Cancer treatments, including chemotherapy, have helped many people with the disease to live healthy lives. Nevertheless, chemotherapy takes a toll on the body. During treatment, chemotherapy attacks all of the body’s cells, not just cancer cells. The result destroys healthy cells, causing many patients to suffer major side effects during and after treatment. And because...
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Cancer Immunotherapy: Fighting fire with fire
We, as humans, tend to idealize that which is bigger, better, faster, and stronger. It is in our nature to strive towards the best. To improve. To win. Indeed, the penetrance of this mentality reaches to our very core, even to the individual cells of which we are composed. A prime example of this: cancer....
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DNA sensor plays critical role in cancer immunotherapy via response to unexpected DNA form
UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers report for the first time that tumors stressed by cancer immunotherapy release their mitochondrial DNA into nearby immune cells, triggering a host alert system. That chemical alarm via the molecule cGAS is an important immune-system sensor for DNA that is in the soupy interior of cells, the cytosol, where DNA should...
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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 &...
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Researchers propose new strategy to treat cancer
Whenever an organism is damaged, the cells surrounding the wound receive signals to proliferate more intensely to regenerate the injured tissue. The same thing happens with cancer—tumor cells may be all but eliminated by radiation therapy and/or chemotherapy, only to return even more aggressively some time later. The phenomenon of tumor repopulation is explained by...
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Surprising neural communication mechanism revealed
A new study has made the surprising discovery that neurons are capable of controlling how much dopamine they release, which goes against what specialists have hitherto believed. The newly discovered mechanism might hold significant implications for understanding disorders promoted by abnormal dopamine signaling. Neurons are basic structures of the central nervous system, and they communicate with...
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Brain Stimulation Therapies
Overview Brain stimulation therapies can play a role in treating certain mental disorders. Brain stimulation therapies involve activating or inhibiting the brain directly with electricity. The electricity can be given directly by electrodes implanted in the brain, or noninvasively through electrodes placed on the scalp. The electricity can also be induced by using magnetic fields...
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Rehabilitation Treatment and Progress of Traumatic Brain Injury Dysfunction
Abstract Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major cause of chronic disability. Worldwide, it is the leading cause of disability in the under 40s. Behavioral problems, mood, cognition, particularly memory, attention, and executive function are commonly impaired by TBI. Spending to assist, TBI survivors with disabilities are estimated to be costly per year. Such impaired...
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Brain Stimulation Without Wires
Electrical brain stimulation has been an effective technique for managing a variety of neurological conditions, yet it’s severely limited because of the need to run wires to the treatment sites. In order to be able to deliver neurostimulation just about anywhere within the brain, researchers at MIT have developed a minimally invasive technique that relies...
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Study of nervous system cells can help to understand degenerative diseases
The results of a new study show that many of the genes expressed by microglia differ between humans and mice, which are frequently used as animal models in research on Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders. Microglia are the primary immune cells of the central nervous system, with functions similar to those of white blood...