With the help of algorithms, researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have identified markers that can differentiate between irritant eczema and contact allergy, two skin reactions that look similar but require different treatment. Their findings, which are published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), support the further development of alternative...
By Dr. Liji Thomas, MD, Dec 16 2020 Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc. Early on in the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the antibiotic azithromycin was regarded as being a potentially highly effective drug against the virus that causes it, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Hundreds of thousands of doses have been dispensed...
By Meredith Wadman Dec. 15, 2020 , 5:00 PM When the COVID-19 pandemic descended last winter, Catherine Ross was filled with dread. Her 36-year-old sister, Amanda Ross, has Down syndrome (DS), which makes her especially vulnerable to respiratory viruses. Amanda Ross had been hospitalized repeatedly with pneumonia. In 2017, she ended up on a ventilator...
By Ben Coxworth December 15, 2020 Vave wirelessly communicates with an iOS or Android mobile device, which is running an accompanying appVave HealthVIEW 2 IMAGES Ordinarily, medical ultrasound imaging systems are big and bulky enough that they have to be pushed along on wheeled carts. The new Vave probe, however, can be carried in a...
MCGILL UNIVERSITY A group of proteins called 4E-BPs, involved in memory formation, is the key to unlocking the antidepressant effect of ketamine in the brain, according to researchers from three Canadian universities. The discovery could lead to better and safer treatments for certain patients suffering from major depression. Because more than 30% of patients are...
by Uppsala University Credit: CC0 Public Domain A comprehensive study from Uppsala University involving more than 250,000 women shows that oral contraceptive use protects against ovarian and endometrial cancer. The protective effect remains for several decades after discontinuing the use. The study is published in the journal Cancer Research. Ovarian and endometrial cancer are among the most common gynecological...
UNIVERSITY OF EAST ANGLIA Patients who have had weight loss surgery may not be receiving follow up care from their GPs as recommended in clinical guidelines – according to new research from the University of East Anglia and the University of Birmingham. Clinical guidelines recommend that patients receive nutritional and weight monitoring annually for life...
by Bobbi Nodell, University of Washington The S1 protein likely causes the brain to release inflammatory products causing a storm in the brain, researchers said. Credit: Alice Gray More and more evidence is coming out that people with COVID-19 are suffering from cognitive effects, such as brain fog and fatigue. And researchers are discovering why. The...
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA – SAN DIEGO Hearing loss and diabetes are major public health problems, with Latinos at higher risk than other demographic groups. In a new study published December 17, 2020 in the online issue of JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine with colleagues elsewhere, report...
Either a sincere smile or grimace can reduce the pain of a needle injection by as much as 40%, according to a new study. A genuine, or Duchenne, smile—one that elevates the corners of the mouth and creates crow’s feet around the eyes—can also significantly blunt the stressful, needle-related physiological response by lowering the heart...
