Category: Health Problems

Of the major illnesses facing humanity, Alzheimer’s disease (AD) remains among the most pitiless and confounding. Over a century after its discovery, no effective prevention or treatment exists for this progressive deterioration of brain tissue, memory and identity. With more people living to older ages, there is a growing need to clarify Alzheimer’s disease risk

(HealthDay)—Michael Wright was just 16 when he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, and although his friends supported him, he always felt different. “I would do my injections and testing in private [in another room or even the bathroom] to avoid having conversations about diabetes with people,” he said. It was also to avoid stares

A first-ever tissue implant to safely treat a common jaw defect, known as temporomandibular joint dysfunction, has been successfully tested by UCI-led researchers in a large animal model, according to new findings. “We were able to show that we could achieve exceptional healing of the TMJ area after eight weeks of treatment,” said UCI distinguished

Giving the drug sodium thiosulphate after chemotherapy reduces hearing loss in children treated for liver cancer, according to findings published in the New England Journal of Medicine today. Results from the Cancer Research UK funded SIOPEL-6 clinical trial show that giving sodium thiosulphate (STS), after a type of chemotherapy called cisplatin, reduces hearing loss by

EMBL researchers have designed a computational method to jointly analyse multiple types of molecular data from patients in order to identify molecular signatures that distinguish individuals. The method is called Multi-Omics Factor Analysis (MOFA), and was published in Molecular Systems Biology today. MOFA could be particularly useful for understanding cancer development, improving diagnosis and suggesting

The way people view the social exclusion of others varies depending on how much they think the excluded person is to blame. However, this is heavily influenced by how similar the group members are to each other, as a research team from the University of Basel writes in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

More than seven years ago, a big health finding reported on in a peer-reviewed journal went largely unnoticed. “Spanish chronobiologists found that taking your blood pressure medication at bedtime instead of in the morning reduced the risk of heart attack, stroke and death by 61 per cent,” said Scott Garrison, an associate professor in the

The newest antiviral drugs could take advantage of a compound made not by humans, but inside them. A team of researchers has identified the mode of action of viperin, a naturally occurring enzyme in humans and other mammals that is known to have antiviral effects on a wide variety of viruses, including West Nile, hepatitis

Each year, more than 6 million children in the United States are referred to Child Protective Services for abuse or neglect. Previous research on the consequences of early life stress and child maltreatment shows that these children will be more likely to develop a multitude of social and mental health problems. Teens and adults who

New genetic testing has been developed at the University of Oxford to detect early signs of a potentially fatal condition that can also develop into full blown leukaemia in children with Down’s syndrome. Despite children with Down’s syndrome having around a one in 50 chance of developing acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), compared to a one

Paralysis of an arm and/or leg is one of the most common effects of a stroke. But thanks to research carried out by scientists at the Defitech Foundation Chair in Brain-Machine Interface and collaborators, stroke victims may soon be able to recover greater use of their paralyzed limbs. The scientists’ pioneering approach brings together two

Stereotactic neurosurgery is one of the treatment to a variety of movement and neuropsychiatric disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease (PD), essential tremor and major depression. It involves a technique that can locate targets of surgical interest using an external positioning system, which is widely used in brain biopsy, tumor ablation, drug delivery, as well as

An international team of scientists have developed a new way to screen for age-related cognitive decline at home using a test which asks people to detect sounds and flashes on their laptop or phone. Developed by researchers from Switzerland and the UK, the study shows that the simple, cost-effective test may be used to help

It’s called the Silver Tsunami—the increased incidence of cancer with ageing, combined with the rapidly ageing population means that the Australian health system needs to prepare for an onslaught of cancer diagnoses. A new study out of Monash University, published today in the journal Cell Reports, may have found a group of immune cells that

The average 10-year risk of developing cardiovascular disease varies widely among India’s states, ranging from 13.2% to 19.5%, with substantial variation across socio-demographic groups according to a study published this week in PLOS Medicine by Pascal Geldsetzer and Rifat Atun of Harvard University, and colleagues. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of mortality in

Reviewing medical information gathered on more than 6,000 adults over a 10-year period, Johns Hopkins researchers have found that lower than normal blood levels of vitamin D were linked to increased risk of early signs of interstitial lung disease (ILD). Interstitial lung disease is a relatively rare group of disorders characterized by lung scarring and

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia. It takes a devastating toll on patients and family members, who are usually the caregivers. Current drugs only treat symptoms of AD, not its causes. FIU researchers are studying a new approach to treating Alzheimer’s using nanotechnology aimed at reducing the inflammation in the brain.

This month marks the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy. Struck by bullets on June 5, 1968, following his victory speech at the California Democratic Party presidential primary, Kennedy died of severe brain injury on the following day, June 6. Although much has been written about RFK’s assassination—some documented and some

It is known that the onset of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is associated with the accumulation of Amyloid beta (Aβ) peptides in small molecular clusters known as oligomers. These trigger the formation of so-called ‘neurofibrillary tangles’ within neurons hamper their workings, ultimately causing cell death and so significant cognitive decline. Very large Aβ oligomers which form

People whose knees have been affected by osteoarthritis, also known as the ‘wear and tear’ arthritis, often have to get knee implants to repair the damage. But if a knee implant does not fit the specific individual, it can lead to soft tissue damage, collapsing of the underlying bone, loosening of the implant and an