Tag: new

The discovery of a new mechanism involved in depression – and a way to target it with a drug as effective as classical antidepressants—provides new understanding of this illness and could pave the way for treatments with fewer side effects. In a study published in Nature Medicine, a team of scientists at McGill University and

Researchers at Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) have launched a pilot study to see how a drug that treats several related autoimmune disorders affects the skeleton. The two-year study, led by Susan M. Goodman, MD, a rheumatologist at HSS in New York City, will look at the effect on bone of secukinumab in men and

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified more than 150 genetic variations associated with increased risk for breast cancer. Most of these variants are not located in protein-coding gene regions but are assumed to regulate the expression of certain genes. One way to figure out what these variants are doing is to conduct a cis-eQTL analysis.

A team from the University of Oxford and Cardiff University have used mathematical models to re-enact the complex process of brain development that occurs as initialising cells, otherwise known as progenitor cells, start to grow and begin to differentiate into more specialist cells at various points in time. By applying this experimentally realistic model to

Researchers from the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Research at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences have characterised a new protein that is important to the genetic stability of cells. It may be significant for the development of new drugs against genetically determined diseases like cancer, sterility and premature ageing. All cell nuclei

A new study on mice offers insights into why some people’s hair may turn gray in response to a serious illness or chronic stress. Publishing May 3 in the open access journal PLOS Biology, researchers at the National Institutes of Health and the University of Alabama, Birmingham have discovered a connection between the genes that

One major hallmark of cancer cells is their ability to adapt to stressful conditions such as nutrient deprivation. Rapidly growing tumor cells must compete for the ever-diminishing supply of nutrients in the surrounding environment to survive and proliferate. Targeting these adaptive mechanisms represents a promising approach for cancer therapeutics. Sanford Prebys Medical Discovery Institute (SBP)

As the brain grows and develops, nerve cells must make connections between one another in order to function properly. Brain cells are tightly packed together, so each cell might touch hundreds or thousands of other cells, and yet those cells only make stable and strong connections with a fraction of those neighboring cells. Researchers have

Our brains are home to a staggering 86 billion or so cells that are carefully woven into the structure that lets us think, feel and live. This awe-inspiring complexity offers a glimpse into why, after many years of research, there’s still so much to be understood about the brain. And for brain tumours, the unknowns

From 2002 to 2013, New York City implemented a series of policies prioritizing the public’s health in areas beyond traditional healthcare policies and illustrated the potential to reduce cardiovascular disease risk. This strategy is known as employing a “health in all policies” approach. Researchers at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health catalogued health-relevant legislation

‘Having BOTH knees done in the same op halved my recovery time’: Agony aunt VIRGINIA IRONSIDE on the new partial replacements that get you quickly back on your feet Virginia Ironside discusses the new partial replacements that get you quickly back on your feet What was it, six months ago, that prompted me to consult

How to REALLY beat back pain: As new studies reveal many treatments do little to help, doctors offer advice on what actually works and what doesn’t Four out of five adults in the UK experience back pain at some point in their life It accounts for seven million trips to the GP a year, many

The two most common types of inflammatory bowel disease are ulcerous colitis and Crohn’s disease. These are diagnosed via endoscopy and gut biopsy. The diagnosis is often difficult, and the wrong diagnosis may have severe consequences for patients, because the treatments and medications are different between the two diseases. The development of new and improved

NHS set to offer cancer patients a ‘game changer’ treatment that could save THOUSANDS of lives CAR-T therapy is a new treatment for chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) The immunotherapy treatment could benefit 30,000 Britons a year  Trials in the US showed it eradicated CLL in 94 per cent of patients The NHS is preparing to

Farmers worldwide face mounting pressure to increase agricultural yields to keep up with human population growth. Consequently, chemical use is on the rise – in many cases a cocktail of chemicals, from fertilizers to herbicides to insecticides. But in countries where human population growth is highest, including China, South East Asia and South America, these

Less than half the patients diagnosed with cancer respond favorably to chemotherapy, but a new method for testing how patients will respond to various drugs could pave the way for more personalized treatment. Using Doppler light scattering, like a weather radar, researchers can determine how a patient will respond to chemotherapy even before they begin

For women, the answer to the loss of sexual desire does not lie in prescription pills but in the practice of mindfulness, says Lori Brotto, a UBC psychologist and sex researcher. In her first book, Better Sex through Mindfulness, Brotto, a professor in the University of British Columbia’s faculty of medicine and the executive director

For most people, it’s better to start taking drugs for multiple sclerosis (MS) early on rather than letting the disease run its course, according to a new guideline for treating MS from the American Academy of Neurology. The guideline is published in the April 23, 2018, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the

Researchers have developed a vaccine for one of the most dangerous types of synthetic cathinones, or bath salts. The vaccine blunts the illegal stimulant’s effects on the brain, which could help recovering drug users who experience a relapse. Samantha McClenahan, a doctoral student at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, will present test results

Instead of using a traditional stethoscope or otoscope to examine a patient, one physician-in-training at the University of Michigan uses a new device, with a long, flexible wire and camera at its tip. A live video feed plays important diagnostic information back on her cell phone. The specially created device allows this medical student to