a conference of the Japanese Society of Animal Science on Wednesday.

Japan -Thyroid screenings detect relatively high exposure

Experts have detected radioactive iodine in the thyroid glands of 80 percent of the people who used to live near the Fukushima nuclear plant. Five of them had dosages of more than 50 millisieverts.

Human Embryonic Stem cells improve monkeys with Parkinson’s

Laaska News Feb. 21, 2012

A group of Japanese scientists has succeeded in improving the conditions of monkeys with Parkinson’s disease after transplants of nerve cells generated from human Embryonic stem cells, or ES cells.

WHO to continue discussing bird flu research

Laaska News  Feb. 18, 2012

Flu experts from around the world have agreed on the need to continue discussing bird flu research in light of possible use by bioterrorists.

The World Health Organization announced the view on Friday after a 2-day

Japan – Researchers identify genes causing lung cancer

Laaska News  Feb. 13, 2012

Japanese researchers say they have identified genes that cause a type of lung cancer.

Researchers at Jichi Medical University and the Japanese Foundation for Cancer Research focused on some healthy genes that cause lung adenocarcinoma by mutating with other genes.

Fighting Fat:US revises school lunch guidelines

Laaska News  Jan 26, 2012

US schoolchildren are to see healthier foods on their lunch plates under new guidelines designed to address obesity among children.

Embryonic stem cells help the blind to see

US scientists say they have helped improve vision in 2 legally blind women by injecting embryonic stem cells into their eyes.

Turkey’s first full face transplant carried out

According to the CNN, surgeons in Turkey have successfully carried out their country’s first full face transplant.

The recipient was a 19-year-old boy who had received severe burns in a fire, and the donor, a middle-aged man who had died in a rail accident.

Research on contagious bird flu strain classified

Laaska news  Dec. 22, 2011

Authorities in the United States have classified a scientific report on how the deadly H5N1 virus that spreads like wildfire among birds can also be made to go viral among humans. The decision was made on recommendation from the National Bio-Security Council.

Diabetes drug shows promise in reducing risk of cancer – study

Laaska news  Nov. 25,2011

WASHINGTON, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) — An inexpensive drug that treats Type 2 diabetes has been shown to prevent a number of natural and man-made chemicals from stimulating the growth of breast cancer cells, according to a

Japan:Reagent makes cancer cells glow

Laaska news  Nov.24,2011

A team of Japanese researchers has developed a reagent that can make cancer cells glow within minutes.
It is hoped the development will work on carcinoma that is difficult to detect using CT scans or other existing methods.

The team was led by Professor Yasuteru Urano of the University of Tokyo and Hisataka Kobayashi, chief scientist at the US National Institutes of Health.

Japan:Carbon nanotubes’ carcinogenic level may vary -research

Laaska News  Nov. 15,2011

A microscopic industrial material called “carbon nanotubes” is often referred to as causing cancer.
But Japanese researchers have found that the carcinogenic level of the material may differ depending on structure and size.

Low vitamin D levels associated with recurrent inflammatory spinal cord disease: study

Laaska News  Nov. 15,2011

WASHINGTON, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) — Vitamin D levels are significantly lower in patients with recurrent inflammatory spinal cord disease, according to a study published online Monday in Archives of Neurology.

Vitamin D is a steroid vitamin that promotes the intestinal absorption and

US: One in five Americans has hearing loss – study

Laaska News  Nov. 15,2011

WASHINGTON, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) — Nearly a fifth of all Americans 12 years or older have hearing loss so severe that it may make communication difficult, according to a new study led by Johns Hopkins University researchers and published Monday in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Japan:Taking thyroid tests to the children in Fukushima

Laaska News  Nov. 15,2011

Doctors in Fukushima Prefecture are hitting the road to improve children’s’ access to thyroid tests in an effort to spot possible health problems associated with the nuclear accident in the prefecture.

Australia: Children with fat fathers at risk of obesity – study

Laaska News  Nov. 11,2011

SYDNEY, Nov. 10 — Children with fat fathers are more likely to be obese by age of eight or nine than those with healthy weight fathers, a new study by researchers at Australia’s University of Newcastle found on Thursday.

U.S. study shows pre-birth brain growth problems linked to autism

Children with autism have more brain cells and heavier brains compared to typically developing children, according to a study to be published on Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Japan:Smaller increase in children’s weight in Fukushima

Laaska News  Nov. 8 ,2011

A survey shows that some children in Fukushima Prefecture have smaller average weight gains this year compared to the year before. A pediatrician says the results indicate the negative effects of the nuclear plant accident in