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Macular degeneration is the major cause of vision loss in the United States. The disease, which kills photoreceptors that convey visual signals from the eye to the brain, often strikes the elderly. Its defining symptom is blurriness in the central visual field, a blurriness that robs many people of their ability to drive or read.
American women are struggling to "do it all" and are sacrificing sleep to juggle their family and work responsibilities, according to a new survey led by a professor in the School of Nursing at the University of California, San Francisco.
Exposure to hot baths or hot tubs can lead to male infertility, but the effects can sometimes be reversible, according to a new study led by a University of California, San Francisco urologist.
A study underway at the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center (SFVAMC) and UCSF is probing the connection between post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), sleep disturbances and stress hormones. Investigators hope the study will reveal a new potential method for treating PTSD, as well as shed light on the biology of sleep
The study also incorporated a pain model developed at UCSF that provided a standardized reference point. This model allowed researchers to compare relief of chronic HIV-associated neuropathic pain simultaneously with patient response to pain and skin sensitivity.
UCSF neuroscientists Louis Ptáček, MD, Ying-Hui Fu, PhD, and colleagues are exploring the body's biological rhythms. Sometimes these are referred to as "clocks," and at other times as circadian rhythms.
Scientists have shown in the past that psychological stress is linked to weight gain and fat storage -- especially added fat around the waistline, where it raises the risk of heart disease.
Two novel treatments -- a basic compound found in every cell in the body and an extract of green tea -- may prevent brain damage caused from stroke, according to two studies in rats led by a researcher at the San Francisco VA Medical Center.
A protein called HIPK2 is essential for the survival of dopamine neurons, the cells lost in Parkinson's disease, according to a study in mice. The results suggest that the molecular pathway in which the protein functions could be a possible new target for therapy, the study authors say.
The second edition of the only comprehensive textbook on inherited disorders of the immune system, co-edited by UCSF Professor of Pediatrics and Human Genetics Jennifer Puck, MD, will soon be published in the United States. The new version has mushroomed in size from 35 to 48 chapters, reflecting the increase in the number of primary immune deficiency diseases that have been identified, as well as new information on their causes and treatments.
Researchers at the Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease (GIND) have identified a potential new avenue for reducing the build up of toxic amyloid (Ab) proteins, which are suspected of causing Alzheimer's disease (AD).