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It was the kind of case no traditional medical textbook could explain. The subject – let’s call him Peter Green – was a white male in his late 80s, enrolled in longitudinal studies of the elderly at the UCSF Memory and Aging Center. Green’s brain scans “were not pretty,” recalls Joel Kramer, […]

Extremely obese people are needing a far higher dose of radiation during x-ray examinations than people of normal weight, increasing their risk of cancer, new research has shown. Extremely obese people are needing a far higher dose of radiation during x-ray examinations than people of normal weight, increasing their risk […]

An immunotherapy clinical trial based in Seattle, among other U.S. sites, was pivotal to the Dec. 19 approval by the Food and Drug Administration of the drug pembrolizumab (Keytruda) to treat Merkel cell carcinoma, a rare and often fatal skin cancer. The FDA’s accelerated approval of the drug was based on findings […]

undreds of new genes linked to blindness and other vision disorders have been identified in a screen of mouse strains. Many of these genes are likely important in human eye vision and the results could help identify new causes of hereditary blindness in patients. The work was published in Nature Communications […]

Two drugs commonly prescribed to treat Type 2 diabetes carry a high risk of cardiovascular events such as heart attack, stroke, heart failure or amputation, according to a new Northwestern Medicine study. “People should know if the medications they’re taking to treat their diabetes could lead to serious cardiovascular harm,” […]

In a new study by Yale Cancer Center (YCC), scientists suggest that as the number of clinical trials in cancer immunotherapy grows exponentially, some caution should be exercised as we continue to better understand the biology of these new therapeutic targets. The findings are published in the journal Cell. Researchers around the world […]

Researchers have discovered age- and health-related differences in fragments of DNA found floating in the bloodstream (not inside cells) called cell-free DNA (cfDNA). These differences could someday be used to determine biological age — whether a person’s body functions as older or younger than their chronological age, the researchers say. In […]

Dermal fibroblasts are specialized cells deep in the skin that generate connective tissue and help the skin recover from injury. Some fibroblasts have the ability to convert into fat cells that reside under the dermis, giving the skin a plump, youthful look and producing a peptide that plays a critical […]

In recent years, public health officials have warned about a rising epidemic of loneliness, with rates of loneliness reportedly doubling over the past 50 years. In a new study, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine put a specific, concerning and surprising face to the issue. Published […]

According to a report released by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in February of 2018, worldwide obesity levels have almost tripled since the 1970’s. What once may have been a shocking revelation cam as little surprise to health professionals at the time, who’ve spent decades tackling one of the world’s […]

Medicine is always created to fulfil a specific purpose. It has to be tried not only to make sure it is effective, but also if it is safe. Knowing all possible side effects is a crucial result of extensive laboratory and clinical tests. However, some drugs can be used to […]

Research led by neuroscientists at Trinity College Dublin has found for the first time that regions of the brain responsible for complex thought do not shut off in the unconscious state. The research sheds new light on how the unconscious mind works and how the human brain gives rise to […]