Category: Health Problems

Astrocytes—the star-shaped cells of our brain—are very busy. Their job description includes maintaining the blood-brain barrier, removing excess neurotransmitters, repairing brain tissue and more. Their important role in brain function suggests astrocytes are also involved in disease. Scientists are particularly interested in uncovering how they may drive inflammation in the brain. Brain inflammation is linked

Researchers at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital have created a massive database of the changes in gene activity of individual cells in the cerebellum during embryonic development and immediately after birth. The analysis of thousands of brain cells isolated from mice offers researchers a high-resolution map that enables scientists to view the detailed genomic changes

Romania’s prime minister has requested financial help from the European Union to deal with the financial effects of a serious outbreak of African swine fever. Premier Viorica Dancila made the request Thursday to the EU’s agriculture commissioner, Phil Hogan, explaining that Romania needs the money “to reduce the unfortunate impact” the disease has had on

(HealthDay)—Patients with prostate cancer receiving care in a Medicare-only setting are more likely to receive guideline-discordant imaging, according to a study published online Aug. 17 in JAMA Network Open. Danil V. Makarov, M.D., from New York University School of Medicine in New York City, and colleagues examined the correlation between prostate cancer imaging rates and

A study led by Boston Children’s Hospital and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) may open up new opportunities for treating neuropathic pain, a difficult-to-treat type of chronic pain due to damage to the nervous system that can make the lightest touch intensely painful. In a report today in Nature, scientists led by Zhigang

With new immunotherapy treatments for melanoma, recovery rates have risen dramatically, in some cases to around 50%. But they could be much higher: A new study led by researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science showed, in lab dishes and animal studies, that a highly personalized approach could help the immune cells improve their abilities

The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) today released its annual Cancer Progress Report highlighting how federally funded research discoveries are fueling the development of new and even more effective ways to prevent, detect, diagnose, and treat cancer. Key advances outlined in the AACR Cancer Progress Report 2018 include the following: Twenty-two treatments for cancer

A new study in Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation indicates that consuming more caffeine may help reduce the risk of death for people with chronic kidney disease. An inverse relationship between coffee consumption and mortality has been reported in the general population. However, the association between caffeine consumption and mortality for people with chronic kidney disease remains

(HealthDay)—A total of 43,371 new cases of human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated cancers were reported in 2015, with oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) being the most common HPV-associated cancer, according to research published in the Aug. 24 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Elizabeth A. Van Dyne, M.D.,

Giving up a kidney to a stranger requires a certain sense of selflessness, what’s come to be known in social science as extraordinary altruism. University of Pennsylvania psychologist Kristin Brethel-Haurwitz wanted to understand the connection between this trait and empathy, specifically empathy for distress emotions. Using fMRI scans, Brethel-Haurwitz and colleagues from Georgetown University discovered

Researchers from the University of Luxembourg have discovered a molecular mechanism that is responsible for the spread of cancer cells in the body and the development of metastases in patients with colon cancer. Their findings could help to develop treatments that inhibit tumor growth. Colorectal cancer (CRC) is among the most prevalent cancer types worldwide,

September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. There is no screening test for ovarian cancer. Three FIU medical students would like to change that. They are hoping to save lives by collecting used tampons. The idea began to germinate when Jessica Seigel, Leah Cohen and Lauren Dittman, who are in their fourth year at Herbert Wertheim

Promoting repair of dystrophic muscles is a major goal in the treatment of muscular dystrophies but is complicated by the incomplete knowledge of the cellular and molecular events that drive muscle regeneration. Answers could lie in better understanding muscle repair—which resembles a delicate cellular dance choreographed by special cells called fibro-adipogenic progenitors (FAPs). Researchers already

Mononuclear phagocytes can both promote and inhibit inflammation. An LMU team has now shown that individual phagocytes in the central nervous system can play both roles, sequentially adopting different phenotypes with distinct functions. Mononuclear phagocytes, which recognize, engulf and digest damaged and infected cells, form an important arm of the innate immune system. However, they

The release of “danger” molecules in response to significant periods of mental stress early in life may leave young people at lifelong risk of cardiovascular disease, scientists report. “We know mental stress is bad for the cardiovascular system,” says Dr. Yanbin Dong, geneticist and cardiologist at the Georgia Prevention Institute at the Medical College of

Four scientists have won prestigious medical awards for genetics research and development of a widely used anesthetic nicknamed “milk of amnesia.” Winners of the $250,000 awards from the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation were announced Tuesday. The prizes will be presented later this month in New York. The clinical medicine award went to John B.

Chronic pain may be an important contributor to suicide. Nearly 9 percent of people who died by suicide in 18 states from 2003 to 2014 had documentation of chronic pain in their incident records. Findings from the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) are published in Annals of Internal Medicine. More than 25 million adults

For about one in five people with what appears to be hard-to-treat, or resistant, high blood pressure, they simply aren’t taking prescribed medications, new research suggests. Drug-resistant hypertension appears to be on the rise and occurs when blood pressure remains above normal even after the patient has been put on three or more blood pressure

High blood pressure rates could nearly double in women of childbearing age if the latest guidelines are used, according to a new study. But researchers say more investigation is needed to see if those lower blood pressure targets in pregnant women are safe—or effective. The study, published Sept. 10 in the journal Hypertension, set out

The first simple blood test to identify your body’s precise internal time clock as compared to the external time has been developed by Northwestern Medicine scientists. The test, TimeSignature—which requires only two blood draws—can tell physicians and researchers the time in your body despite the time in the external world. For instance, even if it’s