General

Catheter ablation, a common cardiovascular procedure, appears no more effective than drug therapies in preventing strokes, deaths, and other complications in patients with atrial fibrillation. However, patients who get the procedure experience much greater symptom relief and long-term improvements in the quality of life, including  fewer recurrences of the condition […]

Thinking you could wait till your 50th birthday to worry about colorectal cancer? Maybe not. New guidelines from the American Cancer Society recognize recent studies that have found increasing rates of colorectal cancer among younger people. In response, they lowered the recommended age to begin screening from 50 to 45. “Research […]

Older children and teenagers may have a higher risk of obesity if they consistently don’t get enough sleep, according to recent Michigan Medicine research. The study, published in the Journal of Pediatrics, found the highest levels of obesity in adolescents who weren’t sleeping enough night after night, even more so than […]

Researchers can now explain how a cell that is being attacked by bacteria or viruses specifically manages to ‘sound the alarm’ among its neighbouring cells so they can react with a quick response. “We’ve succeeded in finding and describing a messenger which both quickly and effectively can inform the surrounding […]

Research by Professor Sonia Rocha and her team at the Institute of Integrative Biology reveals new insights into how cells respond to oxygen deprivation. Published in the prestigious journal Science, the researchers found that chromatin, the complex of DNA and proteins where all genes reside, quickly changes in response to low oxygen. Oxygen is essential for […]

One of the most common cancer-promoting genes, known as Myc, is also one of the most difficult to target with drugs. Scientists have long tried to develop drugs that block the Myc protein, but so far their efforts have not been successful. Now, using an alternative strategy, MIT researchers have […]

By exposing mice to a unique combination of light and sound, MIT neuroscientists have shown that they can improve cognitive and memory impairments similar to those seen in Alzheimer’s patients. This noninvasive treatment, which works by inducing brain waves known as gamma oscillations, also greatly reduced the number of amyloid […]

Even as overall cancer incidence and mortality decrease in the United States, the number of people diagnosed with liver cancer is on the rise. Current therapies for liver cancer are largely ineffective, resulting in poor outcomes, but new preclinical data from University of California San Diego School of Medicine offers […]

While the human T- cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) is known to cause a rare cancer of the immune system’s T-cells called adult T-cell leukemia or ATL in about five percent of those infected, researchers from the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) and Moores Cancer Center at UC San […]

A new study led by The University of Western Australia has identified 11 recommendations to help health professionals and patients better manage musculoskeletal problems. The study comes after the team found many musculoskeletal problems were not being managed effectively. Musculoskeletal conditions – including back and neck pain, osteoarthritis and shoulder […]

Heart failure – a condition in which the heart muscle can no longer pump enough blood to meet the body’s needs, and distinct from a heart attack – is the most common reason Americans age 65 and older are hospitalized. And while we spend nearly $31 billion annually dealing with […]

Skin is the body’s largest organ, and scientists at UC San Francisco and the San Francisco Veterans Administration (VA) Health Care System think it may be to blame for body-wide inflammation linked to numerous chronic diseases of aging. The good news is that properly caring for the skin with a moisturizing cream […]

Puberty is something we all go through and yet there is limited science to explain what is happening inside our bodies during this transition, and how it affects our physical and mental health. The research that does exist focuses primarily on girls and often ignores the changes for boys, African […]

Millions of Americans are progressively losing their sight as cells in their eyes deteriorate, but a new therapy developed by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, could help prolong useful vision and delay total blindness. The treatment — involving either a drug or gene therapy — works by reducing […]

You know you should always sleep for 7-8 hours. You can feel when your body didn‘t get enough sleep. And yet sometimes you just cannot go to bed on time and end up sleeping less than ideal. But do you know what happens to your body and mind because of […]

Having a good healthy diet is extremely important and everyone knows that. You should eat enough fruits and vegetables, while at the same time restrain yourself from eating too many sweets and junk food. However, sometimes there are certain myths about a healthy diet. Scientists from UCL say that the […]

Researchers at the University of New Hampshire have created a hydrogel that could one day be made into a contact lens to more effectively treat corneal melting, a condition that is a significant cause for blindness world-wide. The incurable eye disease can be initiated by a number of different causes such […]

The University of California announced today that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued U.S. Patent Number 10,227,611 covering use of single-molecule RNA guides and Cas9 protein in any cell, thus creating efficient and effective ways for scientists to target and edit genes. This patent is co-owned by The […]

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers have developed a new biological sensor that could help clinicians better diagnose cancer and epilepsy. Biological sensors monitor small molecules, ions and protons and are vital as a medical diagnostic. Even the simplest signals, such as intracellular pH level, can provide important information for […]

A new study from Iowa State University biomedical researchers illuminates the biological processes by which exposure to some metals can contribute to the onset of Parkinson’s-like symptoms. The study, published in the peer-reviewed journal Science Signaling, focuses on the metal manganese, which has a range of industrial uses as an alloy. […]

Children living in foster care may have a higher risk of developing insomnia, and this can lead to long-term mental and physical health problems, according to a study led by researchers at the University of Georgia. The researchers conducted in-depth interviews with 24 adults who lived in foster care to learn […]

Can computer vision help radiologists find signs of potential breast cancer?  In an ongoing project, PNNL researchers are discovering to what extent deep learning—a form of artificial intelligence—can be applied to help find cancer in diagnostic images. Can computer vision help radiologists find signs of potential breast cancer?  In an […]

While walking a dog provides older Americans with a valuable outlet for regular, physical activity, a Penn Medicine study has shown that fractures related to these walks have more than doubled between 2004 and 2017 in patients 65 and older. In this population, 78 percent of the fractures occurred in […]

UC San Francisco researchers have for the first time developed a strategy for targeting a key molecule implicated in Parkinson’s disease, opening up a potential new treatment strategy for the currently incurable movement disorder. “This molecule is widely regarded as one of the top therapeutic targets for Parkinson’s disease, but […]

Although most victims survive the 735,000 heart attacks that occur annually in the U.S., their heart tissue is often irreparably damaged — unlike many other cells in the body, once injured, heart cells cannot regenerate. According to a new UC San Francisco study, the issue may date back to our earliest mammalian […]

Newborn babies sleep less on average if their mothers do not have a university degree, according to a new University of Alberta study investigating the effects of socio-economic status on children’s well-being. Analyzing data from 619 infants and their mothers, the research team found that infants less than three months […]

All stem cells can multiply, proliferate and differentiate. Because of these qualities, leukemic stem cells are the most malignant of all leukemic cells. Understanding how leukemic stem cells are regulated has become an important area of cancer research. A team of Tel Aviv University researchers have now devised a novel biosensor that […]

You probably know someone with a knee or hip replacement. If not, chances are you will, as demand for these surgeries is expected to continue growing. While widely successful, not all joint replacements go as planned. Infections are a serious problem, often requiring costly and painful follow-up surgery. This could become […]

By slingshotting themselves forward, human cells can travel more than five times faster than previously documented. University of Michigan researchers observed the movement in bioengineered 3D scaffolds that model stromal tissue—the connective tissue that surrounds organs. The researchers say this method of cell movement, observed for the first time, could […]

A new University study, published in PLOS One, highlights the high incidence and prevalence of visual problems in acute stroke survivors. A stroke is a serious life-threatening medical condition that occurs when the blood supply to part of the brain is cut off. The injury to the brain caused by a stroke […]