Category: Health Problems

The high estrogen levels that typically afford younger women protection from cardiovascular disease appear to instead multiply their risk if they have type 1 diabetes, researchers say. A new study is examining the blood vessel health of these women during normal estrogen peaks and valleys and seeing whether treatment with over-the-counter supplements can help restore

FT819, an off-the-shelf, T-cell receptor (TCR)-less CD19 CAR T-cell product that could potentially be made more accessible to cancer patients than conventional CAR T-cell therapies showed positive results in preclinical specificity, functionality, and efficacy studies, according to data presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2018, April 14-18. “Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy has shown

For decades, the neuroscience community has been baffled by the existence of dense connections in the brain that seem to be going “backwards.” These connections, which span extensively across distant areas of the neocortex, are clearly conveying important information. But until now, the organization of the connections, and therefore their possible role, was largely unknown.

With each new version of the widely-used manual of mental disorders, the number of mental health conditions increases. The latest version (DSM-5) lists around 300 disorders. To complicate things, many share common features, such as depression and anxiety. The manual is a useful guide for doctors and researchers, but making a diagnosis is not a

Checkpoint inhibitors that block the protein PD-1 are used in melanoma patients after they’ve had surgery to remove their cancer, but not all patients benefit from the immunotherapy. Now a new study from the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania found that shifting use of anti-PD-1 drugs to before surgery may provide clues

Patients with advanced prostate cancer who received more intensive treatment experienced worse quality of life three months after treatment, but a better quality of life in the long term, compared to those on standard therapy, according to a new Northwestern Medicine study. The findings were published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. “Treatment of prostate

Seeking the feel good factor? Go natural. That is the simple message from University of Otago researchers who have discovered raw fruit and vegetables may be better for your mental health than cooked, canned and processed fruit and vegetables. Dr. Tamlin Conner, Psychology Senior Lecturer and lead author, says public health campaigns have historically focused

The hippocampus is an area of the brain commonly linked with memory and dementia. But new U of T Scarborough research finds that it may also yield important clues about a range of mental health illnesses including addiction, anxiety and depression. The research, authored by a team of neuroscientists, found that a specific part of

Patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) waiting for a liver transplant in the USA are now significantly less likely to receive a new liver than they were around a decade ago. A nationwide study presented today at The International Liver Congress 2018 in Paris, France, has confirmed that patients with HCC on the liver transplant list

(HealthDay)—When it comes to a fever, what’s true for kids isn’t necessarily so for adults. Even a slight temperature in a child warrants a call to the doctor. That’s not the case, though, for most fevers in most adults. What’s considered a normal temperature varies from one adult to the next. In general, though, 98.6

A University of Montana researcher and her collaborators have published a new study that reveals increased risks for Alzheimer’s and suicide among children and young adults living in polluted megacities. Dr. Lilian Calderón-Garcidueñas said her group studied 203 autopsies of Mexico City residents ranging in age from 11 months to 40 years. Metropolitan Mexico City

Hepatitis C is easily cured. Yet, about 400,000 people die of the liver disease every year as only a smattering get the medicine they need. On Friday, the World Health Organization (WHO) urged governments to attack the problem with more urgency, and more money. Only about three million people from an estimated 71 million Hepatitis

An analysis of outcomes and costs for German patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)/non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) who develop compensated cirrhosis was presented today at The International Liver Congress 2018 in Paris, France. Healthcare costs for this population spiked in the first year after compensated cirrhosis diagnosis. Comorbidities were common and one in five patients

A new view of a protein frequently mutated in pituitary tumors is overturning conventional wisdom and could point to novel targets for cancer drugs. The protein, a “G protein” called Gαs, initiates messages inside cells. But a single mutation alters Gαs action in a surprising way. The protein’s molecular “off switch” actually switches activity on,

We have developed “smart egg carton” packages for transporting live human pancreas cells for transplantation to diabetic patients. The egg cartons provide oxygen and allow physical separation to prevent damage and death to the cells – known as islet cells – during transport. Besides a whole pancreas transplant (which has a high mortality rate), currently

(HealthDay)—The lives of contact lens wearers just got a whole lot easier. On Tuesday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first contact lenses that can act like sunglasses. A special additive automatically darkens the lenses when exposed to bright light, while they become clear again in normal or dark lighting conditions. “This contact

Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a cancer that is diagnosed in the U.S. more than 70,000 times annually, arises from overly proliferating immune cells within the body’s lymph nodes, which are connected to a network of lymph vessels through which lymphatic fluid flows. The most common type of lymphoma is diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), accounting for about

Sitting too much is linked to changes in a section of the brain that is critical for memory, according to a preliminary study by UCLA researchers of middle-aged and older adults. Studies show that too much sitting, like smoking, increases the risk of heart disease, diabetes and premature death. Researchers at UCLA wanted to see

(HealthDay)—For patients with breast cancer, endocrine therapy-induced alopecia (EIA) has a pattern that is similar to androgenetic alopecia, according to a study published online April 11 in JAMA Dermatology. Azael Freites-Martinez, M.D., from the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, and colleagues conducted a retrospective cohort study to characterize EIA in 112

A Purdue University-patented technology shows promise in using microscopic bubbles filled with oxygen to help with various medical treatments, including improving cancer therapeutics and helping wounds heal faster. Samara Biotech LLC, a Purdue startup, has developed an easy-to-use method to inject oxygen “nanobubbles” intravenously so they can be targeted precisely at wounds or cancerous tumors.