Category: Health News

A team of researchers at VIB and KU Leuven has uncovered why people with a hereditary form of Parkinson’s disease suffer from sleep disturbances. The molecular mechanisms uncovered in fruit flies and human stem cells also point to candidate targets for the development of new treatments. Sleep and Parkinson’s Parkinson’s disease affects 5 million people

New research in The FASEB Journal explored why a group of young, healthy adults residing at high altitude lost muscle mass while severely underfed and consuming the same high-protein diet that preserved muscle during weight loss at sea level. A team led by Stefan M. Pasiakos, PhD, a nutritional physiologist at the U.S. Army Research

Tonsil and adenoid removal associated with long-term risks of respiratory, allergic and infectious diseases Removing tonsils and adenoids in childhood increases the long-term risk of respiratory, allergic and infectious diseases, according to researchers who have examined — for the first time — the long-term effects of the operations. The researchers suggest renewed evaluation of alternatives

The coordination of neural activity across widespread brain networks is essential for human cognition. Researchers have long assumed that oscillations in the brain, commonly measured for research purposes, brain-computer interfacing, and clinical tests, were stationary signals that occurred independently at separate brain regions. Biomedical engineers at Columbia Engineering have discovered a new fundamental feature of

Metastatic breast cancer, a term for advanced breast cancer that’s spread to other parts of the body, is a devastating diagnosis: Its average life expectancy is just three years, and its five-year survival rate is just 22%. Tumors can be treated and symptoms can be managed, but most patients fight the disease for the rest

Spending more years in full time education is associated with a greater risk of developing short-sightedness (myopia), finds a study published by The BMJ today. The researchers say their study provides “strong evidence” that more time spent in education is a risk factor for myopia, and that the findings “have important implications for educational practices.”

A study involving scientists from the University of Alicante and the United States notes that the accumulation of a protein known as alpha-synuclein in the retina is a key Parkinson’s biomarker that could help detect the degree of severity of the disease. The work has been published this month in Movement Disorders, a journal in

There are a few different ways that the bug can get into the ear. It could crawl in overnight while a person is asleep, or fly into their ear when they are spending time outside. If a bug does get into the ear, it may die right away. However, there is also a chance that

Fasting is a longstanding part of many religious traditions, including the Jewish and Muslim observances of Yom Kippur and Ramadan. A form of fasting known as intermittent fasting has also gained popularity as a weight-loss tool. Many studies have examined the benefits and risks of giving up food for a day, including how it affects

The Good Doctors Guide: Meet the best doctors for gall bladder and learn the cutting-edge treatments for inflammatory bowel disease We have identified the country’s top consultants — as judged by their peers The views of more than 260 consultants across seven specialities are revealed The consultants with the most votes from their peers made

The cockpit protection system fitted to racing cars, known as halo, may affect the driver’s head position and motion, possibly compromising steering accuracy, suggest the results of a simulation test, using a similar structure, and published in the journal BMJ Case Reports. The findings prompt the authors to conclude that training and ergonomic adjustment may

Scientists have zeroed in on a culprit that spurs damaging inflammation in the heart following a heart attack. The guilty party is a type of immune cell that tries to heal the injured heart but instead triggers inflammation that leads to even more damage. Further, the researchers have found that an already approved drug effectively

Guess what, guys? It turns out your sperm is more complicated than researchers ever knew. Scientists always knew that a fertilized egg cell — or a zygote — required two centrioles from the sperm in order to create a fetus. The going theory used to be that sperm contained one centriole, which duplicated itself once

Achieving and maintaining a healthy weight may not be easy, but it can improve a person’s health and should be a goal for people with diabetes. Some of the benefits include: better cholesterol levels improved blood pressure more stable blood sugar levels lower risk of long-term health problems In this article, we consider how people

There is a link between higher serum vitamin D levels and lower plasma cholesterol levels in primary school children, new research from the University of Eastern Finland shows. Children whose serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels exceeded 80 nmol/l had lower plasma total and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels than children whose serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels were

Negative experiences on social media carry more weight than positive interactions when it comes to the likelihood of young adults reporting depressive symptoms, according to a new University of Pittsburgh analysis. The finding, reported today in the journal Depression and Anxiety, may be useful for designing interventions and clinical recommendations to reduce the risk of

‘Worst ever winter’ for NHS prompted record number of complaints as official figures also reveal the best and worst trusts for care across England (so how does yours rate?) NHS Digital figures showed 49,580 written complaints were made in quarter 4 This is 4,000 more than what was recorded between October and December Most were

Scientists have discovered that the absence of a specific protein in cells lining the esophagus may cause inflammation and tissue damage in people with eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE). EoE affects as many as 150,000 people in the United States, many of whom are children. People with EoE experience difficult or painful swallowing, vomiting and nutritional problems

Historically, hospital patients have been at a high risk for adverse effects after they are discharged, according to the Institute of Medicine. These effects can be defined as unplanned bad circumstances that are directly related to the patient’s diagnosis, clinical conditions or the care they received while in the hospital. Many times these events lead

Fewer gay and bisexual men are using condoms while taking PrEP, the antiretroviral pill that prevents HIV, according to research published today in the The Lancet medical journal. The study shows the rate of gay and bisexual men in Sydney and Melbourne taking pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), and reporting condomless anal intercourse with casual partners, has