Tag: Diseases and Conditions

Outbreaks in New York state continue to drive up the number of U.S. measles cases, which are approaching levels not seen in 25 years. Health officials say 71 more cases were reported last week, with 68 of them from New York. That brings this years total to 626. That is already the most since 2014,

A scientific breakthrough provides new hope for millions of people living with multiple sclerosis. Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University have developed a compound that stimulates repair of the protective sheath that covers nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. The discovery, involving mice genetically engineered to mimic multiple sclerosis, published in the

Two proteins that bind to stress hormones work together to maintain a healthy heart in mice, according to scientists at the National Institutes of Health and their collaborators. These proteins, stress hormone receptors known as the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) and mineralocorticoid receptor (MR), act in concert to help support heart health. When the signaling between

Melanoma is one of the most aggressive types of skin cancer, but recent advances in targeted therapies have improved the prognosis for many patients. Unfortunately, for some patients these positive outcomes are not long lasting, due to the development of drug resistance and tumor recurrence. Moffitt Cancer Center researchers have discovered a mechanism by which

Tick-Borne Relapsing Fever (TBRF) is a recurring fever caused by exposure to infected Borrelia bacteria. Several cases have been reported in Mexico, but the disease gets little attention. Now, researchers reporting in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases describe the details of an additional case of TBRF in Sonora, Mexico in 2012. On January 27, 2012, a

An estimated six to 15 million people in the U.S. are children born of a pregnancy complicated by preeclampsia. New research performed in rats reveals that treating preeclampsia with sildenafil citrate (Viagra) may help protect the cardiovascular health of the offspring. Preeclampsia occurs when women with otherwise normal blood pressure experience elevated blood pressure during

An analysis of the reports and materials provided by commercial laboratories offering noninvasive prenatal screening (NIPS) for genetic disorders finds that none of them fully meet the recommendations published by the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG). The report from a team of specialists in medical genetics is being published in the journal

What makes a biological clock tick? According to a new study from U of T Mississauga, the surprising answer lies with a gene typically associated with stem and cancer cells. In the first study of its kind for the field of circadian biology, UTM researchers used RNA sequencing to observe the expression of genes in

National Institutes of Health scientists studying the progression of inherited and infectious eye diseases that can cause blindness have found that microglia, a type of nervous system cell suspected to cause retinal damage, surprisingly had no damaging role during prion disease in mice. In contrast, the study findings indicated that microglia might delay disease progression.

Using data from computed tomography (CT) images, researchers may be able to predict which lung cancer patients will respond to chemotherapy, according to a new study published in the journal Radiology: Artificial Intelligence. Platinum-based chemotherapy is typically the first-line treatment of advanced-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, only about one in four patients responds

About six million people come into an emergency department every year with chest pain, but not all of them are having a heart attack — and many are not even at risk or are at very low risk for having one. Now, a new research study presented at the American College Cardiology Scientific Sessions from

Racial and ethnic disparities in severe maternal morbidity — life-threatening maternal complications associated with childbirth — have persisted and increased at high rates among U.S. women, according to an analysis of nearly 20 years of California hospital records funded by the National Institutes of Health. Known risk factors for these complications — such as blood

Accumulation of fat in the liver, known as fatty liver disease, is experienced by over 5.5 million Australians, including more than 40% of all adults over the age of 50. Fatty liver develops from a combination of both genetic and environmental causes, which influence the age of onset and severity of the disease. Experts are

A research group headed by Professor Outi Mäkitie, University of Helsinki, Finland, identified in families with childhood-onset osteoporosis disease-causing mutations in a gene that had previously not been connected with the skeletal system or osteoporosis. “Through extensive genetic research, we identified a gene defect underlying osteoporosis in two Finnish families with several affected family members.

Skin cells taken from patients with a rare genetic disorder are up to ten times more sensitive to damage from ultraviolet A (AVA) radiation in laboratory tests, than those from a healthy population, according to new research from the University of Bath. It is hoped that the work, which has involved designing a brand new

Atopic dermatitis, a common inflammatory skin condition also known as allergic eczema, affects nearly 20 percent of children, 30 percent of whom also have food allergies. Scientists have now found that children with both atopic dermatitis and food allergy have structural and molecular differences in the top layers of healthy-looking skin near the eczema lesions,

Specialized lung cells appear in the developing fetus much earlier than scientists previously thought. A new animal study reports how cells that become alveoli, the tiny compartments in which gas exchange occurs in the lung, begin their specialized roles very early in prenatal life. The researchers say that investigating the fetal signaling pathways active in

A personal survey of patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), one of the most important causes of irregular heartbeats, has found that the majority of triggers for the condition are easily modifiable lifestyle choices, including alcohol, caffeine, exercise and lack of sleep. The findings, identified by researchers at UC San Francisco in collaboration with patients and

A group of more than 60 leading international neuroscientists, including Mark Herceg, PhD, a neuropsychologist at Northwell Health’s Phelps Hospital in Sleepy Hollow, NY, and a member of The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, published a correspondence today in The Lancet Neurology, asking for balance when reporting on sports-related injury chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). CTE

A Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) research team has identified interaction between two elements of the immune system as critical for the transformation of a protective immune response into chronic, cancer-promoting inflammation. In their report published in PNAS, the investigators demonstrate that elevated levels of the immune factor IL-33 and regulatory T cells (Tregs), which suppress