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Persons exposed to radioactive fallout from the Chernobyl accident as children and adolescents have an increased risk of follicular adenoma or benign tumor of the thyroid gland, according to a new study. Results further suggest that age at exposure, history of thyroid diseases and location of residence do not modify its risk.

Subtle malformations in the brains of patients with schizophrenia also tend to occur in their healthy siblings. Shape abnormalities were found in the brain's thalamus. The researchers performed brain MRI scans in 25 patients with schizophrenia and their non-affected siblings and compared the scans with those of 40 healthy volunteers and their siblings.

New research has thrown into question the current method of treating Crohn's disease -- opening the door to a safer and more effective treatment option for sufferers of the chronic disease. The new approach, called "top-down" therapy, employs early use of immune-suppressing drugs combined with an antibody in order to address the disease from the start. Symptom-treating steroids may never even be needed.

Scientists report that a protein capable of producing what has been called "Alzheimer's of the heart" has been found to protect against development of Alzheimer's disease in the brain in rodent models. The scientists say the findings suggest that the protein, transthyretin (TTR), could represent a powerful natural defense against development of Alzheimer's disease in humans, a defense that diminishes as people grow older. If so, TTR-based therapy might help treat or prevent the disorder.

Scientists have discovered a way to reactivate the thymus to create new T-cells in adults with HIV. The new therapy can be used to stimulate the production of vital immune cells, called "T- cells," in adults with HIV infection. HIV disease destroys T-cells, leading to collapse of the immune system and severe infection. The thymus gland, which produces T-cells, gradually loses function over time (a process called "involution") and becomes mostly inactive during adulthood. Because the thymus gland does not function well in adults, it is difficult for HIV-infected adults to make new T-cells.

New data revealing decreasing trends in cancer deaths in the United States overall, and in colorectal cancer deaths in particular, highlight the remarkable benefits of colorectal cancer screening tests, but the lifesaving potential of these tests is unrealized for many Americans, according to experts from the American College of Gastroenterology.

Middle-aged women's waists aren't the only thing that increased in the last decade. So did their chance of stroke. In a new study rising obesity rates have been linked to more strokes among women aged 35 to 54.

Middle-aged women who suffered physical or sexual abuse as children spend up to one-third more than average in health-care costs, according to a long-term study of more than 3,000 women. Even decades after the abuse ended, these women used health services at significantly higher rates than did non-abused women, the research found.

It is possible to cure some individuals with leukemia by infusing them with immune cells known as lymphocytes during a surgical procedure known as hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HCT). However, little is known about effective HCT approaches to treating individuals with solid tumors. In a new study researchers have outlined an HCT approach for the treatment of metastatic kidney cancer that caused tumor regression associated with a tumor-targeted lymphocyte response in several patients.

Crohn's disease, an inflammatory bowel disease, may present with cyclical symptoms more commonly associated with gynecological conditions such as endometriosis. Crohn's disease and intestinal endometriosis share many overlapping clinical, radiological and pathological features that can present a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge to the physician. A research group has described a case of extremely complicated Crohn's disease clinically mimicking small bowel endometriosis.