Category: Health Problems

Vaccines are critical if you have diabetes

(HealthDay)—If you have diabetes, you need all recommended vaccinations, the American Association of Diabetes Educators says. Diabetes reduces the immune system’s ability to fight certain infections. This raises the risk for serious complications from diseases that vaccines protect against—including flu, pneumonia, hepatitis B, tetanus and shingles. “People with diabetes may be at higher risk of

How the grid cell system of the brain maps mental spaces

It has long been known that so-called place cells in the human hippocampus are responsible for coding one’s position in space. A related type of brain cell, called grid cells, encodes a variety of positions that are evenly distributed across space. This results in a kind of honeycomb pattern tiling the space. The cells exhibiting

Promising new therapeutic approach against Ebola virus identified

In a new study researchers have developed a two-pronged approach for targeting Ebola virus infection using linked nucleic acid (LNA) antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs)designed to interfere both genes essential for translation of Ebola virus genes and to block production of an intracellular human protein needed for the virus to enter cells. The results of using LNA

Two seemingly opposing forces in the brain actually cooperate to enhance memory formation

The brain allows organisms to learn and adapt to their surroundings. It does this by literally changing the connections, or synapses, between neurons, strengthening meaningful patterns of neural activity in order to store information. The existence of this process—brain plasticity—has been known for some time. But actually, there are two different types of brain plasticity

How to avoid raising a materialistic child

If you’re a parent, you may be concerned that materialism among children has been on the rise. According to research, materialism has been linked to a variety of mental health problems, such as anxiety and depression, as well as selfish attitudes and behaviors. But there’s some good news. A new University of Illinois at Chicago

Team’s study reveals hidden lives of medical biomarkers

What do medical biomarkers do on evenings and weekends, when they might be considered off the clock? The hidden lives of medical biomarkers are the focus of a recent study in Nature Communications by Jonathan Mosley, MD, Ph.D., assistant professor of Medicine and Biomedical Informatics, and colleagues from Vanderbilt University Medical Center and 11 other

Renal-replacement timing has no effect in kidney injury, sepsis

(HealthDay)—For patients with early-stage septic shock and severe acute kidney injury, 90-day mortality does not differ for patients randomly assigned to an early strategy for initiation of renal-replacement therapy versus a delayed strategy, according to a study published in the Oct. 11 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. Saber D. Barbar, M.D., Ph.D.,

New study finds thalamus wakes the brain during development

Consciousness requires continuous, internally generated activity in the brain. The modulation of this activity is the basis of the electroencephalogram (EEG) and of generation of sleep, dreams, and perception. Achieving such activity is thus an important milestone in normal brain maturation, which occurs around birth. Successful transition to this activity indicates a good prognosis for

Just one-third of Chinese acute coronary syndrome patients receive rehabilitation guidance

Just one-third of Chinese patients with acute coronary syndromes including heart attack receive cardiac rehabilitation guidance before discharge from hospital, according to research presented at the 29th Great Wall International Congress of Cardiology (GW-ICC). Only one in ten receive personalised advice. GW-ICC 2018 is being held 11 to 14 October in Beijing, China. Visiting experts

Preeclampsia: We can do more

Each year, more than 10,000 pregnant women in Australia suffer from preeclampsia and 30,000 die from it on a global level. The condition, characterized by high blood pressure, can be fatal and have long-term health effects for both mothers and babies. It causes the death of 780 babies each day. These numbers, according to Dean

Air pollution may be linked to heightened mouth cancer risk

High levels of air pollutants, especially fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and to a lesser extent, ozone, may be linked to a heightened risk of developing mouth cancer, suggests the first study of its kind, published online in the Journal of Investigative Medicine. The number of new cases, and deaths from, mouth cancer is increasing in

Neuron death in ALS more complex than previously thought

Brown University researchers have uncovered new clues about the progression of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), a surprisingly common disease that causes the death of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles such as those involved in walking, talking, chewing or breathing. A team led by Anne Hart, a professor of neuroscience at Brown, discovered that two