General

Aging research indicates that better healthspan—the quality of life as we age—may be more important than lifespan. In a report published in Nature Communications, a surprising new genetic discovery by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh suggests that there may be molecular switches that control […]

Marijuana increased in popularity in the mid-1970s when there was interest in cannabinoids for reduction in intraocular pressure (IOP), which is the fluid pressure inside the eye. Now, its usage has increased due to its pleasure-inducing side effects, and behind tobacco, alcohol and caffeine, it is the most widely used […]

University at Buffalo researchers have determined that a human gene present in 75% of the population is a key reason why a class of drugs for Alzheimer’s disease seemed promising in animal studies only to fail in human studies. The researchers say the work suggests that in different Alzheimer’s disease […]

A new study by Montreal scientists published today in Nature demonstrates that a gut infection can lead to a pathology resembling Parkinson’s disease (PD) in a mouse model lacking a gene linked to the human disease. This discovery extends recent work by the same group suggesting that PD has a […]

Brain damage associated with multiple sclerosis (MS) specifically targets a common class of brain cells called projection neurons, according to a new international study by scientists at UC San Francisco, Cambridge University, and the University of Heidelberg. MS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease of the brain and spinal cord that […]

Mental health issues are real, people. Scientists estimate that life expectancy of people with mental illness is around 18 years shorter than general population. This is not something to be overlooked – if you feel like you might be suffering from some kind of mental illness, look for help. But […]

Eisai has received a New Drug Approval for its in-house developed anticancer agent Halaven (eribulin mesylate) for use in the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer, previously treated with at least two prior chemotherapy regimens, including an anthracycline and a taxane, from the China National Medical […]

Resistance training two to three times a week can reduce hot flushes and night sweats in post-menopausal women, according to a Linköping University study. This is the first study ever to investigate the relationship between resistance training and menopause discomfort. Some previous research has shown certain relationships between general exercise […]

A common drug used to alleviate side effects of cancer treatment may also make the treatment more successful if given beforehand, report a consortium of research institutions including the University of Connecticut. Dexamethasone, a steroid often given to decrease swelling and nausea, and relieve side effects of chemotherapy treatments for […]

An Oregon State University scientist has received a $2.3 million, five-year grant to build on his promising research into a debilitating muscle-wasting syndrome that kills as many as 30% of the cancer patients it afflicts. Oleh Taratula of the OSU College of Pharmacy will use the award from the National […]

It seems like everything is going wireless these days. That now includes efforts to reprogram the human genome. A new University at Buffalo-led study describes how researchers wirelessly controlled FGFR1 — a gene that plays a key role in how humans grow from embryos to adults — in lab-grown brain […]

Rutgers researchers have created a device that can determine whether targeted chemotherapy drugs are working on individual cancer patients. The portable device, which uses artificial intelligence and biosensors, is up to 95.9 percent accurate in counting live cancer cells when they pass through electrodes, according to a study in the journal Microsystems […]

Even after nearly a decade of strict HIV treatment, cells sheltering the virus could be found in the cerebrospinal fluid of half of participants in a national clinical trial of people living with HIV. Moreover, those participants had a higher likelihood of cognitive deficits than their peers without cells harboring […]

Human brain is the most mysterious machine in nature. We hardly know anything about it. Scientists from UCL and University of Oxford have just found that when we’re resting our brains spontaneously replay our experiences. This may be the basis of our powerful reasoning abilities. That is why having experience […]

Everything in nature is interrelated. Evolution gave us incredible capabilities and pretty good bodies, but some features that we enjoy were actually evolved by other organisms. For example, according to a new UCL and Yale University study, platelet cells, which prevent mammals from bleeding non-stop came from an egg-laying animal […]

Dementia is a daunting condition, which is in the cards for many. It is caused by a variety of factors and can be attributed to several different diseases. With our population ageing rapidly, more and more people will be suffering from dementia in the near future. But what can we […]

The hearts of people living in highly polluted urban areas could be up to ten times more polluted than those living in places with cleaner air, putting them at increased risk of heart disease, according to new research. Scientists, led by Professors Barbara Maher of Lancaster University and Lilian Calderón-Garcidueñas […]

USC research into Alzheimer’s — which will be on display at the upcoming Alzheimer’s Association International Conference — has uncovered much about the disease, including establishing a link between cardiovascular health and a fully functioning brain. If you’re worried about Alzheimer’s disease, your best shot at prevention could be maintaining […]

Living a healthy lifestyle may help offset a person’s genetic risk of dementia, according to new research. The study was led by the University of Exeter – simultaneously published in JAMA and presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference 2019 in Los Angeles. The research found that the risk of dementia […]

Preventing a protein from doing its job may keep a certain type of ovarian cancer cell from growing and dividing uncontrollably in the lab, according to a new study from Penn State College of Medicine. In a study with cell cultures, the researchers identified the protein as a potential therapeutic target for high-grade […]

Researchers at the University of Oxford, in collaboration with colleagues from Hannover Medical School and Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, have discovered the specific gene mutations that are required for the development of leukaemia in children with Down’s syndrome. Children with Down’s syndrome have a 150-fold increased risk of myeloid leukaemia, and while […]

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, is an adult-onset neurodegenerative disease that causes paralysis and ultimately death when the nerves enervating the lungs cease to carry the signals needed for breathing. The disease has what is called a “focal onset,” where paralysis starts with an arm or a leg and spreads […]

A research team headed by scientists at University of California San Diego School of Medicine and the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research at UC San Diego has identified an enzyme involved in remodeling the plasma membrane of multiple cancer cell types that is critical to both survival of tumors and […]

A promising new way to treat some types of cancer is to program the patient’s own T cells to destroy the cancerous cells. This approach, termed CAR-T cell therapy, is now used to combat some types of leukemia, but so far it has not worked well against solid tumors such […]

University of Southampton researchers have developed an innovative solution to treating sight loss in old age. Led by Professors Andrew Lotery, Jessica Teeling and Dr Arjuna Ratnayaka, the study has been able to replicate important features of dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in mice. These mice quickly develop damage in their retinas similar to […]

High intensity interval training (HIIT) may be doing more than just keeping you fit and strong – it may also help prevent age-related cognitive illnesses, such as dementia. A University of Queensland study found high intensity interval exercise may be more effective than continuous exercise in increasing brain blood flow […]

Researchers at the University of Toronto have uncovered an immune mechanism where host cells combat bacterial infection – and that a protein crucial to the process can sense and respond to misfolded proteins in all mammalian cells. The protein is called heme-regulated inhibitor, or HRI, and the researchers showed that […]

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have studied the mechanism of action of a drug used to treat multiple sclerosis. The results, which are published in the journal Nature Communications, show that the drug affects cells in the innate immune system and that there is an unexpected link between therapeutic […]

A new study by Harvard Medical School scientists at Massachusetts General Hospital is offering clues about how to prevent inflammation of brain tissue, which promotes Alzheimer’s disease. The findings of this study, published in the journal Neuron, could contribute to the development of new therapies for Alzheimer’s disease. It’s known that […]

Researchers at Penn Medicine and Geisinger find only 5 percent of patients with a mutation of the TTN gene have dilated cardiomyopathy, despite changes in heart function. More than 750,000 people in the United States have dilated cardiomyopathy, a potentially life-threatening condition in which the heart’s main pumping chamber, the […]