By Sally Robertson, B.Sc.Reviewed by Kate Anderton, B.Sc. Millions of patients do not benefit from taking statins and fail to achieve a cholesterol level low enough to reduce their risk of heart or stroke, report researchers. According to a study recently published in the journal Heart, around half of people who are prescribed the drugs...
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Healthy hearts need two proteins working together
by National Institutes of Health Two proteins that bind to stress hormones work together to maintain a healthy heart in mice, according to scientists at the National Institutes of Health and their collaborators. These proteins, stress hormone receptors known as the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) and mineralocorticoid receptor (MR), act in concert to help support heart...
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Smart antioxidant-containing polymer responds to body chemistry, environment
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Oxidants found within living organisms are byproducts of metabolism and are essential to wound-healing and immunity. However, when their concentrations become too high, inflammation and tissue damage can occur. University of Illinois engineers have developed and tested a new drug-delivery system that senses high oxidant levels and responds by...
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Some Cancers Become Contagious
So far, six animal species are known to carry transmissible, “parasitic” forms of cancer, but researchers are still mystified as to how cancer can become infectious. Apr 1, 2019 KATARINA ZIMMER The untrained eye likely wouldn’t have noticed, but doctoral student Ruth Pye immediately spotted something unusual about the way the cells were arranged in a tissue...
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Researchers pinpoint tumor-related protein, slow progression of cancers
by University of Nebraska-Lincoln Locking a biochemical gate that admits fuel into immune-suppressing cells could slow tumor progression and assist the treatment of multiple cancers, says new research from the Wistar Institute, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and others. Published April 17 in the journal Nature, the study found elevated levels of fatty acid transporter protein 2, or FATP2, in a type of...
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Researchers build ‘mirror therapy’ VR game to improve NHS patient experience
by Birmingham City University Dr. Andrew Wilson and colleagues from Birmingham City University built the CRPS app in collaboration with clinical staff at Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust for a new way to tackle complex regional pain syndrome and to aid people living with musculoskeletal conditions. Using a head mounted display and controllers, the team...
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Indicators of Mental Illness and Despair on the Rise among Gen X-ers, Study Suggests
A new study looking at the mental health of so-called Gen X-ers (i.e., people born between 1974-1983), published in the American Journal of Public Health, shows a marked increase in the tell-tale signs of despair, often characterized by depression, thoughts of suicide, drug use, and excessive drinking. Back in 2016, when life expectancy in the...
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Certain strains of bacteria associated with diabetic wounds that do not heal
Penn study implicates microbes in impaired wound healing that can lead to amputation UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA SCHOOL OF MEDICINE PHILADELPHIA – Whether a wound–such as a diabetic foot ulcer–heals or progresses to a worse outcome, including infection or even amputation, may depend on the microbiome within that wound. A new study from the Perelman School of Medicine...
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Experimental antiplatelet compound for acute stroke shows promise
by American Heart Association An experimental antiplatelet compound inhibited clot formation without increasing bleeding, a common and potentially dangerous side effect of current anticlotting therapies, according to new phase I research in Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology, an American Heart Association journal. The results of the industry-sponsored trial are based on a first-in-human study of...
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Microbial Signature for Colorectal Cancer Identified Using Machine Learning
Researchers from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany, the University of Trento in Italy, and other international collaborators leveraged a machine learning algorithm to identify a subset of gut bacteria associated with colorectal cancer, the third most common cancer worldwide. They performed a meta-analysis of eight studies of gut bacteria and colorectal...