It’s that time of the month. Do you have your inhaler handy? You may need it, because according to recent studies, your asthma is likely to get worse during your period. Sounds a little strange, but when you think about how hormones fluctuate during a woman’s cycle, you can kind of understand. What you’re probably
Researchers at the RIKEN Center for Brain Science in Japan have discovered that a gene associated with human intellectual ability is necessary for normal memory formation in mice. Published in Nature Neuroscience, the study shows that mice with only one copy of the gene replay shorter fragments of their previous experiences during periods of rest,
Premenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer and a high risk of recurrence who are treated with an aromatase inhibitor plus ovarian function suppression may gain 10 to 15 percent improvement in freedom from distant recurrence at eight years, according to a new clinical trial analysis reported at the annual meeting of the American
Heavy rainfall in Kenya has left a trail of destruction in parts of the country, leading to deaths and rendering roads impassable. Some rivers have burst their banks and dams have overflown for the first time in many years. The heavy rains present an additional danger: a higher chance of outbreaks of Rift Valley fever,
Since 2013, severely ill psychiatric patients in Denmark have been able to decide when to admit themselves to hospital without having to first go to the emergency department for evaluation. Now, scientists in Denmark have assessed whether or not the scheme works. Pervious pilot studies have suggested that patient-controlled admissions, as they are called, reduced
The combination of taselisib and fulvestrant has shown to slow the growth of cancer in post-menopausal women with estrogen receptor (ER)-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2) negative, PIK3CA-mutant, inoperable, locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer. Researchers from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) presented this data, from the SANDPIPER trial, in a press conference
The targeted drug sunitinib (Sutent) is as effective alone as when it’s combined with surgery for some people with advanced kidney cancer, according to a clinical trial. This means some people whose kidney cancer has spread could in future avoid having surgery to remove the affected organ. Average survival times were as good in patients
Today Americans live in a world that thrives on being busy, productive and overscheduled. Further, they have developed the technological means to be constantly connected to others and to vast options for information and entertainment through social media. For many, smartphones demand their attention day and night with constant notifications. As a result, naturally occurring
A key recommendation in a new Canadian guideline on managing chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) is to screen all people born between 1945 and 1975 for the disease, a departure from previous guidelines. The guideline, which contains comprehensive recommendations for diagnosing and managing the disease in diverse patient populations, is published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical
New research presented at this year’s Euroanaesthesia congress in Copenhagen, Denmark, shows that the quality of chest compressions during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) can be improved by using either a smartphone app or by using the song “La Macarena” as a mental memory aid. The study is by Professor Enrique Carrero Cardenal and colleagues at the
New research presented at this year’s Euroanaesthesia congress in Copenhagen, Denmark shows that in patients undergoing a coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery, taking aspirin before and after surgery is associated with an 18% to 34% reduced mortality risk after 4 years. The study is by Professor Jianzhong Sun, Director of Clinical Outcomes Research at
Yale scientists have identified a possible neurobiological home for the spiritual experience—the sense of connection to something greater than oneself. Activity in the parietal cortex, an area of the brain involved in awareness of self and others as well as attention processing, seems to be a common element among individuals who have experienced a variety
A test that analyzes free-floating DNA in the blood may be able to detect early-stage lung cancer, a preliminary report from the ongoing Circulating Cell-Free Genome Atlas (CCGA) study suggests. The findings, from one of the first studies to explore whether sequencing blood-borne DNA is a feasible approach to the early cancer detection, will be
(HealthDay)—Obstetrician-gynecologists should be aware of the gynecologic concerns and symptoms of eating disorders, according to a committee opinion published in the June issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology. Nancy Sokkary, M.D., from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Committee on Adolescent Health, and colleagues address gynecologic care for adolescents and young women with eating disorders.
New research from Vanderbilt suggests that repeated seizures reduce brainstem connectivity, a possible contributor to unexplained neurocognitive problems in epilepsy patients. The brainstem has been rarely studied in epilepsy because seizures typically originate in the temporal lobe or other areas of the cortex. Noting that people with temporal lobe epilepsy often lose consciousness even though
When Google promoted a software engineer named Chade-Meng Tan to the role of “Jolly Good Fellow”, his career – and the entire culture of Silicon Valley – took a sharp turn. Meng, a cheerful employee valued for his motivational qualities, went from developing mobile search tools to spreading happiness across the organisation. Happiness became his
Writing in the June 1 issue of Cell Stem Cell, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine report that a first-in-human phase I clinical trial in which neural stem cells were transplanted into participants with chronic spinal cord injuries produced measurable improvement in three of four subjects, with no serious adverse effects.
(HealthDay)—Recalls of assorted foods and different brands of ice cream over the past few years have put a spotlight on the germ known as listeria. And though many of these cases happened during manufacturing, the potential for contamination is actually greater for foods after they’ve arrived at supermarkets and other food stores. And one item
Dengue, a mosquito-borne RNA virus, is one of the most serious and rapidly spreading arboviral diseases in the world. Now, researchers reporting in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases have provided the first baseline data on the prevalence and risk factors of the virus in Ethiopia. It is estimated that more than 390 million dengue virus (DENV)
Some human brains are nearly twice the size of others—but how might that matter? Researchers at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and their NIH grant-funded colleagues have discovered that these differences in size are related to the brain’s shape and the way it is organized. The bigger the brain, the more its additional