http://www.physorg.com/ en-us Physorg.com internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. (PhysOrg.com) -- Stress can be adaptive. It can make you sharper, help you focus and it can even improve your performance. But too much of it can tax cells to the point where they can no longer cope and slowly self-destruct. Scientists at Rockefeller University now show that when the protein-making factory of the cell is exposed to moderate stress, neurons in the fruit fly retina and other cells not only resist death but also shore up their defenses against damaging free radicals and ultraviolet radiation. http://www.physorg.com/news160159407.html Medicine & Health Tue, 28 Apr 2009 17:43:48 EST news160159407 (PhysOrg.com) -- The discovery more than a decade ago of leptin, an appetite-suppressing hormone secreted by fat tissue, generated headlines and great hopes for an effective treatment for obesity. But hopes dimmed when it was found that obese people are unresponsive to leptin due to development of leptin resistance in the brain. Now, researchers at Children's Hospital Boston report the first agents demonstrated to sensitize the brain to leptin: oral drugs that are already FDA-approved and known to be safe. Findings were published January 7 by the journal Cell Metabolism. http://www.physorg.com/news150468469.html Biology Tue, 06 Jan 2009 12:47:49 EST news150468469 Scientists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have discovered that an important cellular quality control mechanism may actually be toxic to some brain cells during prion infection. The research, published by Cell Press in the September 16th issue of the journal Developmental Cell, proposes a new general mechanism of cellular dysfunction that can contribute to the devastating and widespread neuronal death characteristic of slowly progressing neurodegenerative diseases. http://www.physorg.com/news140701320.html Medicine & Health Mon, 15 Sep 2008 12:42:00 EST news140701320 There are two completely different diseases known as diabetes. Type 1 is an autoimmune condition that often starts in childhood or adolescence. Type 2 is a metabolic disorder sometimes associated with lifestyle. In both cases, the insulin-secreting beta cells in the pancreas die, albeit at different rates. http://www.physorg.com/news135258319.html Medicine & Health Mon, 14 Jul 2008 12:45:19 EST news135258319