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An independent panel convened this week by the NIH found that fewer than half of individuals experiencing fecal or urinary incontinence -- the inability to control bowel movements or urination, respectively -- report their symptoms to healthcare providers without being prompted. The secrecy and distress surrounding these issues erode the quality of life for millions, and hamper scientific understanding and development of prevention and treatment strategies.

Telmisartan, a drug widely used to help control blood pressure, may have uniquely potent activity in preventing stroke, according to a new study conducted in an animal model.

Despite the vast evolutionary gulf between humans and the three-spined stickleback fish, the two species have adopted a common genetic strategy to acquire the skin pigmentation that helps each species thrive in new environments.

A preliminary study suggests that combining a medication currently used to treat multiple sclerosis with an antibiotic may slow the progress of the disease, according to a new article. The most common type is relapsing-remitting MS, in which patients experience attacks of symptoms such as muscle weakness and spasms followed by periods of symptom-free remission.

Investigators have identified two new targets for drugs aimed at controlling lupus. If companies are able to develop drugs that hone in on these targets, patients may be able to control their disease with few side effects. Because abnormally high levels of interferon-alpha can lead to lupus, researchers have developed drugs that block interferon. These drugs, however, have immunosuppressive side effects that can leave patients vulnerable to various illnesses and infections, some of which can be deadly.

A group of children who have sickle cell disease and who experience silent strokes showed some relief from the silent strokes with blood transfusion therapy, researchers have found. Silent strokes are strokes that don't show the classic symptoms of overt strokes, such as numbness, tingling, headache or slurred speech.

A combination of a "targeted" therapy and chemotherapy shrank metastatic brain tumors by at least 50 percent in one-fifth of patients with aggressive HER2-positive breast cancer. Up to one-third of women with advanced, HER-2-positive breast cancer may develop metastases to the brain.

In the near future toothless patients will no longer have to wait several months for ordinary titanium implants to heal. Nearly every one of 450 patients who had bridges anchored in their implants had immediate success. Most patients who have titanium implants in their mouth have to wait between four and seven months before the implant is considered stable enough for crowns or bridges to be secured in the screw.

PET/CT imaging exhibits significantly higher sensitivity, specificity and accuracy than conventional imaging when it comes to detecting malignant tumors in children, according to new research. And that's not all: PET/CT imaging provides doctors with additional information about cancer in children, possibly sparing young patients from being overtreated.

Nearly three-fourths of American adults with conditions such as coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes or others that raise their risk for cardiovascular complications also have hypertension (high blood pressure), according to a new report. Although about 75 percent of these individuals are being treated for hypertension, only one-third to one-half are reaching blood pressure goals.