Glucose – commonly referred to as a ‘simple’ sugar – may actually be crucial in the fight against cancer and inflammatory disease as scientists have just discovered a new role in which it stimulates cells that work on the front line in the fight against tumours and infection. Glucose, which is generated from the food...
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Building a better blood-brain barrier model
Delivering drugs to the brain is no easy task. The blood-brain barrier -a protective sheath of tissue that shields the brain from harmful chemicals and invaders – cannot be penetrated by most therapeutics that are injected into a person’s blood stream. But for treating diseases of the central nervous system and cancers such as glioblastoma,...
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Quadriceps exercise relieves pain in knee osteoarthritis
(HealthDay)—A quadriceps isometric contraction exercise method is effective for relieving pain in knee osteoarthritis (OA), according to a study published online May 25 in the International Journal of Rheumatic Diseases. Lanfeng Huang, from the Second Hospital of Jilin University in Changchun, China, and colleagues enrolled 250 patients with a confirmed diagnosis of knee OA and randomized...
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New transplant technology could benefit patients with type 1 diabetes
Combining a new hydrogel material with a protein that boosts blood vessel growth could improve the success rate for transplanting insulin-producing islet cells into persons with type 1 diabetes. In an animal model, the technique enhanced the survival rate of transplanted insulin-producing cells, restoring insulin production in response to blood glucose levels and curing these...
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Flu-fighting cells found in the nose could lead to a universal “one-shot” vaccine
Influenza is highly mutable virus, with scientists constantly playing catch up by twice a year releasing new formulations targeting the latest viral strains. In a move that could lead a universal flu vaccine, researchers have identified a type of influenza-fighting white blood cell found in nasal tissue that could pave the way for the development of...
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Common acne medication offers new treatment for multiple sclerosis
Demyelination by MS. The CD68 colored tissue shows several macrophages in the area of the lesion. Original scale 1:100. A Canadian clinical trial led by researchers at the University of Calgary’s Hotchkiss Brain Institute (HBI), at the Cumming School of Medicine (CSM), shows that minocycline, a common acne medication, can slow the progress of...
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Tourette-like tics vanish in mice treated with histamine
The activity of neurons in the striatum are regulated by neurotransmitter histamine and is associated with Tourette-like grooming behavior in mice. Yale scientists produced increased grooming behavior in mice that may model tics in Tourette syndrome and discovered these behaviors vanish when histamine—a neurotransmitter most commonly associated with allergies—is introduced into their brains. The...
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Smaller dose combos of blood pressure meds may be effective with fewer side effects
Quarter-dose combinations of blood pressure lowering medications appear to be effective in treating hypertension and result in fewer side effects for patients than a single dose of one drug, according to new research in the American Heart Association’s journal Hypertension. “Widespread control of blood pressure is generally low, even in high-income countries. The largest global survey of hypertension...
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Study finds cause of, and possible cure for, genetic skin disorder
Human skin structure. Yale scientists have discovered the cause of a disfiguring skin disorder and determined that a commonly used medication can help treat the condition. About one in 200,000 people are affected by a group of severe skin disorders known as the ichthyoses (ik-thee-oh-sees), which feature dry, scaly, or thickened skin. Although treatment with...
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Adding abiraterone to standard treatment improves prostate cancer survival by 40 percent
Adding abiraterone to hormone therapy at the start of treatment for prostate cancer improves survival by 37 per cent, according to the results of one of the largest ever clinical trials for prostate cancer presented at the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago and published in the New England Journal of Medicine today (Saturday). The results...