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Between 2005 and 2015, as the opioid crisis in America came into focus, prescriptions for gabapentinoid medications — gabapentin and pregabalin — to adults with cancer saw a two-fold increase, a University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center study has found. Gabapentin, which affects voltage-gated calcium channels in the brain, was originally approved […]

The researchers from the Department of Experimental Psychology, the Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging (WIN) and the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, used an MRI scanner to observe changes in parts of the brain associated with learning and learned experiences while volunteers completed tasks that involved a reward. Participants also […]

Analyzing gene expression in tumor cells from children with cancer is more likely to reveal targets for therapy than analysis of DNA mutations, according to a new study led by researchers at the UC Santa Cruz Genomics Institute. The study, published in JAMA Network Open, looked at 144 tumor samples from 128 […]

Neuroscientists at the University of Southampton have made a significant development in understanding how Alzheimer’s disease spreads through the brain, discovering a significant period of time where medical intervention could halt its onset. A hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease is the accumulation of tau protein in neurons which causes loss of […]

A high-salt diet may negatively affect cognitive function by causing a deficiency of the compound nitric oxide, which is vital for maintaining vascular health in the brain, according to a new study in mice from Weill Cornell Medicine researchers. When nitric oxide levels are too low, chemical changes to the protein tau […]

A set of powerful laboratory and computational techniques developed by scientists at Weill Cornell Medicine and two collaborating centers will enable investigators to map the capacity of tumors to develop resistance to drugs and drug combinations. The techniques – developed with researchers from the New York Genome Center (NYGC) and […]

Arthritis affects one in five Americans, but according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that number jumps to one in three among people with obesity. Now, new research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggests obesity may increase arthritis risk not only in obese people […]

Move over, apples — new research from Penn State suggests that eating one avocado a day may help keep “bad cholesterol” at bay. According to the researchers, bad cholesterol can refer to both oxidized low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and small, dense LDL particles. In a randomized, controlled feeding study, the researchers […]

Timing is everything for young cells waiting to determine their identities. Research by Rice University bioscientist Aryeh Warmflash and graduate student Sapna Chhabra shows homogenous colonies of human embryonic stem cells use dynamic molecular signaling waves that pass from cell to cell and trigger them to differentiate. Once prompted, the cells begin to organize […]

Take a deep breath. Now exhale. Congratulations! You’ve just done something completely ordinary, yet so mysterious that scientists still don’t know everything about it. How oxygen and carbon dioxide enter and leave the bloodstream is well known, but scientists are just beginning to understand what happens to respiratory tissues as […]

A new drug delivery method designed by researchers at PNNL and Washington State University (WSU) has shown it can target and kill lung cancer cells. The research, led by Chun-Long Chen, a senior research scientist at PNNL and a joint faculty fellow at the University of Washington, and research partner […]

Researchers may have found a way to press pause on spinal disc injuries, giving doctors more time to treat them before worse issues develop. The Penn Medicine-led team discovered that cells in the outer region of spinal discs become stressed and kick off a subpar healing process after injuries, which […]

Triggers in everyday life such as running into a former drinking buddy, walking by a once- familiar bar, and attending social gatherings can all cause recovering alcoholics to “fall off the wagon.” About 40 to 60 percent of people who have gone through treatment for substance abuse will experience some […]

Cancer immunotherapy drugs trigger the body’s immune system to attack tumors and have revolutionized the treatment of certain cancers, such as lymphoma, lung cancer, and melanoma. Yet, while some patients respond well to the drugs, others don’t respond at all. Cancer immunologists want to change that. A new study by […]

First evidence of immune response targeting brain cells in autism. Autism spectrum disorders affect one in 59 American children by age eight. With no known quantitative biological features, autism diagnoses are currently based on expert assessments of behavioral symptoms, including impaired social and communication skills, repetitive behaviors and restricted interests. […]

The immune system must strike an exquisite balance between vanquishing infections and cancer, while at the same time restraining its activity to avoid inadvertently attacking the body’s healthy tissues and organs. This balancing feat is accomplished by a host of regulatory genes that calibrate the immune response. When this calibration […]

An interdepartmental team at the University of Michigan obtains a prestigious NIH grant that will support an advanced imaging strategy to improve methods for early cancer detection. Worldwide, the incidence of cancer is steadily growing. Research has shown time and time again that this rise is often connected to the […]

A study of the genetic make-up of zebrafish has provided brand new insights into the cause of congenital hearing disorders in humans. A team including scientists from Cardiff University has identified how specific genes can dictate the patterns of the tiny cells – so-called hair cells – within our ears […]

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), which includes lung diseases such as emphysema and asthma, is the third leading cause of death of people worldwide. COPD patients can experience exacerbations, or intense “flare-ups,” of their conditions leading to hospitalization, breathing tube intubation and even death. A new study co-led by University of Minnesota School of […]

Cancer is a terrible disease, affecting humans and animals. Its exact causes and mechanism is still poorly understood, but in some cases it can be triggered by a virus. For example, now scientists from The University of Sydney found that a virus may be causing liver cancer in companion cats. […]

Inside a living cell, many important messages are communicated via interactions between proteins. For these signals to be accurately relayed, each protein must interact only with its specific partner, avoiding unwanted crosstalk with any similar proteins. A new MIT study sheds light on how cells are able to prevent crosstalk […]

Most cancers kill because tumor cells spread beyond the primary site to invade other organs. Now, a USC study of brain-invading breast cancer cells circulating in the blood reveals they have a molecular signature indicating specific organ preferences. The findings, which appeared in Cancer Discovery, help explain how tumor cells […]

Scientists at the University of East Anglia are pioneering a new way of finding the bacteria and viruses associated with cancer. Some infections have already been linked with cancers including stomach cancer and cervical cancer. New research published in Genome Biology shows how genomic data collected from tumours could be sequenced […]

They’re among the most ruthless opponents for pediatric oncologists: brain tumors that can’t be surgically removed or that resist standard therapies. Doctors have limited weapons to fight them, contributing to why brain cancer is still the leading cause of cancer-related death in children. But some institutions are re-thinking their approach. […]

Running and lifting weights might be a crucial step in helping your body delay the effects of aging, but those exercises may be only part of the story. In a new article published in Psychological Bulletin, a University of Georgia researcher found that the type of activity you choose may also have […]

Neural crest cells — embryonic cells in vertebrates that travel throughout the body and generate many cell types — have been thought to originate in the ectoderm, the outermost of the three germ layers formed in the earliest stages of embryonic development. But the capacity of neural crest cells to […]

Yale Cancer Center scientists have built a powerful genomic research platform to study cervical cancer, a disease that often is untreatable if it progresses after surgery or primary chemo-radiation treatment. The work is described in a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). “We have identified […]

Scientists at the University of Virginia School of Medicine have discovered a strange new organelle inside our cells that helps to prevent cancer by ensuring that genetic material is sorted correctly as cells divide. The researchers have connected problems with the organelle (a subcellular structure) to a subset of breast cancer […]

Is it dangerous to have high blood pressure when exercising? “It depends”, is the answer from a newly published study. One important parameter used to give a prognosis or diagnosis in several conditions is blood pressure during exercise. A new study led by LiU scientist Kristofer Hedman shows that high […]

A study from McMaster has found a potential mechanism explaining why some people who take drugs to lower their cholesterol develop sore, aching muscles. The use of statin drugs to significantly lower cholesterol, and ultimately reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, has become widespread and large-scale studies suggest that nearly […]