By analyzing the genome of a colleague who has Charcot-Marie-Tooth syndrome, U.S. scientists have identified gene mutations associated with the neurological disorder, which affects the function of nerves in the limbs, hands and feet.

The study, published online March 10 in the New England Journal of Medicine, involved sequencing the complete genome of Dr. James Lupski, vice chairman of molecular and human genetics at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

A thyroid-derived cholesterol-lowering drug that could be an alternative to the widely used statin medications has done well in a small, early trial, Swedish and American researchers report.

In the trial, various doses of the drug, eprotirome, a laboratory-engineered version of thyroid hormone, were added to statin treatment for 168 people whose high levels of LDL cholesterol had not been lowered by previous use of statins.

If you walk into an emergency room complaining of chest pains, the odds are high that you will end up having cardiac catheterization, where a thin wire is snaked into your heart to determine whether a blood vessel is totally or partially blocked.

But if you do have the invasive procedure, the odds are even higher -- nearly two to one -- that it will show no significant blockage, a new study finds.

Children inherit fewer gene mutations from their parents than was previously thought, say U.S. researchers who are the first to sequence the entire genome of a family.

The analysis of the four family members -- the parents, daughter and son -- revealed that each parent passes about 30 mutations to their children. It had long been believed that each parent passes 75 gene mutations to their children.

In children with hard-to-treat head lice, the oral medication ivermectin is more effective than the standard treatment, the topical cream malathion, new research finds.

The study, published in the March 11 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, found that 95 percent of those treated with ivermectin were lice-free after two weeks compared to 85 percent of those using malathion.