Health Problems News

New insights into how cancer cells fuel their growth are opening novel possibilities for cancer treatment. A team of researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center has identified a long sought after connection between how cancer cells use the sugar glucose to generate energy — the Warburg pathway — and

Say you are shown an apple, a banana and a fruit you have never seen before. Then you are asked to pick the “pifo.” Which fruit would you choose? Chances are you would select the novel fruit. Children often use the same strategy—leveraging their knowledge of familiar objects—to learn new words and connect them with

Invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells are powerful weapons our body’s immune systems count on to fight infection and combat diseases like cancer, multiple sclerosis, and lupus. Finding ways to spark these potent cells into action could lead to more effective cancer treatments and vaccines. While several chemical compounds have shown promise stimulating iNKT cells

In one of the largest and most diverse studies of transgender youths to date, researchers led by a team at The University of Texas at Austin have found that when transgender youths are allowed to use their chosen name in places such as work, school and at home, their risk of depression and suicide drops.

Vanderbilt University Medical Center has developed a voice assistant for caregivers to use navigating the hospital's Epic electronic health record. The new tool processes requests using natural language processing and understanding technology, and not just macros, officials say – noting that it could represent an important paradigm shift in how providers interact with their EHRs

Although past research has shown that thigh, hip and buttocks fat might actually protect against heart disease, a new study says losing fat in those areas is linked to better cardiovascular health. The study, published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Heart Association, comes eight years after a well-publicized study in the International Journal

Researchers at the University of Calgary’s Cumming School of Medicine (CSM) have for the first time been able to observe—live and in real-time—how the human body responds to often lethal fungal blood infections in the lung. In the study, the fungal infection Candida albicans was introduced to mice or human models of the lung vasculature

Finding ways to help patients with COPD improve their functional status is an area of interest for pulmonary healthcare providers. Currently, pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) is used where available to improve exercise capacity and quality of life, but the treatment requires access to trained staff and specialized facilities. A new study in the journal CHEST looked

One of the major side effects of chemotherapy is a sharp drop in white blood cells, which leaves patients vulnerable to dangerous infections. MIT researchers have now developed a portable device that could be used to monitor patients’ white blood cell levels at home, without taking blood samples. Such a device could prevent thousands of

Because of advances in drug design and precision medicine, researchers have been able to target certain molecules within a cell at the root of a particular disease and to develop specific therapies to undo their damages. Today, precision targeting combines therapy decisions with molecular insights to offer hope after a life-changing cancer diagnosis. But there’s

The longevity and health improvements seen in animals on sulfur amino acid-restricted diets could translate to people, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers who recently conducted a review of published studies. More research is needed to confirm the benefits in people, the scientists said. Amino acids are the building blocks of all proteins

A novel approach to treating fluid build-up around the lungs of cancer patients could deliver a more effective home-based treatment for thousands of people who might be approaching the end of their lives, according to a new study led by the University of Bristol and North Bristol NHS Trust. In patients with all types of

Focusing on a simple hormone in us all, a Yale researcher has found specific forms of it that poke toxic holes in cells—a discovery that he is leveraging into a treatment for patients with diabetes. The research, published April 3 in Nature Communications, is also central to the recent awarding of two grants totaling $600,000

An advance by UCLA neuroscientists could lead to a better understanding of astrocytes, a star-shaped brain cell believed to play a key role in neurological disorders like Lou Gehrig’s, Alzheimer’s and Huntington’s disease. Reported in Neuron, the new method enables researchers to peer deep inside a mouse’s brain and watch astrocytes’ influence over nerve-cell communication

A smartphone application using the phone’s camera function performed better than traditional physical examination to assess blood flow in a wrist artery for patients undergoing coronary angiography, according to a randomized trial published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). These findings highlight the potential of smartphone applications to help physicians make decisions at the bedside.

A new clinical study will test for the first time if MRI scans can be used for population screening to detect prostate cancer more accurately. The current prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test is considered too unreliable for population screening, and the scientists will study if MRI could be used to screen men to pick up cancers

There may be a critical window for overweight kids to get to a healthy level. Those who shed their extra pounds by age 13 had the same risk of developing diabetes in adulthood as others who had never weighed too much, a large study of Danish men found. Diabetes can develop when the body can’t

Researchers are now able to use induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) to form a model of human adult-like cardiac muscle by introducing electric and mechanical stimulation at an early stage. Since this muscle is similar to the adult heart, it could serve as a better model for testing the effects of drugs and toxic substances

More globalization means more multinational corporations are increasingly sending their employees overseas, swelling the ranks of expatriates in foreign locales where they are strangers to the language, the culture and ways of doing business. A new study from Florida Atlantic University shows that expatriates’ personality characteristics have a lot to do with how well they

(HealthDay)—Energy-based devices are both safe and effective methods of nonsurgical treatment for feminine rejuvenation, according to a review published online March 10 in the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology. Michael Gold, M.D., from the Gold Skin Care Center in Nashville, Tenn., and colleagues conducted a literature review to explore the safety, efficacy, tolerability, patient satisfaction, and