Research advances from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Intramural Research Program (IRP) often make headlines. Read the news releases that describe our most recent findings:
Whether you’re shedding pounds with the help of effective new medicines, slimming down after weight loss surgery or cutting calories and adding exercise, there will come a day when the numbers on the scale stop going down, and you hit the dreaded weight loss plateau.
In a recent study, Kevin Hall, a researcher at the National Institutes of Health who specializes in measuring metabolism and weight change, looked at when weight loss typically stops depending on the method people were using todrop pounds. He broke down the plateau into mathematical models using data from high-quality clinical trials of different ways to lose weight to understand why people stop losing when they do. The study published Monday in the journal Obesity.
Initial study will evaluate experimental drug cocktail ZMapp.
In partnership with the Liberian government, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) today launched a clinical trial to obtain safety and efficacy data on the investigational drug ZMapp as a treatment for Ebola virus disease. The study, which will be conducted in Liberia and the United States, is a randomized controlled trial enrolling adults and children with known Ebola virus infection.
The release of data from a nationwide government survey on American Children’s use of natural products such as melatonin, Echinacea, probiotics, as well as on the use of mind and body approaches such as yoga, chiropractic, massage, and meditation. The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) of the National Institutes of Health will hold a webinar/telephone briefing to discuss the findings of the most recent reports from the National Health Interview Survey.
Investigators with the National Institutes of Health have discovered the genomic switches of a blood cell key to regulating the human immune system. The findings, published in Nature today, open the door to new research and development in drugs and personalized medicine to help those with autoimmune disorders such as inflammatory bowel disease or rheumatoid arthritis.
Study Led by Liberia-NIH Partnership Will Test Two Experimental Vaccines
A large clinical trial to assess the safety and efficacy of two experimental vaccines to prevent Ebola virus infection is now open to volunteers in Liberia. The trial is being led by a recently formed Liberia-U.S. clinical research partnership and is sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health. The Partnership for Research on Ebola Vaccines in Liberia or PREVAIL, a Phase 2/3 study, is designed to enroll approximately 27,000 healthy men and women aged 18 years and older.
Pre-clinical studies in mice reveal ways to reduce cancer risk with modified treatment
National Institutes of Health researchers have uncovered a key factor in understanding the elevated cancer risk associated with gene therapy. They conducted research on mice with a rare disease similar to one in humans, hoping their findings may eventually help improve gene therapy for humans. Researchers at the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of NIH, published their research in the Jan. 20, 2015, online issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation.
Nearly 42 percent of U.S. adults who drink also report using medications known to interact with alcohol, based on a study from the National Institutes of Health released today. Among those over 65 years of age who drink alcohol, nearly 78 percent report using alcohol-interactive medications.
Researchers from the National Institutes of Health have entered into an agreement with biotechnology company Vtesse, Inc., of Gaithersburg, Maryland, to develop treatments for Niemann-Pick disease type C (NPC) and other lysosomal storage disorders. Researchers at the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), both parts of NIH, will conduct studies on NPC and other lysosomal storage disorders with funding provided by Vtesse.
Earlier today, the NIH Clinical Center discharged the patient who was admitted to the hospital on December 11 following a high-risk exposure to Ebola virus while providing bedside nursing care in Sierra Leone. We are happy to report that the patient has shown no clinical or laboratory evidence of Ebola infection and will complete 21 days of monitoring at a private residence in Virginia under the direction of the Virginia Department of Health. The patient feels well and has no fever. CDC guidelines pertaining to monitoring and isolation will be followed until the completion of the 21-day observation period from the time of reported exposure.
NIH study shows young children with type 1 diabetes have significant difference in brain development
Young children who have long-term high blood sugar levels are more likely to have slower brain growth, according to researchers at centers including the National Institutes of Health.
The National Institutes of Health agency with primary responsibility for research on promising health approaches that already are in use by the American public has a new name — the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH).
