(Getty Images/CatherineL-Prod) (NEWSER) – Two drugs—one to treat hair loss, the other to shrink enlarged prostates—could wreak havoc on men’s sexual health. Researchers at Northwestern University reported Thursday in the journal PeerJ that among the men they studied who are between the ages of 16 and 89 and who took either finasteride (for their hair or prostate) or dutasteride...
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Popular hair-loss drug Propecia could be linked to long-term mojo meltdown
A new study suggests that Propecia might solve one problem, only to cause another that persists for longer than you’d like Can you save your hair and keep your mojo, too? That’s the question prompted by a new study investigating the sexual side effects of the drug finasteride (better known among the hair loss...
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Ingestible origami robot
Robot unfolds from ingestible capsule, removes button battery stuck to wall of simulated stomach. In experiments involving a simulation of the human esophagus and stomach, researchers at MIT, the University of Sheffield, and the Tokyo Institute of Technology have demonstrated a tiny origami robot that can unfold itself from a swallowed capsule and, steered by...
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New Material Regrows Bone
A schematic representation of the experimental design. A team of researchers repaired a hole in a mouse’s skull by regrowing “quality bone,” a breakthrough that could drastically improve the care of people who suffer severe trauma to the skull or face. The work by a joint team of Northwestern Engineering and University of Chicago researchers...
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Bowel cancer medication could help combat early-onset Parkinson’s disease
People with certain forms of early-onset Parkinson’s disease could potentially benefit from taking a medication used to treat certain forms of cancer, according to new research by University of Leicester scientists and funded by the Medical Research Council. The study, which has been published in Science Matters, suggests that folinic acid, which is used in medications...
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Older women taking statins face higher risk of diabetes
Older women taking cholesterol-lowering statins face a significantly increased risk of developing diabetes Older Australian women taking cholesterol-lowering statins face a significantly increased risk of developing diabetes, according to a University of Queensland study. UQ School of Public Health researcher Dr Mark Jones said women over 75 faced a 33 per cent higher chance of...
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Old gut stem cells made to grow like young ones in a dish
This photograph shows villi from an older gut. Intestines experience a lot of wear and tear. Without the stalwart stem cells that live in our gut’s lining, our ability to absorb food would dwindle and bacteria from the digestive tract would be able to breach the bloodstream. Unfortunately, the regenerative abilities of intestinal stem cells...
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The robot you can EAT: Tiny machine made of gelatin could crawl into your stomach to deliver medicine
Swiss scientists have created the first part of a soft digestible robot Experts could train these robots to walk to humans who are in need of drugs A hospitality school is experimenting with making them tasty in the future Eating a robot might not sound very appealing, but edible machines could be crawling their way...
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Study indicates promising new approach to prevent and treat cholesterol gallstones
Activation of constitutive androstane receptors (CARs) reduces biliary cholesterol and prevents stone formation according to a new report in The American Journal of Pathology According to current estimates, 20 to 25 million Americans have or will develop gallstones, representing almost 15% of adults. Although only a small percentage of individuals with gallstones develop symptoms, more...
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Dual-drug combination shows promise against diabetic eye disease in animal model
A two-drug cocktail provided better protection against diabetes-related vision loss than a single drug during testing in rat models, a team of University of Florida Health and Dutch researchers has found. Researchers say the drug combination is a promising and unique potential treatment for patients with diabetic retinopathy, a major cause of vision loss in middle-age...