Current treatments for kidney stones are limited and sometimes painful. Research is changing what we thought we knew about their composition and behavior, suggesting that one day, we may fully dissolve them “right in the patient’s kidney.” In the United States, an estimated 1 in 11 people have kidney stones. They affect more men than women; more...
Molecule produced during fasting has anti-aging effect on vascular system
Diet trends like intermittent fasting and ketogenesis are proving wildly popular for their rapid weight-loss effects, but scientists are also starting to uncover how they might benefit the body in other, longer-term ways. Case in point: a molecule produced during fasting has now been found to apply the brakes to an aging of the vascular...
Mouse study reveals that activity, not rest, speeds recovery after brain injury
When recovering from a brain injury, getting back in the swing of things may be more effective than a prolonged period of rest, according to a new Columbia study in mice. These findings offer a compelling example of the brain’s remarkable capacity to adapt in response to trauma. They also point to new, activity-centered treatment...
Study of one million people leads to world’s biggest advance in blood pressure genetics
Over 500 new gene regions that influence people’s blood pressure have been discovered in the largest global genetic study of blood pressure to date, led by Queen Mary University of London and Imperial College London. Involving more than one million participants, the results more than triple the number of blood pressure gene regions to over...
Nanoparticle therapeutic restores function of tumor suppressor in prostate cancer
Think of it as a cancer therapy zag instead of a zig. While many groups are developing cancer therapies to target proteins and pathways that are highly active in cancer cells, a team of investigators from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Boston Children’s Hospital, with collaborators at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, is taking a...
Is resveratrol an effective add-on to NSAIDS to treat knee osteoarthritis?
In what researchers state is the first pilot clinical trial to assess the effects of resveratrol on pain severity and levels of inflammatory biomarkers in patients with mild to moderate knee osteoarthritis, the scientists compared treatment with a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) combined with either resveratrol or placebo over 90 days. Pain severity decreased significantly...
Reducing neuronal inhibition restores locomotion in paralysed mice
Spinal-cord injury can render intact neuronal circuits functionally dormant. Targeted reduction of neuronal inhibition in the injured region has now enabled reactivation of these circuits in mice, restoring basic locomotion. When we decide to walk, the brain broadcasts commands through parallel neuronal pathways that cascade to executive centres in the lumbar region of the spinal...
Researchers find children experience concussion symptoms three times longer than adults
Concussion symptoms for children under 13 years old typically last three times longer than they do for older teens and adults, but keeping them out of the classroom during recovery is not necessarily the preferred treatment, according to a comprehensive research review in The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association. Parents should be aware that...
Multi-joint, personalized soft exosuit breaks new ground
Fully wearable soft exosuit with automatic tuning helps users save energy and walk outside over difficult terrain WYSS INSTITUTE FOR BIOLOGICALLY INSPIRED ENGINEERING AT HARVARD (CAMBRIDGE, Mass.) — In the future, smart textile-based soft robotic exosuits could be worn by soldiers, fire fighters and rescue workers to help them traverse difficult terrain and arrive fresh...
New blood test detects early stage pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer is currently very difficult to detect while it is still respectable. A new blood test developed by researchers at Lund University in Sweden, Herlev Hospital, Knight Cancer Center and Immunovia AB, can detect pancreatic cancer in the very earliest stages of the disease. The results have been published in the Journal of Clinical...