General

Most diseases have a genetic component. To better understand disease, researchers led by the Garvan Institute of Medical Research are analysing genetic information to determine what keeps us healthy. In a world first, the team has compiled a genome reference database of thousands of healthy older Australians, which has the […]

There remains a controversy in scientific circles today regarding the value of lithium therapy in treating Alzheimer’s disease. Much of this stems from the fact that because the information gathered to date has been obtained using a multitude of differential approaches, conditions, formulations, timing and dosages of treatment, results are […]

Biomedical data scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine have shown that the number of genes a cell uses to make RNA is a reliable indicator of how developed the cell is, a finding that could make it easier to target cancer-causing genes. Cells that initiate cancer are thought to be […]

High-protein diets may help people lose weight and build muscle, but a new study in mice suggests they have a downside: They lead to more plaque in the arteries. Further, the new research shows that high-protein diets spur unstable plaque — the kind most prone to rupturing and causing blocked […]

Children as young as 6 years old who underwent fetal surgery to repair a common birth defect of the spine are more likely to walk independently and have fewer follow-up surgeries, compared to those who had traditional corrective surgery after birth, according to researchers funded by the National Institutes of […]

When we cut our skin, groups of cells rush en masse to the site to heal the wound. But the complicated mechanics of this collective cell movement — which are facilitated by rearrangements between each cell and its neighbors — have made it challenging for researchers to decipher what’s actually […]

Daily low-dose aspirin, from as early as the sixth week of pregnancy through the 36th week, may lower the risk for preterm birth among first-time mothers, suggests a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. The clinical trial, which involved more than 11,000 women in several low- and middle-income […]

One of the causes of breast cancer may be inflammation triggered by harmful bacteria say, researchers. Scientists say their idea- as yet unproven – is supported by the available evidence, which is that bacterial-induced inflammation is linked to cancer. The paper in the journal Medical Hypotheses is by Lancaster University medical […]

The classic symptoms of menopause – hot flashes, sleeplessness, and vaginal dryness – have typically been treated with estrogen therapy.  Studies published report that non-hormonal options are effective, too. These treatments may involve cognitive therapy to help a patient sleep, or using low doses of a class of drugs called selective serotonin […]

Cavities, or dental caries, are the most widespread non-communicable disease globally, according to the World Health Organization. Having a cavity drilled and filled at the dentist’s office can be painful, but untreated caries could lead to worse pain, tooth loss, infection, and even illness or death. Now, researchers in ACS Applied […]

Toxoplasma gondii is best known as the parasite that may lurk in a cat’s litter box. Nearly a third of the world’s population is believed to live with a chronic Toxoplasma infection. It’s of greatest concern, however, to people with suppressed immune systems and to pregnant women, who can pass the infection to […]

The British Heart Foundation (BHF) today announced its shortlist of four research projects competing for a single £30 million award. The charity says it is one of many radical new approaches needed to address a frightening mismatch in research funding compared with the burden of heart and circulatory diseases. With […]

Researchers have successfully treated age-related macular degeneration in mice after finding an unexpected link between the two main forms of the blinding eye disease, the leading cause of vision loss in people 60 and older. Researcher Brad Gelfand of the University of Virginia School of Medicine and the UVA School of Engineering, cautions […]

If you have just had knee, shoulder or hip surgery, you may want to take anti-inflammatories in the morning or at noon, but not at night. A McGill-led study shows, for the first time, that circadian clock genes are involved in healing from surgery. Indeed, the researchers demonstrated that anti-inflammatory medications […]

Women who breastfed their infants exclusively for seven to 12 months may have a significantly lower risk of early menopause than their peers who breastfed their infants for less than a month, according to an analysis funded by the National Institutes of Health. The study also suggests that pregnancy can […]

After years of research on cell surface receptors called Frizzleds, researchers at Karolinska Institutet provide the proof-of-principle that these receptors are druggable by small molecules. The results, which are published in the scientific journal Nature Communications, open for new strategies to treat different types of cancer. For more than 20 […]

Like motley bandits, certain enzymes implicated in cancer and other diseases also annihilate each other. A new study reveals details of their mutual foils in the hopes that these behaviors can be leveraged to fight the enzymes’ disease potential. The bandits are cathepsins, enzymes that normally dispose of unneeded protein […]

Employing advanced technologies that allow whole brain imaging at single-cell resolution, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine report that in an alcohol-dependent mouse model, the rodent brain’s functional architecture is substantially remodeled. But when deprived of alcohol, the mice displayed increased coordinated brain activity and reduced […]

For most patients, melanoma begins with a small, pigmented spot on their skin that they notice starts to change. Many primary melanomas can be cured by having this lesion removed, but melanoma can also recur and spread; an analysis of the removed lesion can offer some information on the likelihood […]

T-cell therapies for cancer – where immune cells are removed, modified and returned to the patient’s blood to seek and destroy cancer cells – are the latest paradigm in cancer treatments. The most widely-used therapy, known as CAR-T, is personalized to each patient but targets only a few types of […]

Endogenous proteins that play a vital part in allergies and parasitic infection can prevent the immune system from wrongly attacking the body and causing inflamed joints, a study from Karolinska Institutet published in the scientific journal PNAS reports. The researchers hope that the results will give rise to new drugs […]

New research has shown that by changing the time course of voltage change early when the heart cell contracts it is possible to both withhold a potentially lethal electrical disturbance and improve the strength of cardiac contraction in heart failure at the same time. The research led by the University […]

Milk is among those product that we would find in most shopping baskets in most stores at any time. People drink it straight and use it for cooking. But which one is better – whole, low fat or nonfat? Which one will help you live longer? Biological age is a […]

A lengthy-named gene called Elongation of Very Long Chain Fatty Acids Protein 2 or ELOVL2 is an established biomarker of age. In a new paper, published in the journal Aging Cell, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine say the gene appears to play a key role […]

Zika virus infection can stunt neonatal brain development, a condition known as microcephaly, in which babies are born with abnormally small heads. To determine how best to prevent and treat the viral infection, scientists first need to understand how the pathogen gets inside brain cells. Employing different approaches to answer […]

Breastfeeding mothers may be encouraged to eat eggs to help prevent babies from developing an egg allergy, according to new studies by researchers at The University of Western Australia. Study leader Professor Valerie Verhasselt, from UWA’s School of Molecular Sciences, said the findings were important because in western countries up […]

A way in which some connections between brain cells can resist degeneration – a hallmark of traumatic brain injuries and neurodegenerative diseases — has been discovered by researchers at The University of Queensland. Dr Sean Coakley and Professor Massimo Hilliard from UQ’s Queensland Brain Institute Clem Jones Centre for Ageing Dementia Research uncovered a way in […]

Acid reflux drugs that are sometimes recommended to ease stomach problems during cancer treatment may have an unintended side effect: impairment of breast cancer survivors’ memory and concentration. New Ohio State University research shows an association between breast cancer survivors’ use of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) and reports of problems with […]

A common and inexpensive drug may be used to counteract treatment resistance in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), one of the most common forms of blood cancer. This is the conclusion of a study in mice and human blood cells performed at Karolinska Institutet and SciLifeLab and published in […]

It’s easy to brush off the early signs of myositis, a muscle weakening autoimmune disease. That trip or fall while walking could be attributed to clumsiness. Difficulty climbing up stairs, rising from a chair or lifting something overhead could be from an abandoned regular exercise program or muscle breakdown from […]