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In Huntington’s disease, heart problems reflect broader effects of abnormal protein

Researchers investigating a key signaling protein in Huntington’s disease describe deleterious effects on heart function, going beyond the disease’s devastating neurological impact. By adjusting protein levels affecting an important biological pathway, the researchers improved heart function in experimental animals, shedding light on the biology of this fatal disease. “Heart disease is the second leading cause

Six-day antibiotic cellulitis treatment resulted in higher rates of relapse than 12-day treatment

Cellulitis treated with a six-day course of intravenous antibiotic flucloxacillin resulted in greater rates of relapse at 90 days post treatment despite having similar short-term results to the 12-day course, according to research presented at the 28th European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID). Cellulitis, a skin infection that can become life threatening,

Study shows creativity is state of mind that can be trained

As an undergraduate student at York University, Joel Lopata was studying film production and jazz performance when a discrepancy became apparent. “I noticed students in the jazz program were really developing a language of creative engagement, whereas in the film program, we weren’t having the same education. It was a lot more theoretical than practical,

In Romania, distrust of vaccines kills

Measles still claims young lives in Romania, where nearly 40 children have died in an outbreak that many blame on parents being misled by scare stories that vaccinating them is dangerous. Some 12,000 people have contracted measles since late 2016 in the European Union’s second-poorest country, 46 of them died. Among the dead, 39 were

FDA approves new standard of care for kidney cancer

The standard of care for kidney cancer patients continues to improve. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted approval to the combination of two immunotherapy drugs, ipilimumab and nivolumab, for the treatment of metastatic kidney cancer. The results of the large, international clinical trial leading to the approval were just published the prestigious New England

One class of drug used to treat type 2 diabetes may not reduce the risk of death when compared with placebo

One class of drug used to treat type 2 diabetes may not reduce the risk of death when compared with placebo, suggests new findings. The research, led by scientists from Imperial College London and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, studied three types of diabetes treatment: sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT-2) inhibitors, glucagon-like

New disease model to facilitate development of ALS and MS therapies

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have developed a new disease model for neurodegenerative diseases such as ALS and MS that can be used to develop new immunotherapies. The model is described in a publication in the scientific journal Nature Immunology. All of the body’s organs contain macrophages, which, as part of the immune system,

Education, not income, the best predictor of a long life

Rising income and the subsequent improved standards of living have long been thought to be the most important factors contributing to a long and healthy life. However, new research from Wolfgang Lutz and Endale Kebede, from IIASA and the Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU) has shown that instead, the level of education a

Scientists discover hidden structure of enigmatic ‘backwards’ neural connections

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.

Tracking quality of life during prostate cancer treatment

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