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Inadequate blood sugar control in patients having heart surgery is associated with a four fold increase in post-surgery death and major complications -- and the blood sugar disturbances occur in patients with and without diabetes.

Dietary research in rats suggests that trans-fats do not increase the risk of insulin resistance and diabetes, which may ease at least one area of health concern for these compounds.

An algal toxin commonly inhaled in sea spray, attacks and damages DNA in the lungs of laboratory rats. The findings document how the body's way of disposing the toxin inadvertently converts it to a molecule that damages DNA. Human inhalation of brevetoxins produced by the red tide organism, Karenia brevis, is an increasing public health concern.

Cycling may seem like a healthy and environmentally friendly pastime, but men who choose the wrong bike could be heading for a range of sexual and health problems, including erection difficulties. And as the Tour de France gets into gear, there's also stark warnings for professional cyclists.

Researchers have successfully completed a full-genome RNAi screen in neurons, showing what types of genes are necessary for brain development.

Our bodies rely on the production of potent, or 'high affinity,' antibodies to fight infection. The process is very complex, yet scientists have discovered that it hinges on a single molecule, a growth factor, without which it cannot function.

Young women's breast cancers tend to be more aggressive and less responsive to treatment than the cancers that arise in older women, and researchers may have discovered part of the reason why: young women's breast cancers share unique genomic traits that the cancers in older women do not exhibit.

An increasing number of 70 year olds are having good sex and more often, and women in this age group are particularly satisfied with their sex lives, according to a new study. Knowledge about sexual behavior in older people (70 year olds) is limited and mainly focuses on sexual problems, less is known about "normal" sexual behavior in this age group.

Researchers have shown for the first time that it is possible to stimulate a woman's ovaries to produce eggs for collection during the final phase of the menstrual cycle. The finding offers the chance for more women who have been diagnosed with cancer to restore their fertility following chemotherapy or radiotherapy -- cancer treatments that can seriously damage the ovaries, often permanently.

Researchers in Japan are reporting a discovery that could improve the effectiveness and expand the use of transplants of insulin-producing cells to treat diabetes. Insulin-dependent, or Type 1, diabetes affects about 800,000 people in the United States.