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Asking patients with focal epilepsy (also known as partial seizures, which usually involve focal areas of the body and altered consciousness) how often they have seizures does not appear to provide an accurate count, according to a new report. Reminding patients to record their seizures in a diary may not help, because patients may be unaware of some seizures.

Researchers have discovered that individuals with obsessive compulsive disorder and their close family members have distinctive patterns in their brain structure. These findings could help predict risk of OCD as well as lead to improved diagnostics.

Researchers have modeled the structure of the largest cellular structure ever crystallized, suggesting ways to engineer the particles for drug delivery. The research study focuses on new engineered nanomaterial vaults for use as a drug-therapy vehicle.

Proper design of computational tools is critical if they are to be used with success in patient-care settings, particularly in hospital emergency rooms, a field study conducted by researchers has recently revealed.

Computed tomography angiography is as accurate as an invasive angiogram in detecting coronary artery disease, according to findings from the first two prospective multicenter 64-slice scanner trials.

A new study provides the first evidence that people with higher body mass index may have a greater response to ozone than leaner people. Short-term exposure to atmospheric ozone has long been known to cause a temporary drop in lung function in many people. This is the first study in humans to look at whether body weight influenced how much lung function falls after acute ozone exposure.

The current dosage of drugs used in treating malaria may be helping the parasites become resistant to the drugs faster, without improving the long-term outcome in patients. According to evolutionary biologists, studies using mice suggest that the optimal use of the drugs might slow the spread of drug resistance while making the patient just as healthy.

A powerful new microscope -- the multiphoton microscope -- shows the workings of living tissues at the cellular and molecular level. Using the multiphoton microscope, scientists have recorded how the body's defenses fight tumors and infectious diseases.

Even in young women, depression is as potent a risk factor for osteoporosis as are low calcium intake, smoking, and lack of exercise, researchers have found. Imbalances in the immune system appear to be involved. Depression generally isn't on clinicians' radar screens as a risk factor for bone-thinning -- but it should be.

Obtaining islet cells (clusters of pancreatic cells that create insulin) from living donors may be a solution to the shortage of islets available for transplantation. In samples taken from living donors, 94 percent of the cells were viable for transplant, compared to only 42 percent of cells taken from deceased donors.