by Laura Wright, University of Kentucky Last September, Guy Bradley began having episodes of severe and sudden confusion with night sweats and nausea. “He’d wake up and not know where he was or what day it was,” said his wife, Harriet. Also troubling: the 69-year old suddenly could not find his way around the golf course he’d played all his...
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Expert urges cautious approach to ketamine use
by Stanford University Medical Center Physicians and patients are excited about ketamine, the latest drug to treat depression, but Stanford psychiatrist Alan Schatzberg says we need to tread carefully. Ketamine is commonly used in anesthesiology and for severe pain relief. After a number of positive reports in the medical literature, ketamine became more widely used in existing...
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Obesity worsens disability in multiple sclerosis
Obesity is an aggravating factor in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, the most common form of the disease. A recent study by the Unit of Neurology and Neuro rehabilitation of the I.R.C.C.S. Neuromed in Pozzilli (Italy) confirms that lipid metabolism can have a role in determining the severity of multiple sclerosis. Published in the Multiple Sclerosis Journal, the research, involving...
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FDA approves first drug to help tame cluster headaches
Episodic cluster headaches are “an extremely painful and often debilitating condition,” the FDA’s Dr. Eric Bastings noted in an agency news release. He’s deputy director of the Division of Neurology Products in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. Cluster headaches occur in quick sequence, “often at the same time(s) of the day, for several weeks...
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A biomarker for diagnosing celiac disease in people on a gluten-free diet
by University of the Basque Country Celiac disease is a complex condition, routinely treated by means of a strict gluten-free diet. One of the diagnostic challenges of this disease is that patients need to be consuming gluten so that a correct diagnosis by means of endoscopy can be made. Yet nowadays there are more and more...
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Going nuts for anti-aging
The pecan is a North American deciduous walnut tree. Its seeds, pecan nuts, are sweeter in flavor than walnuts and are said to be more popular than almonds in the U.S. What deserves attention is the pecan nut’s antioxidant power. It’s said to have more anti-aging effect than the walnut, rapidly gaining it popularity in...
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Revolutionary therapy that blasts 80°C radiofrequency into defective lung nerves could help thousands of sufferers with severe asthma
Nuvaira is a treatment that involves inserting a thin tube into the airways A deflated balloon at the end of the tube is inflated once it is in the right position Tiny electrodes on the surface emit radio frequency where the faulty nerves are The temperatures reach 80 Celsius destroying nerves just beneath the surface Research suggests the hour-long treatment works...
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Antibiotic produced by the microbiome kills bacteria by disturbing energy metabolism
GERMAN CENTER FOR INFECTION RESEARCH A research team from the Universities of Tübingen and Göttingen as well as from the German Center for Infection Research has investigated the mode of action of a new class of antibiotics that is highly effective against multidrug-resistant pathogens. The so-called fibupeptides impair the energy supply to the bacterial cell, consequently causing...
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Nitric oxide-scavenging hydrogel developed for rheumatoid arthritis treatment
Professor Won Jong Kim and his research team developed a nano-sized hydrogel that treats inflammatory disease by scavenging nitric oxide POHANG UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY (POSTECH) (NO) prevents high blood pressure and artery plaque build-up in our body. However, its duplicity is shown when it causes serious inflammatory disease such as systemic lupus erythematosus, Cronh’s disease, and rheumatoid arthritis. The research team of...
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Opioid analgesics increase the risk of pneumonia among persons with Alzheimer’s disease
by University of Eastern Finland Opioid analgesics were associated with a 30 percent increase in the risk of pneumonia in persons with Alzheimer’s disease, a recent study from the University of Eastern Finland shows. The risk was most pronounced in the first two months of use. This is the first study to investigate the association between opioids and pneumonia in this population. The results were published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. The risk of pneumonia was highest among those...