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...
Category: <span>Miscellaneous</span>
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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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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...
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Triple Threat: New Pneumonia Is Drug-Resistant, Deadly And Contagious
In the past few years, there have been so many “superbugs” appearing in hospitals around the world that we here at Goats and Soda haven’t had the time or resources to report on all of them. But a new type of pneumonia emerging in China seems so important that we dropped what we were doing...
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The concept of schizophrenia is coming to an end – here’s why
The concept of schizophrenia is dying. Harried for decades by psychology, it now appears to have been fatally wounded by psychiatry, the very profession that once sustained it. Its passing will not be mourned. Today, having a diagnosis of schizophrenia is associated with a life-expectancy reduction of nearly two decades. By some criteria, only one in seven people...
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An end to the agony of trying uncertain drugs? Scientists can now grow ‘mini organs’ for each patient to see how it reacts to new untested treatment
A lab in Holland is using mini organs for cystic fibrosis sufferers to see how a drug would affect them without putting them through the risks of trying it Els van de Heijden, 53, was able to take an unproven drug after scientists tested it on a lab-grown version of her gut The move is...
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Retinal Imaging for Alzheimer’s Detection
A team of researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and NeuroVision Imaging, a Sacramento, California firm, have developed a retinal imaging system that could allow early detection of Alzheimer’s disease. One of the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease is the accumulation of beta-amyloid protein in the brain. There are numerous ways to monitor levels of beta-amyloid...
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Could this new approach fix the crisis in clinical research publishing?
The clinical research process isn’t perfect, but like all scientific processes, it is constantly in flux, reviewing itself, and hopefully improving. One of the biggest problems to rear its head in recent years has been the trend towards certain trials going unpublished, for a variety of reasons. A new format of journal article has recently...
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FDA cracks down on stem-cell clinics, including one using smallpox vaccine in cancer patients
The Food and Drug Administration on Monday announced a crackdown on stem-cell clinics offering on “unapproved and potentially dangerous” treatments, including an outfit in California that has been using the smallpox vaccine on seriously ill cancer patients. U.S. marshals on Friday raided San Diego-based StemImmune Inc. and seized the vaccine, which the FDA said had been combined...
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Does Talcum Powder Cause Ovarian Cancer?
Some people may sprinkle on powder after showering and never think much of it. But recent court cases have shined a spotlight on the possible link between women’s regular use of talcum powder on their genitals and an increased risk of developing ovarian cancer. Yesterday (Aug. 21), a jury in Los Angeles ordered Johnson &...