by National Institutes of Health Credit: Neuron (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2023.01.007 New research offers clues about the biology of cells in the spinal cord that die off in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and other neurodegenerative diseases. A team of researchers supported by the National Institutes of Health has found evidence linking motor neurons’ large cell size and supporting...
Holly Else Alzheimer’s disease, as shown on the right side of this scan, transforms the brains of people with the neurodegenerative condition.Credit: Science History Images/Alamy A scientific journal has revamped its whistle-blower policy amid a dispute over the integrity of research underlying an experimental Alzheimer’s drug. In a 1 November 2022 editorial in The Journal of Clinical Investigation (JCI), editor-in-chief Elizabeth McNally...
Emily Sohn Illustration by Jasiek Krzysztofiak It was an uncomfortable moment for people who perform colonoscopies. In October, a massive randomized clinical trial in Europe presented its initial results, which suggested that, as a screening tool, colonoscopies don’t save as many lives as expected. Researchers were perplexed because the procedure had long been considered a...
by LAURAN NEERGAARD and MATTHEW PERRONE This Dec. 21, 2022 image provided by Eisai in January 2023, shows vials and packaging for their medication Leqembi. On Friday, Jan. 6, 2023, U.S. health officials approved Leqembi, a new Alzheimer’s drug that modestly slows the brain-robbing disease. The Food and Drug Administration granted the approval Friday for patients in the early...
UNIVERSITY OF FREIBURG IMAGE: MODEL OF THE BETA-BARREL PROTEIN PORIN FROM BAKER’S YEAST FOUND IN THE MITOCHONDRIAL OUTER MEMBRANE. CREDIT: ILLUSTRATION: CHRISTOPHE WIRTH/UNIVERSITY OF FREIBURG Mitochondria are considered to be the power plants of cells and are essential for human metabolism. Dysfunction in 40 percent of mitochondrial proteins are associated with human diseases, which is...
by CU Anschutz Medical Campus Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Patients with disabilities often face medical providers who make inaccurate assumptions about their quality of life that can lead to paternalism and substandard care, according to an essay published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). “The term ‘ableism’ is not as well-known as the term ‘racism’ but it...
By Michael Greenwood, M.Sc. Reviewed by Danielle Ellis, B.Sc. Perimenopause means “around menopause” and refers to the transition period before menopause and cessation of menstruation, which can last for several years. From when periods begin until perimenopause, the period is termed premenopause, and once menopause is completed, it is known as postmenopause. Image Credit: Jack_the_sparow/Shutterstock.com Perimenopause typically...
A bone density scan, also known as a DEXA scan, is a procedure that measures the amount of calcium and other minerals in a bone by passing x-rays with two different energy levels through the bone. It shows the strength and thickness of a bone and is usually done in the lower spine, hip, lower...
By Aimee Molineux Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc. Rasmussen’s disease, also known as Rasmussen’s encephalitis (RE), is a rare, chronic, inflammatory neurological condition. It is highly prevalent in children and is associated with epilepsia partialis continua (EPC), invariably hemiparesis, and cognitive impairment. RE usually affects only one hemisphere of the brain resulting in unilateral inflammation...
Coliquio Staff October 24, 2022 For an illness to be defined as rare, it must affect fewer than 5 in 10,000 people. Current estimates put the number of rare illnesses at around 7000. Some of these diseases have wide-ranging effects on the patient’s life. Munchmeyer’s Disease Also known as fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP) or “stone...
