When a weakened artery wall balloons or bulges, it’s called an aneurysm. For people with emphysema, the risk of that aneurysm rupturing is much higher than for those without the lung condition, new research suggests. While family history may play a role, how and why aneurysms develop is not well understood. The study, published Tuesday...
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Biotech’s brash entrepreneur finally finds drug-development success with overactive bladders
By ADAM FEUERSTEIN @adamfeuerstein MARCH 19, 2019 Vivek Ramaswamy, the hedge fund manager turned biotech entrepreneur, has raised billions of dollars to create a constellation of “Vant” companies that license and develop drugs from other firms. Five years and one spectacular Alzheimer’s drug blowup later, Ramaswamy finally notched a late-stage clinical trial win. It comes courtesy of Urovant, the urology-focused spinout from his Roivant...
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CBD May Possibly Interfere With Your Daily Medication
Experts share how cannabidiol can impact anxiety medication, blood thinners and even pain relievers. By Julia Ries, On Assignment For HuffPost 03/21/2019 05:45am ET The interest in cannabidiol (aka CBD) ― a nonpsychoactive chemical found in marijuana and hemp plants ― is only growing. It has made its way into our shampoos and lotions. There are CBD-infused smoothies,...
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Bacteria in urine doesn’t always indicate infection
Testing, antibiotic treatment often unnecessary, say IDSA guidelines INFECTIOUS DISEASES SOCIETY OF AMERICA ARLINGTON, Va. – Doctors should think carefully before testing patients for a urinary tract infection (UTI) to avoid over-diagnosis and unnecessary antibiotic treatment, according to updated asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB) guidelines released by the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) and published in...
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Topical Immunotherapy keeps skin cancer risk at bay
Treating precancerous skin lesions prevents full-blown cancer WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE A combination of two topical creams already shown to clear precancerous skin lesions from sun-damaged skin also lowers the risk that patients will later develop squamous cell carcinoma of the skin. The study, from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Massachusetts General Hospital, and...
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A new treatment for gout lowers the urinary acid level in the body
Gout is an inflammatory disease that can cause very painful attacks. The illness is also called podagral, or colloquially “The Captain’s syndrome”. It primarily affects men, particularly over 40 years of age. Symptoms of an attack are typically manifested in the big toe or other places like swollen and extremely painful joints. Need more than pain...
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Study gives new perspective on production of blood cells and immune cells
by University of California – Santa Cruz New findings support a model of blood cell differentiation in which the production of red blood cells is the default fate of hematopoietic stem cells, which can also produce platelets and white blood cells. Credit: Boyer et al., 2019 A healthy adult makes about 2 million blood cells every...
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Childhood trauma may affect brain structure, predisposing adults to recurring major depressive disorder
by Lancet Credit: CC0 Public Domain Early life trauma may affect the structure of the brain in a way that makes clinical depression more likely to be severe and recurrent, according to a two-year observational study of 110 patients published in The Lancet Psychiatry journal. Previous studies have suggested an association between maltreatment and altered brain structure, while...
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New, wiggly microrobots raise hopes for minimally invasive surgeries
by Ty Burke, University of Toronto Mississauga Credit: CC0 Public Domain The shortest distance between two points is a straight line, but that doesn’t mean the most direct route will yield the best results. As a concept, that isn’t exactly brain surgery, but it does apply to it. During a craniotomy – a type of surgery that can...
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Neurofeedback may reduce anxiety
by Journal of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics Credit: CC0 Public Domain A new method for reducing anxiety based on neurofeedback has been validated in the current issue of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics. Deficient emotion regulation and exaggerated anxiety represent a major transdiagnostic psychopathological marker. On the neural level these deficits have been closely linked to impaired, yet treatment-sensitive,...