Modern blood cancer treatments require new approach for monitoring, reporting side effects

Treatment changes including the advent of targeted and immune therapies have dramatically improved survival for blood cancers, but new report calls for improved evaluation of poorly understood side effects that may develop over time.—- Survival rates for blood cancers—including lymphoma, myeloma and some types of leukaemia—have dramatically increased over the past decade, due in great

How to Reset Your Metabolism: Is it Possible?

It’s been hard to miss the success of NBC’s “The Biggest Loser,” in which people underwent dramatic weight loss makeovers to compete for the $250,000 grand prize. But it turns out the short, grueling, extreme pace to weight loss has a price. A recent NY Times article details how Season 8 contestants have gained back

New evidence sheds light on how Parkinson’s disease may happen

Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital have identified unexpected new key players in the development of an early onset form of Parkinson’s disease called Parkinsonism. These key players are ceramides, a family of lipid molecules that are found within cell membranes. The researchers propose that ceramides are the linchpin that connects

Novel infection fighter

Hospital-acquired infections are a serious threat to patient lives, especially with the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. One drug that may prove helpful in the fight against these infections is monophosphoryl Lipid A (MPLA). MPLA stimulates the immune system to help fight off invaders like bacteria or fungi. It is already used clinically to help make

JAK inhibitors associated with aggressive lymphoma

Austrian researchers have discovered that a small number of patients taking targeted drugs known as Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors to treat myelofibrosis may develop aggressive lymphomas. They also speculate that screening for a preexisting B-cell clone before starting therapy may help prevent this side effect and potentially save lives, according to a study published online

Psychedelic drugs promote neural plasticity in rats and flies

Psychedelic drugs may have mind-altering powers in the physical sense, too. A new study, published June 12 in the journal Cell Reports, found psychedelics, specifically DOI, DMT, and LSD, can change brain cells in rats and flies, making neurons more likely to branch out and connect with one another. The work supports the theory that

Brain changes linked to sleep need

We’ve all experienced going to bed tired and waking up refreshed, yet how that happens at the molecular level remains a mystery. An international study published today in Nature sheds new light on the biochemistry of sleep need in the brain. According to the American Sleep Association, 50 million to 70 million U.S. adults have

Early source of irritable bowel syndrome discovered

Michigan State University scientists have identified an early cause of intestinal inflammation, one of the first stages of inflammatory bowel disease and irritable bowel syndrome, which afflict around 11 percent of the world’s population. The discovery, featured in the current issue of Cellular and Molecular Gastroenterology and Hepatology, points to communication between sensory neurons in

How healthy is your diet?

(HealthDay)—As Americans, we’re making some headway in our efforts to improve the quality of our diet, but we’re far from ideal levels. Research shows that healthier eating prevented over a million premature deaths in the 13-year period from 1999 to 2012, along with 8.6 percent fewer heart disease cases, 1.3 percent fewer cancer cases, and