General

Americans are feeding the multi-billion-dollar “brain health” dietary supplement industry in a desperate bid to stave off or reverse Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. But such treatments are “pseudomedicine” and health care providers should discourage patients from pursuing them, say neurologists at UC San Francisco. Opinion piece in JAMA, neurologists urge […]

Surgery to remove the thymus gland in patients with myasthenia gravis (MG), a rare autoimmune disease affecting neuromuscular function, provides significant clinical benefits for as long as five years after the procedure, according to a paper published in The Lancet Neurology. The study followed 68 patients for up to five years after […]

QUT scientists have found that a drug derived from omega-3 fatty acids can reduce osteoarthritis inflammation that’s been caused by a high-fat diet. The study, published in Nature journal Scientific Reports, is among the first to investigate resolvin D1 (RvD1), which has reported anti-inflammatory properties, as a possible treatment for diet-associated osteoarthritis, which affects […]

A new study of older men carried out by The University of Western Australia has found there is a link between men who have higher levels of the sex hormone estradiol, produced from testosterone, and slower ageing. The study is the largest of its kind to look at the relationship […]

Regular use of a common type of medication, such as aspirin and ibuprofen, significantly improves survival for a third or more patients with head and neck cancer, a new study led by UC San Francisco has found. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs, improved the overall five-year survival rate from 25 […]

Trillions of cells — all different shapes and sizes — form a human body’s structure. Surrounding each cell is a membrane, jointly acting as hostess and security — welcoming certain information into the cell while making sure its components don’t spill out into the body’s void. Much is known about […]

When Kim Merchant learned she had breast cancer in January 2018, she “was a little shell-shocked.” As an active person with a healthy diet and no family history of the disease, she was stunned to be diagnosed with stage II invasive ductal carcinoma at the age of 61. “It just […]

An 18-month federally-sponsored project led by the Georgia Institute of Technology will develop much-needed curriculum to train workers for the fledgling cell manufacturing industry. Research teams at the University of Georgia (UGA) and the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn), along with four private firms, are also taking part in the $1.4 […]

Poor sleep has long been linked with Alzheimer’s disease, but researchers have understood little about how sleep disruptions drive the disease. Now, studying mice and people, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that sleep deprivation increases levels of the key Alzheimer’s protein tau. And, […]

A new study shows that there is a very limited regeneration of cells in the brain of patients diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS). These findings underline the importance of treating MS at an early stage of the disease progression, when the affected cells can repair the damage as they are […]

Doctors aren’t sure what causes age-related macular degeneration, a disease that affects millions of people in the United States. Also called AMD, it is known for causing blurred central vision due to damage to the macula — a small area at the back of the eye. Currently, there is no cure. But there […]

99.8 % accuracy of the new methods that can read lengthy sections of genetic material is quite impressive. These methods can reduce the time needed to analyse DNA data, which could speed up genetic studies. However, a new research from the University of Edinburgh revealed that even 99.8 % accuracy […]

Both genes and the environment shape a person’s risk of disease, but while genes are frequently cataloged, perturbed, activated, turned off and systematically tested in the lab, environmental exposures are often studied as one-offs. Now Harvard Medical School investigators at Brigham and Women’s Hospital have developed an approach to systematically […]

Aging is no fun. As you get older, your body weakens and it becomes more and more difficult to walk and complete even basic tasks. Now scientists from UCL analysed data from over 20,000 people from England and the United States and found that people who are married walk better […]

Improving dietary habits and learning skills such as reading food labels and recognizing the signs of a heart attack have the potential to improve cardiovascular health among underserved rural populations, according to newly published research from Florida State University. Laurie Abbott, an assistant professor in the College of Nursing, found […]

In the largest study of its kind to date, Cambridge researchers have looked at why some people manage to stay thin while others gain weight easily. They have found that the genetic dice are loaded in favour of thin people and against those at the obese end of the spectrum. […]

The accumulation of amyloid beta (Aβ) plaques and tangles of a protein called tau in the brain are hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Much effort has focused on the former, with many attempts made to prevent, slow or even reverse the presence of Aβ, and thus ameliorate the development of […]

A simple blood test reliably detects signs of brain damage in people on the path to developing Alzheimer’s disease – even before they show signs of confusion and memory loss, according to a new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the German Center for Neurodegenerative […]

A signaling pathway controlled by transforming growth factor beta (TGFβ) could be involved in the progression of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Researchers at the National Eye Institute (NEI), part of the National Institutes of Health, have found that interrupting TGFβ signals to immune cells called microglia causes the cells to […]

A new study, published in Clinical Epigenetics, identifies genes associated with Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) that could represent new targets for future drug development. AMD is the leading cause of blindness in the UK and affects more than 200 million of people worldwide. The condition results in a gradual loss of […]

Immune cells called macrophages are supposed to serve and protect, but cancer has found ways to put them to sleep. Now researchers at the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania say they’ve identified how to fuel macrophages with the energy needed to attack and eat cancer cells. It is well […]

A new Tel Aviv University study finds that eosinophils — white blood cells that may have played an evolutionary role in combating parasites, but which are today responsible for chronic asthma and modern allergies — may be used to eliminate malignant colon cancer cells. The research was led by Prof. Ariel Munitz of the Department […]

Research published in the journal Brain reveals a new approach to Alzheimer’s disease (AD) that may eventually make it possible to reverse memory loss, a hallmark of the disease in its late stages. The team, led by University at Buffalo scientists, found that by focusing on gene changes caused by […]

new drug shows potential to halt cancer cells’ growth by stunting the cells’ biological clock. The findings from scientists at the USC Michelson Center for Convergent Bioscience and Nagoya University’s Institute of Transformative BioMolecules (ITbM) advance a burgeoning area of research: turning the body’s circadian rhythms against cancer. Their study, conducted on […]

Biologists at the University of California San Diego have developed the world’s first CRISPR/Cas9-based approach to control genetic inheritance in a mammal. Scientists around the world have been using CRISPR/Cas9 in a variety of plant and animal species to edit genetic information. One approach to editing the genome can control […]

New research builds on Nobel-winning immune checkpoint blockade work. Immunotherapy’s promise in the fight against cancer drew international attention after two scientists won a Nobel Prize this year for unleashing the ability of the immune system to eliminate tumor cells. But their approach, which keeps cancer cells from shutting off […]

Offspring whose mothers had a complicated pregnancy may be at greater risk of heart disease in later life, according to a new study in sheep. The research, led by a team at the University of Cambridge, suggests that our cards may be marked even before we are born. Heart disease […]

Growing muscle tissue on grooved platforms helps neurons more effectively integrate with the muscle, a requirement for engineering muscle in the lab that responds and functions like muscle in the body, University of Illinois researchers found in a new study. Such engineered muscle with integrated nerves has applications in reconstructive and […]

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) — an intermediate form of cancer cell between a primary and metastatic tumor cell — carry a treasure trove of information that is critical to treating cancer. Numerous engineering advancements over the years have made it possible to extract cells via liquid biopsy and analyze them […]

AIDS patients suffer higher rates of cancer because they have fewer T-cells in their bodies to fight disease. But new research examines why HIV-infected patients have higher rates of cancer—among the leading causes of death among that population—than the general population. Researchers at Case Western Reserve University’s School of Dental […]