A study in mice has indicated that the make-up of bacteria in the gut is linked with learning abilities and memory, providing a potential avenue of research into how to maintain cognitive functioning as we age. It’s part of a field of research looking at the link between gut bacteria and ageing to help people...
Tag: <span>infections</span>
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Infections and cancer: The link could be stronger than we think
Bacteria could have a bigger involvement in cancer than scientists may have realized, according to recent research. A study from the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore has uncovered a type of bacterial infection that can disrupt DNA repair in cells, which is a known cause of cancer. A viral infection may be...
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A new way to detect hidden urinary tract infections
Researchers in infection biology have developed a new way to detect hidden urinary tract infections. The research was led by Professor Agneta Richter-Dahlfors, head of the Swedish Medical Nanoscience Center at Karolinska Institutet and published in NPJ Biofilms and Microbiomes. Bacteria can persist in the urinary tract for prolonged periods of time, evading capture by...
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New way of determining treatment for staph infections cuts antibiotic use
Using a clinical checklist to identify eligible patients, doctors were able to shorten the antibiotic duration for patients with uncomplicated staphylococcal bloodstream infections by nearly two days, Duke Health researchers report. Credit: CC0 Public Domain That’s good news for individual patients and could also help reduce antibiotic resistance on a broader scale. “Staphylococci are among...
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Signs and symptoms of STDs in men
Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), or sexually transmitted infections (STIs), can affect anyone, but the signs and symptoms can be different for men and women. It is important that men are aware of the signs and symptoms of common STIs as they are less likely than women to get tests for these infections. With early treatment,...
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Starving fungi could save millions of lives each year
Researchers have identified a potentially new approach to treating lethal fungal infections that claim more than 1.6 million lives each year: starving the fungi of key nutrients, preventing their growth and spread. The team from the Westmead Institute for Medical Research found that stopping fungi from producing transporters that carry essential nutrients, like phosphate, starved the fungi. Despite high...
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Most people don’t benefit from vaccination, but we still need it to prevent infections
A recent article in The Conversation questioned whether we should all get flu vaccinations, given 99 people would have to go through vaccination for one case of flu to be prevented. Everyone has to be vaccinated for immunisation programs to work. But this position ignores the purpose of immunisation programs: whole populations of people need...
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Hotter bodies fight infections and tumours better—researchers show how
The hotter our body temperature, the more our bodies speed up a key defence system that fights against tumours, wounds or infections, new research by a multidisciplinary team of mathematicians and biologists from the Universities of Warwick and Manchester has found. The researchers have demonstrated that small rises in temperature (such as during a fever) speed up the speed...
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Researchers discover a ‘security chief’ that sounds the alarm against infections
Corresponding author Thirumala-Devi Kanneganti, Ph.D., pictured with first authors Ein Lee, M.D., and Rajendra Karki, Ph.D. Credit: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists have identified a key molecule that serves as a “security chief” to help the immune system quickly recognize and fight infections with dangerous gram-negative bacteria like Salmonella....
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Slowing Dangerous Bacteria May Be More Effective Than Killing Them, Researchers Report
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Researchers at the University of Illinois have discovered a mechanism that allows bacteria of the same species to communicate when their survival is threatened. The study suggests it may be possible to slow dangerous infections by manipulating the messages these microbes send to each other, allowing the body to defeat an infection...