Category: Health Problems

We have a ‘thirst for knowledge’ but sometime ‘ignorance is bliss’, so how do we choose between these two mind states at any given time? UCL psychologists have discovered our brains use the same algorithm and neural architecture to evaluate the opportunity to gain information, as it does to evaluate rewards like food or money.

Imagine that you’re supposed to meet colleagues for dinner, only you can’t remember what their faces look like. For some, this is a reality, as people with face blindness or developmental prosopagnosia (DP) have severe difficulties recognizing faces, including those of family and friends, despite having no history of brain damage (e.g., brain trauma, head

A genetic anomaly in certain men with prostate cancer may impact their response to common drugs used to treat the disease, according to new research at Cleveland Clinic. The findings may provide important information for identifying which patients potentially fare better when treated with an alternate therapy. In a newly published study in Journal of

Chemical compounds produced by the bacteria in our gut could be used to spot the early stages of liver disease, according to new research. The findings, published in the journal Nature Medicine, hint at the potential for chemical by-products produced by the microbes living inside us to be used as early warning signs of disease,

To help prevent possible complications such as nonunion at large fracture sites, researchers have developed a cartilage matrix that mimics the early stages of repair and provides the essential structural and biological properties needed by bone-forming cells to divide and grow. A new study describing the methods used for matrix decellularization and optimization to promote

For five years, Patti Swearingen battled an infection that refused to go away. Doctors prescribed round after round of antibiotics, but the infection kept coming back. Eventually, the microscopic war inside her body left Swearingen so weak and debilitated she could barely leave her living room couch. In March, she and her husband Gary decided

Northwestern Medicine scientists have discovered that some neurons affected by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) display hypo-excitability, using a new method to measure electrical activity in cells, according to a study published in Stem Cell Reports. “The excitability changes observed in these patient neurons most likely represent the early steps in the disease process,” said Evangelos

The eye hosts a powerful biological computer, the retina. Understanding how the retina transforms images from the outside world into signals that the brain can interpret would not only result in insights into brain computations, but could also be useful for medicine. As machine learning and artificial intelligence advance, eye diseases will soon be described

The Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy has led to more than 2,300 children being separated from their parents. While the administration on Wednesday reversed course to allow migrant families to avoid separation by being detained together, the sad truth is that for some children damage has already been done, according to Michael A. Southam-Gerow,

A new CAMH and Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) study shows that people with schizophrenia account for more than 1 in 10 cases of suicide in Ontario, and that young people are disproportionately affected. “Among people who died by suicide, having a diagnosis of schizophrenia is clearly over-represented,” says Dr. Juveria Zaheer, first author

Fighting cancer means killing cancer cells. However, oncologists know that it’s also important to halt the movement of cancer cells before they spread throughout the body. New research, published today in the journal Nature Communications, shows that it may be possible to freeze cancer cells and kill them where they stand. Raymond Bergan, M.D., Division

A large team of researchers from the U.S. and China has succeeded in identifying a number of RNA fragments found in human fat tissue. In their paper published in the journal Science Translational Medicine the group describes their study of the fragments they found and their possible links with obesity. Prior research has reported RNA

Body dissatisfaction among women is widespread and can lead to a number of worrisome outcomes, including eating disorders, depression and anxiety. While researchers know a lot about what makes women’s body image worse, they are still short on empirically supported interventions for improving women’s body image. Renee Engeln, a professor of instruction in psychology in

Black Americans are nearly three times more likely to be killed by police than their white counterparts, with even larger disparities among those who are unarmed. The trend is also harming the mental health of the black community, according to new research published in The Lancet from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University

In a study of children with chronic kidney disease (CKD), blood pressure medications reduced protein excretion in the urine, which was linked with a lower risk of disease progression. The findings, which appear in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN), provide valuable information for monitoring and treating pediatric

The disappearance of an entire brain region should be cause for concern. Yet, for decades scientists have calmly maintained that one brain area, the subplate, simply vanishes during the course of human development. Recently, however, research has revealed genetic similarities between cells in the subplate and neurons implicated in autism—leading a team of Rockefeller scientists to

(HealthDay)—In accordance with the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) does not intend to change its recommendations for colorectal cancer screening based on the recent change in the American Cancer Society (ACS) guideline. The ACS recently released an updated guideline recommending colorectal cancer screening starting at age 45

More people will survive cardiac arrest if resuscitation course designers and instructors address shortcomings in educational offerings, new research shows. A new statement released today by the American Heart Association, the world’s leading voluntary health organization devoted to fighting cardiovascular disease, in its journal Circulation, indicates standardized online and in-person courses are falling short and

Bisexual men have a higher risk for heart disease compared with heterosexual men across several modifiable risk factors, finds a new study published online in the journal LGBT Health. “Our findings highlight the impact of sexual orientation, specifically sexual identity, on the cardiovascular health of men and suggest clinicians and public health practitioners should develop

A cancer treatment already approved for use in certain types of cancer has been found to block cell growth in a common form of lung cancer for which there is currently no specific treatment available. The new findings, published today in Science Translational Medicine and led by the University of Glasgow, suggest that a large