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A new thin-film coating can deliver controlled drug doses to specific targets in the body following implantation, essentially serving as a "micro pharmacy." The film could eventually be used to deliver drugs for cancer, epilepsy, diabetes and other diseases. It is among the first drug-delivery coatings that can be remotely activated by applying a small electric field.

Scientists have discovered a way of diagnosing pre-eclampsia, a condition which affects almost one in ten pregnant women and accounts for up to 15% of all premature deliveries. They now plan to develop a user-friendly diagnostic kit within five years which could be used in hospitals all over the world to safely and speedily test all pregnant women. There is currently no early predictor of the condition.

Scientists in Arkansas are reporting new evidence that natural pigments responsible for the beautiful blue/purple/reddish color of certain fruits and vegetables may help prevent obesity. Their animal study however, reports that eating the whole fruit containing these pigments seems to be less effective than eating an extract of the berry.

Testing of a new device for patients with Parkinson's disease and essential tremor, a neurological movement disorder is just beginning. A study will help determine whether a new Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) technology is effective in providing relief for patients who are unable to adequately control symptoms of their disease with medication. The DBS system is a surgically implanted medical device that delivers an electrical stimulation to areas of the brain that control movement.

Contrary to some reports, the epilepsy drug oxcarbazepine does not appear to prevent migraine, according to new research in Neurology. Researchers found no difference between the oxcarbazepine and placebo groups in the change in the number of migraine attacks from the beginning to the end of the study.

People with multiple sclerosis who smoke marijuana are more likely to have emotional and memory problems, according to new research. The study found marijuana smokers performed 50 percent slower on tests of information processing speed compared to MS patients who did not smoke marijuana. There was also a significant association between smoking marijuana and emotional problems such as depression and anxiety.

Researchers have discovered a novel technique -- that acts like a "spell-checker" for correcting a misspelling in the DNA code -- to repair the defective gene that causes spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). This hereditary neuromuscular disease is the number-one genetic killer of children under two years old. Babies born with Type 1 SMA, the most severe form of the disease, can't walk, crawl, sit unsupported, lift their heads, or breathe normally. Fifty percent die before their second birthday.

Scientists in Switzerland are uncovering new clues about how cancer cells grow -- and how they can be killed -- by studying stem cells, 'blank' cells that have the potential to develop into fully mature or 'differentiated' cells and other scientists in UK have made a breakthrough in understanding the cause of the most common form of childhood cancer, acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.

The proverbial cigarette after a Valentine's Day snuggle can prematurely end a love affair, as new evidence emerges that a common defect in a gene significantly increases a smoker's risk of an early heart attack. Researchers say that as much as 60 to 70 percent of the population has a gene defect that delivers a one-two punch to smokers; heavy smokers with this common gene variant experienced a heart attack around the age of 52.

Women are better than men in describing their own feelings and the feelings of their romantic partners than are men, while the latter tend to project their own feelings upon their partners more than women. Women also rated the men as more independent than the men felt about themselves, while the men rated the women as more fearful and less interested in sex than the women rated themselves.