Around seven million people in the UK are thought to have pre-diabetes Furthermore, some 10 per cent will go on to develop full-blown type 2 diabetes Australian product Re-Timer, worn for an hour each day, could regulate sugar High-tech goggles that emit bright light into the eyes could stop people from developing type 2 diabetes....
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New ransomware virus targets healthcare organizations
Dive Brief: Cybersecurity experts have identified a new ransomware strain that is targeting healthcare organizations, FierceHealthcare reports. The virus, dubbed Defray, spreads via a Microsoft Word attachment in emails sent to potential victims. The messages are customized to appear to come from a trusted source. Cybersecurity firm Proofpoint, which discovered the ransomware, said in a blog post last...
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An end to Alzheimer’s? Scientists show how we could block the disease in its earliest stages
Researchers may have discovered how brain cells go bad in Alzheimer’s patients They found bead-like structures that form and indicate the disease are caused by two proteins The team from UNC Medical School also said those proteins could be used to create drug targets to slow or reverse symptoms Researchers may have discovered the ‘ground...
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Stabilizing TREM2, a potential strategy to combat Alzheimer’s disease
Uncovering the molecular mechanism behind a rare genetic risk factor of Alzheimer’s disease points to a new therapeutic target A gene called triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2, or TREM2, has been associated with numerous neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease, Frontotemporal lobar degeneration, Parkinson’s disease, and Nasu-Hakola disease. Recently, a rare mutation in...
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Medicare to foot the bill for treadmill therapy for leg pain
Three times a week, Rita Driscoll steps onto a treadmill at a Minnesota hospital under the eye of a rehab therapist. She walks until it hurts—pushing her limits, walking faster and adding steeper inclines. The retired school aide has leg pain caused by clogged blood vessels. Until recently, monitored walking wasn’t an option for people...
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Of mice and men: why animal trial results don’t always translate to humans
Throughout the era of modern medicine, animals have been used extensively to develop and test therapies before they are tested in humans. Virtually every medical therapy in use today – including drugs, vaccines, surgical techniques, devices such as pacemakers and joint prostheses, radiation therapy – owes its existence, at some level, to animal experiments. Animals have...
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Brain stimulation can boost creativity – but could it also help you hear inspirational voices?
Inspiration can come when we least expect it. Steve Jobs, the late co-founder of Apple, once said “creativity is just connecting things”. There’s truth in that but there is another source of creativity, too – the ideas that simply pop into our minds. In ancient times, these were seen as gifts from the muses or...
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Breakthrough in understanding mitochondria
Ribosomes imaged on the surface of mitochondria by cryo-electron microscopy. Scientists have made a breakthrough in understanding how mitochondria – the “powerhouses” of human cells – are made. Mitochondria, which exist within human cells but have their own DNA, need many different proteins to function – but the process of how they get these has never...
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Scientists zap ‘voices’ from schizophrenia sufferers
[PARIS] Scientists have pinpointed a part of the brain where “voices” torment schizophrenia sufferers, and partially muted them with magnetic pulse treatment, a team reported on Tuesday. More than a third of sufferers treated with magnetic pulses in a patient trial experienced “significant” relief, the scientists said in a statement. “We can now say with...
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Legal cannabis oil that counts Snoop Dogg, Scott Disick and Donatella Versace as fans is relieving MS sufferers of their pain without ‘the high’
EXCLUSIVE Founded by billionaire Coca-Cola heir Alki David, who parties with Charlie Sheen The oil blend does not contain the compound responsible for hallucinations MS blogger Nik Richie credits the oil for curing his depression and immobility US surgeons use the oil for pain relief as it does not cause the anxiety of needles A...