An FDA-approved drug for high blood pressure, guanabenz, prevents myelin loss and alleviates clinical symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS) in animal models, according to a new study. The drug appears to enhance an innate cellular mechanism that protects myelin-producing cells against inflammatory stress. These findings point to promising avenues for the development of new therapeutics against MS, report scientists from the University of Chicago in Nature Communications on Mar. 13.

Our skeletons hold tell-tale signs that show that human bipedalism - walking upright and on two feet - are unique to humans especially when compared to our closest living relatives, apes. Exactly when these signs first appear in our evolutionary history is one of the fundamental questions driving the study of human evolution, or Palaeoanthropology, today.

An interdisciplinary team led by scientists at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, has combined visualisation techniques, engineering principles, and statistical analysis into a powerful new way of analysing the structure of long bones.

A work group of physicians has developed new quality measures for the detection and treatment of childhood obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a potentially morbid, life-altering condition that affects hundreds of thousands of children and adolescents nationwide. The measures, commissioned and endorsed by the American Association of Sleep Medicine (AASM), are published on March 15 in a special section of The Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine.

In the world of technology, tools can be fast, cheap or easy to use - but you only get to pick two of those three.

Everyone knows that, it is common across all product development, yet a surprising number of people think medicine is somehow exempt - they want new, better drugs fast, they want them to be safe, and they want them to cost $4.

We want to keep smart people developing, not milking old technology cows, so we have a patent on drugs that eventually expires. Then the drugs can be made by someone else. Since they did no research, and incur no clinical trial expenses, these generic companies will produce them much cheaper and the high-end market can move on to solving new problems.

Research suggests that the ratio of the lengths of the index finger and the ring finger in males may be predictive of a variety of disorders related to disturbed hormonal balance. When the index finger is shorter than the ring finger, this results in a small 2D:4D ratio, pointing to a high exposure to testosterone in the uterus.

In a new study of 103 male patients diagnosed with schizophrenia and 100 matched healthy male individuals, investigators found that the 2D:4D ratio may be an effective predictor of schizophrenia--there were significant differences between schizophrenia and control groups concerning the ratio of the lengths of the second digit to the fourth digit, as well as its asymmetry, in both hands.

Credit: The American Chemical Society
It's been around for centuries but it seems like beer has never been more popular.

Microbreweries are cranking out special stouts, IPAs, lagers and pilsners. And the flavors and aromas of each of those brews all come down to chemistry.

This week, in honor of St. Patrick's Day, ACS Reactions takes on craft beer chemistry. Sip on the video here: